I saw a fascinating and chilling film tonight called "Das Experiment". It's a German film from 2001 directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (who Aussies will know (if at all) best as the director of "Inspector Rex", the bizarre "cult" TV show on SBS which features a police wonder dog) and starring Moritz Bleibtreu from "Lola rennt" (aka "Run Lola Run").
The plot summary of the film (taken from IMDB):
A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.
The movie is apparently based on something called the "
Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. That experiment had to be cut short after 6 days because the "guards" became abusive and the "prisoners" were suffering from depression and anxiety. The official website from the actual experiment is fascinating to read, especially in light of the recent abuses by guards in Iraq.
However, the idea that's playing on my mind most tonight is how this sort of psychology is played out inside large corporations every day of the week. Instead of giving someone a uniform and a baton and telling them that they are a "guard", companies give someone a title, a corner office and a rubber tree and tell them they are a "manager". Is the power psychology trip any different? I've seen people get carried away with their perceived power as a manager. I've personally witnessed how certain people, put into these artificial power situations, can become psychologically abusive of staff who they feel are "troublemakers" and aren't "getting on board".
And, just like in the experiment, it seems obvious that the staff (or "prisoners") can just get up and walk away at any time. They are free to resign. Free to seek other pastures. BUT OFTEN WE DO NOT. The same psychology that the film explores, and that the real Stanford Prison Experiment discovered, seems to kick in. If you are told often enough that you are lucky to have the job that you have, and if you are told often enough that you should just give in and accept the party line, that you are the one who is "out of line" or that you are wrong, out of step with the rest of your colleagues, a lot of the time people concede. They give up their freedom for the false security that a large company seems to offer. Feeling like you have no choice, that you need the job security, you need the safety net, you need to be told what to do, is somehow, strangely, comforting. It's amazing what people will tolerate under certain circumstances.
Lucas has finally delivered a title for Episode III. Hard to complain about that. 
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