This really reminds me of the riots that happened over the summer. Did Derren have anything to do with that? (that was a joke BTW)
Looks scary, to think how many people are not who they make out to be.
V for Vendetta masks instead on this, would make the impact so much deeper, in this day and age. Still looks good though.
This has me on the verge of tears. As someone who was bullied rather badly as a child, I can see that this is exactly the mechanism behind that. Groups will bond if they can hurt a common enemy, it works that way in all primates. I know I can’t blame anyone for that. It just sucks to be the common enemy.
…and yeah, I’m still watching this, it’s still fascinating. Just probably also painful to me.
looks delightfully creepy. lotta deindividuation going on all over the ‘net.
Looks very interesting, can’t wait to watch! As always Derren delivers a additive show that’ll have me glued to the tv.
Keep up the great work.
Wow that looks amazing!
Many psychologists critique and challenge the notion of deindividuation- for many, it’s a pretty outdated concept. Check out Steven Reicher’s (University of St. Andrews) work for an alternative theory. http://people.exeter.ac.uk/tpostmes/deindividuation.html
Looking forward to my upcoming Derren Brown Tattoo, he is the modern Jesus haha, his illusions are far greater than turning water into wine.
This was filmed the night the Riots started in London. Was spooky that as filming finished about 10pm shots were being fired in Tottenham demonstrating the psychology behind this very phenomena.
It may well be an outdated concept for psycologists, but to the masses its unheard of. Thats whay Derren is so good, he lets us know!
when i was in kolledge (back during the jurassic era), this kinda thing was called the risky-shift phenom. popularly i believe it’s called mob rule. but as youse all know, people are complicated, even in a mob…so postulating theories has its limitations. but it makes fer good TV. 🙂
btw, i like the idea of guy fawkes masks…chuckle
To be honest, thinking about it, if I was part of that crowd and I could choose for someone to have good fate or bad fate I would probably choose bad. Sounds kind of horrible now I’ve read it, but it’s true.
Looks really awesome, cannot wait 😀 I love psychology, and I genuinely put “I am an avid reader of Derren Brown’s blog” on my personal statement for Uni 😛
@basim Modern day Jesus Alay Salam? And I Doubt It Jesus Alay Salam Was A Deciever Or Even Turned Water Into Wine.
actually doubt is a weak word, i do not believe that at all.
Morgan: Why? What would be the joy in seeing something bad happen? If I’d been in that audience, I think I’d be sort of annoyed at the others because I enjoy seeing people have pleasant experiences, and all they’d be doing is making him go through stuff that would make me cringe.
I get that it’s a fairly universal desire, as it’s satisfied in books and films as well — usually, when things seem to be going very nicely for the protagonist, something nasty happens and they end up in a horrid situation. Not always because of a confrontation with the antagonist that enhances the storyline (in which case it makes sense), but just because it’s apparently expected.
I don’t know, I’ve just never liked that. What’s the appeal in watching someone suffer?
@Berber To be honest I’m sure Derren will cover your question ‘ What’s the appeal in watching someone suffer?’ so we’ll find out soon enough, however having the discussion with my family, I decided that at heart we’d all like to think where good people, and as Deren said, we all have morals. This, and the Stanford prison experiment, are all ways experimenting what it takes for basically a good person to go bad.. So well just have to see the outcome, although personally.. Something inside me would want to pick the worse option, however it demands on the choice, such as causing them physical harm I’d draw a line at, but giving them a little fright never did anyone know halm :L Another example would be the Trick or Treat series.. I found watching the Tricks MUCH more enjoyable than treats…
I’ve really been looking forward to seeing this particular programme because mental ‘bullying’ is so rampant in the work place these days now more than ever. In fact, some people now consider their workplace a ‘war zone’ because everyone is fighting for survival. Bullying begins in childhood and carries on through life. It’s very hard to deal with and it can actually destroy some people’s lives. I was always told to “not engage†or “don’t get in the ring†when provoked but when you’re in a crowd and everyone else is being manipulated into doing what they know is ‘wrong’ it’s a real test of your own personal strength. This is a wonderful subject and I’ve got a massive resentment because I have to go out tonight and I won’t see the show until very late.
Jake: That’s what I meant, why do people like doing negative things to others? Why would you pick the worse option? I liked almost all ToT episodes as they all eventually help the person involved, but my favourites (the piano girl, David Tennant and the ‘don’t kill the kitten’ girl) were all treats. If something bad happens to someone, even on tv, it makes me uncomfortable because I can’t help identifying with them. Does it not work this way for other people? I know I don’t have a ‘normal’ brain (I have Asperger’s syndrome), so can someone with a neurotypical brain just turn that feeling of identification off? I’m genuinely curious.
