It was meant to be about the manipulative power of authority, the control of television, and the twisted nature of reality shows. It was that and then some.
Television producers in France mocked up a game show. Contestants were posed questions. If a contestant answered the question wrong, he or she would be commanded to throw a switch, zapping a fellow contestant (literally) on the hot seat.
The victim in the hot seat appeared to get hit with up to 420 volts electricity.
All the while the audience shouted “punish them!”
The contestants and audience are real. They think the game is real. But the fellow on that “hot seat” is an actor faking it…quite well. He sounds like he is close to the point of dying.
While some of the contestants said “no,” that they would not electrocute the person in the hot seat, 82 percent contestants went along.
The show’s producers defend the program, part of a documentary dubbed “The Game of Death.” They note it’s simply an update of a psychological experiment 50 years ago.
But the French are taken aback. Top French commentator Christian Mallard told Fox it was “stupid and crazy.”
French newspapers dubbed it “bothering” and “unethical.”
The program is actually running on French government-owned TV. There’s no word on what President Sarkozy might think about it.
And while some have likened it to how people obeyed the Nazi’s during World War 2, including some in France, there’s been no comment about whether this is a particularly French response to potentially deadly commands.
Arno Klarsfeld, son of noted Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, told Fox News, “It’s nothing new, the new generation forgets but the media is taking it up again. In a ‘basic’ situation, humans can’t hold back their instincts.”
Most take it as a worrying statement for society today. And maybe a good promotion for the television show Wednesday night!