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Tuesday
Analysis On The Movie Das Experiment By Regarding The Power Factor
Power is a fact that used to provide superiority. In order to govern the societies,
pressure on classes and even to set against between people, power is used since the first
communities emerged. It is unfolded in movie Das Experiment is how power affects
the individuals and how is the attitude of people that gain power changes on the
powerless ones. This paper focuses on power factor in the movie Das Experiment with
the aspects distribution of power between guardians and attitudes of the guardians to the
prisoners.
In the movie Das Experiment, a group of scientists make a social experiment on 20
male participants. The experiment is a simulation of a prison. Thus, some of the
participants are chosen to play the guardians and others to play prisoners. Guardians are
charged to retain the order. They are the power holders. At the beginning of the movie,
guardians try to provide authority by mild warnings. After a rebellion of the prisoners, a
guardian named Berus, who does not communicate to people, advises a method to other
guardians. He claims that humiliating people is an effective way to suppress the
rebellion. Guardians try that method and after being successful, Berus becomes the
leader of them. After that, it can be seen that how power points on one person. Guardians
vest to Berus on providing authority and even on legitimizing the attitudes of them. It
can be observed that pointing power on one center is important to gain a success on the
way of one mentality.
Powerful one is superior to others and it gives them sense of freedom that perceiving as
a behaving freedom to powerless ones. In the movie Das Experiment, the guardians
that are charged to retain the order apply violence increasingly to prisoners. The ironic
situation about that is actually violence is forbidden in the experiment but guardians
apply it in the name of retaining order that is a directive of the experiment. In the
movie, the protagonist Tarek who is one of the prisoners has some rebellious behaviors
in the prison. His behaviors are the trigger of some violence attitudes of guardians. After
Tarek insults to the guardian Berus, a power struggle between them occurs. Insults and
rebellious behaviors of Tarek make Berus more offensive and direct him apply more

violence. After Berus gains authority, he legitimizes his methods and that is the
beginning of the experiments getting out of control.
The movie Das Experiment shows that how power can be used as a device of
legitimizing the violence and how powerful ones can stay between two things: humanity
and enslaving. When power is held, an individual becomes aware of opportunities that he
can lead. It can be concluded in dreadful situations as can be seen in the movie.
Nevertheless, it is more dreadful when thinking about giving power to a violence
tendency person not only in a social experiment but also in real life.