From the first few moments of Compliance, actually apparent even from the trailer, it’s clear that Ann Dowd delivers what will likely be one of the best female performances of the year. What made me want to watch the film — which, frankly, is a hard sit — was one look in Dowd’s eyes in the trailer, a flicker in her eyes that reveals a mysterious motive — what is she doing and why? Is it really just about compliance? Is it really just about taking orders or is there something more disturbing going on?
Compliance is a film that has prompted walk-outs, so say insider reports, and this is probably because it takes you a while to buy the concept. he adage that real life is stranger than fiction was never more true than it is here, and rattled viewers may lose patience for the baffling behavior onscreen unless they’re aware this sick travesty really happened. But Compliance, under the devilish control of writer-director Craig Zobel, takes a little while to sink its teeth in. Once it does you can’t look away. And you find yourself drawn in, you may begin to question your own motives. Are you waiting around to see something sexual happen? Are you caught up in the suspense of it? Are you horrified by what’s happening? What would you have done?
Compliance is a fascinating look at human nature. We are raised to respect authority and obey our elders. Girls especially learn how to be “good” very early on. Some of us rebel. Some of us question authority. Some of us would rather go to jail than comply. But most of us? Most of us are, it has been proven time and time again, do what we’re told, even if it means hurting another person or being party to something horrific. How do you think the Nazis got the Germans to go along with the evil atrocities they were committing?
[SPOILERS. Although Compliance is a true story, the subject of numerous news reports, the facts are not widely known. Since it’s impossible to discuss the thrust of the film with describing how events unfold, the next few paragraphs necessarily contain spoilers. The impact of the movie relies on the horrible escalation, so be advised you may want to discover them in the theater.]
The true story of Compliance ended in a $6 million settlement for the victim by the McDonald’s corporation*. A pittance, really, for what happened to her in the back room. It was all captured on a security video. The fear of bad publicity is likely what prevented McDonald’s and other fast food companies from reporting the prank call strip searches. The movie doesn’t use McDonald’s as its setting but it mostly adheres faithfully to the true story regarding “Becky” aka Louise Ogborn, played in the film by Dreama Walker, and “Sandra” aka Donna Summers (Down).
Summers’ reprehensible boyfriend ended up in jail, too, for going along all too willingly with the caller’s instructions to spank “Becky” and then receive a blowjob from her. The young girl, 18 in the real incident, 19 in the film, was too scared by that point to stop him. The boyfriend was probably turned on by the whole thing, but also being compliant to the caller’s instructions, no matter how outlandish they sounded.
[End of Spoilers. Safe to go back in the water.]
A smart actor knows the difference between playing a character with one dimension and dipping and diving through the more shadowy layers. Dowd’s performance is part of what keeps you watching because you can’t quite figure out where she’s coming from. Her motives, her boyfriend’s motives, are called into question and the film does not shy away from this. It does not absolve the real Sandra from blame.
The film starts with Sandra trying to talk to Becky about boys. Becky is the “pretty one” in the fast food joint and brags about the men who send her naked photos. She belittles Sandra when her boss tries to join in with clumsy raunch of her own. The moment that is most fascinating in Dowd’s work is after she leaves the conversation and listens in on Becky mocking her behind her back.
That sets the wheels in motion. It isn’t that she’s punishing Becky for being a typical mean girl. But there might be a left over resentment from a woman who was not only never a Becky in her life, but now too old to be acknowledged by Becky as anything other than a supervisor or a mother figure. The film’s throughline is Sandra’s insecurity.
Easy to judge these characters as unbelievably timid and weak-kneed, lose patience with their bewildering lack of willpower — until you recall that these were real people whose moral fiber faltered, or unless you’ve ever felt your own personal fortitude waver in the face of a threatening experience. Once I was home alone in my apartment. A guy called on the phone and said “I’m right across the street. Don’t hang up. Don’t call the police. If you do, I’ll come over there and kill you.” I was genuinely scared and I did what he told me to do — which basically amounted to telling him what I was wearing. After he hung up I regained my nerve and called the cops. Turns out he was calling me from prison. But we can never really know what we will do or won’t do until we’re placed in a menacing situation, overcome by sudden confusion and genuine fear.
Dowd gives an astonishingly layered, subtle performance, one of the best of the year so far. She enters the Oscar race against all odds. We who cover it know that hot, young and sexy rules the day. But real actors will hopefully be able to recognize her singular work. The SAG and the Globes might give Oscar a chance to abandon their usual inclinations.
Sidenote: My only criticism of the film is the ad for it, which looks like an ad for a torture porn movie.
Stinger: The initial $6 million judgement awarded to 18-year-old Louis Ogborn was ultimately knocked down to $1.1 million. First, the blame assigned was split 50-50 between McDonalds and the hoax caller, 37-year-old David Stewart. MsDonalds appealed the verdict, pleading a defense that the worst transgressions were not perpetrated by McDonalds employees. Ultimately the punitive damages were dropped altogether, and as Ogborn watched her due restitution evaporate she agreed to a settlement of just over a million dollars. McDonald’s did pay the $2.4 mil in legal fees for the plaintiffs, Ogborn and McDonalds manager Summers. If you think its odd that Summers herself managed to claim she was a victim instead of finding herself liable as an abuser, save your outrage for David Stewart. He skated free, exonerated of all charges due to lack of direct evidence. It seems the spineless compliance extended to the court case jurors as well.
All i can say is that after watching that movie i was shocked by the stupidness of the Americans. How the hell this thing happened more than 70 times in different states. How somebody can take this without having the least self respect or the brains not to do what they ve been told. You must be sooooooo stupid.
I didn’t read the whole article because of the spoilers. The movie opened in one theater in New York and generated $16,000. It’s going to need a small per-theater-average drop once it expands if it’s going to generate proper Oscar buzz.
When will this movie be in Chicago?!
Ryan, there are two things you should consider for a second before calling into question the responsibility of the girl.
One is the power of authority. I am sure you are familiar with Milgram. The thing that is the most scary about Milgram’s experiment is not just that people obeyed to electroshock other people even though there was no real power or authority to speak of (nothing but a labcoat really) but that there no exception. No one was the badass who refused to be bullied. Every single person obeyed.
