My wife (the former Relief Society president, LOL), suggested I watch the movie "Kumare" on Netflix.

Wow.

It is the story of a film maker who decides to see how people will respond to him as he transforms himself into a fake "guru" (read "prophet").

It could have been a "how to" film for beloved Joseph Smith.

I thought it worth watching.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2013 11:41PM by left4good.

I want to see Kumare, but I haven't been able to do it yet.

From what I have read, it is well worth the time spent watching.

My husband and I watched it last week. It really was amazing to see.

I just watched it tonight and I was really surprised at how many of his "followers" are still in contact with him. I was actually wondering if some of them would become physically abusive when they realized they had been played. I was surprised by how many of them just thought the whole thing was an elaborate plans to make the point of his teachings. Even when they had been told it was a fraud by the person who perpetrated the fraud, they still found a way to make it not a fraud.

Perhaps my surprise at the way the follows responded says a lot about myself not being able to trust. I don't think I would ever have gotten sucked in simply because I don't trust anyone. Besides I wouldn't be caught dead doing some of the yoga stuff he had them doing! :D

It was a very interesting study in human behavior... I really enjoy documentaries like this.

(I'll watch the rest of it later.) It disturbed me how easily and rapidly he was able to pull it off.

I think once he realized that people were dependent on him, that it was no longer a joke. By constantly telling his followers that he was not a guru, and that they had a guru inside them that knew what was best for them, that allowed him to reveal the truth without destroying them. Some of his followers never spoke to him again, but most did. I think it clearly demonstrates that what most people need is someone who gives them self confidence to do the things that they need to do. He did look great as a guru, though!!

I definitely got the sense in some of the scenes that he was a bit disturbed himself with how dependent they were on him. It wasn't a joke when he saw them as real people who needed real help. The fact that he did try to "break it to them gently" gave me more respect for him... but I was still surprised that there wasn't more animosity. Just think of how much animosity the TBM have towards exmos because exmos remind them that it's all a fraud. I know it isn't exactly the same. More of a smaller scale behavior experiment.

Excited to watch Kumare sometime.

Bit off topic, left4good, you a left4dead player?