Jean-Paul Boher, ou le détournement du héros de 24 Heures chrono par Plus belle la vie

Abstract

Jack Bauer, hero of the series 24 (Fox, 2001–10), agent of the American government, is renowned for its violence. In 2007, the French series Plus belle la vie (France 3, 2004–) needed a racist and violent police officer; in reference to 24, the screenwriters gave him the name Jean-Paul Boher (always called “Boher”, never “Jean-Paul”) and an appearance similar to that of Jack. As Plus belle la vie does not share the same spectators, the challenge was to please both those who did not know 24 (probably the majority) and those who knew it. Because Jean-Paul Boher is both a full-fledged character and an ideological appropriation of Jack, this article will approach, at first, the diegetic and ideological functions of the character, and then secondly, the explicit and implicit references, which is to say the intertext between Plus belle la vie and 24: unique between a French and American series.

Keywords

• Plus belle la vie
• 24
• Boher Jean-Paul
• Bauer Jack