Television Tuesday: "Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God," is Incredibly Messed Up

I've been on a cult-kick for my documentaries, I won't deny it. I watched both docuseries about the, "Twin Flames," cult/pyramid scheme and now I have viewed all three episodes of, "Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God." If I may be blunt, this show had me saying, "What. The. Fuck," several times as things just got too strange to comprehend. The three-episode series chronicles the life of Amy Carlson by opening with her death. The woman created a cult full of new-age ramblings, theories about dead celebrities providing guidance, spaceships, and a mish-mash of conspiracy theories. 

At its heart, one can see Amy Carlson had a lot of mental issues and during the brief times she thought about getting help, others who were benefiting from her financially thanks to her followers made sure the gravy train kept running and Amy/Mother God continued to think she was a deity upon Earth who needed to raise funds so afford a metric ton of drugs and alcohol that everyone subsisted on nearly constantly to the point food was practically an afterthought. Amy was charismatic enough and had others in her orbit who were smart enough to ensure money was made and the good times kept rolling until, of course, they didn't. 

The problem with every commune, utopia, or cult that has ever existed would be that in the end they don't work and it all crumbles spectacularly. I got to the point I was both aghast and cracking up at the sheer absurdity of this, "Love has Won," cult when--spoiler if you want to go into this mostly unaware of the twists and turns--we got to the part of the story where they are transporting Amy's dead and blue body (she took so much colloidal silver she turned blue) across state lines and putting sunglasses on her so it just looks like she's passed out in the back. Yes, they pulled a, "Weekend at Bernie's," with their cult leader's corpse and that's just one of many surreal moments in this documentary. If you can handle an incredibly disturbing and sad docuseries I would recommend giving, "Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God," a viewing on HBO/MAX. It's so, so weird and just as fascinating.

5 out of 5 stars.

Television Tuesday: Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe

What happens when a dating guide service slowly turns into an expensive lifestyle program and then morphs even further into a cult? Well, you get the Twin Flames Universe. A fascinating three-part documentary series on Amazon Prime, "Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe," features a journalist named Alice Hines delving further and further into a troubling, "Movement," spearheaded by Jeff and Shaleia Ayan.

Jeff and Shaleia seem like a fun married couple at first. They're a bit nerdy, kind of quirky, and tell great jokes. They start a community dedicated to the idea of Twin Flames and how your perfect soulmate is out there. They offer to help people get that special soulmate. Then these people who pay for Jeff and Shaleia's help get into legal trouble for stalking or other issues. Hence, Jeff and Shaleia start a matchmaking service within Twin Flames. However, 80%-90% of their, "Members," are heterosexual women. So they keep pivoting, demanding money, and presenting themselves less as friendly guides and more are religious figures who talk directly to God and are equivalent to Jesus Christ in their wisdom and power. Alice Hines explores all of this and just when you think things can't get any more disturbing or creepy the rabbit hole keeps descending further into creepiness.

As a, "Time," article about this documentary discusses, Twin Flames Universe still exists. It has locked things down more and their Facebook group is private, but they're still out there fleecing people for money. Is it a scam? Is it a religious cult? Could it be a bit of both? I'd recommend watching all three episodes of, "Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping the Twin Flames Universe," and finding out just how far folks will go for love, power, and (of course) money.

5 out of 5 stars.

End of May 2016 Links

The End of a Great Month

May has been a good month--and not just because of my birthday, but because I tend to greatly enjoy Mays. It is my second-favorite month after October, and as it wraps up I feel some sadness, but also look forward to the Summer. As we near the end of May here are some links for you to enjoy.

Link-Time!

Countless fans of the, "Disney Infinity," games cried-out with dismay when it was announced the company is suddenly giving-up on the brand. Some fans also probably cried-out when Disney said they were getting rid of Disney Dollars too, but that was probably met with more of a disinterested shrug. Still, both the figures and Disney Dollars will probably gain some collectible value over the years.

Abhay Khosla has presented what is basically an in-depth legal brief about why DC's Editor in Chief, Dan DiDio, really should probably be fired. This is the best constructed and most complex arguement yet against DiDio, even if in the end the main conclusion is the same as when someone states, "DiDio sucks!"

I've had some time to listen to bits of the new album, "Coloring Book," from Chance the Rapper. It is some pretty good music and getting a lot of positive press. I wouldn't say I love it, but I have found it enjoyable.

Here is an interesting piece on how cults work.

I enjoy the, "Battlefield" games every now and then, plus I also find World War I to be a fascinating part of our history that isn't covered too often. Therefore, a new big-budget video-game that covers WWI under the, "Battlefield," brand may be pretty interesting, and help to increase interest in this often-overlooked part of the past.

Hey, while we're on the subject of the past this article about old games (not games set in older times, but literally old games) and how GOG helps bring them back was a good read.

"Farewell Mr. Bunting," was one of the best SNL bits this season. It takes the filmed skit awhile to get where it's going, but once it finally does, wow, just wow.

Somewhere out there is a, "Captain America: Civil War," script without Spider-Man in the draft.

We just don't need this every damn time.

Speaking of Spider-Man, this article expertly breaks-down how we don't need to be inundated with origin-stories as much anymore.

This continued talk in politics about rejecting refugees who seriously need our help--with some needing our help because of what we did in their country--can draw a lot of parallels to the past, such as during the Vietnam war.

Sigmund Freud got a lot wrong about Psychology, but to his credit he got us talking about sex more openly.

So, just what kind of car did the family drive in, "Calvin and Hobbes," after all?

It should be so easy...

I was reading this article about how people to this day still struggle to remember which button on their Playstation 4 is for the power and which is to eject discs. It struck a chord with me. I too have problems with this.

Lastly, I tip my hat to Chuck Tingle, whoever he or she really is, for expertly trolling the hateful members of Sad Puppies, Rabid Puppies, Gamergate, and all the other ignorant haters.

What Did We Learn?

After reading all those links (or at least the ones that interested you) I hope you learned something useful. A day when you learn anything new is a good day indeed.