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Throughout this whole film we see people conforming to the social norm of killing others ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). Apart from war, there are very few other social settings in which people see this as an acceptable behaviour. Some of the main reasons why these soldiers are conforming to this social norm is group cohesiveness; the soldiers are trying to avoid possible punishment or being shamed by the rest of the group for not conforming to the social norm or pulling their weight. However, whether these soldiers are actually conforming, or just trying to stay alive is debatable (Carter & Grivas, 2016).

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Much similar to above, in this scene (scene 5) two American soldiers are approaching two surrendering enemies. As the enemies are pleading to them with their hands up, the Americans pretend that they don’t hear them, and kill them without hesitation. After this they mock them by saying “I washed for supper.” ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). This, once again, shows the intense aggression from the American soldiers, resulting from the amount of built up frustration that they have from the enemies killing their friends and allies (Carter & Grivas, 2016).

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In this scene (scene 4) the Americans use a flamethrower to get the enemies out of a bunker; one soldier yells, “Don’t shoot let em burn!” as the enemies fall out of the bunker, on fire. Because aggression is caused by frustration, the actions of this soldier and the other soldiers who willingly let the enemies have an excruciatingly slow death can be explained quite clearly. The American soldiers had just been in essence, slaughtered by these enemies while trying to gain ground on the beach, most of their friends would have been killed causing incredible amounts of frustration ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). This would have been immediately converted into aggression. This explains the way that the aggression caused the soldiers actions. Another explanation for the aggression shown in this scene is the anonymity in a large group factor. The fact that there are probably more than 50 soldiers showing such aggression is this scene gives them the feeling of being less likely to be held accountable for their actions as they feel anonymous (Carter & Grivas, 2016)

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In this scene (scene 6) four high ranking officers are deciding whether or not to send a group to save private Ryan, after realising that all three of his brothers have been killed, and if he dies, his mother would have lost all of her sons at war. Everyone agrees to do so, accept one of the higher ranked officers who tries to debate his point, the fact that it is an unnecessary risk given that the main objective is to win the war ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). When the officer gives in and agrees with the rest of the group, he is showcasing a perfect example of groupthink by conforming in a way much similar to that of the “space shuttle video”. Even though he may not agree with sending the group to save private Ryan he does so anyway, mainly because it would be an easier option for him, to maintain group cohesiveness, as he also does not have the support of an ally (Carter & Grivas, 2016).

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Proximity of Victims, Someone Else Takes Responsibility

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Proximity of Victims, Someone Else Takes Responsibility

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In this sniper battle scene (scene 3), we see Jackson, the American sniper take out an enemy sniper. The proximity of the victim would play a great part in Jackson’s actions this scene even though Jackson is not directly ordered to kill the sniper; it goes as an unsaid order because he is the best shot in the group ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). This scenario may have had a different outcome and Jackson’s actions may have been different if the victim (enemy) was up close. The soldier’s actions in this scene along with most other scenes in the film, could also all be explained by the “someone else takes responsibility” effect. Most of the soldiers would never have committed the violent acts that they are seen doing in this film, and most of the soldiers would have justified this by telling themselves, “Its okay because the army takes responsibility for whatever I do, not me.” (Carter & Grivas, 2016).

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In this scene (scene 2), captain miller and his task squad come across an enemy base in the middle of nowhere when on their way to find private Ryan, all of the members of the group, bar the captain disagree with attacking the base. This is because they all believe that it is pointless to do so as it is “an unnecessary risk given their objective”. The group is eventually overruled by the captain’s orders ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). Once again this shows the undeniable obedience of the soldiers abiding to the authority figure by risking their lives even when they strongly disagree with captains orders, and avoiding the threat of punishment (Carter & Grivas, 2016)

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In the first scene (scene 1) of the film shown below, you can see captain Miller and a few soldiers taking cover behind a building whilst taking fire from enemies on top of a hill. Miller orders the soldiers to run out from behind the cover to try to gain ground on the enemies. All of these soldiers obey Miller without hesitation, and run into what would seem to be almost certain death ("Saving Private Ryan", 2016). This scene showcases undeniable obedience from the soldiers part, the reason for such obedience is the direct surveillance of the authority figure in the form of captain Miller (Carter & Grivas, 2016).

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In the film Saving Private Ryan there are multiple scenes showing great examples of conformity, obedience, and aggression. This Padlet will explore and analyse these factors and how they influence the soldiers decisions, actions, behaviour, and how they adapt to the social norm of killing.