# Why did James Foley (et al.) sit still for the camera? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927 "2014-09-09T02:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/1 "2014-09-09T02:45:57Z")
I haven’t watched the video and don’t want to. I’ve seen one other such video in the past. I don’t know who it was, but he didn’t seem to know what was about to happen to him, and that can explain why he participated as he did. I have to think that James Foley knew what was going to happen. If it were I, I would not have just knelt down and stayed quiet. I would be giving those scumbags as much trouble as I could. However, I don’t know the circumstances and make no judgment about how Foley handled himself in a nightmare situation. I’m just trying to understand. Rest in peace. No one deserves that. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/2 "2014-09-09T03:04:44Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > IIf it were I, I would not have just knelt down and stayed quiet. I would be giving those scumbags as much trouble as I could. "u wot m8 im a blackbelt delta seal ill rek ur shit m8" It is extremely likely that you would do as they did. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/3 "2014-09-09T03:36:07Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > It is extremely likely that you would do as they did. OK, but the question remains why they did what they did. I’m not tough at all, but I also would not sit still waiting for someone to cut off my head. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/4 "2014-09-09T03:59:28Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > OK, but the question remains why they did what they did. > > I’m not tough at all, but I also would not sit still waiting for someone to cut off my head. IIRC I’ve read that some of these hostages get marched out and filmed in mock executions regularly and it’s not until the knife goes in that they know it’s for real, at which point its a bit late. Presumably after getting a beating for resisting the first few times they go along with it out of sheer mental & physical exhaustion. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/5 "2014-09-09T04:02:31Z")
I saw a guy lift his chin for the chainsaw that was about to behead him. By the time they make it to their execution, it’s likely that they’ve been psychologically broken down through physical and psychological torture. Relatedly, when people know they’re going to be executed, they tend to go zombie-like. They realize that struggling can only make things worse. It is quite weird to us who are not in the same situation. Go look at the hanging of Amon Goeth (the guy played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s list). They messed up his hanging twice and he was about as passive as he could be and it’s not like he feared being tortured until he complied. Yet he still did. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/6 "2014-09-09T14:04:55Z")
I find it puzzling too, but apparently that’s the way people are. You can see video of many ISIS executions of captured soldiers. Long lines of healthy young men, marching along to their executions. In some cases, they may not have known what was coming, but in some cases you see them shooting one guy, then bringing along the next guy and shooting him too, and so on. People do it, in all these situations. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/7 "2014-09-09T14:19:46Z")
He’d already been through probably dozens of mock executions, if not more. Tortured if he doesn’t comply so eventually he does. One day it’s the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/8 "2014-09-09T15:40:34Z")
How do prisoners act when they are about to be executed in American prisons? Do they resist? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/9 "2014-09-09T16:18:28Z")
He could be drugged too to make him compliant. But I would guess he has been through many “mock” executions. He was also probably tired, hungry, and psychologically damaged. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/10 "2014-09-09T16:25:22Z")
In Saudi Arabia, they drug the beheadee. No cite but there was an article in the Arab News about the (be)head executioner, year ago. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/11 "2014-09-09T21:36:46Z")
Henry VIII’s 5th wife, Katherine Howard, asked for the chopping block to be delivered to her room so that she could practice laying her head on it. People do strange things when they’re doomed to die. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/12 "2014-09-09T21:44:47Z")
Thanks for the info. I see how mock executions could “work” in this situation. Mother\*\*\*\*ers. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/13 "2014-09-09T21:53:28Z")
I’ve tried to imagine myself in that position, thinking I might try to spoil the occasion with some pithy atheist remark to camera, with a wink. But it’s not broadcast live, so the captors would just beat you until you did the compliant footage, presumably. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/14 "2014-09-09T22:31:41Z")
They _may_ be told something like, “If you cooperate, we’ll make it quick and clean. But if you fight, we’ll make it long and agonizingly painful.” ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/15 "2014-09-10T03:32:59Z")
I’d stay still too. There’s no chance of escape and a quick clean stroke will have it over with. Struggle and you could end up seriously injured and left in agony to die. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/16 "2014-09-10T12:07:06Z")
As a possible subversion, we have Fabrizio Quattrocchi, killed in Iraq in 2004 by his captors. Taken from [the relevant article in Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrizio_Quattrocchi): “Quattrocchi’s kidnappers forced him to dig his own grave and kneel beside it wearing a hood as they prepared to film his death, but he defied them by trying to pull off the hood and shouting _ **“Vi faccio vedere come muore un Italiano!”** _ - “I’ll show you how an Italian dies!” He was then shot in the back of the neck.” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-james-foley-et-al-sit-still-for-the-camera/697927/17 "2014-09-10T16:11:39Z")
When I worked in Iraq, one of my Iraqi colleagues was abducted and held for ransom. His family eventually paid, but on more than one occasion he was forced to kneel down while they pressed a pistol to his head and pulled trigger, but the gun was empty. One time they lined him up with two other guys, shot the other two in the head and when they got to him said, “maybe tomorrow,” and put him back in his cage. I imagine that you are so disoriented, tired, hungry, distraught and broken that you can’t really understand what’s going on and it becomes very difficult to figure out when to try and fight and when compliance is the best course of action.