The CEU Department of Philosophy cordially invites you to the next
screenings of its Philm Club on social experiments. The series features
a selection of movies tackling questions of social behavior and norms.
Specifically, we selected allegories and experiments that question the
behavioral norms of "normality" and present humans in limit situations
to examine their responses. The topics range from Kafkaesque existential
mazes to the "classic" prison experiment and unorthodox
school experiments on ideology.
Das experiment (The Experiment, 2001)
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
German with English subtitles, 120 min.
Human behavior is determined to some degree by the uniforms we wear. An
army might march more easily in sweat pants, but it wouldn't have the
same sense of purpose. School uniforms enlist kids in the "student
body." Catholic nuns saw recruitment fall off when they modernized their
habits. If you want to figure out what someone thinks of himself,
examine the uniform he is wearing. Gene Siskel amused himself by looking
at people on the street and thinking: When they left home this morning,
they thought they looked good in that.
"Das Experiment" suggests that uniforms and the roles they assign
amplify underlying psychological tendencies. In the experiment, 20 men
are recruited to spend two weeks in a prison environment. Eight are made
into guards and given quasi-military uniforms. Twelve become prisoners
and wear nightshirts with numbers sewn on them. All 20 know they are
merely volunteers working for a $1,700 paycheck.
The movie is based on a novel, Black Box, by Mario Giordano. The novel
was inspired by the famous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971, a classic
of role-playing. On that experiment's Web site, its director, Philip G.
Zimbardo, writes: "How we went about testing these questions and what we
found may astound you. Our planned two-week investigation into the
psychology of prison life had to be ended prematurely after only six
days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who
participated. In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our
prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress."
(http://rogerebert.suntimes.com)
Screening: Friday, April 12, 6 P.M., Zrinyi 14, room 412.
Find out more on the Philm Club blog: http://philmclub.wordpress.com/.