To think Darren Brown "the push" is horiffic

[MrsA2015]

Just sat and howled through it. Can't believe what I've just watched really. Brilliant but horrible to watch

i think the not believing part of you is the bit you should be listening too, just total bullshit - imagine the trauma of being made to believe you would have killed someone. You can't tell me that wouldn't have lasting mental health implications! they would sue his arse from here to kingdom come.

It's very much in the Stanley Milgram style of experiment. Very uncomfortable but valuable to see - hopefully it has been done with enough care that the subjects are okay.

Exactly what I was thinking and how would family members react knowing you'd pushed? It wasnt at if it was self defence or anything

You could imagine someone commiting suicide after doing something like that, the lawyers aren't going to let him do that!

Just watched it, wondering not so much about how family members would feel, but how prospective employers would feel. Really, could you interview those four, and not be thinking 'lacks initiative too compliant'. And for the three who pushed, wondering how many years they'd be waking up sweating with nightmares.

On the other hand - a clear demonstration of how a frog is boiled.

Watching the twitter feed of #DerrenBrown showed people were almost if not entirely sympathetic with Chris then they other three. No-one was being critical of him, they were generally empathising with or worrying for him. Any employer watching this is likely to be the same.

I don't know how I'd react if I were to meet any of the "pushers" knowing what they're capable of? How would you feel? I don't know why it's affected me so much!

I think it's disgraceful. We turned it off. Morally unjustifiable. I'm sure they've made it legally watertight for themselves, but that's not all that matters is it.

Can someone explain the format, how was I conducted?

There's another AIBU thread and a chat thread.

It's not real

It''s defiantly real. Chris is my fiance''s best friend, he isn't an actor and didn't know that it was a set up until the end. It was excruciating to watch tonight as we didn't know the outcome (he told noone) but very interesting!

I'm afraid I don't believe it.

I've not watched it, but wrt the milgram experiment, we were taught at school that it could never be repeated nowadays due to ethical considerations, ie they would never be given clearance. So I assume that this derren brown thing is not real.

funnybeanz is Chris ok now? How does he feel about the programme?

Yes it's certainly real. Chris is fine now, fairly nervous last night as it was the first time friends and family had watched it. He gave nothing away so we didn't know how it ended. I imagine it would be harder for the other 3 who did push, at least Chris can feel proud that he walked away. He and his family had a private screening last night. He genuinely said he didn't know any of it was a set up and that it was horrific. He got a fair bit of de-briefing etc after to make sure he was OK and explaining social compliance etc. It was strange to watch and I was shouting at the TV that he must have known, I was sure he wouldn't do the speech. Just very proud that he didn't push!

They had exit interviews with the three pushers at the end of the programme. They all seemed happy and stronger. I assume that Derren has done extensive work with them. I know he has said in previous programmes like this that that is what they do.

It was horrific and disgraceful tv and Derren Brown should be ashamed of himself.

Vile nasty and him grinning over it all was plain evil.

I think the people he uses are almost certainly seriously traumatised after. A few sessions with a sleb psych immediately after won't help.

DB messes with people's minds. There are neuronal connections set up in his victims' brains which will be there forever, and we have no idea how that affects them long term.

But that's OK, it was entertaining.

Read about Milgram's prisoner/guard experiment. Read about how the 'guards' were affected afterwards.

There's a reason these sort of psychological studies aren't allowed nowadays.

But if it's tv then it's OK.

Brutalising. That's the word I'm looking for.

Should I not watch then?

Watch it. I can't speak for the other 3 but I can tell you Chris is fine, back to normal. Obviously we don't know long term how he will feel. At the moment he''s pleased it happened to him and u think is proud of what he did at the end. But he''s naturally very interested in this kind of stuff anyway, I guess most people who apply are.

Should I not watch then?

Posters on here seem to be shooting the messenger (perhaps not the best metaphor!) rather than listening to the message.
It's up to you. Which will you concentrate on: the message or the messenger?

what messenger?

Here's something that occurred to me. If a man goes online, chats to someone he believes to be a 13-year-old girl, starts chatting her up and then arranges to meet, but it turns out it was a policeman all along, he'll end up in prison, even though there was never a real victim. On this Derren Brown programme, there was no real murder victim, but the dupes did genuinely believe they were killing someone. OK, so there was a lot of manipulation in the mix, and social pressure, which was the point of the show, but in their minds they believed they were taking someone's life.

My point is that though we might (might) be justified in crying 'entrapment' in the case of these dupes, we cannot rely on the fact of there being no real victim, as we already have another arena of criminal law in which the lack of a real victim is considered utterly irrelevant.

I think it was awful TV. Absolutely Awful. What a thing to put people through and what a nasty trick to play.