We dream of being like the hero in the movies we saw when we were young, but we miss out on the opportunity to be a hero in our daily lives. One reason is the dispersion of responsibility. The bystander effect indicates that the more people around you, the less likely you are to help with an emergency. (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2012, p. 289). Instead of trying to get into something that doesn’t directly relate to me, it’s a psychological factor that someone else other than me will step in and help. But, what if you witnessed a murder like the kitty Genovese case (1964)? Do you think you should hold bystanders morally responsible?
I saw a Korean movie called The Witness (2018) that was inspired by the Kitty Genobis incident. The protagonist starts by setting up a mere murder at home in an apartment complex at night. The murder took place in the middle of a number of apartment complexes, but no single resident of the apartment testified that they witnessed it. In particular, despite the scream for help from the victim, no light is lit in any house and no one looks out the window. The residents of the apartment then refuse to tell the police. The protagonist witnesses the murder scene, but is silent because of the secondary damages that could happen to his family, which gives an implicit message that silence is the best defense of survival.
I think that helping people in crisis depends on many factors. The ability to give a person real help, or if the person’s personality or the environment, etc. is affected. When I lived alone in Korea, a robber broke into my house at dawn. I was fortunate enough to save my life and cry out for help, but no one opened the window and made sure I was okay. I still can’t forget the dark facade that I saw then. But I can understand the people in that neighborhood.
If I am an eyewitness, can I call the police right away? Can I open the door and help someone out? Have you ever thought about secondary damage, especially if it could threaten your family? I personally would not be able to bring myself to assist another honestly because I still do not think that society is guaranteed to be safe for those who make eyewitness statements. Like the main character in the movie, the person who chooses silence does not think that he is a person with low morality. This choice was an extremely normal one. Who can say bystanders are wrong? It’s not easy to help someone you don’t know before. But we need to think about how many people are likely to turn away from an incident if it was a danger to ourselves.
On the day the protagonist moves in the last scene of the movie, he shouts ‘Help’ in the middle of the apartment complex. Nobody cares, and nobody wants to get into this situation.
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.