Reality T.V. Producer on French 'Death' Doc

"A state-run TV channel is stirring controversy with a documentary about a fake game show in which credulous participants obey orders to deliver increasingly powerful electric shocks to a man, who is really an actor, until he appears to die.

"The producers of "The Game of Death," broadcast Wednesday night, wanted to examine both what they call TV's mind-numbing power to suspend morality, and the striking human willingness to obey orders. "'Television is a power. We know it, but it's theoretical,'" producer Christophe Nick told the daily Le Parisien. "'I wondered: Is it so important that it can turn us into potential executioners?'"

"Let me start by saying that I have not actually watched this documentary so my entire impression is being pulled from CNN and articles like this. But for me, this falls under the heading of, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." "The producers are toying with their unknowing participants emotions and mental states for the sake of ratings. (If I'm recalling my Psych 101, the Yale experiment they are recreating actually left some people pretty scared.) They proved two things true. 1.) The Yale study was correct (which was never in doubt, in the first place). 2.) Television is seen as an authority figure. I don't need to toy with people's emotions and psychological well-being to determine that television is an powerful medium. "If you've ever walked down the street with a TV crew you realize that a camera is a very powerful device. People will do some ridiculous, regrettable, borderline dangerous stuff because there is a camera present. I think as producers, we should be aware of that power and act accordingly. These French producers we're acting maliciously with that power. "I don't have a problem with sensationalism. I have a problem with the producers doing something so potentially detrimental to the participants "? just because they can. There's a show on in the U.S. called Solitary on Fox Reality Channel that is basically a form of mental torture co-opted into a game show format. Solitary pushes the bounds of what we should be doing on television, but at least the participants choose to be on the program. They agree to put themselves through torture, for some reason. "Jersey Shore, the perfect mix of sex and violence, is sensational and I am a huge fan. Yes, it takes advantage of some simple-minded youth, but they also agree to be on the show. (I have friends who work on both programs.) "Taking subjects who agree to be on a game show and running them through potentially damaging psychological experiments is not something we as producers should be doing."