The other thing is a very good short story by Joyce Carol Oates (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?) in which a man bullies a young woman to leave het home to go on a car ride with him and a friend. He uses nothing but words and he has no authority, and he is scary as fuck. (Oates based the guy on a serial killer.) And despite all of this, despite knowing how short her life can be if she goes with him, she does.
And she is not stupid. She is scared, alone and afraid of the consequences if she doesn’t. What she might be and you’re not is weak. I am not saying that the difference between you and the girl in Compliance is physical fitness. I am saying that she’s someone who has been told her entire life to be beware of her own physical vulnerability and you are not. And if you don’t want to understand the difference it makes in a Milgram-like scenario such as this one, you should try harder instead of victim blaming an 18 year old girl for not saying “no” the way you want her to.
Wow! What a thread! This film has the power to provoke, that’s for certain. And it’s so well-made, by Zobel, that all this unfolds in true Hitchcockian thriller fashion. And I’m glad Sasha is standing up and cheering for Ann Dowd. Her support, I think, is crucial. Everyone at the roilsome opening night screening at the IFC center in NYC that I attended COMPLETELY ignored Ann Dowd. And she was sitting RIGHT THERE! They got so caught up in the frenzied shouting “discussion” that took place and poor Ann Dowd was sitting there with this terrible look on her face.
The chair-person of the discussion, an elderly shrink and editor of I think Psychology Today, did not acknowledge her either. The whole thing got WAAAAAY out of control. Scary Almost. Like the movie.
I took this woman to task quite strongly after it was all over for not giving Ann Dowd any credit or acknowledge of her great work.
We’re soooo involved in this movie BECAUSE of Ann Dowd’s skill and artistry as an actress.
I cornered her agent, Gary Gersh, after it was over and said, “Is there going to be an Oscar campaign for her?”
He said, “Anne’s a genius.”
I can but concur. And the Actor’s Branch is going to fall in love with her big time. She’s a friendly, adorable woman in person. Lovely. Sweet. I wish all good things for her this Oscar season.
It’s got a 91% or more on Rotten Tomatoes, too! Making it one of the best reviewed films of the year, too!
But IFC is not used to Oscar campaigns, sadly…This is going to make the difference. I only hope they can get it together.
Compliance wasn’t made in a way that would put us all on the same side of the issues. It’s deliberately cleverly constructed to make us feel torn.
That’s part of why I can’t wait to see it….nothing better than a movie with a moral dilemma that makes you question your own notions, morals and ethics.
You’re like a sister, except cooler than my sister because my actual sister is a (stupid) republican.
Thanks for saying that! I feel the same, but cooler than my actual brother b/c he can’t have a conversation about film unless it’s about how great The Hangover is. About your actual sister, that sucks…that’s how all of my family back there is, which is why I have not been home since the Spring of 2003…nearly 10 years now. I bet so much has changed, except the people.
Wow. I love knowing that. So much of my adolescence and teen years spent in E’ville! Every weekend that’s where we went. I once kissed a boy I didn’t like at all at that underage club in E’ville….damn I don’t know why I can’t remember the name! Hell you might remember and might have gone, I believe you and I are the same age.
I let that boy shove his tongue down my throat b/c I was scared to say no, don’t know why! I cried all the way home it made me feel so horrible. I was an emotional kid.
I know Mel. We’re naturally sympatico, you and I. We feel the affinity because of our similar backgrounds. We disagree sometimes, but that’s ok.
Compliance wasn’t made in a way that would put us all on the same side of the issues. It’s deliberately cleverly constructed to make us feel torn.
You’re like a sister, except cooler than my sister because my actual sister is a (stupid) republican.
Ryan, you are cracking me up. OK. I guess I have made my point, but again, those were things Sasha said first, I was just bringing it back up. Though who knows how many other women did do these things, Louise is just the one we know about who said or did something afterward instead of feeling stupid and ashamed and keeping it to herself.
Good luck at O’Charley’s! Stay away from the managers office at least.
Ryan, I wasn’t using Sasha’s story as a trump card, she used it herself as an example of doing something you wouldn’t think you’d do. She also used a story about how at 14 she gave a guy a blow job for a ride b/c she was scared too. I am just saying we KNOW she is not dumb that she is very very smart and also strong-willed. But if someone told you those stories and you didn’t know it was Sasha, would you easily just say, “oh man, that girl is dumb.” I think she was just trying to say you don’t know what you’d do necessarily until it happens. People do weird things when they are scared. You don’t think clearly and then add the psychology of being a young girl into the mix. I think this is much more complex than just stupid people. That’s all.
That’s really cool about Owensboro. I went down there for a concert once when I was 16. It was to see the Cover Girls with my best friend who was a guy and pretended he wanted to see them b/c they were hot and I pretended I went just b/c he wanted to go. Of course, we both turned out homosexual. Are you familiar with Evansville, IN? That is where we had to go to get to the nearest mall and where we saw all our concerts at Roberts Stadium which someone back home told me they just tore down! I grew up an hour north of Evansville. I enjoy knowing you are from the are helps further explain my sense of camaraderie I’d always felt with you.
Mel, good grief. You may be the only person on this page who never gave a blowjob you regret. I won’t list all times I have.
Stop comparing unequal situations. I’m talking about one incident. Neither you nor Sasha nor Alex nor I would have stripped naked for a boss and given our boss’s dumbass boyfriend a blowjob. Only Louise Ogborn did that. Out of 300 million people in the USA she’s the only person famous for that.
Sorry to be brief. I don’t like to sound so blunt. But I’m away from the desk, out and about, trying to avoid anybody who might try to coerce me into a blowjob at O’Charley’s. Wish me luck.
(Evansville is only 35-40 mins drive. Most of the people I run around with are from E’ville. I’m over there all the time).
“And I really hate to say it. I truly do. This part makes me sick to think about. But there are screenshots online of the real-life teenage victim — actual shots from the McDonalds’ internal security camera — that show her butt naked in front of the manager’s scumbag boyfriend. Louis Ogborn herself doing nude jumping-jacks for this guy. And there’s most certainly the trace of a smile on her face.”
