Somewhere around 2004 I watched What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? and my mind was BLOWN! Shortly there after I bought the book the documentary is based on - both the film and book still sit on my shelves.
Fast forward many years later and I stumble across an article about this group called NXIVM, an accused cult, and I just couldn't wrap my head around about what I was reading. Sex cult? Health cult? How in the hell do you pronounce this nonsense name? And I put the article down and didn't think much more about it - it was just so ... weird.
Didn't think much more about it until I now have stumbled upon this documentary. I was looking (ready) for answers. So imagine my surprise when one of the first things that came up in the documentary was the film What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?, and I absolutely was not ready to be dragged down the sadistic rabbit hole by author and director, and previous cult member: Mark Vicente.
Let's take a look at:
This drama show is a terrifying look into how *easily* good people can suddenly find themselves doing monstrous things - all in the name of mental and emotional health, and helping the world be a better place.
The story follows a handful of defectors from the cult, as soon as they found themselves riding a runaway train to destination f*cked. A real, terrible, horror crawled under my skin as I sat wondering - considering how vulnerable I've been in different stages of my life and based on this cult leader's teachings of finding the science in your well being - would I have fallen for it?
I actually think I would have, or at least entertain the idea for a while. I am pretty certain I would not have seen 'cult' scratched into the foreheads right away. Manipulation has a very distinct and nauseating smell, however. So I'd also like to think I would have seen myself out the door as soon as that poisonous air was detected.
This is a harrowing rollercoaster of the ride folks! Harrowing and sad, you feel for the folks (some of them...)
One thing I found so absolutely terrifying is that viewers didn't really hear, in significant detail, all the of the teachings from leader I-Think-He-Doth-Protest-To-Much-Keith Raniere. This is a Blessing! By the last episode you're pretty bombarded with his damaging words and I don't think I would have been able to handle more than one episode of that. Physically, mentally painful just watching snippets of a video tape. I am speechless at what it must have been like for victims, in person.
Escaping abusive relationships is the most dangerous time for escapees, and this documentary not only documents the cult's growth but also the escapes and take-down by law enforcement. It's a rollercoaster - a very real, very scary, very dangerous rollercoaster.
This stuff scares me. The real horror stories.
Best watched alone, and when you think you have all your shit together. Pairs with food you love (and DON'T count the calories!).
I watched this film on HBO or use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you can find this nightmare of a decades long situation.
Take care folks! Don't get sucked into cults!
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