Through creating a fake charity, getting celebrity endorsements to certify it, and making the participant feel inadequate and inferior through tactics such as not telling him that the charity event was black tie, Brown is able to push the main participant Alex to commit acts that would go against his everyday morals and values.
The basis of the show is that the main benefactor of the charity, Bernie, has a heart attack and dies, and the participant if encouraged (or arguably forced) to hide the body, pretend to be the benefactor and make a speech, move the body, make it look like he had fallen down the stairs, and even kick the body to create bruising: all in an attempt to not ruin the big evening. Eventually it turns out Bernie had passed out due to a sleeping condition and in fact heard everything including the participant being told to “Just kick him!”. In order to stop Bernie from getting the participant and many of the charity board members put in prison, the participant Is encouraged to push him of the roof of a building while he smokes a cigarette.
The show is based upon ideas about social conformity, which results in many of the participants concluding that they aim to live a life in which they stand up for themselves and don’t just do as they’re told.
Shockingly, three out of the four participants actually pushed the actor “Bernie” of the side of a building, to prevent him from putting them in prison. The show is shocking and truly does make the viewer wonder if they too, would do the same and push Bernie off the side of the building. Many would argue that they would not, but in a moment of extreme pressure and emotional intensity, with members of a charity board shouting at you, and the worry that you may have brought the entire charity evening to grinding halt- stealing money from thousands of children in the UK, it may be hard to tell what one may be forced to do.
Another reason the show is so shocking is the fact that it seems wildly unethical and arguably a stunt gone too far. A psychological experiment is ethically not allowed to put participants at the risk of more physical or psychological harm than they would experience in their everyday lives. I would certainly argue that this experience may have been incredibly psychologically damaging, with the participants feeling a strong sense of guilt at the fact that they would have the knowledge that they have the capability of murder.
The shots often cut to Brown commenting on the actions of the participants, at some points even smiling and laughing. Due to the likelihood that this stunt would have taken a lot of planning and money, one cannot fully blame Brown for his pleasure at the participants committing such acts, as it means he was successful in his experiment. However, it may be argued that Brown had gained too much of an objective view, and seemed to forget that the participants were experiencing what some may call a living nightmare.
Although likely that the participants received counselling after filming, and the actor experienced no harm, I would argue that this show, which had me sweating, on the edge of my seat, and shouting at the television, may be immoral, unethical and even cruel.
