Lately I’ve had occasion to view a number of clips from the Ashton Kutcher show Punk’d. Like “Candid Camera,” back in the day, “Punk’d” creates humorous or stressful situations that are captured on hidden camera. Unlike CC, which targeted ordinary folks-on-the-street, Punk’d targets celebs, typically by enlisting a friend or trusted business associate of the celebrity to lure the unsuspecting target into the situation.
I find it interesting to watch how people respond, much as I found “Candid Camera” interesting. Because Punk’d targets recognizeable people, though, it gives rise to this proposition: it can be a reasonably good window into the character of the target.
I suppose Candid Camera might have been as well, but since the people were not anyone you knew or would encounter again, revelations about their character (or lack thereof) were not particularly important.
Example: Michelle Trachtenberg was on the show. The accomplice and she drove into a parking garage, and she was asked to hop out and make sure the SUV they were driving could fit under some pipes. There was plenty of clearance, so Michelle hopped back in and the car moved forward, at which point the rigged pipes fell onto the car’s roof and started spewing water, as though the car had broken them. Despite being visibly upset, Trachtenberg was apologetic and kept her cool even when the parking attendant and the security guard (both shills) screamed at her and tried to goad her into a reaction. She kept to the truth of what happened, acknowledging she must have made a mistake, and I thought she acquitted herself well.
Example: Michelle Rodriguez was with her friend/show accomplice in a convenience store when he manuevers her into playfully punching at him. He staggers backwards and hits a shelf, which instantly falls over and percipitates a chain reaction of shelves falling, pinning a “customer” under the last one. Rodriguez immediately tries to foist blame elsewhere, denying that she did anything whatsoever to cause the accident. Her heated denials in the face of what the audience had just seen moments ago made her look like… well, like quite a punk, I guess.
Example: Avril Lavgine parked in a commercial garage and left to shop. Moments later, the Punk’d crew put up a “Reserved For” sign and parked a car directly behind Lavigne’s. Her ire at the blocking car’s driver was deflated a bit when the driver returned and pointed out that Lavgine was in HER reserved spot, then left saying Lavigne would just have to wait for her to finish. After the angry driver leaves, a parking lot attendant suggests to Lavigne that they can simply roll the car out of the way. Tiny though she is, Lavigne puts her shoulder into the work, but is terrified to see the car roll out of control and down a slight slope and crash into an electric transformer, which showers sparks all over the car (and knocks over a motorcycle nearby). When the angry motorcycle and car owners show up to complain, Lavgine casts all the blame of the attendant, vehemently denying she had anything to do with the disaster. The show re-plays a clip of Lavigne pushing the car over her voice saying she had done nothing at all.
I think the willingness to tell the truth – or, if afraid of admitting liability when such admission could have financial consequences, simply remaining non-committal but not lying – in these situations is a mark of good character, and I think the instant willingness to lie to deflect blame away from yourself is a mark of poor character. I think these are fair inferences to draw from what we see on Punk’d.
Am I right?