I’m sorry Ryan – did we see the same video?? Trace of a smile on her face? Cause I couldn’t see it. I’m sorry we’re not all badasses like you are. The girl was visibly frightened. By the way, crying faces and laughing faces can be really similar.
There was an incident in a theme park a few years ago that involved myself and my sister. It was a nighttime Halloween thing and I was pulled aside by a group of security guards and police officers, who had mistaken me for somebody else and thought I had a weapon on me. At the time I didn’t know this, I was just surrounded by men in uniform asking me if I had a gun on me. My older sister (I was 17 at the time), and was the only other person with me, was understandably frightened out of her mind too. They told her to leave, to leave, to leave, and when she wouldn’t they brought her in too…culminating in one particularly vicious officer slamming her against a wall and handcuffing her. I had little idea what was going on because I had about seven or eight men barricading me, but I heard her sobbing as she had a panic attack because neither of us knew what was going on. A police officer came up to me and told me that my sister was crying “like a baby.” I am not a violent person, but at that minute, I would have killed this man. Without breaking a sweat. I would have killed him. But I couldn’t. I was forced to comply with the gun-wielding security and police men around me; even though I was yelling at them at the top of my lungs. One of them had the audacity to tell me that he was “very afraid of my behavior.” I wasn’t the one with the guns. I was a 17 year old kid scared for my sister who’d just been arrested, my sister who was scared for her 17 year old kid brother who these police men thought posed some sort of bomb threat.
She’s STILL dealing with the repercussions of this unfair arrest.
Obviously you’ve gone through great lengths to defend yourself on this thread, so I’m not gonna expect you to respond to me to defend yourself further. But when you’re afraid, and a much larger person in a position of power is forcing you to do something, primal fear kicks in, even when you KNOW you haven’t done anything wrong. My sister knew she shouldn’t be arrested, but what was she gonna do? Tackle the guy with the gun? Even while he was groping her once he had the cuffs on? Obviously the situation is different for the McDonald’s girl, but the idea remains similar. With the mcdonald’s employee, I think she realized that it wasn’t about the cop anymore. It was about the 230 pound man holding her naked in a small room raping her. I’ve never been raped so I don’t know how I would react in that situation, but like I said, we’re not all badasses like you are, Ryan.
I really hope this doesn’t hurt my chances of winning that Avatar Blu Ray…still looking forward to the results.
I’m sorry Ryan – did we see the same video?? Trace of a smile on her face?
We did not see the same video. I’m not talking about the sanitized fragments of the security tape that aired on ABC. I’ve seen a raw shot that could not be broadcast.
Alex, Alex. Being confronted in person by 8 real life policemen with guns is pretty different from being in a room with a demonstrably silly McDonald’s manager who’s on the phone with somebody spouting nonsense that you know is untrue.
But your story illustrates why I have no respect for cops. And that’s why I know I’ll kick up a helluva fight if they try to abuse their authority. I know it, because I’ve done it.
these are awful stories of really bad situations.
I’m saying you don’t have to be a badass to refuse to take all your clothes off. You don’t have to be a badass to refuse to give somebody a blowjob who’s not got a gun to your head or can otherwise control you. You just use common sense and don’t follow their absurd orders.
(In your situation with your sister, you did the right thing. The police confronting you were assholes, but they weren’t doing anything insane). They weren’t asking you to masturbate for their entertainment. You wouldn’t have done that if they told you to, would you?)
Ryan, buddy – how are you going to make it through the upcoming election?
Oh, and I don’t have pics, but gum boots, overalls, oven mits and a sombrero.
“Fuck “politically correct.” Stupid people are the ruination of my country.”
I guess the political polarization in the US is very large compared to little, peaceful, homogenous Denmark. I accept that there is a difference in political culture and in the values that you believe to be “American” (the way the second amendment of your constitution is being interpreted in extremely opposing ways, is a clear example of that). Whenever I meet an American (usually its Americans of the curious-about-the-world variety, I am amazed by the dissent and contempt they have for their own country, whereas as a Dane, I think you feel proud and content with your nationality).
I still wouldn’t call my “ideological” or “political” opponents for “stupid”, though. If you support Sarah Palin, yes, I would believe that you are somehow politically ignorant (in my view), but I would still think of you as just as capable of being a good friend, a serious co-worker, a loving and caring mom or dad, a responsible citizen, a creative spirit or whatever – in your personal life. I don’t think of intelligence as something that has to do with being a supporter of this or that party (well, over here, we have LOTS of parties to choose from, you might want to try that out…)
The stupidity you talk about in relation to the cases behind Compliance tells me about a deep level of social dysfunctions, depravity etc. I wouldn’t feel bad about using those words. Whether it amounts to the same as you saying “stupidity”, I don’t know. I just don’t like the implications of it. Because isn’t it all right to feel indifferent about “stupid” people. Stupidity is an essential character trait, it is something that you attach to the innermost capabilities and qualifications of the individual. That is harsh.
But you were brought up in a community like that. I was brought up in a higher middle-class, welfare society kind of environment. Maybe it leaves us with different approaches to how we feel compelled to talk about these issues? And maybe, that’s perfectly fine.
As I said, I don’t disagree with you, per se, about the depravity and lack of responsibility that goes on in a milieu like the one portrayed in Compliance, I just think we need to look at the social factors behind it rather than just condemning the individuals who couldn’t stand up against it.
condemning the individuals who couldn’t stand up against it.
I’m not condemning her. Please don’t put extreme words in my mouth.
I’m saying she is not blameless. I’m saying she reacted more stupidly than 10 million other girls would have reacted.
I have said at least 4 times on this page — if the caller took advantage of a mentally challenged individual, that makes his crime even worse.
I just don’t see any evidence that Louise /Becky has a clinically low IQ. Her brain functions fine. She’s not developmentally challenged. But she failed to engage normal common sense. (As did the manage and her boyfriend.)
And I think that’s their fault. All their faults. All any of them had to do was refuse. Millions of other girls would have refused. There’s something wrong with these people who didn’t.
I would still think of you as just as capable of being a good friend, a serious co-worker, a loving and caring mom or dad, a responsible citizen, a creative spirit or whatever – in your personal life.
