As mentioned in the post about the ending of the anime version of DRAMAtical Murder, I noticed some things... More after the jump break! (Warning: Implied spoilers for both the anime and the game can be found in the rest of this post).
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Some parts of DRAMAtical Murder remind me of concepts from Freudian psychology, indeed, Shiroba... (By
the way, Shimohi refers to Aoba's Superpowered Evil Side as "Shiroba"
due to events that would happen in Koujaku's bad ending. Hint, it
involves "Split-personality takeover" and "Locked into Strangeness".)
...seems to not care at all about the world around him, just what he
wants. What he "desires", mostly involves destruction. (Like an "Id".)
Then there's Ren, who keeps in mind the various restrictions society
places upon us, countering what Shiroba desires, to keep them from going
out of control to "restrain" those desires. (...Do I really have to say this?) Yes. (Fine... Like a Super-Ego...)
Thank you, but... That constant struggle between Id and Super-Ego, if
left unchecked, would end up with nothing being accomplished. Not just
preventing harmful actions from being done to others, but also desires
that are perfectly "reasonable" to be acted upon. Like eating food so that
you won't starve to death; despite desiring to eat food, it's a bad idea
to eat more than you need because others won't get enough. Then again,
restraining yourself from eating period is also bad. So there needs to
be a balance between desire and restraint... A "reasonable" balance...
Which, of course, sounds a lot like the role of the Ego.
But yeah, about the concept of "neuroplasticity" or "the fact that humans are remarkably good at adapting to changing circumstances". Among other podcasts, I listen to "The TED Radio Hour" and there I've heard of how a mountain/rock climber lost his legs... but gained a lot more in return! (If you're curious, it's the episode about "Transformation" but there's also an episode entirely about neuroplasticity I believe that one's called "Unstoppable Learning".) But that neuroplasticity does have its dark side... ("Stockholm Syndrome" anyone?) ...and the manipulation of others through exploiting this quality is what we call "brainwashing". And while, no, it's not as easy as it is with any of the methods seen in DRAMAtical Murder; there are many ways in which humans can be manipulated.
How certain memories can be associated with specific smells... (*cough*The methods of Mink's "tribe"*cough*). The "halo effect" or "how we expect that 'Beauty equals goodness'" and the like. (Aoba and Toue's voice.) The cultural and psychological effects of music... ("Dye Music" versus "The Jellyfish Lullaby"). Seizures and such caused by strobe lights... (The "Light Drug" in the club... Oh wait, that's only in the game.)
And, of course, there's the fact that people will do or say whatever you want if enough torture is applied; just to make whatever's causing them pain to STOP! Which is why torture or "enhanced interrogation techniques" is utterly pointless in the end. (And... I've got the NSA on my back again...)
And the horrible thing is... Not that there are governments... (Including the United States of America) ...who'd wish the kind of easy brainwashing techniques in DRAMAtical Murder were real. That's a fact, but that's aside the point. The point is... those desires could still be acted upon even with what we have in our reality! As in, yeah, governments treating its citizens as disposable pawns. Or... Am I just... Overthinking Things...?
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