Derren Brown’s zombie arcade
I watched Derren Brown’s trick of the mind show on Friday. Up to this point, I’d really liked the new stuff (Though I wasn’t really into the Russian Roulette thing he did a while back). I feel I should write about a trick on the show he did this week where he worked with a software designer and created a ‘zombie arcade game’ which was filled with lots of flashing lights and imagery that could possibly put someone into a catatonic trance. They then stuck this game in a pub with cameras all around and waited for some unsuspecting punter to come and play it.
After a while someone came along and actually played the game. After some time and a few well placed flashes n sounds later the guy slumped into the game and looked asleep. Brown came out and stuck this guy on a stretcher and then wheeled him of to a studio close by that was set up to look exactly the same as the environment the character he was playing in the game was in, they also had actors to play the games character parts. They gave this guy the same gun he had when playing the game and then went of to a control room and woke the guy up.
To say he was freaked out was an understatement. He looked absolutely terrified with all these made up zombies coming towards him. After shouting and screaming he finally started using his gun (all be it of the paint-ball variety) and tried his hardest to get out of there. All this time Brown and some of the guys friends *nice friends* watched from the control room. There came a point where the zombies were overpowering the guy and at that point Brown stepped in and ended it by putting the guy back under and wheeling him back to the pub and putting him back next to the game and waking him up. He was then shown the film etc and program ended.
I actually found this whole trick completely wrong and quite sickening. I don’t actually believe that the whole incident is completely erased from that guys mind, and the trauma in must have coursed is immense. The poor guy did not asked to be involved in this trick he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have since read that scenes where cut from this show because the guy was screaming so much. I got no enjoyment from watching someone be physically terrified on air. Shame on you Mr Brown for tarnishing what is an already entertaining program.
