What is this interrogation technique called in Maniac?

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In Maniac subjects are asked to sit in front of a number of cameras during an after-session interview, as shown below:

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What is this technique called?



Best Answer

At the beginning of the scene the character Dr. James Mantleray (Justin Theroux) refers to this as a "proximity test".

DR. MANTELRAY: What you're about to experience is a proximity test. It's a cross check of the data we've gleamed, helps the GRTA render your reflections for the final pill. I'm a friend and this is normal. By the way I'm sorry to hear about your sister being crushed and then burned to death in that car accident. So your score goes up or down depending on the consistency between your answers, and ah, what we've observed. The scale is from zero to ten. Anything below a nine point two results in the termination of your experience at the trail due to a lack of progress.

ANNIE: A lack of progress of what?

DR MANTELRAY: A disillusion of your defense mechanisms. Just consider this just me verifying that your data is usable.

When I did some quick research, I came across reference to a legal term, "dangerous proximity test" and/or physical proximity principal

The physical proximity doctrine is a standard in criminal law for distinguishing between preparation and attempt.1:683 "Physical" refers to the physical element of a criminal act (actus reus), as distinguished from the mental element of a guilty mind (mens rea). When a person makes preparation to commit a crime, and one of the preparatory acts is close or proximate to the completed crime, the preparation is considered to have merged into being an actual attempt.1:683 The standard is not a clear bright line standard.1:683 The closer the preparatory act is to the completed crime, the stronger the case for calling it an attempt.1:683 The determination as to whether the standard has been met is a matter for the jury to determine.

I do not know if the exact method Maniac depicts is true to the legal method, including the use of that many cameras is, or has ever been, a standard when applying it to alleged perpetrators, as Maniac has some comedic aspects and in this case, is being applied to scientific experiment/research, as opposed to the criminal justice system, but in Maniac's case we can see how that idea could easily be applied to Annie, given her guilt about her sister and unresolved feelings towards her mother.

From the dialogue in scene, we also can conclude that Dr. Mantelray with the computer GRTA is testing to see if Annie is telling the truth while testing her defense mechanisms, and to see if the experiment is working, because

Annie abused the process by taking too many A pills, resulting in a deep connection between her an Owen, "GRTA" is unknowingly malfunctioning, and because Annie has a tendency to lie.

The final result of scene also shows GRTA has processed the data and determined what Annie's "condition" is, suggesting the proximity test is also about clinically diagnosing human behavior.




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