Tuning in for my first experiment tonight, looks great! I haven’t watched Brown since he gambled £100,000 of someones money on a roulette number near 2 years ago…but hey, looking forward to this! And also, can anyone tell me if Darren MADE someone an assasin? I am not sure…
Appalling programme, nasty concept. Usually I’m a big fan of Derren Browns, but not tonight.
i didnt like it simply because of how obvios it was, i figured it out half way through, it just shows how predictable you guys are. this show was predictable to, i hope the series gets better
Really enjoyed the program tonight, at first it was nice and light-hearted, and as a viewer I found the bottom pinching and shoplifting accusation quite funny, but after the police were called things took a really sour turn. It was amazing to see how quickly this normal, everyday people descended into really quite cruel and unkind people. When they started shouting out to the ‘producer’ to smash the TV I was genuinely shocked. There was no way for them to see his reaction and there was no humour in the situation anyway. Really appalling.
It was interesting to note how they all reacted once the stuntman got hit by the car. It suddenly stopped being a game to them, and they quickly realised how they had been behaving and what they had seemingly just caused.
Powerful and scary stuff. Amazing how quickly things spiral out of control. One question though Derren, why didn’t you announce the pecentage for the final kidnap vote?
Derren claimed that everything was real and unfaked.
I can’t believe that the flat was real, I suspect it must have been a mock-up, ie faked, what with the blank internet history and the handily placed baseball bat. If it wasn’t a mock-up, this was unacceptable intrusion.
The head-cam was stupid, there was obviously another camera in the room.
The final shots in “the flat” were not convincing either, because there was a camera filming the victim’s reaction, which again would be wrong.
The “accident” was an obvious fake, yes it really was, I said as much to her indoors, but she was away with the fairies.
A nice coup de theatre, but not entirely convincing.
The lack of audience response was deafening, but you’re never quite sure what you are seeing with Mr. Brown.
This audience must have been actors, fair enough the first prank maybe people would have chosen but once it got really nasty I don’t believe over 60% of them would have carried it on!! It upset me, I have always enjoyed DB but not this time!
Steve: Not legally an intrusion, he has a live-in girlfriend who gave them the keys and was in on it — supposedly she gave permission to film also, and maybe even conveniently placed that bat (which prompted the ‘smash the tv’ cries, which I’m sure was the plan all along). As long as one resident gives permission to film, and the subject later gives permission to air, there’s nothing legally wrong about it.
This is one of the most thought provoking programs I have seen on TV in a long time, it was truly shocking. Sadly I have no difficulty in believing that it is all true. The concept of mob mentality is fairly well documented and very well demonstrated in the media; the London riots/looting over seemingly nothing and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by otherwise well disciplined and trained British/US soldiers for instance, however where it is less well documented is in the school classrooms, university halls, work places and so forth where mob mentality leads to bullying. Rarely does the apparent lack of conscious get realised, it took a real shock in this instance a car crash for morality to be re-discovered.
Well done Derren for stomaching it and producing such a fascinating episode
hello. ive just watched ‘the gameshow’ . the whole concept was good , though it didnt touch on the shame of the baying mob and how they actually felt, as it could of been used to educate much more. the reality show and the bullying aspects are something i stopped watching long ago. having been bullied and witnessed it, i have researched it and am known for my advocacy for the underdog in life. one thing i cannot seem to get out of my mind is that derren said that the percentage of the audience voting for the bad stuff to happen was only around 60%. that left 40% who didnt favour this treatment of someone, yet not once did i see an audience member looking unhappy. i can say, without a single doubt in my head, that if i had been there, i would of made a stand about the treatment of this guy
What I don’t understand is why it was necessary for Kris to be authentic (i.e. not an actor) for the experiment to work. Since the Remote Control audience were the subject of the experiment, why was it necessary to cause Kris suffering? An actor would have also made the experiment easier to control. (There are so many ‘what ifs – what if Kris had left the bar after being threatened by so many people; what if he’d fled the police and been hit by a car; what if he’d assaulted the actor shopkeeper?). Kris’ suffering also makes Derren Brown culpable, whether or not it served the ‘higher purpose’ of an experiment. My theory is that Kris was, in fact, an actor, and this was disguised for our entertainment.
