The Experience is a 2001 German film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, based on The Black Box, which in turn builds on a real Stanford experience in 1971. This experience has been infinitely questioned and, although the film is far from questionable, it really happened. leads us to ask ourselves what human nature really is: are we good or bad?It is undoubtedly a film in which philosophy, ethics, morality, sociology and psychology go hand in hand.
The film begins with Tarek Fahd, a financially challenged taxi driver who decides to make money by participating in an experiment, in addition to the money that the experience will bring, decides to collaborate with a publication for which he has already worked and to record everything that happens during. Money will be the only one to encourage participants to collaborate as guinea pigs in an experience that will eventually destroy their lives.
- The participants are the most diverse: a taxi driver.
- An airline employee.
- An executive.
- An Elvis impersonator.
- Etc.
- All seek a new experience and.
- Above all.
- Financial compensation.
- These participants will be subjected to various psychological tests and numerous interviews.
- Which will result in the assignment of a role: jailer or detainee.
- Do we see that some participants are insecure.
- Others have a lot of confidence?All of this will help experienced physicians assign specific roles.
None of the participants had been imprisoned before, none of them appear to be an “out of the ordinary” person. Does everyone have a job, a family? In short, a very ordinary life, when they are in the waiting room, before they know the roles that will be assigned to them, all seem to engage in a pleasant conversation and seem interested in getting to know each other, however, what at first seemed to be a simple game will eventually become a nightmare that will make us reconsider some questions about human nature.
“Man should not intervene in nature, but he always does. “Experience?
The experiment that gave rise to the film was conducted at Stanford University (USA) in 1971. Coordinated by Professor Zimbardo, 24 students participated, all psychologically stable. However, it didn’t take long for the experience to get out of hand as the people who participated in it were fully immersed in the roles assigned to them.
Experience has been highly questioned and criticized for pushing ethical boundaries, but the results have been so surprising that they lead us to question our own role in society How is it possible that totally normal and sensitive individuals end up resorting to sadism and extreme violence?What happens when we deprive an individual of their liberty?
Numerous participants suffered serious psychological consequences: those who assumed the role of prisoners subsequently showed resignation and submission; Meanwhile, the guards began to abuse their power and apply very cruel punishments. The film shows a bit of this experience, but it has some differences:
Experience transports us to a fictional chain. The scenarios are cold, there are no warm colors at any point in the film, even before the start of the experiment. The 20 participants are expected to spend 14 days in a fictitious prison; jailers do not receive orders, with the exception of small prison regulations, but they can act as they see fit if an inmate disobeys, even if they are warned not to resort to violence.
Detainees, on the other hand, are completely stripped of their identity; they go from a name to simple numbers, they have to take off their underwear and wear only a thin coat, compared to the uniform of the guards. At first, many of them take the situation as a joke, believe it is just a game and that in a few days they will be able to return home and resume their lives normally (and with extra money).
“The experience is not painful, they have not even taken medication. Is this the definition of behavioral roles in a prison?. ?Experience?
However, from the moment the roles are assigned, we see that some participants begin to take them seriously, becoming more inmissive if they are prisoners, or more aggressive and authoritarian if they are jailers. The film takes on an increasingly dramatic and claustrophobic tone, showing us the sadism, abuse of power of jailers and the suffering of prisoners.
Some inmates find it more difficult to fulfill their role; However, the jailers seem quite comfortable, do most jailers are parents, have family, do a good job?but in the face of a situation of power, they act in a way they never imagined, reaching the most extreme violence and subjecting prisoners to atrocious practices.
What have you seen? Do they do everything we tell them?? Experience?
As the days go by, the situation gets complicated, the abuses multiply, as well as the suffering of the prisoners, somehow Tarek provides some of these situations, trying to record a good story for his diary, even though we see that delusions and possible conspiracy ideas take over all participants, making them act in a more unpredictable way.
One of the characters that catches our eye the most is Berus, a man who works for an airline, which makes us think he’s psychologically stable. However, he will be the cruellest of the guards and the leader of the jailer group; leadership that others will certainly accept.
Experience presents a private society of freedoms, where people are reduced to numbers, losing their identity; a role is assigned and, as a result, people will act accordingly. Although they know it’s not real, participants end up assuming that role.
Even if we can think of millions of possible answers and get to know each other perfectly, we cannot predict how we would act in a totally uncontrollable or unusual situation. It seems that many assume that there are good and bad people; Besides, we probably don’t consider ourselves bad people, but do we really know our nature?
The film and the experience itself lead us to wonder if we are really free, if we have that free will that is so talked about in philosophy, if we know human nature, are we acting freely?Perhaps we are simply victims of a role that has been assigned to us. Experience invites us to ask ourselves many questions about our own nature and freedom.
“I have free will, but not because I have chosen it. I have never freely chosen free will. Therefore, I have free will, whether I want it or not. “Raymond Smullyan?