You don’t have to be smart to be a loving person. Stupid acting people aren’t always bad people.
Know what else? Lots of smart people are terrible parents, unloving, bad friends, poor citizens. Some of the smartest people on earth are pure evil.
p.s.
I’m gonna guess you grew up in Owensboro or Henderson and that’s pretty cool to me personally b/c I also grew up very close to there.
Owensboro, Mel. Snapped this photo a couple of days ago. (New camera! Canon Rebel.) Check the water tower.
Ryan, I brought up that not everyone can just quite their job b/c you raised the argument that you quit two jobs b/c they didn’t like your hair. You keep using yourself as an example of why this girl was so dumb. But guess what, you weren’t a girl, weren’t raised as a girl, weren’t socialized as a girl and will never know what it feels like to be a girl and how that can affect your decisions and actions. Sasha said in these comments that she once did something that a person who called her told her to do and we know she’s not stupid and she wasn’t raised in the boonies either.
We get it, that you are a rebel badass, Ryan. But constantly using your life examples as proof to why an 18-year old girl was so dumb really doesn’t cut it. You can just say you thought she was dumb, but comparing your life to hers just doesn’t seem fair.
Mel, you’re right. I’m using my own experience, and I’m not a normal person.
All the same, I think we can say with some certainty that there are 2 million women born and raised in Kentucky who would not strip naked and give their silly boss’s creepy boyfriend a blowjob with so little reason.
They would need a better reason. Like a sick deal to ensure UK wins the NCAA championship or something.
What we have with Louise is a girl who knows she committed no crime at all. But allows an unseen fake cop to bully her into submission anyway.
With me (back in the day) we had a guy who knows he committed a real crime, but never bowed down to any actual asshole cop no matter what.
I was raised to respect authority too. The lesson just never stuck.
Sasha said in these comments that she once did something that a person who called her told her to do and we know she’s not stupid and she wasn’t raised in the boonies either.
c’mon, Mel. You know I’m not gonna let that stand as a valid argument.
Sasha told a guy what she was wearing. Read what happened. Sasha didn’t strip naked in front of this guy or let him spank her butt, or the other stuff. Right?
There’s no comparison. Wait, yes there is. Because Sasha would have drawn the line. She would never have done the things Louise did. You know that, I know that. How do we know? Because we know Sasha is not stupid enough to fall for a fake cop giving absurd orders over the phone. Not now. Not at 18. Not at 12 years old.
You know that, so please don’t pull this out as your trump card, ok?
Want to know what I’m wearing? Nothing! I’m about to get in the shower. See? That took no coercion at all. You didn’t even have to ask. And you didn’t even want to know. That’s how much Sasha didn’t mind telling somebody on the phone what she was wearing.
[Note: This is not a veiled invitation for everybody to reveal what you’re wearing. Not unless you have pics.]
Gotta love a certain line from a song of The Pet Shop Boys-“I’m with stupid”.
/Is stupid really stupid, or a different kind of smart?/
Anyway for that movie I’m really interested in seeing this and the more older actresses nominated the better. But we’ll see if this movie falls on the Academy’s radar…
Sonja, it’s a fascinating film. One of the best of the year so far. None of my frustration with the real-life incident on which it’s based is a reflection of any dissatisfaction with the movie.
You know, your Pet Shop Boys lyric reminds of something I meant to bring up yesterday. There is another possible explanation for the teenager’s behavior.
This girl is quite self-aware. She brooks no nonsense in the early scenes. She mocks the silliness of her manager. She giggles at dumb reprimands and has a sneer on her face when being lectured about fast-food policy.
She’s also aware of the video camera monitoring her actions in the storeroom. It’s not made clear at what point she realizes (although in the actual surveillance cam tape, we can see Louise Ogborn cast her eyes toward the corner of the ceiling where the camera is watching everything transpire.) But there’s a later scene in the film where it might be implied that Becky is putting all this together in her head. “All this is being filmed. Hmmm…”
So I do like to think there is another and creepier explanation. Becky knows she is being falsely accused. She realizes she’s being made to do things that are wrong. Who’s going to pay for this humiliation? Should she bolt and get the hell out of there? Or how about she plays along?
How about she allows herself to be forced to do degrading things. “Why not give this old fart a striptease show with my tight little body? He wants a blowjob? Ha, if these idiots are going to treat me like trash, they’ll soon find out how costly that blowjob will be.”
Could there have been any calculation like that flickering through Becky’s/Louise’s head? I’ll say that when she meets with a lawyer to consult about pressing a civil suit, she goes alone. She has the wherewithal to find and meet with a lawyer all by herself — and at that moment she does not seem stupid at all. She seems like she’s figured out how to cash in. (she originally sued for $500 million!)
Of course, that’s quite a lot sicker and even more disturbing than the other explanation. But it makes for an interesting reading of events. it turns Compliance into another movie. A movie in which we have a girl who doesn’t think giving blowjob is such a big deal. Especially not if she can get a million bucks for it. Especially if she knows the deeper she lets things go, the more she can make her tormentors suffer later, when the security tapes are played back.
“Is stupid really stupid, or a different kind of smart?”
It is probably too easy, I would say, to just sit back and say: “Wow, those people are stupid! I would never do that!”. There are probably more delicate social issues at play here than just mere “stupidity”. And even if we use the term “stupidity”, who or what do we apply it to; the individual or the community (or society at large) who breeds the individuals?
I love this paragraph. What happened is much deeper than, “Stooopids!!!” People go along with unbelievable things all the time and I don’t think it is b/c they are all just simply stupid. It’s about society, culture, sex, customs,, ect…. The end of TGWTDT touches on it a bit when Blomkvist willingly goes back in Vanger’s house even though he knows he shouldn’t and Martin gives him a whole speech about how people do things all the time that go against their instincts just b/c they don’t want to be “rude” they willingly walk to their death.
Did you read the entire article or did you just decide to rant some more after reading the first few paragraphs?
I read the whole article, Derek. Top to bottom.
In summary: “These characters truly are us.”
False. They are not me.
