I have an idea. Whenever I blog about something I think people have to see on television or at the movies, I’ll put in this picture of fireworks at DisneyLand. (I’ve got a different picture in mind when I want to recommend a book.) Once in awhile (as in this case) there may be a strange combination of a jubilant-looking picture paired with very serious subject matter, but so be it. By the way, you should be duly warned that when I do cartwheels about something and people don’t bother to check it out, it wounds me to the core. No, not exactly – but it does bug me a bit, or maybe it just worries me that my endorsement of something seems to send at least certain people running in the other direction. I told so many people to go see “The Queen” while it was still in theaters, and I can’t find one single person who actually acted on my recommendation. But believe me – you can trust my opinion on such matters- I am never ever wrong! Take it to the bank.
All joking aside, if you appreciate powerful and interesting documentaries, you really should make a point of watching the American Experience on Monday, April 9th. It’s called “Jonestown” and it center on evangelist Jim Jones and his People’s Temple- made so infamous when 909 of them committed mass suicide/murder in their Guyana compound. It’s one of the most horrific things to occur in recent human history- and the easiest assumption to make is that he was completely nuts- and that those 900+ followers of his had to be crazy as well. This program really helps us better understand what it was that initially drew people to Jones and to his People’s Temple and the good things which it seemed to stand for in the early years- like racial inclusiveness, mutual care for one another, etc. Quite a few former members of the People’s Temple are interviewed, and it’s very evident that none of them are crazy or stupid people. It was a time (the 60s and early 70s) when a lot of people were desperate to build a better world. . . and this seemed like a very real way to do that. Unfortunately, Jim Jones was a very sick person – and/or an evil person – and he ultimately led all but a tiny handful of his followers to ruin and death. This program really helps us understand “how” if not “why.”
There is a wealth of archival material available about the People’s Temple, including all kinds of film footage of worship services and meetings over the years- including so- called healing events which – we now know – were staged fiction made to look entirely authentic and miraculous. There’s even scenes where the People’s Temple Children’s Choir is singing- and they look for all the world like any other big church children’s choir, singing happy songs. Thats’ one of the saddest and most haunting things about all this- that the People’s Temple included children . . . lots of them, in fact. And some of them ended up losing their lives.
Fair warning- there is also remarkable video footage and audio recordings from the last 48 hours of the Jonestown community – and the filmmaker was not afraid to use some of that, even though it’s tremendously disturbing stuff. (Years ago, NPR did an award-winning audio documentary about the Jonestown incident- based on the recordings made in the compound- but the documentary consists of recreations rather than the real thing. This is all real – – – and it’s very tough to watch or listen to- but it’s incredible all the same. ) The filmmaker also managed to interview two of the three survivors who are still alive. (Most of the former members interviewed were never in Guyana- so in a sense were not survivors of the horror, except indirectly).
In short- this is a truly remarkable film and if you have the slightest interest in this terrible moment from our recent history, I urge you to see this program Monday night. You will not soon forget it, I promise you. It’s the kind of program that makes you very grateful for television- and in this era of vacuous fluff and pointless garbage, that is no small thing.