Ethics in Trickery

Once I saw a video of some guy on candid camera (didn’t know this was still on the air after 120 years) in an airport being told he had to lie down on a conveyor belt and be ran through an x-ray machine. He complied, several times. It was kind of funny, but during the prank he asked ‘is this candid camera?’ or ‘where’s the candid camera?’-I don’t remember verbatim and I’ve tried to find the video. At any rate, the host Peter Funt didn’t stop. The guy got angry and sued. I'm not sure exactly what the suit cited as wrongdoing but to me there’s a bigger issue than whether or not it legally had merit. Etiquette and common sense matters more than any legal action. When the guy mentioned ‘candid camera’ it should have stopped. It would have been funny, kind of, and all involved would have had a laugh, halfhearted, forced or otherwise.

I don’t have a problem with fooling people and making the unsuspecting look silly even for profit. I don’t have much tolerance for claims of ‘emotional distress’ either. I do have a problem however with the victim wising up and calling the situation and the ruse not being stopped. When they call it-IT’S OVER. It’s done. There’s a bit of grey area and arguably some wiggle room simply not to answer the victim and continue but at that point the ruse is running on fumes. You don’t explicitly lie and tell the victim ‘no, this isn’t candid camera’ (again, I don't remember verbatim but it was something like that). This is the one lie you can’t explicitly tell. The only ‘integrity’ the ruse has and the only real humor hinges on this. Otherwise it isn’t clever and the victim has demonstrated that they aren’t that stupid. The perpetrator’s lack of persuasive skill to make plausible an implausible situation looks desperate. End it!

Along the same lines I suppose, I remember a kid in school who tried to convince me of something. I don’t remember what it was, something mundane. I didn’t believe him so he started with the ‘I swear to God’s and ‘really man’s and was practically begging me to believe him so I relented and said ‘uh ... ok, alright.’ He immediately horse-laughed and called me stupid for believing him. He did this with everyone-real popular guy.

In the art/science/etiquette of trickery, be clever, be persuasive, be mean even unless it’s completely inappropriate but know how to end a ruse. Know how these things make it funny.

and yeah ... Peter Funt and what’s-his-name from elementary school ... you guys suck