Derren Brown's Hero at 30000 feet.

[luckykaa]

So, finally got round to watching Derren Brown's Hero at 30000 feet.  Yes, I know it was over a month ago, but I was on holiday then and I've only just got fully media'd up.  

Thought it was enjoyable uplifting and convinced me that I really need to focus on turning my life around.  Oh...  Already working on that*.  But it was a good message. 

We learned that with a little positive thinking you too can learn to break into the Police Chief's house, steal a van full of party supplies, escape from a straightjacket and land a plane.

Then I read the Digital Spy forums.  I was amused about how cynical they all are.  Also amused that there seems to be a certain desire amongst everyone to stick to a consensus.  Okay.  Some people think it was faked.  I don't, but I can see their point of view.  Their reasons just seemed weird.  Some of the objections just seemed a little weird.  He wasn't sweating enough, or people talking about how they'd react if they were strapped in a straight jacket on some railway tracks, or their reaction if they saw smoke coming from under the door.  You know what - They're all wrong.  Nobody reacts how they think they'd react. 

Some things do seem a little strange though.  I can buy that he was chosen because he was extremely suggestable, and that explains a lot of his not questioning things that with a little thought seem obvious.  I'm not totally convinced that there was an arbitrary time limit for him to volunteer.  He did seem to have a certain amount of a push from the other "passengers".

Have to wonder how they actually did the train thing safely.  Okay - the train was moving incredibly slowly, and it would have been quite easy to have pulled him up, but it seemed that there wasn't a lot of time to do that.  Also have to wonder what they would have done had he decided not to land the plane.  Would have been a bit of a let down.

*Actually really need to do something different and new and interesting, again...  I'm worried about heading back into that rut.

Comments

[eglantinedreams.livejournal.com]

Interesting to hear someone else's point of view on that programme. I found it extremely unpleasant and was revolted by the manipulation (and even the agreement of the actors to join in on a professional level). It is incredible what positive stuff folk can do with a huge amount of self belief. However, people aren't toys.

Also the self belief can go the other way...

[eglantinedreams.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that wasn't very thorough.

He seemed to have taken a VERY susceptible guy who had little life experience and was very childlike. Falling for the things he did reflected this.

He was not given a little confidence- he was buoyed up by a mass of people all concertedly working to create a new reality for him in an incredibly short space of time. I wonder what state he will be in in a few years. It reminded me of the Truman show and was a vehicle for Brown's self-congratulation. It made me feel ill.

What would be nice is society as a whole acting as a nurturing environment. But it won't because the majority of the human race are selfish and greedy. Positive change happens very slowly from within.

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

I have greater faith in people than you. They're selfish, certainly, but that's because they're too wrapped up in their own lives. They're not going to notice someone needs a prod and even if they do they'll not know how to prod.

Really most of the show was redundant. He'd taken control of his life by the time he'd broken into the Police Super's house. Afterwards it was just providing a showy spectacle to the audience. I'm not that sure it makes this manipulative. It looks like he got something out of it at least in the short term. Okay - I have reservations about making him get on the flight in the first place. The guy was clearly terrified, but I think that might have been how it was presented to us.