TY  - JOUR
T1  - Ethics and Entertainment: The Paradoxical Appeal of Deception in the Traitors
TT  - Etik ve Eğlence: The Traitors’da Aldatmacanın Paradoksal Çekiciliği
AU  - Krupa, Henrieta
PY  - 2025
DA  - June
Y2  - 2025
DO  - 10.56133/intermedia.1614657
JF  - Intermedia International E-journal
PB  - İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2149-3669
SP  - 407
EP  - 442
VL  - 12
IS  - 22
LA  - en
AB  - This article examines the reality competition show The Traitors as a trickster-like transformative cultural artifact that while entertaining, reflects and interrogates critical aspects of human behavior and social dynamics. By dramatizing trust, betrayal, manipulation, and deception, the show serves as a microcosm for exploring themes such as group psychology, conformity, scapegoating, ethical ambiguity, and Machiavellianism. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from psychology, sociology, and cultural studies, the analysis investigates how The Traitors leverages the allure of the trickster by challenging conventional moral standards. The paper argues that the show’s structured environment suspends ethical norms, reframing deceit and manipulation as strategic imperatives. This not only captivates audiences but also encourages critical reflection on the contextual nature of morality and the social values that shape perceptions of success and betrayal. Additionally, the show’s portrayal of crowd dynamics reveals vulnerabilities in collective behavior, including conformity, scapegoating, and the diffusion of responsibility, offering insights into real-world social interactions and mechanisms of power. Ultimately, The Traitors transcends its entertainment role, serving as a lens for examining the human condition. Its blend of competition and introspection underscores its trickster-like transformative power by engaging audiences emotionally as well as cognitively, sparking broader conversations about ethics, social cohesion, and the allure of transgression. Thus, the study situates The Traitors within the broader context of cultural critique, positioning it as a trickster-like transformative mirror to the complexities of contemporary society.
KW  - crowd psychology
KW  - scapegoating
KW  - deception and manipulation
KW  - trickster archetype
KW  - reality television analysis
N2  - Bu makale, The Traitors adlı gerçeklik yarışma programını, eğlenceli olmasının yanı sıra insan davranışları ve toplumsal dinamiklerin kritik yönlerini yansıtan ve sorgulayan bir düzenbaz/hilebaz (trickster) benzeri dönüştürücü kültürel eser olarak incelemektedir. Güven, ihanet, manipülasyon ve aldatmayı dramatize ederek, program grup psikolojisi, uyum, günah keçisi haline getirme, etik belirsizlik ve Makyavelcilik gibi temaları keşfetmek için bir mikrokozmos işlevi görmektedir. Psikoloji, sosyoloji ve kültürel çalışmalar gibi kuramsal çerçevelerden yararlanan analiz, The Traitors’ın geleneksel ahlaki standartlara meydan okuyarak düzenbaz/hilebaz arketipinin çekiciliğini nasıl kullandığını incelemektedir. Makale, programın yapılandırılmış ortamının etik normları askıya alarak aldatma ve manipülasyonu stratejik zorunluluklar olarak yeniden çerçevelediğini savunmaktadır. Bu durum yalnızca izleyicileri büyülemekle kalmaz, aynı zamanda ahlakın bağlama dayalı doğası ve başarı ile ihanet algılarını şekillendiren toplumsal değerler üzerine eleştirel bir düşünme sürecini teşvik eder. Ayrıca, programın kalabalık dinamiklerine dair tasviri, uyum, günah keçisi haline getirme ve sorumluluk yayılımı gibi kolektif davranışlardaki zayıflıkları ortaya koyarak, gerçek dünyadaki toplumsal etkileşimler ve güç mekanizmaları hakkında içgörüler sunar. Nihayetinde, The Traitors eğlence rolünün ötesine geçerek insan durumunu incelemek için bir mercek işlevi görür. Yarışma ve düşünceyi birleştiren yapısıyla, izleyicileri hem duygusal hem de bilişsel olarak etkileyerek etik, toplumsal uyum ve baştan çıkarmanın cazibesi hakkında daha geniş tartışmalar başlatır. Böylece bu çalışma, The Traitors’ı kültürel eleştiri bağlamında konumlandırarak, çağdaş toplumun karmaşıklıklarına düzenbaz/hilebaz-benzeri dönüştürücü bir ayna olarak değerlendirmektedir.
CR  - Arendt, H. (1973). The Origins of Totalitarianism. [1951]. A Harvest/HBJ Book Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
CR  - Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of Group Pressure upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments. In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, Leadership and Men: Research in Human Relations. (pp. 177–190). Carnegie Press.
CR  - Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and Social Pressure. Scientific American, 193 (5), pp. 31-35. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24943779
CR  - Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of Independence and Conformity: A Minority of One against a Unanimous Majority. Psychological Monographs: general and Applied, 70 (9), pp. 1-70. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093718.
CR  - Asch, S. E. (1987). Social Psychology. [1952]. Oxford University Press.
CR  - Babcock-Abrahams, B. (1975). “A Tolerated Margin of Mess”: The Trickster and His Tales Reconsidered. Journal of the Folklore Institute, 11 (3), pp. 147-186. 10.2307/3813932.
