Yes, MJG had already posted Milgram in this thread and I agree there is certainly a connection. That being said I think there is a rather large difference in researchers performing a controlled experiment with an eye toward academic results and a tv show meant to titillate the masses. First off the controlled experiment is just that, involving only a small number of people, whereas the tv show is thrown out there with little to no concern in front of millions of people (or more) for them to interpret as they please. It's the Milgram experiment done for fun! To that end I think it is much more of an ethics issue.

I understand your point about the need for people to be shaken up but I can say I did not benefit in any way from seeing that and it left me in a poor state of mind. I did not seek that out and I can't take credit for finding it on youtube. It was sent to me in an email with a title like "If you did not think we have reached bottom think again!"

I opened the email and watched the video having no idea what to expect. There was a bit of debate attached to the email from others that had read it and watched the video before me. One of the responses was something along the lines of "So what! It wasn't real. They ate pork not real human flesh."

The "reality" of the situation was really not what I would question. In fact the words "Reality Television" are a fairly stupid combo and the term only means "real for tv" meaning not very real at all. If you want reality you don't turn on the tv, you go out into the world.

Now you could examine this from all kinds of angles, who are the people on the show, who are the people that would watch this show, who are the people that would make a show like this, who are the people that would get off on a show like this, why does that squealing woman get so excited that one of the true low points of her existence will be televised, how will this show impact the people that see it (for me it was certainly negative), can we learn anything from this show and does it in any way try to enlighten us or does it just ask us to ogle the obscenity of it all...the list goes on and on.

I think it is fair to compare this to Milgram but one of these items was research and the other a craven exorcise in human debasement and not just for those on the show but for all of us poor bastards unfortunate enough to have seen it.