CULTURE

The Hollywood Appeal of NXIVM's "Sex Cult"

Keith Raniere's pseudo-philosophy ranged from hedonism and nihilism to neurotic obsessions with weight, body hair, and training people out of empathy.

Allison Mack

By Featureflash Photo Agency (Shutterstock)

TW: This article discusses emotional and sexual abuse.

In 2006, when Allison Mack was a lead actress on CW's Smallville, she accepted an invitation from co-star Kristin Kreuk to attend a meeting for a "women's empowerment" group called NXIVM (pronounced nex-ee-um).

Over the following decade, the Albany-based organization became known as a cult that practiced sex slavery and branding under the guise of mentoring young women.

This week, Mack faces sentencing after pleading guilty to charges of federal racketeering for her senior role within the organization, which included recruiting women for "labor and services" under orders from Keith Raniere, NXIVM's leader and co-founder.

On October 28, 2020, Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison for his involvement with NXIVM. What was the appeal of Keith Raniere's cult, and what led to its deserved downfall?

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CULTURE

We Are Anonymous: A Brief History of the Internet's Most Elusive Hacktivist Collective

Ideas are indestructible, and Anonymous was always—first and foremost—an idea.

via We Are Anonymous

Anonymous is back.

Today, the hacktivist group broke a long silence and delivered a few stunning blows to institutions of power. They briefly took down the Minneapolis Police Department's website and threatened to expose the department's "many crimes to the world". These crimes include the murder of George Floyd, which has sparked a wave of protests across the nation.

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Joaquin Phoenix as Joker

Photo by Faiz Zaki (Shutterstock)

Earlier this year, in an interview with Anderson Cooper, Joaquin Phoenix and his family opened up about the death of River Phoenix, in the early morning of Halloween, 1993.

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Kanye West's Sunday Services have generated a lot of speculation and theories and certainly have inspired more than a few evangelicals.

Back in December, Kanye West and Joe Rogan discussed the possibility that Kanye might come on Rogan's show to do a "serious interview speaking on mental health." However, the show was later canceled, and Rogan just recently stated that he thinks Kanye is "starting a new cult. It's clear, he's on his way," he said. "It's probably gonna be huge."

Kanye's Sunday Services have been drawing comparisons to cults since their inception. "It's got the early trappings [of a cult], I guess we could say," cult expert and sociologist Janja Lalich said to Vox. To better understand whether or not Kanye West is starting a cult, or if you're looking to start one of your own, here are five characteristics shared by the average cult.

1. Cults have charismatic, unquestioned leaders

Cults are nothing without their leaders. A great cult leader is able to persuade followers that they're the messiah, unquestionably knowledgeable and endowed with the secrets to the universe. Leaders often create stories about their own greatness, starting small and then building themselves into a messiah-like figure.

2. Cults use some form of brainwashing or indoctrination

Cults indoctrinate their members into the belief that their allegiances should always be to the cult above all else. They often do this by using a process called indoctrination, which slowly persuades people to fall completely for the cult's ethos. Cults use indoctrination to "break down a person's sense of self," according to How Stuff Works, using techniques like thought reform, isolation, induced dependency, and eventually, dread. As far as we know, Kanye hasn't yet done this.

The New Yorker

3. Cults use an "us versus them" mentality

Members of cults are taught to believe that all of their own beliefs are absolutely, unquestionably correct, while others' are fundamentally flawed. Interestingly, many cults actually aren't religious, though many cult members were raised religious but left their faiths.

4. Cults are exclusive—and lavish praise on their recruits

Most cults make their recruits feel special and seen, eventually convincing them that the cult is worth giving up their lives for. People who join cults tend to suffer from low self-esteem and a desire to belong to a group as well as naive idealism, according to Psychiatric Times, making them prime targets for cult recruitment.

5. Cults often exploit their members

More often than not, cults wind up exploiting their members, either monetarily, sexually, or both. Once recruits are totally indoctrinated into the cult, lavished with attention and completely convinced to swear loyalty to the cult, then the exploitation usually starts.

Judging by these criteria, Kanye West is probably not starting a cult.

West does have some characteristics of a cult leader in that he's always believed in his own genius; but for now, it seems like the Sunday Services are just experimental efforts to blend West's love of music promotion with his newfound born-again faith. Actually, most cults seem far more malicious than what Kanye is trying out—thus far, his organization has nothing on, say, the cult of capitalism, or the cult of Christianity.

Cults are part of the fabric of American life. Make sure you know the signs, and if you ever feel tempted to accept any form of Kool-Aid, think again.

Culture Feature

The Weird, Heartless Magic of Marie Kondo: The Cleanest Cult To Ever Exist

The phenomenally successful KonMari method is part self-improvement, part sexism, all cult.

Marie Kondo arrives at BAFTA

Photo by DFree (Shutterstock)

When you're finally ready to dispose of your 9th-grade formal wear, that copy of Infinite Jest you should admit you'll never read, or your creepy, tiny baby teeth tucked underneath your mattress, Marie Kondo wants you to gently stroke each time, thank it for the joy it's brought to your life, and throw it the fuck away.

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Gaming

ROLE PLAYGROUND | Far Cry 5 is a great action game with a slight tonal problem

After a charged open, the meat of the game doesn't quite match the intensity, but that's not too bad, right?

I'm going to say it: I have barely played the Far Cry series. I own both Far Cry 4 and Far Cry Primal, and both have been recommended to me multiple times, but I have never had the time and I haven't been super interested. The little that I have played has left me slightly impressed - with each game's focus on immersive landscapes and hunting - but I'm mostly pretty ignorant to the series' tropes. Still, nothing about these games really stuck out to me - they always seemed like straight forward action games without a lot of substance.

When I saw Far Cry 5, I was surprised. They shirked their exotic locations and larger-than-life villains for something a little more homegrown - a massive, militaristic cult which has assumed control over Hope County, Montana. It's not a groundbreaking idea, but even I was surprised at the slight political stance that the series seemed to have taken. Of course, after playing the game, I am a little less impressed, but we'll get to that later.

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