Five Steps to Tyranny (2000 - Elizabeth McIntyre and Sheena McDonald)

Title: Five Steps to Tyranny Year: 2001 Director: Elizabeth McIntyre Writer: Sheena McDonald Actors: Ko Aung, Denis Bagaruka, Louise Christian, Frances D'Souza Language: English Runtime: 60 min Released: 01 Feb 2001 Plot: In December 2000, the BBC broadcast an hour-long documentary called Five Steps to Tyranny, a look at how ordinary people can do monstrous things in the presence of authority. Horrific things happen in the world we live in. We would like to believe only evil people carry out atrocities. But tyrannies are created by ordinary people, like you and me. The five steps are: 1. “us” and “them” (prejudice and the formation of a dominant group) 2. obey orders (the tendency to follow orders, especially from those with authority) 3. do “them” harm (obeying an authority who commands actions against our conscience) 4. “stand up” or “stand by” (standing by as harm occurs) 5. exterminate (the elimination of the “other”) To illustrate each step, the program uses social psychol