Friday, February 15, 2008
Group Think in "The Usual Suspects"
The video above contains two clips from the 1995 movie "The Usual Suspects". The movie tells the story of five criminals (Michael McManus, Dean Keaton, Fred Fenster, Todd Hockney, and Verbal Kint) and their dealings with a mysterious man named Keyser Soze. The first part of the clip shows the men standing in a police lineup. The men have all committed crimes in the past, but this time they are brought in for a crime none of them actually committed; the police just needed a scapegoat. In the second part of the video the men are angry that they have been brought in under false charges and McManus proposes that they get revenge on the police. All of the men, save Keaton, agree to take part in the act.
Both of the clips exhibit most of the antecedent conditions of groupthink. For one thing, the men have good potential for group cohesiveness. This is because they are somewhat homogeneous and have things in common: they are all men and they are all criminals. Homogeneity fosters group cohesiveness. Another of these antecedent conditions is that the group is well insulated. Group insulation refers to a group being unaffected by influences outside of itself. The fact that McManus proposes getting revenge on the police shows that he and the group do not care about the law (an outside influence). The group also exhibits no impartial leadership; the members of the group all have personal interests in the outcome of the crime they are planning because they are all seeking retribution against the police.
A few symptoms of groupthink can be observed from the group. The men must believe that they are somewhat invincible and will not get caught when they do their "job". This illusion of invulnerability is one of the symptoms of groupthink. Also, the men must believe that the act they are planning is moral and the right thing to do (otherwise, would they be planning it?). Their belief in the inherent morality of the group is another symptom of groupthink. There is one dissenter in the group, Keaton. He is trying to stay away from a life of crime and says that he will not participate in the group's plan. A little later in the movie, however, the group places pressure on the dissenter. Keaton eventually agrees to participate.
Some of the elements of groupthink are not as apparent as others in this particular example, but I feel that this still exemplifies the theory.
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6 comments:
Groupthink is definitely evident in this clip because the cops think that by separating each of the group, they will go against each other and conform to the prevailing point of view that is being offered by the officers. As members of the same group, they know what each person will say and would not dare to go against each other. While I do agree with the first paragraph of the analysis, I dispute with the second paragraph because groupthink does not have to do with invincibility. Instead, the analysis is using the theory of perceived invincibility, in which a person believes that he or she can not be caught because they have been practicing the same routines all their lives. Therefore, the illusion of invulnerability is not a symptom of groupthink but instead a symptom of the theory of perceived invincibility. Finally, I don’t think the analysis at the end of the second paragraph was thorough enough because the analysis fails to mention that the dissenter in the group, Keaton, is going against groupthink at the beginning.
I agree that this clip is a good example of some characteristics of Groupthink such as cohesiveness and group insulation.
However, I also agree with Ryan that Keagan is a dissenter from the begining. He wants no part in the plan, and does not want to participate in the Groupthink taking place.
I also think that the main character in the scene is a self-appointed mindguard because he silences Keaton's criticisms and tells the other men to ignore him.
Keaton is a perfect example for sure of how a group can hinder your views. That's one of the many negatives of groupthink, knowing that your true self isn't coming through, and that you're view is being modeled by others, all the while trying to get their own point of view across. With so much pressure coming from the group, it's often times very hard to stay true to your own beliefs. Unfortunately, I have experienced this effect many times. However, recently I was involved in group exercises for a position on campus, and I was a victim of groupthink and a survivor, because after the first exercise, different opinions were heard and a stronger solution came from it.
I like the "self-appointed mindguard" symptom that Sarah added to the analysis.
But I don't agree with Ryan's disagreement on illusion of invulnerability as one of the symptoms of groupthink. In the Challenger video, one guy said that the shuttle has flied how many times and it came back how many times. This exmaple is similar to the one in this clip.
I think Rob mentioned that Keaton is a dissenter from the beginning in his first paragraph.
This clip I believe was a great example of Groupthink, this movie in its entirety has many scenes of group think, but I think that this clip being that it is the first example of groupthink to take place in the movie is an excellent example. I also agree that Baldwin was a self-appointed mindguard in this scene in the way he took control of the group. I do however think that some of the analysis was a stretch. I think what Ryan said about invincibility is closer to the truth, but you must also consider the fact that all of the men except 1 or 2 WERE all innocent .
Crime is a hard thing to read. I don't know how much I agree with groupthink here. Each of those men have a common motive, and that is making money. McManus introduces it as a job right off the bat, knowing his old partner Fenster would be in. He was just trying to pick up people while he could, especially if he can solicit the skills of master dirty cop turned criminal Dean Keaton. His dissension came from him wanting to go straight, however. He wouldn't have cared what the other men did. And also, it is no secret that criminals hate cops, so that decision will come easy to a group of criminals bent getting money from a job. While it may look like groupthink, I think its just crime.
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