The Garden: Commune or Cult

I thought that I was watching a docuseries, what I got was a bunch of petty drama typical of a reality show. It's like The Real World, only off the grid. These people are insufferably disagreeable and sanctimonious. They're basically the kids that hated taking baths as children, only a few decades later. Now they live in the woods and mock the rest of us as "conformists. " I get the impression that the whole cult question is nothing more than marketing to hook people into check out this series. That Carrot Top looking mofo with "Tree Forrester" (so much cringe) as a sobriquet is also the last person that I would nominate as a spokesperson for any organization.

I wouldn't describe this show as terrible. I don't really like fake drama passed off as real, but I could tolerate this show most of the time.

My blood would boil every time a character would deliberate about if The Garden is a cult. They would say asinine things like, "well, they have a leader, so they're definitely a cult." Or "they kicked someone out, which as everyone knows means they're a cult." Never mind that there is no religious component, people are free to leave whenever they want, there is no overt pressure of conformity, etc etc. The tagline question of "Commune of Cult" is clearly answered in the first 10 minutes.

Now, there are other dysfunctional practices that are still allowed to be questioned, but we've got the big one out of the way. Kinda click-baity to base the entire premise of your show around something so obvious from the get-go.

By the way, voluntary communities are allowed to have leaders, agreed-upon systems of governance (ie. Unanimity, consent through silence, etc.), and they can kick people out for whatever reason they want.

I took the bait... I thought this was a documentary about a cult. But as soon as those credits rolled with a fake fight happening in the background like all those discovery channel garbage reality show I was quickly reminded that discovery is part of hbo max now. It is terrible of HBO to clearly come after the people who like cult documentaries and use false advertising like this. This merger is going to be the death of hbo, they are catering to the extremes on both sides and are forgetting about us normies. Well that was a long rant about hbo, tk get back to the show...well it sucks, it is so obviously fake, they bring in actors who have no skill set to be outdoors. It's just bunch of paid actors who have fake fights like every cheaply produced discovery channel trash.

Coming off actual documentaries on harmful cults like Love Has Won, , this one was framed from the start as something shocking, teasing at violence and coercive control.

Instead we get a semi-scripted reality show where it appears that actors responding to the casting call were structured around whatever roles as "the Viking", "the outcast who hates hippie nonsense", "the out of water influencer", "the citizen detective investigator" etc etc, offered talking head moments and given childhood camp-like "survival training".

The production company doesn't appear make documentaries but reality shows about sexy Amish people or whatever Discovery exploitation du jour, replacing actual HBO documentary content with this will be the future of your subscription budget.

Back to the series!

There's a plot of land, a general misunderstanding of collective decisions, a disdain for people who live as they want to, and a wacky cast with roles that primarily involve disgust for the way some people choose to live.

The legacy of this show for me is how lazy it is in reinforcing xenophobia and small-mindedness through the usual reality TV lens. Was it a mistake for the commune to make any deal with Discovery? I hope it paid for some infrastructure so they can live freer.

But jeezy, I don't know how it'll be seen by people (it'll just be seen since it cost very little for Discovery) but I did look up the general response on Reddit and I had a hard time finding anyone who thought it didn't do the commune a disservice with this sloppy, boring fiction, people mugging for the camera and causing distress to their hosts who for any flaws of prepper skill didn't ask to be harassed and intimidated.

I don't usually leave reviews! I think this is really what the old HBO sub budget will become, slickly filmed (I'll give field sound / video workers props, BEGRUDGINGLY) but Discovery will sell us these trash true crime "series" with pretense of content and end up with cheap "freak show" exploitation and ironically perpetuating small minded paranoia a lot more than the actual outcasts that.

This show is a ride from the very first episode. While many "cult" docs as of late have been focused on the manipulation of the members by some evil leader, this one really gives you insight to their everyday lives and the natural struggles that come living in an ungoverned society.

If it is a cult... sign me up!!! There are clearly a lot of pros and cons to living off the land and even more barriers when it comes to living with each other peacefully but the community and bond that is formed as a result looks so fulfilling.

There's some level of leadership, sure. But this isn't how I think of cults. There's no one major leader at the top trying to profit or be a master manipulator. Patrick owns the land and has some level of authority but these people crying that it's some horrible cult need to go study/watch the NXIVM cult and some of the other crazy ones where a ton of crimes and financial/emotional manipulation is taking place.