Cults in Motion Pictures
Since the 1940's, motion pictures have been depicting cults on the bigscreen. A cult is an organization that deviates from "normal" society and endangers its members by brainwashing them with irrational ideas or controls them unwillingly. Cults have been prevalent in society probably since the beginning of man or other religions. They mostly sprout from religious beliefs that are far from the religion they claim to be a part of or they come from individuals who form an organization to get away from societal norms. There are films about cults and films that simply have cults in them as a plot device. Cults are usually depicted as scary in films. This is due to the fear of cults in society. People generally have a fear of cults because cult leaders are efficient at brainwashing, making a member of the cult believe things that are not true. One of the most recognizable films about a cult is Children of the Corn. Written by George Goldsmith, who adapted the Stephen King's short story, and directed by Fritz Kiersch, Children of the Corn (1984) is a film about a cult of children that worship a "force in the cornfield" (imdb.com). The leader of the cult is a boy preacher named Isaac who brainwashed the other children of a small town to murder all of the adults. When a couple enters the town, they are the target of the next murder. This chilling tale is representative of how most movies about cults are depicted. The people in cults are seen in films as scary, unsettling, quiet, calculating, sometimes even insane. In Roman Polanski's terrifying 1968 horror movie Rosemary's Baby, he tells the story of a woman who mysteriously gets pregnant whilst experiencing nightmares, new strange neighbors and even more mysterious deaths surrounding her. The cult in this film centers around religion again, but a religion that will cause fear in the hearts of humans. Worshipping the devil is a favored cult theme. In the Devil's Rain from 1975, a group of devil worshippers have special powers that can melt their victims. Other religious cults don't have to be about the religion. Sometimes cults can use religion to appeal to those who believe in a particular to pull them in and see things their way. This is a basic brainwashing technique of cults that involve thing and destroying other cultures because they believe them not to be pure enough. Such cults are the KKK, Nazi's and Neo-Nazi's. Although these cults don't often spout religion, they do use it as a backbone to their reasoning behind their organizations. Generally these cults believe that the races are not pure anymore and the one that they are a part of is the purest and should be kept that way. One of the most prolific films that portrays these feelings in a character is American History X. In this film directed by Tony Kaye, Edward Norton plays a Neo-Nazi who kills without justification. His brother played by Edward Furlong, follows his teachings along with the rest of his family. Norton is eventually sent to jail for murder and Furlong has to write a paper about him. The film depicts the Neo-Nazi's as an irrational group whose tolerance for different people is low and violence level is high. Other films that depict the Nazi's or Neo-Nazi's are Schindler's List, Europa, Europa, and The Diary of Anne Frank. The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) is another group that could be considered a cult. They, like the Nazi's, get together to talk about hate of one or more races. Ghosts of Mississippi is a true story about the conviction of a KKK member many years after committing the murder of a civil rights activist Medgar Evans. The murder is not provoked by anything other than the race of the man. Organizations leading people to believe that such a treacherous action is justified can be labeled as a cult. Other films that involve the KKK are Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, Birth of a Nation and Forrest Gump. Other motion pictures with cults in them include The Wicker Man, Batman Begins, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, King Kong, Beneath The Planet of the Apes, Help!, Cult of the Cobra, Blood Cult, Silent Hill, Suicide Cult. Links: www.imdb.com, www.wikipedia.com, http://www.ugo.com/channels/filmtv/features/guidetocults/movies.asp
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