The crucial thing is, though, that talking about peoples’ “stupidity” as the thing that gets them into bad situations like what’s depicted in Compliance (haven’t seen it, btw), could breed a lot of cynicism or indifference to real life suffering and victimization (you suffer no matter if you are “stupid” or not, I would think?). Actual pain is pain regardless of who suffers it.
It is probably too easy, I would say, to just sit back and say: “Wow, those people are stupid! I would never do that!”. There are probably more delicate social issues at play here than just mere “stupidity”. And even if we use the term “stupidity”, who or what do we apply it to; the individual or the community (or society at large) who breeds the individuals?
It is interesting to note the difference between political correctness in Europe and in the US. Because calling people “stupid” just because they live in rural communities, would be extremely incorrect in Europe, where we tend to think of people as a homogeneous group with equal rights (as opposed to equal responsibilities) and therefore don’t tend to emphasize the responsibility of the individual (as opposed to the culture who spawns them).
I don’t know. I see your points, Ryan. It is just a very harsh language that doesn’t sit well with me (maybe because I am so ingrained in a “social-democratic” way of thinking…”how Scandinavian of me”, to paraphrase Björk).
The language is harsh, I know. It’s intentionally harsh. You know I have a vocabulary that would allow me to phrase it differently. I deliberately choose not to use a gentler term.
I recognize this behavior as stupid. That’s the word that fits. The incident occurred and was allowed to escalate because of a string of incredibly stupid decisions.
What’s wrong with saying that? The War in Iraq was stupid. People who think Sarah Palin would make a great president are stupid. Stupidity is a thing that exists.
Yes, it’s extremely easy, if you KNOW you’re too smart to do have done it.
Genes and upbringing. (Upbringing encompasses inadequate schooling and shitty parenting). Sorry to say, Some people are born that way. Fact. Harsh fact.
Because calling people “stupid” just because they live in rural communities, would be extremely incorrect in Europe,
Stop it. I never said that.
In fact, I have said I was born in a rural community, raised in that environment, spent my entire formative years in a rural community before college. I’m not stupid. I know dozens and dozens of people in small town rural communities who are not stupid.
I’m saying this prank caller knew to phone backwoods backwards communities because he was more likely to luck upon dim and slow unsophisticated people upon whom he could depend on to do dumb things.
Did he make phone calls to the Michigan Avenue McDonalds in Chicago? Who knows. But we know if he did nothing happened because nobody there was stupid enough to fall for his ridiculous prank.
All of the reported incidents that came to ugly fruition are at locations in small-town rural areas. Why is that?
“Hi, I’m a cop. I need you to strip-search your employee and examine all her orifices for stolen money. While you’re at it, make her suck your dick to let her know we mean business.”
Smart person hangs up the phone. Dumb person says, Oh, ok!
Christ, Julian. Look at map of US elections.
Look at it. See where the dumb people outnumber the smart people?
See where the metropolitan areas did NOT think Sarah Palin would be a good President?
See the rural counties where they thought she was a wonderful choice?
Fuck “politically correct.” Stupid people are the ruination of my country.
You should read this review, Ryan. http://www.popcornreel.com/htm/complianceauds.html
Derek , I know all about the Milgram experiment. I don’t need a 3-paragraph Reader’s Digest version of something I studied in college years ago.
The people in Kentucky who fell for this obvious scam were stupid people and the boyfriend went beyond stupid into the realm of stupidly depraved.
I don’t have to have put up a defensive mechanism to know that I’m not that stupid. I would never have been involved in any aspect of this thing. I would never have given up my cellphone to a sillyass boss. I would never have stripped naked. I would never have sat back and received a blowjob from a naked teenager. I know that about myself.
I don’t have to wonder, “Oh, How would I react if a ‘cop’ was giving me orders over the phone?” I don’t have any respect for cops. I don’t fear them.
The Kentucky victims are stupider than any of the other people in any of the other 70 incidents that didn’t all climax with cocksucking. They’re stupider than all the unknown countless incidents that never happened because the prank caller was hung up on by managers at other McDonald’s too smart to fall for it.
The first few minutes of the call might cause anyone to pause and vacillate. But as things got progressively absurd, any idiot would have known the caller was bogus and not a cop.
“Have her do jumping jacks to dislodge the money from her vagina.” Gimme a fuckin break, you guys. Anybody who falls for that is ignorant and/or perverted.
There were 2 people at that McDonald’s who knew it was wrong. The girl’s male friend. The old man who finally ended it. They knew immediately. They were having no part of it. Anyone else who talked to that “cop” for more than 5 minutes was an ignoramus.
You only need to see these real people speaking in the ABC interview to know they’re uneducated and gullible. They’re pitiful. They were taken advantage of because they’re pitiful. That makes their victimization worse, not better. But it’s their own stupidity that allowed it to happen.
The reason we don’t hear about more absurd things like this happening is not because their aren’t any more pranksters left. It’s because most people who answer the phone from a caller like that are smart enough to hang up.
Have you guys never seen Crank-Yankers? There are millions of stupid people in America. Why is that so difficult to see and admit?
I completely agree it was a store lacking intelligence from top to bottom, which is beyond frustrating. I think that’s what made this story stuck into my head ever since the trailer was originally posted a week or two ago here and I researched it. I just can’t imagine it happening in real life even after reading about it. How could everyone be so damn naive or unwilling to help?
Since this was originally about the movie and Ann Dowd, I will say despite not yet having seen the movie, I absolutely despise her character/performance (in a good way) based on the trailer alone.
When I had the opportunity to see the movie I had not yet seen the trailer. Sasha emailed me with a link to the youtube of the ABC News story, but I didn’t watch it beforehand.
I had vaguely in my mind that this was going to be a standard sexual harassment story. Had never heard of the real life case ( I don’t watch local news and I don’t watch those network news magazines that cover sensationalist stories.)
I wish everybody could go into this movie completely cold like I did. The impact is much stronger when you see the sick escalation evolve. By the time I was 30 minutes into Compliance, after I saw what was it going to be, I was already genuinely angry at every character. Like Murph says, I found it hard to believe that this could have really happened, stunned that a whole group of people could represent a concentrated pocket of susceptible suckers — so that’s when I paused the movie and searched google for the original news story.
