So turning to the other PUSH:
The mastermind is Derren Brown who is described as an English mentalist, illusionist, and author. Through the power of suggestion and our need to conform to society he gets unsuspecting people to do unimaginable things. In THE PUSH the goal is to get someone to push a person off a roof to their death – in other words, commit murder. And do this within one hour.
The ruse is very elaborate, requires lots of actors, ingenious pre-planning, and carefully orchestrated steps to mold the subject’s behavior and bring him to the brink where he would push someone off a roof. You say people can’t be that gullible but look at who’s president.
It's almost like a sting-type movie or the brilliant British series, HUSTLE, about sophisticated con artists pulling off spectacular heists (like stealing the Crown Jewels).
THE PUSH is an amazing (and frightening) study of human behavior, but what struck me is this what comedy writers often do. When characters get out of their comfort zones and all reasonable options are cut off, they do crazy (and hopefully hilarious) things.
Comedy writers are sadists. We find a character’s weakness then put him a pressure situation and just keep tightening the vice. We heap on more and more things to keep him off-balanced. Two great examples of this are the movies THE OUT OF TOWNERS (the original version) and TRAINS, PLANES, AND AUTOMOBILES. Everything that can go wrong, SHOULD.
Farces are built on this. A character must lie to preserve some dire secret. But circumstances prevail that complicate the situation. So the lies increase, and the complications expand, the stakes get even higher, and characters wind up saying and doing things they never would, often with comic results.
THE PUSH is worth seeing for its psychology, and if you’re a writer, a great example of how to structure a comic story and work out your anger issues.
"Comedy writers are sadists. We find a character’s weakness then put him a pressure situation and just keep tightening the vice. We heap on more and more things to keep him off-balanced."
ReplyDeleteI never thought of it that way. What you people did to Frasier and Niles Crane was despicable. (But lots of fun to watch.) Shame on you.
There are other Derren Brown specials on Netflix, all worth watching. THE PUSH is probably the most provocative--for all the reasons you describe. But THE SACRIFICE is also compelling (will the subject eventually be willing to take a bullet for a stranger?) and THE MIRACLE (where he takes on faith healing) is worth watching too.
ReplyDeleteHe's also got a show playing on Broadway now, but I haven't heard any details about what it involves. But don't worry--it's probably not a musical based on his TV shows...
I found Derren Brown's 2006 special "The Heist" to be disturbing enough. I was completely unprepared for his 2016 special "The Push" (a/k/a "Pushed to the Edge"), which came to Netflix last year or this. Some of his specials are ultimately benign even when his methods are a little rough. "The Push" is harrowing.
ReplyDelete"Farces are built on this" - and White House administrations too.
ReplyDelete"Comedy writers are sadists."
ReplyDeleteToo true, too true. But you guys are kind and loving sadists, who ultimately want what's best for your characters. No comparison to Republicans at all, whose motto is "throw them under the bus and blame someone else."
The Stanley Milgram 'Obedience / Shock Experiments' at Yale in 1963 are still fascinating, and I look forward to watching The Push, although I do find this subject difficult. Really sorry I missed being young in the 1960's! Guess I can still get some "Question Authority" bumper stickers.
ReplyDeleteI sawhis current show on Broadway, SECRET, a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteVery entertaining...
I'm confused. Is this a scripted drama or some sort of "reality show?"
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen "The Push," but it reminds me of a famous psychological experiment/ethical dilemma about murder. It's the old, could you murder one person if that death saved the lives of many others? The example I remember has to do with a man about to derail a train. If you don't act everyone on the train dies. The problem is that most people understand it intellectually, but it's a different thing if they actually,personally had to do it.
I suppose the modern equivalent would be, could you kill a terrorist to prevent him (or her) from blowing up a building?
There's another where people are told that they are participating in a learning experiment. They're supposed to give the subject a shock every time he gives an incorrect answer. The voltage is steadily increased until the shocks become excruciating. What the participants, the ones giving the shocks, don't know is that they are actually the test subjects. The machine doesn't do anything. And the "learner" is an actor feigning being tortured. The real test is, how far will they go before they say 'I quit!'
Finally, I think we've all been in that situation where we have two equally distasteful, unacceptable choices. Yet, reluctantly we're forced to pick one.
The players may be different, but the situation is still the same.
M.B.
Derren is great. His initial series on the BBC, showcasing his "regular" mindreading was top-notch, and he took it even further in the specials. You can find some of the others on YouTube -- the Zombie Apocalypse one is astounding. It's too bad he doesn't have as big a fanbase here as he does across the pond -- he's just so veddy British. But without question, he is this era's David Copperfield.
ReplyDeleteDaily BKL reader & huge Derren Brown fan so had to post when those two faves came together! Ken, it's like you read my mind!
Maybe more of a Friday question ...
ReplyDeleteBut what is happening with writers arguement with "packaging" agencies?
The idea that the barr injustice department would either threaten, or file, anti-trust actions against the writers guild seemed like a bit of satire when I first read it.
You mentioned farces.
ReplyDeleteCHEERS had some excellent episodes built upon a lie, or more than one lie.
There was the episode Diamond Sam, something like that. Sam has to buy the engagement ring for Diane, but can't afford the one Diane saw in the store. He buys a knockoff ring from a guy Norm knows, and Diane loves it. But Diane wants the box it came in - which he doesn't have - and she needs the receipt for the insurance, Sam has to spend more money to preserve the lie.
There was also Dinner at Eightish. Sam and Diane have dinner over at Frasier and Lilith's townhouse. In that one, everybody but maybe Lilith has a secret.
Still enjoyable to watch.
I'd hate to be any of the three going on a job interview. What HR person is going to recommend a person who'd push someone off the edge of a building?
ReplyDeleteBrown also has several self-help books, about things like losing weight or gaining confidence, that include hypnosis CDs. I would try one, but I'd be worried he would make me thin by splattering me at the bottom of a ravine.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the show, but its an interesting premise. Actually, I doubt it would take much work to get most people to push someone off a roof. When you look at history, or current events, it's pretty clear that people are generally pushovers for a puppet master. How they square it with their conscience - well, that's another marvel of the human mind, isn't it? Very few people have the courage of their convictions. Physical courage is easy by comparison.
ReplyDeleteWasn't this the plot of The Game with Michael Douglas?
ReplyDeleteCheck out Youtube where he plays a trick on Simon Pegg.
ReplyDeleteScott Adams says it is an example of hypnosis/salesmen techniques that Trump uses.
Comments have viewers saying it is a straightforward magic trick.
The genius of Derren Brown is that he uses psychology, NLP, mind-experimentation, etc. as his misdirection. None of that stuff is actually happening. The guy is a magician. He was a pretty good one for years... but became an even greater one when he figured out this shtick.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's not a dig - I love his stuff.