Fear In Mr. Ross's 'In The Experimenter'

Fear is a constant part of everyday life, whether it be fear of spiders, failure, or even a fear of loneliness. Fear plays a part in everything we do. This is shown in many ways throughout a lifetime. For children, as they learn the difference between good and bad, they also learn from getting in trouble. They learn that if something is wrong they will get yelled at, and to stop this behavior. They use this fear to form an idea of what they can and cannot do, and use this for the rest of their life. Also, In The Experimenter (2015) the main character instills fear in his test subjects by making them believe they are shocking a real test subject. They either continue despite their belief they shocked someone, or they try to end the experiment

Ross created a group to encourage discipline and teach kids about the Nazi regime, however he only told the kids about the discipline part. The kids had no idea that he was doing an experiment to test blind obedience to authority. He created a group called the Wave that the kids joined, and it spread throughout the school. As he continued with this group, it gradually became more and more strict and harsh. Many of the kids would be harsh towards each other if they did not join the group, and would even stop talking to them. The main character Laurie was very excited to join the Wave and even told her mother that she wouldn’t understand the community the Wave has because she wasn’t a part of it. She believed it was not a dictator-like regime in the beginning, like everyone else. However, Laurie soon realizes that she is wrong and the group is becoming dictatorial and harsh, and she tries to convince others to leave for the same reasons. But instead, most of her previous friends turn their backs on her because they believe she has turned her backs on one of the greatest things the school has ever created. Kids in this school are afraid of being different, and they look at other who are not in the Wave as outcasts. Even the “class creep” was a member, so those not in the group were truly different from others and viewed as weirdo’s. Fear affects them because they are afraid of leaving and not having any friends, just like Laurie. They look at her as an outcast throughout the whole movie, until the end, proving that straying from norms will make you an outcast, and it makes many people fearful because they do not want to be alone. Fear plays a huge role in this movie, especially by showing the teenagers fear of being alone or unpopular, which is a fear many teenagers hold true. They all follow every rule Mr. Ross puts on them, and are fully obedient to him throughout the whole movie, because of their fear of not conforming to social