Fast food worker on the phone.

Modern Milgram? McDonald’s strip search prankster.

Milgram’s obedience research is in the news again. This time in discussions about a disturbing new movie. ‘Compliance’, a feature by film-maker Craig Zobel, is based on the story of the notorious McDonald’s strip search prankster.

The real-life plot is this : a policeman calls a small town fast food restaurant to tell the manager that one of the restaurant’s staff is suspected of stealing. The officer instructs the manager to call the staff member into the office. Once there, the manager is instructed to conduct a strip search.

In the most famous incident of the 70 reported over a decade, the policeman convinced the female manager of a fast food restaurant in Mt Washington Kentucky to call her fiancé and tell him to come in and keep watch on the young employee while the manager went back to work. The fiancé is exhorted by the policeman to sexually assault the young woman. And he does. All in the name of the law.

In the wake of this particular episode – the most disturbing and infamous, involving as it did imprisonment and rape – it didn’t take long for journalists to invoke Milgram’s obedience research.

Parallels between Milgram’s experiment abounded when the story first broke. What was it that led the store managers to so obediently follow the policeman’s instructions? How could people be led to such inhumane behaviour?

Journalists were quick to make the connection, comparing the fast food managers to Milgram subjects who it was implied, were guilty of similar crimes.

As has been the case with Milgram’s obedience research, the focus of discussion was less about the perpetrator of the prank than on the people targeted.

But we don’t know how many store managers hung up on the so called policeman. We don’t how many of them saw through the hoax and dismissed it as a prank.  Instead we’re invited to come to pessimistic conclusions about human nature based on the case’s most dramatic examples.

Just as subjects in Milgram’s obedience research became the focus of criticism and scorn, it is the fast food managers whose behaviour has come under the microscope. In contrast, the unscrupulous and manipulative prank caller remains strangely anonymous.

Once again, the obedience experiments have been invoked to shed light on behaviour that is profoundly disturbing. And the power of the research is strengthened as a result.

It seems the film divided first night audiences. Some walked out, others gave it a standing ovation. The mixed reception is reminiscent of the admiration, disgust and fascination that greeted Milgram’s research.

I’m not sure I’ll go along and see “Compliance”. I’m sure it will have much to say about the perils of slavishly obeying orders from an authority. Whether or not it goes beyond scientific cliché is the question.

 

9 Comments

  • I wonder why it is that people want to believe that most people are so readily compliant? Does it suit a cynical view of personkind or is it a way of giving ourselves permission to behave badly? i once had a boyfriend who used to say that he was selfish because he was selfish, as if it were an innate quality in him and not something he could do something about. This film sounds light on but the events you describe in it are worrying. Where the actual truth lies is anyone’s guess, but I’m with you on the danger of extrapolating from one event to all others.

  • Gina Perry Says

    Yes, good point, there’s a tendency to conclude from incidents like these that there something in our nature that causes this kind of thing. Even though Milgram argued it was the power of the situation that influenced the actions of his subjects, the lesson that most people seem to have taken from his research is a very pessimistic view of human nature.

  • Kevin Says

    Seems that all you want to do is undermine Milgram and the good lesson he taught us. What’s more damaging? Maybe being a bit too crictical of human nature ( though I don’t think this is the case) or destroying one of the most powerful inhibitors of abusive behavior that civilized people could have? Who hired you, the crew at Gitmo or are they just using their authority to force you to obey them?

  • Gina Perry Says

    Hi Kevin
    I didn’t set out to write a story that would challenge the results of Milgram’s research – far from it. But the more I heard from people who took part the more I started to question the story we’ve been told. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We should question authority, and in this case, the authority of science. As for me being paid to put a particular point of view, my research is entirely independent and has been completely self funded. I’d be interested to know what you think once you’ve read my book.
    Regards
    Gina

  • metfan Says

    Watch ” Shoah.” Perhaps that film will clarify your perception. One can only hope.

  • Gina Perry Says

    I did watch Shoah last year. A group of us watched it over 4 weeks at Monash University and I was very glad to have the chance to discuss it at the end of each week.

  • Deb Says

    I am a college student and we are currently discussing Milgram and his experiments. My instructor keeps giving me more info & sites to read since I don’t understand how people can do such cruel things to others because of conforming to the group. She doesn’t understand why I can say that I am more sure than not that I would not have participated because I know what it’s like to have others behave that way to you for most of your life because you are an obese individual. Could I have some feed back from you since my instructor recommended that I get/read your last book to help me better understand how others could be so cruel simply because they were told to do it. Thank you! Deb

  • Gina Perry Says

    Hi Deb
    Milgram argued that it was the power of the situation that influenced people’s behavior in the experiment. He said that when faced with commands from an authority we enter ‘an agentic state’ in which we submit our will to a higher authority. That’s how he explained what happened in his lab. Trouble is, it doesn’t reflect people’s actual behavior in the lab at all. I found when I revisited his data that over 60% of people in the total of 24 conditions disobeyed the experimenter. Of those who did go to 450 volts, there was evidence that some saw through the hoax and went to maximum voltage because they knew they weren’t hurting anybody. So – it is entirely reasonable to question the often repeated view that placed in the same situation all of us would slavishly obey orders. I hope this helps. Good luck with your studies!

  • Deb Says

    Thank you, Gina.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *