Experimenter (2015)

This film featuring the journey of Milgram's life story on his conducted experiments has given me a stronger perspective on how inhumane behaviors are of no exception to a civilized human being particularly when it involves a situation of conflicted empathy that is often real and unavoidable, which brings to the irony that despite bearing empathy to understand another person's shoes, why do we still perform actions knowing that it would inflict pain and suffering on others?

"This goes to show that it is of no secret that the ability and readiness to bring harm to another human being makes the brutal part of human nature and the society we live in."

One particular dilemma raised from Milgram's experiment is well, centralized around ethics, which brings an important question to ponder, what is a fair amount of stress inflicted that is considered acceptable in the name of science? Considering the situation of his experiment was staged in a manner of illusion, then does that involve deception? From what is portrayed of Milgram's character, I would interpret his inability to accept his experiment critics as a form of stubbornness, making it one of the ugly qualities his subjects equally have. His unwillingness to see the other side of things alongside his obsession with the nature of obedience has blinded him from seeing that his methods may be interpreted as an abuse of power in their own right. 

To further illustrate, his inability to see things on the other side was also illustrated in the scene where he was accused from a student in his Harvard class that pointed out his experiment was a deception and he reacts by shutting her down, He was also similarly prickly when he is confronted by a panel of researchers, and this showed that he in fact, looked down on his critics and saw them as a nuisance that should not be taken seriously instead of seeing the scenario as a platform to improve his upcoming experiments.

However, I believe to judge harshly against his approach in the experiment is to disregard the complexities that he has faced in his life, namely for instance, his history of merely escaping the holocaust tragedy. His determination to dive in his quest for truth behind the concept of obedience has created a world of his that hovers between the real one and one of his imagination. This scenario raises a question whether the resulting effects behind his experiment has in fact turned Milgram into an accomplice by inducing the ability in a person to harm another? Or is his experiment just pointing out the harsh reality of the brutal human nature?

***
I believe the ultimate takeaway from this film is to convey a message that resides in having the sheer determination to believe in our objectives, as how Milgram portrays it through his determination and passion to figure the reasons behind the compelling truth of obedience. We may not always know whether our actions are deemed to be either right or wrong, but the best we can do is to continually have faith in our objectives and entrusting ourselves in hopes that we do not become the things we fear in others, for:

" Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward."

Social experiment:
It'll be interesting to conduct an experiment in regards to testing how and to what extend a person can keep a secret when they are shown prior evidence to something that is unethical and against their beliefs, and if they are compelled to reveal when being offered incentives or something geared in a more negative manner than could risk them in more harm. To spice up and induce further decision making conflict, it will be interesting to see in regards to whom an individual is a keeping a secret from. For instance, it could be compared in terms of knowing the person personally or not, alongside seeing whether impressions formed of another individual could effect the way a person decides to expose a secret about another.