I needed to know where these folks lived so I’d be sure to never go there. From the movie, you have no indication where it’s supposed to take place and the accents don’t help. (Not Southern, not Kentuckian).
Was deeply saddened and disgusted to discover that all this happened 90 miles away from my home town — but I can’t say I was too surprised. It had to be a backwards semi-rural community. (All 70 incidents around the country were targeted at similar small towns in areas not known for their sophistication. )
The caller knew where to call. He knew where he would find gullible victims. He didn’t call Cambridge Massachusetts, Raleigh-Durham NC, or Hyde Park Chicago. He called up places where he expected to find simple-minded people.
No need to get huffy and protective. The main aspect of this modus operandi speaks for itself. The caller knew such a clumsy transparent hoax wouldn’t work on smart people. And what’s the opposite of smart?
[Blanket SPOILER Alert — these comments are thick with plot details and spoilers. If you want to feel the full devastating brickbat of Compliance smashed in your face, you’ll be better off skipping most of this discussion until after you’ve seen the movie.]
What was Ronald McDonald doing while all this was happening?
The ABC News video shows her crying and asking for help from the manager when the fiance is in the room. They also explain how she gets hit harder from him when struggling. Not all 18 year old girls have the strength to fight back from an older male when being told to blow them. Especially after multiple co-workers saw what was going on and did nothing. She was incredibly naive, but she was the only victim in this. How the manager got paid and the caller got away scot free is pretty crazy. Only in America.
The ABC News video shows her crying and asking for help from the manager
Right, of all the people to ask for help, I know I’d choose the person who started the whole thing. Maybe she should’ve asked the phone cop for help.
She was 5 or 6 feet from an unlocked door. On the other side of the door, at least two friends.
She never made a move toward that door. Nobody was ever shown barring her from that door. Nobody stood in her way. Nobody ever so much as grabbed her arm.
She voluntarily bent over the guy’s lap so he could “spank” her. All he did was tell her to do it.
She never laid eyes on him before, and yet he’s taken full control of her actions within minutes? This tough guy here, in the purple sweater. A wimp who called up his buddy after the blow-job, sobbing.
Please don’t get me wrong. It’s certainly not ONLY the girl who’s mentally deficient. The entire population of that McDonald’s that day was a perfect storm of stupid. The prank caller hit the jackpot. Everybody who showed up in that McDonald’s storeroom behaved stupidly.
*69?
If I were to blame the girl at all, it wouldn’t be blaming her for being dumb. If I were to go that way I would sooner believe she was in on it the whole time and it was a planned scam.
Anyone know how they found out who the caller was?
Shepherdsville is about 30 minutes South of Louisville. Where is your hometown? I grew up in Southern Indiana not far from Louisville myself. In a town of 4K people. Shepherdsville where that McDonald’s is, is a town of 11K people. You can’t assume she somehow ran the cosmopolitan streets of Louisville and got some street smarts. My entire life until I went to college I had never been more than an hour or so car ride from my house. Every year in San Diego, they take kids to the beach who have lived here their whole lives and have never seen the ocean, even though it’s about 10 miles from where they live.
I think when you are a kid you are scared. Maybe she thought if she proved she didn’t steal by doing what they said she’d be let go or that if she ran or put up a fight she would go to jail. Growing up in very small towns you understand quickly that the police do as they please. Like I said, I worked in fast food at that age and when someone stole I was scared to death they would think it was me, I was a wreck about it. You are just scared.
Different people are brought up different ways and conditioned to do as told, ESPECIALLY the Southern way of raising a child.
And how do we know this kid did not respect the manager? Was that a fact or some artistic license by the people who made the movie? I know when I worked in fast food as a kid we were all pretty terrified of our manager. Fast food managers are a strange breed and often low-income, uneducated, struggling people themselves who power trip on being in charge of a bunch of teens.
Not everyone can quit their jobs. To be plain here, I grew up in a white trash family with little money and my parents made me give them most of my pay b/c they depended on it. I would have been in big trouble had I quit and not had another job to start immediately.
It is just plain to me that the girl going along is not outrageous at all and maybe that is too much for people to want to believe. Maybe it is easier to explain away that she was just an idiot or dumb or mentally challenged…..but these issues are not easy. I don’t think what she did would necessarily be uncommon at all given the age, the town, the situation. One of her co-workers had already been in there and knew this was happening. He wouldn’t take part but he didn’t get help for her either, so how was she to assume if she walked out of there naked and asked for help that a co-worker would have helped her? If it were me I would have assumed that if I tried to get out of there I would have been hurt.
we’re getting our facts from different sources. I thought the McDonald’s was in Mt Washington, KY. Mt Washington is 10 miles from downtown Louisville. 5 miles from Louisville’s Outer Loop.
My hometown is on the Ohio River a mile from Southern Indiana. But I didn’t grow up in town. I grew up in the country, out in the county. Roads, not streets.
Mel, I can’t believe you taking this position. Not everybody can quit their job?
The only two choice were not (A) Quit your job (B) Give a blowjob to an old fat guy you never met.
There were many other options. Multiple opportunities for her to stop the insanity. All she had to do was stop cooperating.
Her job was NEVER in jeopardy. She KNEW she hadn’t stolen any money. Something is mentally wrong with a girl who can just say, “Oh well, this is aggravating. But ok, gimme that nasty old dick and all my fabricated problems will be solved.”
After all, her abusers were armed to the teeth with a fully loaded telephone.
And how do we know this kid did not respect the manager?
Are we talking about the movie or the real incident? The writer-director says he adhered faithfully to the actual facts. Have you seen the movie? In a crucial scene Sasha mentions as pointedly significant, the teenager mocks her manager and laughs at how ridiculous she is behind her back. But the manager overhears all that.
One of her co-workers had already been in there and knew this was happening. He wouldn’t take part but he didn’t get help for her either.
She never asked him for help. She never asked ANYBODY for help.
If it were me I would have assumed that if I tried to get out of there I would have been hurt.
I think you have to see the movie. None of the other employees were even capable of hurting her. They were all soft. The teenage girl comes across as the most physically powerful, agile, fit, swift. The only match for her physically would have been her male friend, and he was on her side. He would’ve supported her, he would’ve had her back had anybody tried to exert forceful restraint.
