The Psychology Behind a Cinema of Change: Philip Zimbardo
Professor Zimbardo was born in 1933 and taught Pyschology at Yale, NYU and Stanford University. In 1971, he conducted the world famous Stanford Prison Experiment where 24 students were put into a mock prisoner and guard situation for a week.
Welcome to the Cinema of Change podcast with Tobias Deml and Robert Rippberger. Join us for The Psychology Behind a Cinema of Change with our guest Philip Zimbardo.
Professor Zimbardo was born in 1933 and taught Pyschology at Yale, NYU and Stanford University. In 1971, he conducted the world famous Stanford Prison Experiment where 24 students were put into a mock prisoner and guard situation for a week. The experiment escalated to such a degree that it had to be stopped, and is now a hallmark of psychological research in the effects that conformity and authority can have on people. Zimbardo went on to study the nature of evil and recently founded the Heroic Imagination project, where he studies how people can take effective action in challenging situations.
In this episode we discuss:
2:24 – Media and its influence.
7:50 – The dangers of influence and how people get corrupted.
12:10 – Bling propagandists.
23:09 – Power in systems and for filmmakers.
32:41 – Encouraging critical thinking.
39:43 – Commercial films & critical thought.
41:43 – Involving the leveling power of the audience
49:56 – The Standford Prison Experiment Movie & films that work
Media has always played an important role around the globe. We live in a world of influence and social change - and as filmmakers, we want to contribute to a better world. The question is: How can we make better films that accelerate progress and help people become stronger critical thinkers? How can we expose issues that are important, and publish content that challenges popular conceptions? These podcasts along with the SIE Voices magazine take a multidisciplinary approach and interviews filmmakers, psychologists, researchers and academics. It analyzes success stories of films that had an impact, and portrays companies that are following this path. SIE Voices is a platform to bring impact filmmakers together to share ideas and to challenge our assumptions through debate.
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