Wild Wild Country Netflix series

You beat me to it! i was going to post a topic about this series earlier. Started watching last night and got thru the first 3. Amazing! Really digging it. It's like Jonestown meets Waco meets Meher Baba. Can't wait to watch the rest.

 

I binged it, fascinating!

 

Sheela is the scariest person among some scary people.

I wish they delve more into what the day-to-day was like for the followers.

 

Sheela was just pure evil. Wowzers! What a great lesson on abuse of power though.

 

I'm amazed that this story doesn't seem to be one that is more well known. I was 8, 9 when this was going on, and I don't even remember it. It seems like it would be mentioned more often when talking about big events that have happened in this country. I mean, they mass poisoned a town!

 

It was an ongoing news item at the time, at least here on the west coast.

 

She's nuts, although I highly doubt that she carried all of those plans out without the direction of the leader.

 

I just finished the third episode. This is the most compelling program I've seen anywhere in a long time. I will be telling people who don't have Netflix "get Netflix if just for this."

I wasn't quite a year old when the group initially made the move to Oregon. I recall one of my parents' Bloom County books having a short running gag about this, as well. But ultimately, I never knew anything about the entire situation, and it's kind of blowing my mind. Just halfway through the series, it really seems to me as if this is on par with Jonestown or Waco.

What an incomprehensible moment this was in contemporary American history.

Also, Sheela gets straight up diabolical. Trying to reconcile the nice lady sitting in Switzerland recounting the story vs. the forceful death-stare spokeswoman is a head-scratcher.

 

Just finished the last episode. Some of the best programming I've seen anywhere in a very long time.

 

Yup. I knew three people who had been there. This was just the most prominent version of Eastern mystic devotees. I have a good friend who was a devotee of another. It was the time.

 

Brilliant!! Will be watching the final episode tonight. There is currently a thread doing the rounds with regards to the most disturbing movie you have ever seen. Got to be honest, stuff like this and Marking A Murderer scare me a lot more than all the films listed in that thread.

 

Check out "Holy Hell" (also on Netflix) for another decent doc on cults.

 

I think there was a "quantum" difference between this "enterprise" and most of the rest of what we think of as the "wisdom of the East."

 

I've become enthralled with the 'Wild Wild Country' documentary on Netflix. I must have been around 6 when this took place, but how come I've never heard of this incident in American history before. It's completely insane. Do any of you more "senior" members of this group remember this happening? I'm starting episode 4 tonight.

 

You could be right. What I meant by my statement was that the Rajneesh community was one of many attempts at Eastern spirituality blending with North American commercialism and culture. This version turned so ugly so fast for all involved.

 

I don't think any actual spirituality was involved.

 

Thnx, looks like another Netflix winner. Mrs. Nasty and I will be all over this one

 

Wild Wild Country Netflix series

 

Excellent series, and really does a fine job of not taking a "side" and letting the viewer piece together a conclusion.

More importantly, it's amazing that such incredible dramas in history can be so quickly forgotten by our collective memory. 35 years ago wasn't even that long ago.

 

Maybe I need to take a look at this

 

Until halfway the last episode I thought so too until

Spoiler

I saw she runs a community for elederly people...

.as one of the few former sannyasins she seems to really practice the positive teachings of her estranged boss. As in all good documentary-series the picture is far more complicated that just; Baghwan-bad, Sheela-evil, villagers-victims, American Justice system-heroes! Why wás Baghwan carried around like a trophy after his arrest, going from jail-house to jail-house? Were all these grandiose expansion-ideas coming from Sheela or did Baghwan have a few plans of his own? Funny to see how much (I think) the religion-government-balance has shifted in 30-35 years.

And it was a great series about a (for me) quite unknown subject; I knew the Baghwan had quite some following in this country too, but I never really understood why especially this ''holy man'' could get so rich and have so much influence.....

 

Two things. I’m a complete blank in trying to recall anything about this from when it occurred and secondly I’m not sure exactly why but I find it somewhat disturbing in watching it.

 

It IS shocking when a group of people decides to follow their leader, regardless of where it's going. The strongest factor seems to be paranoia; make your 'people' afraid of the outside world and they'll do anything to protect themselves and their leader. When Baghwan-followers were walking around with automatic weapons (and that was already very soon in the series), things were escalating already....