Bottom line: Nobody was capable of restraining her. Not in the movie, not in real life.
I’ve been handcuffed by real cops with real badges and real guns, and I still didn’t let them bully me around.
Good thing you are a white male.
^
wow, that’s the truth.
I think Ann Dowd would be campaigned and put is the supporting actress category.
^
nope, she’s lead. She’s in the first scene, she’s in the last scene. The movie revolves around the arc of her gradual surrender of willpower. Everybody who enters the backroom, she brought them there. She’s the pivot point for the entire film. She’s the lead.
Hahahahahahaha…thanks
I think that ‘feeling guity’ is a good point. Everyone has something to hide from the world, or a deep fear, and situations like this can bring out the stupidity if you will or naiveté in people. There’s victims in this story, but there’s also victims who are also perpetrators.
Sometimes fear will over shadow common sense.
As I mentioned earlier about my sister. She eventually confessed to our mother after she finally had enough. Her confession was truthful and couldn’t comprehend that I was the one that got into trouble. Big time. She was convinced she had done something wrong.
^
(I’m gonna change “nativity” to “naiveté” and hope I guessed right. We’ll blame it on aggressive autocorrect. Aggressive depraved stupid blasphemous autocorrect.)
“But I was exposed to books”
Well, there you go. That’s not the majority, though.
I think social media will have a positive effect in eliminating much of the isolation that creates victims. It brings other issues, of course, but at least at a distance.
(Cops, guns and handcuffs, eh?)
(Cops, guns and handcuffs, eh?)
Fun times! The events of that night would make a terrible movie.
Compliance is definitely on the must-see list. This is a topic that has never really been explored deeply. We usually see the unwitting victim or the dumbass who has been coerced into doing something stupid, but never in context with the community that surrounds them.
Small towns – American or otherwise – are extremely sheltered and do produce vulnerable teens and young adults. It’s difficult for older adults who haven’t been exposed to tricksters or have the experience needed to recognize outright evil, so kids, on their first job trying to please, have no chance. And women are far more vulnerable than men, having that additional layer of expectation to please or be rejected.
I haven’t seen the film and can’t speak for this situation, but I would hesitate to label any victim as “stupid”. They are already in a terribly uncomfortable place in that they blame themselves when it is society that is responsible for not enlightening and protecting them.
How do you change this – expose them to the ugly things in life at an early age? Somehow that doesn’t seem right.
Good points Steve. I do see what you’re saying, and I knew in advance that I’d be treading on touchy territory if I didn’t feel 100% sympathy for the teenager.
How do you change this – expose them to the ugly things in life at an early age? Somehow that doesn’t seem right.
I was born 90 miles away from the small town where the actual incident happened. That McDonald’s is 5 miles outside of Louisville KY, population 300,000. My hometown is far more backwoods rural, population 55,000.
Nobody exposed me to any tricksters as a kid. I wasn’t exposed to any of the ugly things in life when I was a teenager.
But I was exposed to books.
It’s ridiculous to think that there are 500,000 naive sheltered teenagers in Kentucky who would all suck a stranger’s dick if a voice on the phone told them to. No. There is something wrong with a girl who can be so easily coerced. I would rather think she’s simply dumb instead of wondering if she’s perverse.
I think we were around 7 and 8.
I once stole a dollar from my mother’s purse and bought junk food. I gave 10 cents to my sister and then blackmailed her as an accomplice for a year to be my personal assistant. Good times.
^
Svengali!
ha, that’s so awful.
How old were you though?
That’s what I’m saying: What is the mental age of this 18-year-old McDonald’s employee. Is that a horrible insensitive thing to ask? Unless her IQ is lower than 70, her excuses for not saying No are weak.
Yes, Ryan, I think you’re too quick to judge. The fact is, this happened over 70 times and director Zobel said he didn’t even dramatize the most outlandish things the caller(s) made their victims do (one person ran circles around the restaurant, completely naked. I like to think of myself as someone who would balk at doing anything I didn’t want to do (hell, I’d think nothing of just quitting the job). But who knows? Under the right circumstances, I could be a victim too (we don’t kno0w how many times the caller tried this on other stores, but was scuttled by people with stronger countenences). At any rate, great movie, because it opens up these sorts of conversations. And, yes, Ann Dowd is a name to watch at this year’s Oscars, along with Craig Zobel.
(one person ran circles around the restaurant, completely naked.)
I have to ask the same question: Who would do that? What’s wrong with that person’s mentality?
Shockingly enough, Louise Ogborn is not the only incredibly gullible individual in the USA.
I feel sincere pity for dumb people. Dimwitted people also make me angry because we all have to live in a country their ignorance forces upon us.
For me, that’s what makes this a great movie. It shows us what hardly any American film has ever dared to say: A great number of people in backwards communities the world over can be manipulated by bold lies so that evil deeds seem ok — and rural America is rife with pockets of these weak-minded individuals. Small town America can be hellishly dangerously ignorant. The clumsy stumble-bum depravity of Compliance would make a great double feature with Fargo.
Isn’t it telling that the McDonald’s manager in real-life was able to turn her own heinous crime into playing a clueless victim? (She got a million bucks from McDonalds too). Isn’t is just as sick that a gullible jury in Kentucky could hear the facts of this case — and be so confused about whom to blame they let the “prank caller” go free — no penalty, no conviction, no fine. He walked away scott free.
I like to think of myself as someone who would balk at doing anything I didn’t want to do
Of course you would balk. I quit two jobs the same summer when I was 16 because two different bosses told me my hair was too shaggy. Fuck them and their “authority”
I’ve been handcuffed by real cops with real badges and real guns, and I still didn’t let them bully me around.
OK, for some reason as I wrote this reply the whole thing wasn’t loading? Maybe was being edited to add something.
I don’t know how I would act if I was told I had to do naked jumping jacks in front of an old man. Sometimes crying can look a lot like laughing or holding in a cry can look like a smirk and sometimes we do laugh when we are terrified.
