The Stanford Prison Experiment (film) review

Kyle Patrick Alvarez's The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was no experiment, it was a simulation. A simulation of how a [faux] authorial gap can influence power, perseverance, and identity.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo (Billy Crudup) was (and still is) a psychology professor at Stanford University. He decided to run a summer "experiment" on how the different roles of guards and prisoners can influence the behavior of the subjects. The participants are all male Stanford students. They are young, healthy, smart, privileged American youth. But, if you have ever taken a psych 101 course, you have probably heard that is not how these students act once they are tossed into the basement of Jordan Hall.

Zimbardo's call to subjects as it appeared in The Stanford Daily in 1971.

As an aspiring scientist, I like to side with Professor Jim Cook (Fred Ochs) when he comes across Zimbardo outside the hall where the simulation is taking place and asks, "What's your independent variable?" Zimbardo skirts the question and scowls that he doesn't have the time to explain his research. This is bad science. There was no proper experiment, it was just a simulation. In the same way that Whiplash was not a music-movie (despite critics saying the musicianship was inaccurate), SPE is not a science-movie. This should not turn you away from the story.

Zimbardo (center) with his graduate assistants.
Mike Penny (James Wolk) - left
Paul Vogel (Gaius Charles) - right

The themes of the SPE rise beyond the story of a prominent professors' research. The themes venture to the dark corners of human experience that lurk within all of. A love of power, a hunger for control that most people hope they never seize. If this simulation says anything about humans, it is that we all have a capacity to abuse power (especially when given the appropriate uniform), even when we clearly have not worked towards it or deserve it in any way.

"Prisoners" and "guards" in the simulation.

With all the buzz about power abuse within our current police force and prison systems, this movie was released at just the right time. It puts perspective on how these environments may actually be conducted. The SPE is just a simulation. All of the subjects enter at a level playing field. The guards and the prisoners are all averagely healthy and sane Stanford students, yet chaos still erupts. Imagine, within the justice system of our government, the events that could be produced out of people who have already been labeled as "criminals" or "enforcers." This gap of power is even wider and the implications that Zimbardo's research provides does not shine a positive light on the possible outcomes.

I am not in any position to propose a call to action or even provide a response to all the seeming corruptions that have taken place in our justice system in the news lately. But as someone who has stayed very neutral on these issues, the SPE has really sparked my interest on this matter.

As a reader, you may be thinking, "it was a cinematic work of art and was dramatized." Zimbardo himself has made comments about that sort of criticism to The Stanford Daily and I encourage you to read about it here.

Would you rather be a guard or a prisoner?

This film is not light. It will have your heart pounding from the opening scene, all the way to the final interviews. It begs the question, "What would you do?" It appears that humans have a hidden character within them that is revealed when repercussions are apparently eliminated and power is limitless. With discontent in our veins, and regret in our hearts, hopefully you can go back to being comfortable knowing that the Stanford County Prison is now closed.

Post script: There are so many scenes that agonize the viewer. They feel like a lifetime long. As Zimbardo watches the simulation progress, he becomes a part of the whole scenario himself. Further, the viewer watches Zimbardo conduct the whole experiment. You are constantly answering, "Well, this is exactly what I would do!" in your head. The voyeurism is magnified. Never have I been as engaged in a film as I have this one. 

My emotions turned physical. Even as I sit at home writing this, four hours after the film has ended, I still feel jittery. That painful sensation you get in your stomach after you've gone hungry for too long persists. The fragility you feel in your limbs when you are opening doors, or bumping your knee on the corner of the bed, it sends me to a chair whimpering. A few paragraphs ago, I accidentally bumped a mug of green tea off my nightstand onto the floor causing the ceramic handle to crack off. This nearly sent me into tears. I was worried my downstairs way be disrupted and I was ashamed to tell my girlfriend that I had broken her hand-me-down, shoddy appearing mug. Every train whistle has me jerking my head towards the window and my stomach twisting with anxiety. These were the sorts of sensations the film brought about.