We know from the Stanford prison experiment and the work of Frank Barron, that humans desperately want to conform, even if it engages them in immoral behavior.
Countless cartoons and other media show a spiral on a TV or a pocket watch swinging.

A protagonist snaps into a deep trance and does whatever is asked of them...
Here is a list of tv and movies that demonstrate the "hypnotized to do the thing" overworked Hollywood Trope.

Manchurian Candidate
The Monkees (comedic)
Village of the Damned
Clockwork Orange
Naked Gun (comedic) OJ Simpson
Parallax View
Josie and the Pussycats (comedic)
Nikita
Matrix
Dark Angel
Zoolander (comedic)

By mixing dramatic depiction (Clockwork, Nikita, Parallax) with comedic (Monkees, Josie and the Pussycats, Naked Gun, Zoolander) it demonstrates that it is both a real phenomenon and one that they wish to remain hidden.

Also one has to consider the real world events that seem to fit in the real tragic or dramatic category such as the blanked-out culprit murders of John Lennon and RFK, as well as more recent violent assaults.

So who's Charlie?

@threadreaderapp unroll yo