You don’t know what it’s like to be a woman. For sure. Disappointed you’d write such a lengthy post laying blame on an 18 year old girl. I’m stubborn and I didn’t do much of anything most people told me, but I don’t know what I would have done if I was 18, working at McDonald’s in what was clearly a small redneck town and I got called into the manager’s office accused of stealing. When I was 19 I worked at Taco Bell and someone stole and I was scared as shit they would try to blame me and I had nothing to even do with it. You just get scared. I also completely understand her being too ashamed to try and run away b/c she was naked and would have to run through the store yelling for help naked. She was probably just so scared hoping that if she went along they’d eventually stop, give her her shit and let her go home.
I completely understand how she could have gone along. Stripping a woman makes her very vulnerable and add to it the age, the atmosphere she was probably raised in….this was in the South, smalltown South.
Just noticed this was edited to take out the video from the real life story that showed much of the footage and the interview with the real Louise. How come?
I also completely understand her being too ashamed to try and run away b/c she was naked and would have to run through the store yelling for help naked.
Mel, Who in their right mind would get naked because a flustered fumbling boss told her to? (A boss whom she already disrespects). She should never have taken her clothes off. The vast vast majority of people never would. Never would. Anybody with a lick of sense will know that police cannot order you over the phone to get naked. Don’t forget, we’re not stopping at naked. Before she was done, she was sucking a stranger’s dick. I’m sorry, but the only PC term that can explain that behavior is “developmentally disabled.” She would have to have pre-existing mental problems. That makes it all the more disgusting — purely by chance this creep found a victim who didn’t have good sense.
I feel that she’s not too sharp. I pity her for that. I feel sorry for her stupidity. I see people on Tosh 2.0 all the time who let themselves get talked into doing stupid and dangerous things every week. There are simply some really dumb people in the USA. I feel awful for them, but their stupidity does not absolve them of all responsibility. That’s all I’m saying.
Don’t exaggerate. All she had to do was grab the phone away from another one of these mental weaklings and call her parents. She would not have to run through the fast food joint naked. All she had to do was step through the unlocked door — remain safely within the Employees Only area — and ask a coworker for help.
All the same, the legal settlement should have closer to $50 million not $1 million. And McDonald’s should have been the setting in the movie.
Agree 100% about Dowd’s performance. The film itself is a bit bland with only the actions and curiosity about what happened to pull you through. And of course, Ann Dowd.
My review is at The Awards Circuit: http://www.awardscircuit.com/2012/08/15/compliance/
I’d say, by the looks of the trailer and my understanding of the story on which this is based, Ann Dowd would be a lead, if not the lead, but I don’t yet see an Oscar campaign being mounted for her, nor being particularly successful if it is. Perhaps some critics’ groups may recognise her.
Is Ann Dowd the lead?
I can’t wait to see this. Have to wait until August 31 for it to come to San Diego.
Just saw this last week and I haven’t stopped thinking about it! It’s a great film and your spot on to single out Dowd, she was compelling!
The film has got so many complaints here which I don’t understand. It’s not gratuitous or graphic or violent, there is much worse shown on tv everyday, but the moral implications of what you see is shocking. I had to research the true story after seeing it and still can’t believe it happened!
I think the complaints came from people investing time in a film about people being stupid. But the thing is, after you get over that basic premise the movie becomes a really strange, solid thriller along the lines of Deliverance.
There’s nothing wrong with being upfront about the shocking stupidity. There are unsophisticated people throughout rural America who can be easily swayed by bold lies. I think it’s especially important to be aware of that sad fact in an election year.
The TV interviewer in the movie is intelligent and stunned that these people failed to question such an obvious scam. The detective and cops who responded say the same thing: What’s in these chicken sandwiches that made these folks lose their minds?
The fact that Hollywood ordinarily plays Regular Joe stupidity for comic effect makes Compliance all the more daring. American movies are usually afraid to offend anybody. In many ways, Compliance is the American version of Hanekes’ White Ribbon. It’s a scathing indictment of how easily evil can seep into weak minds.
I’m going to be the guy who takes the unpopular position that the teenage girl is not blameless. She’s a victim and suffered the worst, of course, there’s no doubt. And I know that I can’t fully understand how girls are raised in some parts of the country to accept whatever sick fate is dished out to them.
But fuck that. No mopey fast-food manager has the authority to take my cell-phone away from me. I know that. Don’t even try. She’d have to pry it from my cold dead hands. Say NO. How hard is it to say No? Walk the fuck out of that madhouse.
And I really hate to say it. I truly do. This part makes me sick to think about. But there are screenshots online of the real-life teenage victim — actual shots from the McDonalds’ internal security camera — that show her butt naked in front of the manager’s scumbag boyfriend. Louis Ogborn herself doing nude jumping-jacks for this guy. And there’s most certainly the trace of a smile on her face.
She fully understood the absurdity. She knew it was wrong, knew it was fucked up. Most importantly, of all the people involved, she was the only person who knew that she was being falsely accused. She should have had the certainty of that knowledge to back up her resistance. What kind of girl drops to her knees to do what she what she did, purely on the basis on an obviously fake cop giving her “orders” over the phone?
I’m troubled by the fact that there were over 70 reported incidents of these hoaxes all across the country, and this girl is only one who agreed to take it to that extreme. No other force compelling her except a creepy voice on the phone. I cannot help thinking it’s mentally weird to give in so easily. I’m sorry, I do realize the girl is damaged by this incident. It’s my belief she was already mentally damaged before it happened.
Ryan, I agree that there was more to it than just being compliant but all I can tell you is that knowing teenage girls like I do there are some who WILL do as they are told. Period. It depends on how they were raised and how rebellious they are. She probably felt guilty on some level. Also, the caller was testing the situation to see how far they would go. Obviously making her do jumping jacks showed he was making it up as he went along. The pervert boyfriend was into it. Otherwise he would have stopped it. The girl probably had some abuse in her past, either physical or sexual. Not saying she’s totally blameless but it wasn’t an alien reaction to me. As I said, someone called me on the phone and I did everything he said because I was scared. He did threaten to kill me, though. That girl, the real life one, was only 18, working at McDonald’s. What the hell did she know about anything. I had a guy once convince me to give him a blow job when I was 14 because I was scared I would never get home if I didn’t. The psychology of girls I guess.