Coming to Netflix: the Stanford Prison Experiment

Netflix is reviving one of psychology's most controversial studies as reality TV, and one of the men who lived through the original says that's a problem. The streamer's six-part series, The New Stanford Prison Experiment, arrives Oct. 21 and puts 30 volunteers into a real prison setting, split into guards and inmates—echoing the 1971 Stanford study that was meant to last two weeks but was shut down after six days amid escalating cruelty and distress. Clay Ramsay, Prisoner 416 in the original experiment, tells Newsweek his verdict on the show is "bad idea," adding the experiment itself was "always stupid." His chief worry: viewers will be led to see the series as science rather than entertainment

"I'm afraid they're going to pretend that this has some kind of scientific value, which has been the problem with the whole thing from the very start, 1971," Ramsay says. He says presenting the series as a reality TV show with "about as much relationship to science" as a Real Housewives show "would be the most okay way they could do it. Co-researcher Craig Haney called the original study, held in mock cells in the basement of Stanford's psychology building, a useful illustration of situational power, but said he's concerned that the attention paid to the experiment distracts from the "widespread injustices of a larger prison system that impacts millions."

Ramsay says the ethics will hinge on how honestly producers treat participants. He suggests people watch the documentary The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth before judging Netflix's take.

• Netflix's synopsis: "Thirty willing participants enter a real prison and are randomly assigned as guards or prisoners. Thrust into a system of power, hierarchy, and control, they'll discover whether ordinary people inevitably conform to the roles they're given—or whether empathy, morality, and individuality can withstand the forces pushing them in the opposite direction. As the pressure builds and the balance of power begins to shift, the central question feels more urgent than ever: Does power corrupt?"
• "The Stanford Prison Experiment has always fascinated me," producer Jane Lipsitz says, per Variety. "Despite its serious ethical flaws, it asked a fundamental question that feels even more relevant today: how does power affect ethical choices? Getting the opportunity to reimagine this social experiment was one of the most intense, exhilarating—and definitely nail-biting—experiences we've ever had."