Roger “Verbal” Kint, a physically disabled small time con man is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. U.S. Custom’s agent Dave Kujan is brought in to interrogate Kint. During the interrogation, Kint recounts his involvement with a mysterious criminal mastermind named Keyser Söze who controls him and the others involved.
(Spoiler alert) Kint weaves an incredible tale filled with intrigue and plot twists. Shortly after Kint departs Kujan realizes that the entire story was fabricated. Exiting the building, Kint sheds his limp and flexes his previously disabled hand. Meanwhile, as Kujan gives chase, a fax arrives at the police station bearing a facial composite of Söze, remarkably resembling Kint, unmasking him as Söze all along. Söze slips into a waiting car and departs just before Kujan arrives. A voiceover from Söze, recalling his earlier conversation with Kujan, echoes: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, and just like that…he’s gone.”
This is the story line from the cult classic Usual Suspects. The movie is iconic in its capacity for an individual (or a group of people) to fabricate false narratives that even very intelligent individuals succumb to.
The reality is these type of narratives are prevalent. They show up in our personal and professional lives. And as most of us know they are incredibly common on the internet and in the political world. In fact, some estimate that fabricated false narratives are a billion dollar industry annually. Tragically, the end result is an incredibly toxic environment where fear, control and manipulation are center most.
In the book, How Big Things Get Done, authors Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner detail the significant impact on what they call “Strategic Misrepresentation”. They discuss the long term cataclysmic challenges when individuals and organizations deliberately deceive and systematically distort or misstate information for strategic purposes. All under the rationalization for which the end justifies the means.
Strategic misrepresentation has been a prevalent dynamic for a very long time. History is filled with kings, queens, warlords, merchants and even religious leaders who have all strategically mislead others for their own benefit.
The Christian world begins Holy Week today. It is a powerful journey with Jesus of Nazareth on his last earthly days. At the beginning the crowds enthusiastically welcome Jesus shouting, “Hosanna!” And just days later the crowd is shouting, “Crucify Him!” How could the crowd turn on Jesus so quickly? As you follow the foot steps of Jesus it becomes abundantly clear of the intentional strategic misrepresentation of Jesus by those in power who were threatened by him.
“Love without power is only sentimentality, cheap and innocuous religion. However, power without love becomes brutality and that’s what every culture instinctively moves toward: self-protection and self-aggrandizement. Once we have learned the truth of the Grail, of love, we cannot believe the world of power is adequate or a correct response to reality. The heroic journey unites power and love.” – Richard Rohr