CR  - Bandura, A. (1991). Social Cognitive Theory of Self-Regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50 (2), pp. 248–287. http://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90022-L.
CR  - Barthes, R. (1975). The Pleasure of the Text (R. Miller, Trans.). Hill and Wang.
CR  - Blaeser, K. (1995). Trickster: A Compendium. In M. Lindquist and M. Zanger (Eds.), “Buried Roots and Indestructible Seeds”: The Survival of American Indian Life in Story, History, and Spirit. (pp. 47-66). University of Wisconsin Press.
CR  - Brecht, B. (1977). Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic. [1964]. Hill and Wang.
CR  - Caillois, R. (2001). Man, Play and Games. (M. Barash, Trans.). University of Illinois Press.
CR  - Carroll, M. (1984). The Trickster as Selfish-Buffoon and Culture Hero. Ethos, 12 (2), pp. 105-131. DOI: 10.1525/eth.1984.12.2.02a00020.
CR  - Deutsch, M. (1958). Trust and Suspicion. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2 (4), pp. 265–279. doi.org/10.1177/002200275800200401.
CR  - Festinger, L. (1962). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford University Press.
CR  - Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Pantheon Books.
CR  - Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction (R. Hurley, Trans.). Pantheon Books.
CR  - Girard, R. (1986). The Scapegoat. (Y. Freccero, Trans.). Johns Hopkins University Press.
CR  - Girard, R. (1977). Violence and the Sacred. (P. Gregory, Trans.). Johns Hopkins University Press.
CR  - Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor Books.
CR  - Huizinga, J. (1971). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-element in Culture. Beacon Press.
CR  - Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. Routledge.
CR  - Hyde, L. (1998). Trickster Makes this World: Mischief, Myth, and Art. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
CR  - Hynes, W. J. (1997). Mapping the Characteristics of Mythic Tricksters: A Heuristic Guide. In W. J. Hynes and W. G. Doty (Eds.), Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms. University of Alabama Press.
CR  - Jackson, W. J. (2014). American Tricksters: Thoughts on the Shadow Side of a Culture`s Psyche. Cascade Book.
CR  - Janis, I. L. (1982). Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. Houghton Mifflin.
CR  - Janis, I. L. (1972). Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. Houghton Mifflin.
CR  - Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University Press.
CR  - Jung, C. G. (1976). Aion: Phenomenology of the Self (The Ego, the Shadow, the Syzygy: Anima/Animus). [1971]. In C. G. Jung and J. Campbell (ed.). The Portable Jung. Penguin Books.
CR  - Jung, C. G. (1969). Four Archetypes: Mother/Rebirth/Spirit/Trickster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
CR  - Jung, C. G. (1959). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
CR  - Kerenyi, K. (1956). The Trickster in Relation to Greek Mythology. Commentary in P. Radin. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. Philosophical Library.
CR  - Kohlberg, L. (1981). The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice. Harper & Row.
CR  - Le Bon, G. (2002). The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. [1895]. Dover Publications, Inc.
CR  - Levi-Strauss, C. (1976). Structural Anthropology. Basic Books.
CR  - Machiavelli, M. (1985). The Prince. [1532]. (H. C. Mansfield, Tranl.). University of Chicago Press.
CR  - Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of Obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67(4), pp. 371–378. 
http://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525. Milgram, S. (2009). Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. [1974]. Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), pp. 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/16.3.6.
CR  - Murray, S. and Ouellette, L. (Eds.). (2009). Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. New York University Press.
John F. Nash`s “Equilibrium Points in N-Person Games”, 1950; Nash, J. (1950). Equilibrium Points in n-Person Games. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, pp. 36, 48-49. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.36.1.48.
CR  - Nash, J. (1951). Non-Cooperative Games. The Annals of Mathematics, Second Series. 54 (2), pp. 286-295.
CR  - Pelton, R. (1980). The Trickster in West Africa: A Study of Mythic Irony and Sacred Delight. University of California Press.
CR  - Radin, P. (1969). The Trickster: A study in American Indian mythology, With Commentaries by C. G. Jung and Karl Kerenyi. Philosophical Library.
CR  - Roberts, K. G. (2007). Alterity and Narrative: Stories and the Negotiation of Western Identities. SUNY Press.
CR  - Ryan, M.-L. (2001). Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press.
CR  - Sontag, S. (1978). Illness as Metaphor. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
CR  - Suits, B. (1978). The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia. Broadview Press.
CR  - Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine Publishing
CR  - Umberto, E. (1984). The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts. [1979]. Indiana University Press.
CR  - Von Neumann, J. and Morgenstern, O. (1944). Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Princeton University Press.
CR  - Whyte, W. H. Jr. (1952). Groupthink. Fortune. Pp. 114-117. 142, 146.
CR  - Zimbardo, P. (2008). The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Random House.
CR  - Zimmerman, E. (2012). Manifesto for a Ludic Century. In S. P. Walz and S. Deterding (Eds.), The Gameful World: Approaches, Issues, Applications. MIT Press.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.56133/intermedia.1614657
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4498422
ER  -