>>REVIEW
JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLE’S TEMPLE
Movies that Matter
Monday, January 15
Engineered Air Theatre (EPCOR)
"Nobody joins a cult," says a former member of the People’s Temple, one of the few survivors of the Jonestown Massacre. That is, people don’t usually join an organization that will hurt them.
On November 18, 1978, 909 members of the religious commune died in Jonestown, Guyana. The Jonestown of cultural legend is one of mass insanity and murder instigated by self-proclaimed prophet Jim Jones.
The new documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple attempts to explore the history behind the cult, but instead comes off as another entry in the A&E series Investigative Reports. Not low-rent, per se – interviews with the surviving members are compelling and the footage and soundbites of the day of the massacre are horrifying. Just, light.
The People’s Temple was an all-inclusive church – race, identity – everyone was welcome, and Jones was a born leader. With his clean, American image and booming voice, he drew in people weary of discrimination and poverty, riding high on the currents of peace and paranoia that ran through the ’60s. Within a decade, the cult had formed a commune in northern California, formed a church in San Francisco and, possibly, won the election for SF congressman Leo Ryan.
Then, suddenly, plans for a commune in Guyana surfaced and within months members took up and flew to South America. By this point, Jones had become paranoid, addled with pills and booze. Members describe lurid tales of violence and sexual abuse. They say his dad was a drunk and he raised himself. Alone, an outsider, "born as it were," says Jones himself, "on the wrong side of the tracks."
Family members of the People’s Temple began to appeal to congressman Ryan to investigate the cult. He and a group of journalists flew to Guyana and, in one surreal scene, explicate over the benefits and veneer of joy that appears to run throughout the commune. The next day, things fell apart, and quickly. A beautiful day turned into a storm, members began to appeal to journalists to help them escape, and amongst the mud and fear, Ryan is stabbed and he and the journalists flee.
An armed cohort of Jones’s people met them at the landing strip and opened fire, killing Ryan and four others. Journalist Jackie Speier, in tears, describes to the interviewer how, while hiding, she was shot in the head. Meanwhile, back at the, er, ranch, Jones was pleading with followers, "If we can’t live in peace, we’ll die in peace." Tapes made during the massacre record Jones’s pathetic ravings amongst terrified screams. People began to drink the cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, babies were taken from mothers and had the drink forced down their throats. Jones himself died from a shot to the head.
The Jonestown Massacre will always remain an example of the dangers of religious zealotry and cults, but how did it happen? Within a matter of months, Jones had gone from abusive preacher to insane despot. In one afternoon, the commune fell to pieces and the members killed themselves. The filmmakers offer no explanation and don’t provide enough information for viewers to hypothesize themselves. Those looking for a complete history of the People’s Temple will only find a tidy encyclopedia entry in Jonestown. |
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