Links and Reviews of Influence & Persuasion Related Materials

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Influence at the Movies

In the late 1990s, a group of influence colleagues and I developed the following "Top 10" list of movies that illustrate influence techniques. Then we started to rate them as a group (but never completed the task). Our ratings were on a 1 to 10 scale (where 10 is best). V = variety of influence techniques depicted; A = accurate depiction of influence techniques; C = overall cinematic quality. Of course, a lot of influence-related movies have come along since then, but it's hard to get the group together now that we're spread all over the country!

1984 The Orwellian dystopia in which the government uses propaganda, the control of information, manipulation of the language, fear of a common enemy, and a myriad of social tactics to control its citizens.

The
Godfather V=4
A=4
C=9 Persuasion you can't refuse. Or is that coercion? Variations on the theme of social exchange. (Violent!)

The
Grifters V=5
A=7
C=7 A modern film about a seamy family of con artists, mostly slight-of-hand type cons, yet there's some verbal persuasion also. Best watched with a bag of oranges and a cigar.

House
of
Games V=8
A=8
C=5 A sophisticated psychiatrist becomes involved with a con artist and enters his world of crime and gambling. She finds herself drawn to the thrills associated with putting one over on unsuspecting victims. A variety of influence tactics are demonstrated; consistency tactics are well illustrated.

Inchon Sun Myung Moon (the 'Moonie' cult leader) spent $48 million to develop this nationalistic film about the Korean war. It starred Olivier & Bisset, but was a critical flop.

The
Manchurian
Candidate The original movie starring Sinatra that brought the term 'brainwashing' into currency. Illustrates brainwashing as it was originally and erroneously perceived by the American public. Depictions of the brainwashed are ludicrously incorrect.

Quiz
Show Movie about the "21" scandal from the early days of television. The producers of the game show "21" use some clever manipulative tactics to ensnare an otherwise ethical and intelligent man into cheating on the show.

The
Sting V=6
A=5
C=6 A Redford & Newman "buddy" movie, where the duo set up a sting operation to ensnare an evil crime boss. Illustrates consistency tactics, as well as slight-of-hand cons.

Tin
Men V=7
A=8
C=8 Dreyfuss & DeVito attempt to sell undesirable aluminum siding in the 1960s. Several interesting persuasion techniques, with the underlying question of ethical boundaries in selling.

Twelve
Angry
Men An influence classic, with one juror (Fonda) standing against the pressures toward conformity.

Don't miss the propaganda analysis of Fahrenheit 9/11 here.

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