What I Watched Week 1 + Cults
Happy Monday folks! I know I’m excited. To kick off your week nice and strong I’m here again to provide you with some more nonsense.
The Half of It (Netflix) directed by Alice Wu, a Chinese American featuring Leah Lewis as the queer Chinese immigrant protagonist. You don’t even know how much I really wanted to like this and honestly I don’t really enjoy the young adult romcom genre so I’m not sure why I watched this other than because I crave representation. Unfortunately, as I expected, I was let down by this film. I felt as though it didn’t have a strong plot, leaving many holes that don’t make a lot of sense and was quite repressed in its expression. Furthermore, I am rather sick of the nerdy Asian kid trope: wears glasses, plays the piano, does other people’s homework. I’m not trying to argue that this isn’t accurate but I think it’s a pretty shallow characterisation. This trope is so overplayed I’m giving it a 2.5/5. Sorry.
Uncut Gems (Netflix) directed by the Safdie Brothers. Tbh this shit gave me a headache and too much anxiety. Julia Fox really do be thicc though. As someone who is anxious enough already, it’s a no from me.
Boogie Nights by Paul Thomas Anderson which I initially thought was a film about Mark Wahlberg’s colossal prosthetic genitalia. However, it is so much more than that. A tale of excess, pleasure and porn in the 70s, the slow decline is inevitable. Boogie Nights has a star-studded cast with huge names such as Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) as a queer character and William H. Macy (Frank Gallagher in the U.S. version of Shameless). Definitely recommend.
The Master (Stan) was another Paul Thomas Anderson. Initially I thought this was about seeking solace in belonging. However, after reflecting a bit more I am starting to think this is just a story of the gay dom-sub relationship between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. Parallels between The Master and Scientology have often been drawn with the plot reflecting the life of Hubbard, the founder of Scientology in the 1960s. The topic of cults actually brings us to a fun fact as Joaquin Phoenix’s family actually escaped from the Children of God cult when Phoenix was a child. Anyway, I wasn’t as big a fan as I had hoped but I think I just didn’t know how to fully appreciate this. I should probably rewatch this.
Magnolia (Netflix) ummm another Paul Thomas Anderson for me. Featuring the same crowd as Boogie Nights with the addition of Tom Cruise who channels cult leader energy. Magnolia is tender and engaging. It showcases humanity as a whole, for all its flaws and weaknesses. Every character is multifaceted and come together to form the emotional rollercoaster that is Magnolia.
And to finish off the week, another Paul Thomas Anderson with There Will Be Blood. Dealing with the emergence of modern capitalism and religion in the early twentieth century, I liked and enjoyed the film but I didn’t exactly love it. Some parts of it failed to keep my attention and I was let down by the lack of female representation in the film. Don’t let my review deter you.
Of the four Paul Thomas Anderson films, if I had to pick one it would probably be Boogie Nights. Oh and I’ll close up this section with my rankings: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master.
Since a recurring theme this week has been cults I’ve chosen a few of my favourites.
With influences of Scientology and Satanism, The Manson Family is possibly my absolute favourite cult story. They moved around the California area and settled at Spahn ranch, an old film-and-television set. Manson often used his female followers to lure men to join the group. Centred on the ideology of “Helter Skelter”, the cult philosophy was really an attempt to start a race war by committing murders to look like they were committed by the Black Panthers. This lead to the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969 which will be discussed further next week. These murders were the definitive end of the 1960s. Patricia Kenwinkel who partook in the Tate-LaBianca murders is now the longest-incarcerated female inmate in the California penal system. Charles Manson was found guilty of seven counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death in 1971. However, after the state’s Supreme Court ruled capital punishment as unconstitutional, the sentence was then commuted to life in prison in 1972.
Hailing from Australia, The Family was led by Anne Hamilton-Byrne who claimed to be Jesus reborn as a woman. After taking up yoga in the late 1950s, she became increasingly interested in Eastern religion and mysticism and recruited members through her yoga teachings. Operating in almost total secrecy in the countryside of Melbourne, she collected 28 children and dressed them in identical clothes and bleached their hair. In the case where they misbehaved, she would beat them with a stiletto shoe or entrust the punishment to her followers. The children were given doses of Mogadon (a benzo used to treat sleeping problems) and Valium to keep them docile (wait this reminds me of Queen’s Gambit?). Upon reaching the age of 14 they were then given formal initiation into the cult via a huge dose of LSD to induce trips that lasted multiple days. This lead to significant emotional and psychological trauma with the children suffering from depression, nightmares and other variations on a theme. I think I trust my yoga teacher though…haha unless…jk.
Children of God was founded in California in 1968 by David “Moses” Berg and as aforementioned was the cult that Joaquin Phoenix was born into. It merged traditional Christian beliefs with “Free Love”, communal living and pedophilia as well as doomsday beliefs. By the 1970s they claimed to have 10,000 members around the world. They became famous for their practice known as “flirty fishing”, a form of evangelistic religious prostitution by the female members to convince people to join. The cult also permitted and encouraged sexual relations with children. Berg was known for abusing young girls including his daughters and granddaughters. In 2004 they rebranded to Family International and no longer believe that the apocalypse is imminent. Really harnessing the power of new product creation here!
Moving on to Asia, Aum Shinrikyo (meaning supreme truth) is a Japanese doomsday cult founded in 1984 by Chizuo Matsumoto who later reinvented himself in Tokyo as Shoko Asahara. The central belief was that the end of the world was imminent and that those who were not part of the cult would go to hell unless killed by cult members. The cult was granted status as a religious corporation in 1989 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and was worth approximately ¥100bn by the time of the 1995 attack with tens of thousands of members worldwide during its peak. This money came from the members themselves who were requested to donate all their worldly possessions when joining the cult as well as yoga lessons, book sales and computer service centers. On March 20, 1995, members released sarin gas (a nerve gas estimated to be 26x more potent than cyanide) on Tokyo subway trains,. This killed 13 people and injured over 5,800 (including blinding and paralysis. Seven of the members who carried out the attack were executed by hanging in 2018 with another six members still on death row. All groups of Aum that still exist continue to be under surveillance with an estimated 1650 total members remaining.
Fun fact (that is actually kind of grim): Four lions at a Spanish zoo tested positive for COVID-19.
Anyway that’s a wrap for this week. Thanks and you’ll hear from me again next week! Best of luck.
