French documentary shows people’s obedience from TV authorities by Zivka Deleva

It is very strange when people are surprised by other’s actions. After so many wars, so much bloodshed, fights between relatives and families, we still capture ourselves amazed from ourselves. It seems like we overestimate mankind and think of as closer to angels than the other opposite. But, unfortunately, that is so not true. There’s something sadistic in the human nature, no matter what provokes it. People can easily obey some other authority! It is not that by saying this, I invented the hot water, but all over again, these days has been proved that that is true. I understand an authority that looks attractive, speaks eloquently and persuading, but when a T! V channel is a big authority, than that gives me worries. Trying to answer how far television can go and even more, how far people can go, producer Christophe Nick shot the documentary “The Game of Death” in which he records participants of the TV contest “Extreme Zone”, broadcasted on the national TV channel France 2, that have the freedom to decide whether they would give electrical shocks to a man or not. The “victims” in the study of human behavior were actors. The participants ask a question and whenever the victim doesn’t answer right, the punisher has the chance to regulate the electrical shock with the increments of 80 to 460 volts. Chants like in the gladiator time - Punishment! could be heard from the audience. And the numbers were devastating! 64 of the 80 interrogators wanted to reach the end of the game, and the supreme of the punishment! The experiment was based on psychologist Stanley Migram’s experiment at ! Yale University in the 1960’s that wanted to test the wi! llingnes s of participants to obey authority figures in an attempt to understand how accomplices in the Holocaust could have submitted so fully to Nazi orders. After the quiz, participants were asked if they could be used in a documentary. Only three of them refused and the others were very happy to know that they can contribute in the needs of science.

by Zivka Deleva for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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