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This really reminds me of the riots that happened over the summer. Did Derren have anything to do with that? (that was a joke BTW)
Looks scary, to think how many people are not who they make out to be.
V for Vendetta masks instead on this, would make the impact so much deeper, in this day and age. Still looks good though.
This has me on the verge of tears. As someone who was bullied rather badly as a child, I can see that this is exactly the mechanism behind that. Groups will bond if they can hurt a common enemy, it works that way in all primates. I know I can’t blame anyone for that. It just sucks to be the common enemy.
…and yeah, I’m still watching this, it’s still fascinating. Just probably also painful to me.
looks delightfully creepy. lotta deindividuation going on all over the ‘net.
Looks very interesting, can’t wait to watch! As always Derren delivers a additive show that’ll have me glued to the tv.
Keep up the great work.
Wow that looks amazing!
Many psychologists critique and challenge the notion of deindividuation- for many, it’s a pretty outdated concept. Check out Steven Reicher’s (University of St. Andrews) work for an alternative theory. http://people.exeter.ac.uk/tpostmes/deindividuation.html
Looking forward to my upcoming Derren Brown Tattoo, he is the modern Jesus haha, his illusions are far greater than turning water into wine.
This was filmed the night the Riots started in London. Was spooky that as filming finished about 10pm shots were being fired in Tottenham demonstrating the psychology behind this very phenomena.
It may well be an outdated concept for psycologists, but to the masses its unheard of. Thats whay Derren is so good, he lets us know!
when i was in kolledge (back during the jurassic era), this kinda thing was called the risky-shift phenom. popularly i believe it’s called mob rule. but as youse all know, people are complicated, even in a mob…so postulating theories has its limitations. but it makes fer good TV. 🙂
btw, i like the idea of guy fawkes masks…chuckle
To be honest, thinking about it, if I was part of that crowd and I could choose for someone to have good fate or bad fate I would probably choose bad. Sounds kind of horrible now I’ve read it, but it’s true.
Looks really awesome, cannot wait 😀 I love psychology, and I genuinely put “I am an avid reader of Derren Brown’s blog” on my personal statement for Uni 😛
@basim Modern day Jesus Alay Salam? And I Doubt It Jesus Alay Salam Was A Deciever Or Even Turned Water Into Wine.
actually doubt is a weak word, i do not believe that at all.
Morgan: Why? What would be the joy in seeing something bad happen? If I’d been in that audience, I think I’d be sort of annoyed at the others because I enjoy seeing people have pleasant experiences, and all they’d be doing is making him go through stuff that would make me cringe.
I get that it’s a fairly universal desire, as it’s satisfied in books and films as well — usually, when things seem to be going very nicely for the protagonist, something nasty happens and they end up in a horrid situation. Not always because of a confrontation with the antagonist that enhances the storyline (in which case it makes sense), but just because it’s apparently expected.
I don’t know, I’ve just never liked that. What’s the appeal in watching someone suffer?
@Berber To be honest I’m sure Derren will cover your question ‘ What’s the appeal in watching someone suffer?’ so we’ll find out soon enough, however having the discussion with my family, I decided that at heart we’d all like to think where good people, and as Deren said, we all have morals. This, and the Stanford prison experiment, are all ways experimenting what it takes for basically a good person to go bad.. So well just have to see the outcome, although personally.. Something inside me would want to pick the worse option, however it demands on the choice, such as causing them physical harm I’d draw a line at, but giving them a little fright never did anyone know halm :L Another example would be the Trick or Treat series.. I found watching the Tricks MUCH more enjoyable than treats…
I’ve really been looking forward to seeing this particular programme because mental ‘bullying’ is so rampant in the work place these days now more than ever. In fact, some people now consider their workplace a ‘war zone’ because everyone is fighting for survival. Bullying begins in childhood and carries on through life. It’s very hard to deal with and it can actually destroy some people’s lives. I was always told to “not engage†or “don’t get in the ring†when provoked but when you’re in a crowd and everyone else is being manipulated into doing what they know is ‘wrong’ it’s a real test of your own personal strength. This is a wonderful subject and I’ve got a massive resentment because I have to go out tonight and I won’t see the show until very late.
Jake: That’s what I meant, why do people like doing negative things to others? Why would you pick the worse option? I liked almost all ToT episodes as they all eventually help the person involved, but my favourites (the piano girl, David Tennant and the ‘don’t kill the kitten’ girl) were all treats. If something bad happens to someone, even on tv, it makes me uncomfortable because I can’t help identifying with them. Does it not work this way for other people? I know I don’t have a ‘normal’ brain (I have Asperger’s syndrome), so can someone with a neurotypical brain just turn that feeling of identification off? I’m genuinely curious.
