What Would You Do?!

This is more or less about the ABC show "What would you do" with John Quinones. For those that haven't seen it, actors are hired to reenact certain scenarios that currently occur in our society. They have done shows on race, bullying, drunk driving, etc,. The difference here is the scenario is acted out, and records the actions of others who are unaware that they are being taped.

Some are quite helpful, and do very kind things, and are praised with a camera to their faces, and are commended on their noble actions. But there are also some that dont always "do whats right", and are called out on their choices, and usually they choose to be anonymous.

Now one thought that came to my mind is when your a child and are told that "mom always knows" children have a tendency to be more careful about their choices. But these aren't children, and I am sure that those that unwillingly participated where not expecting to be scolded, for not doing the "right thing".

So, I wanted to know how you fellow members felt about a national television show disguised as a "doing it for the better good" can actually entrap others, and call them out without their knowledge with the front of doing it for the greater good. Is this a way to prepare those that "someone is always watching"?

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


allen funt was doing it a long time before the ABC knuckleheads.

Candid Camera

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I watched a few of those and thought it was an interesting peer into some current social behavior, and after saying 'current,"I wonder how/if these reactions have differed over time. I bounce between being proud of humanity, then saying wtf sometimes!
You mention children too, and I would guess that if these situations were amongst children, there would be more compassion from them. Which begs the question, where and why did we lose a little humanity? Is it the hardening and disenchantment of life itself, or some type of sub-conscious psychological security tactic that we employ for safeguard?
I'd be curious about cultural differences in these situations, as in how would this modality fair in other countries. Are we more or less selfish/less?

Peace NRE,
spec

ETA:

So, I wanted to know how you fellow members felt about a national television show disguised as a "doing it for the better good" can actually entrap others, and call them out without their knowledge with the front of doing it for the greater good. Is this a way to prepare those that "someone is always watching"?

I don't think that is the intention, but rather ratings is, it's a unique little interesting niche.

I'm sure it's boob-tubingly entertaining at times but, yeah, I find it somewhat disturbing too. Reminds me of some of the psychological test set-ups from the past...but for immediate commercial profit.

Idiocracy was just a movie wasn't it?

Idiocracy was just a movie wasn't it?

reply to post by The GUT


Or was it more real than we know?

Havent owned or watched television in over 30 years,. It sounds like big brother attempting to be "entertaining" .. Surveillance with adverts...

It seems like now people feel inclined to do what they normally would not just with the notion that ABC camera's might pop out of no where. This either forces us to be kinder, or to fear that someone is watching and judging. I rather not feel either when I am going to the store, at a bar, or walking down the street.


Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


5 monkeys are in a cage that contains a staircase with a big reward at the top. at the beginning all of the monkeys want that reward and try to climb the stairs. when one monkey tries to go up the stairs they are sprayed with water. after a few repetitions, no monkey out of the five will even touch the stairs, even when the threat of being sprayed again is taken away without their knowledge.
5 more monkeys are introduced, and have not experienced being sprayed with water, so naturally will want to climb the stairs.

the chimps who were subject to the punishment, however, will attackthe one one who tries to climb the stairs as a group, and the others watching will never try to climb the stairs.

5 more monkeys are introduced and go for the stairs to get their big pile of bananas or whatever it would be. all of the chimps will attack the newcomers who try to climb the stairs. even after not knowing why they cant do something, they will continue to enforce the punishment for those that do

eventually, no monkey that had been subject wo the spraying will be in the cage and yet no monkey will attemp to climb the stairs

the moral is that we need someone to tell us when we are doing something wrong, but it will be sooooooo much better for them to truly see why doing those little insignificant good things are right, otherwise they wont learn from it. no good deed goes unpunished, so sometimes in a world of laws the risks outweigh the benefits of being good, and generous. i for one am just a bit happy they had this show and are actually putting their money where their mouth is.

heh, in reality, a street criminal on the show would probably gain a bit of respect to be exposed on that show. " see i told you i got dat money jus layin all ova the sidewalk.. bitches were like, this was all setup to see what you would do in this situation, and i was all like, f--- im keepin it, idgas" do they care if the actual responsible people in their comunity think of them?
so all in all, no bad came out of it.
you cant condition people anymore to a snitch/surveillance society bc its pretty much already here, why dont we at least see good things for what they are? in this situation, the good outweighs any bad from it, but thats my opinion. let me ask you this,

would you watch a marathon of this, (without forming conspiracy possibilities the whole time) or watch a marathon of jersey shore/all that other plastic, slutty, bs?

trust me people, priorities here..... then we can take down the surveillance state to only what directly affects businesses. if the cops were so good, they would be catching more people by using ivestigation, not stagnating, growing corrupt, and having machines do his job

=P sorry for the length, it goes a bit off topic, but its all tied together, good luck to you, and hope you are having luck with your significant other "issue" (im trying to be psychic over the internet)just remember its not an issue its just a challenge and there is a good and bad way of solving it (plz let me know if i ballparked it, or if im way offbase here)

I am consistently appalled at the trash hollyweird calls entertainment. Especially "programming" like this which serves no purpose but to further denigrate and shame the American people in the eyes of each other, and those of other countries. In my experience, and in my opinion, Americans are like any other people. More often than not, and in most circumstances, the majority will do the right thing on any given day. Do we have bad days? Sure. But todays scoundrel, may also be tomorrows hero. To me, these programs really reflect the view of those who produce them, and slant them to subtly reflect their true opinion of you, the average American.

I would be willing to bet they went through several who did the right thing, just to find a few who didn't.

S&F OP.

reply to post by GenerationXisMarching


I actually saw the 5 monkeys in a video a while ago, and I found it to be very telling, though they used monkeys and not humans. I think that it might not have been so popular if they used humans (though they were wearing suits).

We all know that there is some good and bad in all of us, but by forcing the "unnatural" order of things by publicizing it wont make things any better. A lot of the material that was used on the show was obvious that someone in their right mind wouldn't do it. But people seemed to fall for it anyway.

If I was stealing a bike (it happened in an episode), I wouldn't ask a total stranger for help to pick the lock. This is what the court system and a lawyer would call entrapment. But since its for the greater good then its ok to call people out. If we as a society followed all the rules we wouldn't need a show like this anyway.

They found a way to make people feel guilty, enforce "programming", and fear in everyone. BTW Ive never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, and never will!

Peace, NRE.

I do not have a problem with it, I do not feel like they have necessarily stepped over any boundaries, any of mine at least. I tend to think of it as a way for society to check itself, a little humility every now and then never hurt anyone, and then when deserved, praise. Everything needs a balance, and if used correctly, this is a way to assist in keeping society in check and also aware. Certainly, they are doing it for ratings, but as I said, done correctly there is no reason they should not make any money either.