Crimes and Misdemeanors
Lecture [Return to listing page]
With social psychology professor David DeSteno. This presentation is part of the ongoing Science on Screen Series.
In "one of the watershed films of his career" (Los Angeles Times), Woody Allen intertwines two storylines to deliver a penetrating, acidly funny tale about the complexity of human choices and the moral microcosms they represent. Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau, Oscar-nominated for the role) is a prominent ophthalmologist and family man who resorts to desperate measures when his mistress (Anjelica Huston) threatens to expose his extramarital and financial misdeeds. Meanwhile, unhappily married documentary filmmaker Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) woos an attractive production assistant (Mia Farrow) while directing a profile of his brother-in-law (Alan Alda), a pompous TV sitcom producer who represents everything Cliff despises.
Integrity. We look for it from our partners, friends, and leaders. We try to teach it to our children. The prevailing view is that integrity comes from hard work. It’s cultivated, it’s stable. But if integrity is so stable, then why do supposedly honest people deceive, and those who are considered corrupt display humility and generosity? Before the film, David DeSteno explores the science behind surprising shifts in human morality and the mental mechanisms that not only cause Judah and Cliff to act in unpredictable ways, but can also lead any of us to unexpected moral transgressions or redemptive behavior.
David DeSteno is an associate professor of psychology at Northeastern University, where he directs the internationally renowned Social Emotions Lab. He is co-author, with Piercarlo Valdesolo, of the book Out of Character: Surprising Truths about the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of Us. Professor DeSteno is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and serves as editor of the American Psychological Association's journal Emotion. His research regularly appears in top scientific publications and has been featured on NPR and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and the Boston Globe.
Fee: Museum of Science members, students, and seniors: $7.75; general admission: $9.75; Coolidge Corner Theatre members: free. Tickets are available in advance at coolidge.org or at the theater box office, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline.
With Science on Screen, the Coolidge Corner Theatre creatively pairs a feature film or documentary with lively presentations by notable figures from the world of science, medicine, and technology. The Science on Screen series is co-presented by the Museum of Science, Boston and New Scientist magazine and supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with additional support from Gesmer, Updegrove LLP, and Richard Anders.
