The banality of television fascism
French television conducted a rather dubious field experiment involving human subjects: Contestants were easily persuaded to torture others with mild and eventually lethal electric shocks—as part of the game and as punishment for wrong answers. The program revealed a grim reality, but its significance remains limited. By Jürg Altwegg, Geneva correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
It is well known just how much grotesque humiliation people are willing to put up with on television. We know all too well just how despicable people can be when it comes to excluding members of a group on reality TV. Does that mean television is also a new form of fascism, to whose ideology and rules everyone submits? That’s what Christophe Nick claims.
He was looking for candidates for «a new game that had yet to be tested.» Whenever their partners gave the wrong answer, they had to pull the lever to deliver an electric shock. What they didn’t know was that the test subject had been replaced by an actor. The cries of pain were faked. Eighty percent complied with every request—even when the dose became lethal. Twenty percent refused to continue the inhumane game once the current reached a certain level.
The Willingness to Obey
But it wasn’t a game; they were filming a documentary. The experiment was modeled after the famous «Milgram Experiment,» which sought to explore people’s willingness to obey—ultimately, to address the question of how it was possible during the war for Germans to participate in Nazi crimes. Stanley Milgram explicitly referred to Hannah Arendt’s book *The Banality of Evil*; during his trial, Eichmann had justified his actions by claiming that he had merely followed orders.
Television is breaking down boundaries of modesty
In mid-March, the French network France 2 made the documentary the centerpiece of a memorable evening, and Christophe Nick also turned his insights into a book. Television, he claims, is systematically breaking down boundaries of shame and taboos. It is even ready for the ultimate transgression: a public execution by the mob—orchestrated by television. He claims to have actually provided proof of this with his «Jeu de la mort.».
It was a game played with the wrong cards and under the wrong conditions. And it had an unexpected loser: France 2 managed to secure only a 12 percent market share. This left it far behind its commercial rival TF1, which aired a staid cultural program, and the other public broadcasters.
Viewers are indifferent to the everyday fascism on TV; they have no interest in television’s criticism of television. Furthermore, Christophe Nick must now face charges in court: two former ministers have filed a lawsuit accusing him of incitement to violence. In French-speaking Switzerland as well—where TSR covered the experiment—complaints have been filed with the ombudsman.
The irrationality of reality TV is a fact
The participants were not ashamed: With one exception, they were all willing to have their appearances shown on television. One participant, who had administered electric shocks without any hesitation, said he had been well aware that there was no torture on television. Psychologists and philosophers interpreted this statement as evidence of television’s power to manipulate, noting that television had become the ultimate authority—whereas in the «Milgram Experiment,» it was still science. Yet the irrationality of reality TV and its games is a fact that one must give the willing perpetrators—as victims of this experiment—some credit for. Even if the true heroes of this evening are very much those who dropped out during the course of the game.
Some people took part in the lengthy discussion that followed. A great deal of intelligent—and sometimes contradictory—commentary was offered. It is very healthy for television to engage in self-critical reflection. The fact that this also involved public television leveling accusations against private television was somewhat hypocritical. The program itself—even if under the guise of an accusatory and educational documentary—has, after all, very much embraced the very mechanisms and fascination it denounces. The trailer certainly gave the impression that it was a real, existing show. Television criticism is more fruitful when it doesn’t invent all sorts of possible perversions, but sticks to reality. That’s bad enough as it is.
He was looking for candidates for «a new game that had yet to be tested.» Whenever their partners gave the wrong answer, they had to pull the lever to deliver an electric shock. What they didn’t know was that the test subject had been replaced by an actor. The cries of pain were faked. Eighty percent complied with every request—even when the dose became lethal. Twenty percent refused to continue the inhumane game once the current reached a certain level.
The Willingness to Obey
But it wasn’t a game; they were filming a documentary. The experiment was modeled after the famous «Milgram Experiment,» which sought to explore people’s willingness to obey—ultimately, to address the question of how it was possible during the war for Germans to participate in Nazi crimes. Stanley Milgram explicitly referred to Hannah Arendt’s book *The Banality of Evil*; during his trial, Eichmann had justified his actions by claiming that he had merely followed orders.
Television is breaking down boundaries of modesty
In mid-March, the French network France 2 made the documentary the centerpiece of a memorable evening, and Christophe Nick also turned his insights into a book. Television, he claims, is systematically breaking down boundaries of shame and taboos. It is even ready for the ultimate transgression: a public execution by the mob—orchestrated by television. He claims to have actually provided proof of this with his «Jeu de la mort.».
It was a game played with the wrong cards and under the wrong conditions. And it had an unexpected loser: France 2 managed to secure only a 12 percent market share. This left it far behind its commercial rival TF1, which aired a staid cultural program, and the other public broadcasters.
Viewers are indifferent to the everyday fascism on TV; they have no interest in television’s criticism of television. Furthermore, Christophe Nick must now face charges in court: two former ministers have filed a lawsuit accusing him of incitement to violence. In French-speaking Switzerland as well—where TSR covered the experiment—complaints have been filed with the ombudsman.
The irrationality of reality TV is a fact
The participants were not ashamed: With one exception, they were all willing to have their appearances shown on television. One participant, who had administered electric shocks without any hesitation, said he had been well aware that there was no torture on television. Psychologists and philosophers interpreted this statement as evidence of television’s power to manipulate, noting that television had become the ultimate authority—whereas in the «Milgram Experiment,» it was still science. Yet the irrationality of reality TV and its games is a fact that one must give the willing perpetrators—as victims of this experiment—some credit for. Even if the true heroes of this evening are very much those who dropped out during the course of the game.
Some people took part in the lengthy discussion that followed. A great deal of intelligent—and sometimes contradictory—commentary was offered. It is very healthy for television to engage in self-critical reflection. The fact that this also involved public television leveling accusations against private television was somewhat hypocritical. The program itself—even if under the guise of an accusatory and educational documentary—has, after all, very much embraced the very mechanisms and fascination it denounces. The trailer certainly gave the impression that it was a real, existing show. Television criticism is more fruitful when it doesn’t invent all sorts of possible perversions, but sticks to reality. That’s bad enough as it is.
