Experimenter Page #3

you will be "learner"

and which will be "teacher."

"Teacher."

They both say that.

And no one's caught on?

- Not a soul.

- Not the corporate manager,

the banker, the plumber,

the Good Humor man.

The Good Humor man

was actually vicious.

Crude mesomorph of obviously

limited intelligence.

The script has kind of momentum.

It carries them along.

- Men only?

- Every hour.

It's getting to be a blur,

really.

So you lead them both,

both the teacher and learner,

into the... electric chair?

Well, we don't call it that,

but, yes, if you'll follow me

into the next room, please?

Here's my home.

I think I'd go nuts in this

little room all day.

Well, they keep me busy. Agh!

Actually, I have

a heart condition.

Really?

It does give you authenticity,

I think, in the part.

But I think I'm a better actor

than I am accountant.

It's nearly time for the next one.

- Oh.

- Is somebody in there?

Maybe Alan.

- Shall we join him?

- Sure.

To give you, the teacher,

an idea of how much shock

the learner will be receiving,

we think it's only fair

you receive a sample shock yourself.

Is that all right?

- Fair enough.

- Give me your right arm, please.

This is the only real shock, right?

Mm-hm.

Have you done it?

Been shocked like that,

literally?

- Yeah.

- Yes, it's not pleasant.

Now if you'll just

use the scale here

to estimate for me

the amount of volts you think

you've received

in the sample shock.

- I don't know. You tell me.

- Well, that was only 45 volts.

So go ahead and begin the test.

He doesn't have a microphone

but he can hear you.

Just speak into the microphone.

The rooms are partially

soundproof.

Are you ready, learner?

Continues with

robotic impassivity,

courteous to experimenter.

Seems to derive no pleasure

from the act itself.

Incorrect.

The correct answer is "box".

Curt and officious

when saying "Correct".

Seventy-five volts.

Let me out of here!

Each time

he administers a shock,

lips drawn back, bares his teeth.

"Sweet:
Candy, girl, taste, pickle."

Wrong. "Sweet taste."

One hundred and twenty volts.

Let me out of here!

Looks sadly

at the experimenter

and continues reading word pairs.

Wrong. "True story".

One hundred and thirty five volts.

"Slow, walk..."

Afterwards, if a learner

who says he agreed to it

and therefore must accept

responsibility.

Wrong. "Slow music."

One hundred and fifty volts.

Let me out of here!

I can't stand the pain.

The man, he seems to be getting hurt.

There's no

permanent tissue damage.

Yes, but I know

what shocks do to you.

I'm an electrical engineer,

and I have had shocks.

You get real shook up by them,

especially if you know

the next one is coming.

I'm sorry.

It's absolutely

essential that you do continue.

Well, I won't, not with the man

screaming to get out.

You have

no other choice.

Why don't I have a choice?

I came here on my own free will.

I thought I could help

in a research project.

But if I have to hurt somebody,

if I was in his place...

No, I can't continue.

I've probably gone too far already.

I'm very sorry.

I could've wept.

I mean he looked like

he wanted to slug me.

Out of gratitude, you do understand,

I mean wept.

Because all day we've been

getting nothing but "wrong," zzzt.

You do realize I have to sit and

listen to you scream all day.

Well, so do I.

He was what, Danish?

Dutch, actually.

Right, but it wasn't his

nationality that caused him

to stop, it was the fact he

worked with electricity.

Hmm.

They all seem

to wanna impress you...

- for some reason.

- Mm-hm.

But why?

Why do so many,

the vast majority,

push all the way through

to the final switch?

Why is the Dutchman's defiance

the anomaly instead of the norm?

All the psychiatrists and

psychologists I consulted

were convinced we'd have trouble

finding a single person

that'd go all the way through

to the end. I'd have been

better off consulting the guy

from Pepe's Pizza.

Oh, you mean Pepe?

I think his name is Carmine.

Well, you get my point.

The butcher, the baker,

the candlestick maker.

I'd like to try it,

the test shock.

I just wanna...

know what it feels like.

Sasha.

I don't even think about that,

and I've been in there

supposedly getting

zapped to the maximum.

This really isn't necessary.

Well, yeah,

but it's not harmful either.

I mean I just wanna

understand it better.

Okay.

Other arm.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

I designed

a series of variations,

25 in all, and continued

the experiments

over the next two semesters.

We adjust the script so that

the learner bangs on the wall...

but says nothing.

We asked the teacher

to physically press

the learner's hand on a copper plate,

forcing him to receive the shock.

House.

Wrong. A hundred

and thirty five volts.

We move the experiment

into a shabby office

in Bridgeport, to deduct the

potential intimidation factor

of Ivy League prestige.

And, back at Yale, we include women.

What did you just do?

Uh, he said:
"Ow."

Did you turn off the machine?

I... I thought that if it seemed

like I...

you know, turn...

Okay.

"Short..."

The machine?

Please continue, teacher.

Okay, "Short:
Sentence, movie,

time, skirt."

I'm sorry, that's wrong.

It's "short time".

In nearly every case,

the essential results are the same.

They hesitate, sigh, tremble

and groan,

but they advance to the last

switch, 450 volts,

"Danger Severe Shock XXX",

because they're politely told to.

The results are

terrifying and depressing.

They suggest that the kind of

character produced

in American society

can't be counted on

to insulate its citizens from

brutality and

inhumane treatment in response

to a malevolent authority.

Milgram? Milgram is

Hebrew for pomegranate.

Is that what you mean?

It's one of the seven fruits

- of the Bible.

- You're Jewish, same as me.

You seem upset.

Am I upsetting you?

I have office hours.

You can make an appointment.

Huh? You don't like surprises.

You know, I've been thinking

about the experiment a lot.

It really rattled my wife

about what it said about me.

If she was me, she liked to think

she wouldn't have pulled the switch.

- But you know what?

- What?

You never know.

That's the thing, how can you know?

- You can't, right?

- No, you can't.

If it's any consolation,

a great many participants

were prone to nervous laughter,

but my wife actually is waiting

for me at home for dinner,

- so...

- Are you inviting me?

No. Make an appointment.

With leftover grant money

we film the last two days

of the experiment,

May 26 and 27th, 1962.

Four days later, Adolf Eichmann

is executed in Jerusalem.

Eichmann, architect of

the Holocaust,

responsible for the deportation

and murder of millions of Jews,

escaped to Argentina after

World War II.

He was living with his family

under the name Ricardo Klement,

an employee of Mercedes-Benz,

when Israeli Mossad agents

captured him in 1960

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