I was checking my social media when I saw someone recommending a documentary called “Sacrifice”. I wasn’t sure what was it about, and I’m not the type of person who likes documentaries so I passed. A few days later, an important marketing person that I follow was recommending watching this special, and he said he cried like a baby after watching it and how amazing it was. That really caught my attention, because he’s not the sweetest person in the world and I wanted to know what was so special about it and why did he cry. I looked for it, and I found out that is in Netflix, and I started watching it. The truth is that he was right, and I cried too. This is not a regular, boring, and simple documentary or special talking about anyone’s life. In this program a guy named Derren Brown, who is an illusionist, creates an experiment where he manipulates a person to commit a sacrifice. In order to achieve the experiment, Brown uses his knowledge as an illusionist creating the perfect environment for his project, he does the search for the correct person, and he changes his life.
I was never a huge fan of illusionists or magicians because I know that nothing they do is real, so when I started watching “Sacrifice” I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it, even though it does not last more than an hour. Darren Brown created an environment where the main plan was made a person feel like whatever was about to happen was real. The way he implements all the illusions is fantastic and he applies a series of psychological techniques, a splendid scenario, and actors that would make everything seem like it’s actually happening.
Brown and his team made a search for the right person for the experiment, and they chose a candidate with strong beliefs about a sensitive issue nowadays in the United States. This guy is informed that he is the chosen one to participate in a medical experiment where they are going to study a series of psychological things. Phil, the guy who was selected for the experiment, agrees with participate in the trial. While I was watching this part, I didn’t feel like it was correct whatever they were doing to Phil, because they were lying to him and I don’t think that’s how things work. Also, I didn’t like him too much, for the reason that I don’t share some beliefs that he has, and I think that that irrational way of thinking is consuming a lot of people around the world.
As the experiment progressed I became more interested in how incredible illusions are, and how some people can manipulate the way we see things. Derren Brown used his capabilities to change Phil’s thoughts, and creates a different state of mind for him. Phil definitely believed that everything was real and even thought during the process he almost didn’t pass the challenge, everything ended up being a success. The participant who started agreeing to do a medical experiment and with some judgmental beliefs ended up being a hero who was willing to sacrifice his life for someone he didn’t even know.
This experiment not just made me understand that the fact that we believe in something doesn’t mean that it is the right thing. Our beliefs are in part a consequence of how we grow up, the family in which we were raised, and sometimes is just ignorance. We ignore where we come from in most part, and we live in a world in which we are judged for being different, or when people think we are different. Phil understood that all of his ideals were wrong and Brown’s experiment changed his life forever. I definitely recommend this special in Netflix and I truly believe that it can change a lot of people way of seeing things and I wish we could apply this experiment to some people who does not respect everyone equally.
