Wild Wild Country

I'm not into cult, but this documentary really blows my mind. Learnt so much history about the town, the religion and the whole process. It gets better and better each episode, couldn't stop watching! It's crazy that this is only back in the 80s.

Impressively done documentary that even after 5 to 6 hours still leaves too many questions unanswered. Too much focus on the neighbors, too little on actual life within the commune. Respectful interviewing, but not thorough enough. I'm still very fascinated though. How charismatic must people be and how wonderful the commune life that you don't get absolutely disgusted with the extreme greed of your leader and the aggression of his secretary?

What's great about this show is that it never takes sides, instead shows everyone telling their side and letting you figure out who's lying (lots) and who's honest. I wish there'd been a touch more expansion on the pre and post worlds, but I get that the focus was on the Oregon episode, so it's hardly critical. What was most striking here was how bigoted and clueless the people of Antelope were, how racist and NIMBY. And yet, the cult itself was messed up, so both sides have merit! Find your own truth!

To understand why utopias do not work this provides a fascinating real life example.

A guru who chooses not to speak and allows his followers to take control - Sheela is a brilliant mix of artful aggression and disingenuousness. Her lack of enlightenment by the end is bizarre. The whole purpose of following Osho was supposedly to gain enlightenment. Will the day ever come when she recognises that her need for power created only chaos?

Human nature in all its frailty plays out on film - everyone should see this - and read Animal Farm, which predicted it all decades ago. Slightly overlong which is the only reason it doesn't get 10 stars - but worth staying with as it truly gets weird halfway through.

The amount of information and perspectives covered is unbelievable