Experimenter (2015)

I enjoyed the movie as it provided me an insight into Milgram's life and the rest of his other smaller experiments. This movie made me aware of the behind-the-scenes of a researcher's life and thoughts.

We Will Always Be Obedient

An outsider who was aware of the deceptions and justifications of the study

Sasha, the one person who is close to Milgram and knew intimate details about the experiment. She knew about the deception and even was present during the study. She saw first hand how the experiment was conducted, the actions taken by the participants and their reactions. One would assume that with her knowledge, she would be an anomaly (Ying et al., 2016).

The irony: She was nonetheless obedient

However, Sasha was also a 'victim' of obedience (Ying et al., 2016). Oh, the irony! This can be seen when Milgram had a heart attack and was brought into the hospital. The nurse made Sasha filled out a form before a doctor was allowed to meet them. Even though the situation was serious and dire, Sasha obediently followed the nurse' instructions. She did not attempt to oppose or argue the nurse's instructions. This shows that regardless of circumstances and knowledge, people are still obedient towards authority.

Juxtaposition of Background
The uncomfortable truth

The elephant in the room that no one wants to accept

Milgram walks through the hallway and an elephant appears behind him, I believe the contrast between the hallways and the elephant signifies an uncomfortable truth or 'the elephant in the room'. The elephant appeared when Milgram was discussing his family origins and his inspiration for the obedience experiment, the Holocaust. The Holocaust and the atrocities committed by the Germans made him wonder how civilized human beings are able to participate in inhuman acts.

Unable to come to terms with their actions

Hence, the uncomfortable truth that society needs to acknowledge is: Evil is undeniably all around us. Why do I say so? Well, the experiment showed that everyone was 'evil' because they were obedient to a 'malevolent' authority. Anyone and everyone can be evil regardless of their personality as per the circumstance. This is a reality that needs to be acknowledge because most participants from the obedience experiment could not understand why they would perform the actions, defending that they were indeed nice people and would choose the well-being of others than following the orders. They could not accept that they could be as evil the German soldiers during the Holocaust. Indeed, they are nice people, but the experiment showed that when it comes to an authority figure, we become puppets and most of us do not argue and go against these people of power, though we like to think otherwise.



References:
Ying, X., Mingliang, C., Hongxia, L., Wuke, Z., Zhen, Z., & Anwar, C. H. (2016). Neural basis of two kinds of social influence: Obedience and conformity. Frontiers In Human Neuroscience, 10(51), 1-8. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00051/full