Tuning in for my first experiment tonight, looks great! I haven’t watched Brown since he gambled £100,000 of someones money on a roulette number near 2 years ago…but hey, looking forward to this! And also, can anyone tell me if Darren MADE someone an assasin? I am not sure…
Appalling programme, nasty concept. Usually I’m a big fan of Derren Browns, but not tonight.
i didnt like it simply because of how obvios it was, i figured it out half way through, it just shows how predictable you guys are. this show was predictable to, i hope the series gets better
Really enjoyed the program tonight, at first it was nice and light-hearted, and as a viewer I found the bottom pinching and shoplifting accusation quite funny, but after the police were called things took a really sour turn. It was amazing to see how quickly this normal, everyday people descended into really quite cruel and unkind people. When they started shouting out to the ‘producer’ to smash the TV I was genuinely shocked. There was no way for them to see his reaction and there was no humour in the situation anyway. Really appalling.
It was interesting to note how they all reacted once the stuntman got hit by the car. It suddenly stopped being a game to them, and they quickly realised how they had been behaving and what they had seemingly just caused.
Powerful and scary stuff. Amazing how quickly things spiral out of control. One question though Derren, why didn’t you announce the pecentage for the final kidnap vote?
Derren claimed that everything was real and unfaked.
I can’t believe that the flat was real, I suspect it must have been a mock-up, ie faked, what with the blank internet history and the handily placed baseball bat. If it wasn’t a mock-up, this was unacceptable intrusion.
The head-cam was stupid, there was obviously another camera in the room.
The final shots in “the flat” were not convincing either, because there was a camera filming the victim’s reaction, which again would be wrong.
The “accident” was an obvious fake, yes it really was, I said as much to her indoors, but she was away with the fairies.
A nice coup de theatre, but not entirely convincing.
The lack of audience response was deafening, but you’re never quite sure what you are seeing with Mr. Brown.
This audience must have been actors, fair enough the first prank maybe people would have chosen but once it got really nasty I don’t believe over 60% of them would have carried it on!! It upset me, I have always enjoyed DB but not this time!
Steve: Not legally an intrusion, he has a live-in girlfriend who gave them the keys and was in on it — supposedly she gave permission to film also, and maybe even conveniently placed that bat (which prompted the ‘smash the tv’ cries, which I’m sure was the plan all along). As long as one resident gives permission to film, and the subject later gives permission to air, there’s nothing legally wrong about it.
This is one of the most thought provoking programs I have seen on TV in a long time, it was truly shocking. Sadly I have no difficulty in believing that it is all true. The concept of mob mentality is fairly well documented and very well demonstrated in the media; the London riots/looting over seemingly nothing and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by otherwise well disciplined and trained British/US soldiers for instance, however where it is less well documented is in the school classrooms, university halls, work places and so forth where mob mentality leads to bullying. Rarely does the apparent lack of conscious get realised, it took a real shock in this instance a car crash for morality to be re-discovered.
Well done Derren for stomaching it and producing such a fascinating episode
hello. ive just watched ‘the gameshow’ . the whole concept was good , though it didnt touch on the shame of the baying mob and how they actually felt, as it could of been used to educate much more. the reality show and the bullying aspects are something i stopped watching long ago. having been bullied and witnessed it, i have researched it and am known for my advocacy for the underdog in life. one thing i cannot seem to get out of my mind is that derren said that the percentage of the audience voting for the bad stuff to happen was only around 60%. that left 40% who didnt favour this treatment of someone, yet not once did i see an audience member looking unhappy. i can say, without a single doubt in my head, that if i had been there, i would of made a stand about the treatment of this guy
What I don’t understand is why it was necessary for Kris to be authentic (i.e. not an actor) for the experiment to work. Since the Remote Control audience were the subject of the experiment, why was it necessary to cause Kris suffering? An actor would have also made the experiment easier to control. (There are so many ‘what ifs – what if Kris had left the bar after being threatened by so many people; what if he’d fled the police and been hit by a car; what if he’d assaulted the actor shopkeeper?). Kris’ suffering also makes Derren Brown culpable, whether or not it served the ‘higher purpose’ of an experiment. My theory is that Kris was, in fact, an actor, and this was disguised for our entertainment.