Derren Brown - The Assassin

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Gary
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Date Oct 25th, 2011 04:05 Derren Brown - The Assassin

I was wondering whether you watched Derren Brown The assassin program the other evening and your take on it? I was under the impression that you would not be able to get someone to shoot a person against there will so how is he able to make such a program?

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Faith
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Date Oct 25th, 2011 04:07 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

In a normal hypnosis session a client couldnt be made to do something that they didnt morally agree with,; I think the professors who Derren spoke to also agreed with this. However Derrens experiment took place over several months and his techniques were allegedly based on the ones used by the CIA which most Hypnotherapists wouldnt use (at least, as intensively) in their sessions. I think its safe to say that people can be manipulated using hypnosis in the same way that they can during normal conscious awareness but I would hope that most of us wouldnt attempt this in a therapeutic setting. Nevertheless you raise an interesting question which Im sure is going to create a lot of discussion within the field of hypnotherapy I also think its important that a client would need to be reassured that a Hypnotherapist wouldnt exert control to such a degree as portrayed in The Assassin as ultimately hypnosis is about giving them control over themselves. I hope this makes sense - I admit I havent thought it through thoroughly so would be interested to hear your views.

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Gary
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Date Oct 25th, 2011 04:11 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

I missed the first 5 minutes and wasn’t able to watch it as closely as I would have liked, I would really like to see it again. I think the bit I found myself thinking about was why the assassin would take suggestion from the lady with the polka dress? Someone he didn’t know or voice he wouldn’t have recognized? So my question is once someone is in trance will they take suggestions from other people as well as the hypnotherapist or was it because over the months he had been hypnotized into reaching such a somnambulistic state he would take the suggestion of who the target was from anyone? I also felt there wasn’t much of a reaction from the audience after Stephen Fry had been shot even though it was only supposed to be the audience member sat by the assassin who was in on it. I would have imagined when the gun went off; the audience first reactions would have been screaming, hiding under seats or running etc. I find myself questioning how is he allowed to make such a program, if it is genuine? I find it difficult to believe the TV broadcasters or Ofcom would allow a program which could be perceived as fairly sensitive. It may give people the idea that if they want someone murdered it might be worth getting quotes from a hypnotherapist as well as a contact killer. However it won’t stop me watching the next episode.

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Faith
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Date Oct 25th, 2011 04:17 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

Regarding the lady with the polka dot dress, Derren had already implanted suggestions that his subject react in such a way whenever he saw the blue design with white polka dots on it. And I think the word target was a trigger word. A lot of showmanship is involved and Derren is good at spotting highly suggestible subjects but there are a lot of unexplained questions. I was also surprised about the audiences reaction (or lack of it) when Stephen Fry was shot although that could have been due to a state of shock and surprise and I agree about the ethos of whether other unscrupulous people may try to hypnotize someone for the wrong reasons. It will be interesting to see if any development is made on the guy who shot Robert Kennedy after this show. You asked if a hypnotized subject would take suggestions from someone other than the hypnotist. I dont think the lady in the polka dot dress actually gave any suggestions; she said Stephen Fry is the target - and the subject had already been programmed to respond to the word target and the telephone ring tone. Well, thats my take on it but Im sure we only saw what the program wanted us to see. It would be nice to hear other points of view on this.

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Faith
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Date Oct 25th, 2011 05:21 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

Regarding the lady with the polka dot dress, Derren had already implanted suggestions that his subject react in such a way whenever he saw the blue design with white polka dots on it. And I think the word target was a trigger word. A lot of showmanship is involved and Derren is good at spotting highly suggestible subjects but there are a lot of unexplained questions. I was also surprised about the audiences reaction (or lack of it) when Stephen Fry was shot although that could have been due to a state of shock and surprise and I agree about the ethos of whether other unscrupulous people may try to hypnotize someone for the wrong reasons. It will be interesting to see if any development is made on the guy who shot Robert Kennedy after this show. You asked if a hypnotized subject would take suggestions from someone other than the hypnotist. I dont think the lady in the polka dot dress actually gave any suggestions; she said Stephen Fry is the target - and the subject had already been programmed to respond to the word target and the telephone ring tone. Well, thats my take on it but Im sure we only saw what the program wanted us to see. It would be nice to hear other points of view on this.

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Sue Hayes
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Location: Nottingham, England
Date Oct 25th, 2011 05:43 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

Why is it when any programme that involves hypnosis it always shows the therapy in a scary light. Are these people like Derron Brownaware of the damage they are doing to our livlihoods. He may well be a great illusionist but I feel they should be interpreting our therapy in a better light. If they are unable to do this....GET OFF THE TELE

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Steve Scott
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Location: London, United Kingdon
Date Oct 27th, 2011 05:01 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

I watched the show with interest. Derren must have sorted through at least 50-100 people to find the one person who was hyper-suggestible. In ten years of doing hypnosis I have only ever know one person who was extremely suggestible (he is a master hypnotist like me & a good friend). In hypnosis I told him I was invisible (I was sitting directly opposite him) and he freaked out a bit as he could hear me but couldnt see me! Of course, once I removed the suggestion he could see me again. The fact is there are people out there that are hyper-suggestible but in the main I think they are quite rare. Also bear in mind that Derren mentioned hed worked with the chap for months! When the guy was interviewed afterwards he thought he was at the shooting range - keep that in mind people! He didnt honestly believe he had actually shot Stephen! It does pose some interesting questions though and no doubt further debate although I think it goes completely against the professional ethics of hypnotherapy.

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Dave Newman
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Location: Essex, GB
Date Oct 30th, 2011 03:56 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

Derren Brown is an entertainer and of course, he wants people to watch his shows, so what better than to pick such a subject, and exploit perhaps one of the single biggest fears that people have around hypnosis - that they might be forced to do something against their will. Now, I know people who would cheerfully shoot Stephen Fry if someone were foolish enough to give them a loaded gun.... and they thought that they could get away with it. No hypnotic trance necessary. So Im not sure that he proved his case. My guess is that Sirhan Sirhan is unlikely to be released from prison anytime soon and Im pretty sure that Derren doesnt care one way or the other. The renowned Psychiatrist and hypnotherapist, Dr Milton Erickson, ran a clinical trial to establish whether or not someone could be made to do something against their will, using post hypnotic suggestion. Erickson and other researchers in hypnosis conducted experiments, using highly suggestible volounteers, largely medical students, to do unethical or dangerous things, like stealing mail, or putting their hand in a glass tank with a poisonous snake and those individuals failed to do them. They demonstrated what Jack Hilgard called the hidden observer" effect - implying that there is a part of the mind which stays aware and keeps the subject safe from such things. So, although Derrens approach to stage hypnosis is marginally more sophisticated than suggesting that someone barks like a dog, I wonder, by exagerating this fear, how much further he removes Mr Average from the opportunity to change his life for the better, potentially detering the use of this powerful tool of hypnosis as a healing therapy.

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Kim Erdogan
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Date Feb 08th, 2012 06:38 Re: Derren Brown - The Assassin

I dont think it is necessarily a negative thing for people to realise how powerful hypnosis can be. What interested me watching this was that it proved it was possible and that the assasins <span style="font-weight:700;font-size:11pt">highlight</span>ed in the program could very well have been mere pawns for the CIA (e.g MK Ultra)

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