From that moment on, the members of Raymonds patrol, now brainwashed by Yen Lo, believe that Raymond was the hero who saved them. It is important to note that the American soldiers are neither beaten nor mistreated: after a brief introductory phase in which they are drugged, they are hypnotized three times a day by means of a «deep mental massage.» The whole process is accomplished quickly: captured on the night of July 8, 1951, they are freed and left to be picked up by American forces in the afternoon of July 12, 1951. Actually, even though during Yen Los demonstration Raymond is persuaded to strangle a fellow soldier and shoot another for the sole purpose of demonstrating the effectiveness of brainwashing, the whole troop is emptied of memories and urged to believe that Raymond performed extraordinary acts of heroism to save them (except, of course, for the two men he killed) from overwhelming enemy forces. However, even though Raymond is the best candidate because of his feelings of resentment, Yen Los brainwashing is successful on everyone.
The Korean doctor chooses Raymond Shaw because he is dominated by «resentment»: he hates his mother for deserting his father (who went on to commit suicide) and marrying Johnny Iselin, a corrupt senator (who reminds us of McCarthy) that she controls totally. En passant, Yen Lo pays homage to the psychoanalytic theories that see Western bourgeois education as playing a role in facilitating brainwashing. That is nonsense, of course.» On the contrary, according to Yen Lo, given sufficiently advanced techniques, hypnosis could create criminals. Echoing the standard CIA brainwashing theory (and going further, since in the novel physical pain is not mandatory and drugs are used only briefly in the initial stage), Yen Lo stated: «I am sure that all of you have heard that old wives tale which is concerned with the belief that no hypnotized subject may be forced to do that which is repellent to his moral nature, whatever that is, or to his own best interests.
Who wrote the manchurian candidate serial#
According to the Wertham, these books induce a sort of «negative conditioning» in Americas youth (Werthams book and his testimony before Congress led to the signing in 1954 of the Comics Code that included a ban on representing horror themes and characters such as vampires, werewolves and serial killers in English-language comic books-up to then very popular). through comic books that depict violent action and horror stories. Strangely, Yen Lo also quotes from Seduction of the Innocent, a well-known writing by the American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (1895-1981) as proof that brainwashing is indeed possible and is being applied on a vast scale in the U.S.A. The Korean doctor reconstructs the development of brainwashing from its alleged beginnings with Russian psychologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1939) through the American scientists who continued his work. Yen Los opening speech brilliantly recaps the ideas on brainwashing that the CIA had helped disseminate. He then organizes a demonstration of his results before Soviet KGB top men. Yen Lo drugs the whole American patrol unit and subjects them to hypnosis. Shaw is taken to a tent where the sinister Dr. In the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate directed by John Frankenheimer (1930-2002) and based on the novel, the protagonist, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (interpreted by Laurence Harvey, 1928-1973), and his unit under the command of Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra, 1915-1998) are captured by the Koreans. McCarthy (1908-1957) and his «witch hunt» against Communist sympathizers in the Administration. He was nevertheless a leftist, and his book is also a biting satire of Senator Joseph R. When, years later, Condon had a second success with the Prizzi cycle (starting with Prizzis Honor, 1982), he was suspected of having contacts with both the Mafia and the police. The author reports so faithfully the so called CIA brainwashing theory, devised by the American intelligent as a weapon of anti-communist propaganda during the Cold War (and later applied to cults), that some were led to believe that he was somehow «instructed» by the Agency. The book has frequently been hailed as a disquieting literary foreshadowing of John Fitzgerald Kennedys (1917-1963) assassination. There are interesting stories concerning Richard Thomas Condon (1915-1996), the author of The Manchurian Candidate (the novel), published in 1959.
Who wrote the manchurian candidate movie#
The 2004 movie The Manchurian Candidate, directed by Jonathan Demme, will probably not have the same impact as far as brainwashing controversies are concerned.
The 1959 book and 1962 movie The Manchurian Candidate largely defined brainwashing for a large segment of the international public.