In The Dark Knight somewhere near the end of the third act there is a sequence where Joker plants explosive inside two passenger ships. One is carrying hardcore criminals and other innocent civilians. He gives choice to captains of both ships to blow the other one otherwise he'll blow both of them in an hour. This plot device is heavily used in films and is particularly found in films where protagonist often have to make a choice between two bad options.
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the world of Game Theory. Before we begin I must iterate game theory is not just about video games.
In it's simplest definition game theory is a branch of science/strategy that studies behavior of people embroiled in a specific situation. It is widely used by law enforcement, politicians, economists to plan their strategies in situations such as negotiation, planning economic policies or devising a plan to win election.
What I want to discuss is not related to any of the things above but how Game Theory has been used effectively in some of the most popular films in the past.
The Dark Knight example above is one of the most popular game termed as Prisoner's Dilemma. This game was conceived by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher but Albert W. Tucker coined the term.
This game involves two or more players (or prisoners) who cannot co-operate with the authority (whatever that may be) because co-operating will no
Typical scenario is very often a variant of the following situation:
Two suspects are questioned into separate rooms and offered a similar deal. If one rats out the other, s/he may go free while the other receives a life imprisonment. If neither complies both are given moderate sentences, and if both complies the sentences for both will be severe. Typical Characteristics
Prisoner's Dilemma is a commonplace in TV shows and films dealing with law enforcement situations. However this dilemma is not limited to law enforcement based films but can also be found in instances where protagonist is forced to make a tough choice.
More than a strategy game it is a psychological game. In a typical scenario the authority figure feeds on insecurity of the players. The players are often cornered in a no-way-out place. Ratting out the other partner seems like the best and the easiest choice.
Authority figure often acts as god or godlike archetype such as Devil, Faust or Mephistopheles to the players. In The Dark Knight, Joker acted as a true incarnation of Mephistopheles by offering difficult choices to Batman.
Authority figure in all cases need not be an external entity. Very often it is the player's need which defines the characteristics of the figure. If internal it is usually manifested via any of the great sins, usually greed.
Some films which employed this technique (internal / external) are:
- Treasure of Sierra Madre
- Gamer (Although not a good film by any stretch)
- Dark Knight
- Murder by Numbers
- L.A. Confidential
- Lost TV Series (a poster child for game theory)
- North By Northwest
- Maltese Falcon
Largely unnoticed but film noir employed variants of Prisoner's Dilemma. Usually authority figure in such kind of films is internal. Lack of trust and greed usually acts as authority figure often crumbling the symbiosis which otherwise would have benefitted both parties.
In Treasure of Sierra Madre it is greed for gold which drives all the players to deceive each other thereby making authority figure internal.
In films such as Gamer (2009), Death Race, Running Man the authority figure is often an external entity such as lawmaker, industrialist or warden. The primal need here is survival which will be compromised if players don't co-operate. Such kind of films have very generic plot elements rendering the story very predictable. However these films are mainly action films where predictably is often expected.
TV Series Lost made a good use of Prisoner's Dilemma by forcing the survivors to collaborate if they want to survive against all the monstrosities that exist on the island. The creators realized that if they make authority figure known then the story will lose its charm and most likely will fall in the same trap as any of those prison / futuristic action films. They introduced a unique design principle by making the authority figure mysterious and unpredictable. This introduced another layer of complexity to the principles of Prisoner's Dilemma.
If you are a writer of screenplay or novel it might be a good idea to understand various types of games in the game theory. It adds a layer of unpredictability to the stories. However if not used properly it might seem clichéd. Discretion is highly advised.
Sun Tzu quotes in art of war, "All war is based on deception."
Prisoner's Dilemma is nothing but a deception wrapped in the form of good choice. If you know how to weave that illusion in your plot then you have a winning story.
There are a lot of good resources on the web to understand the intricacies of game theory. Some of the good ones are as follows:
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