This show is the wake up call that begs us to be more skeptical.
This whole documentary just made me angry. The idea that some people can get so easily manipulated simply by the virtue of a person claiming they have holy guidance makes my blood boil. Rape, torture, murder, abuse, suicide - all because some random person claimed they are Jesus reincarnated. At the same time, it shows how clever these cult leaders were, how well planned their schemes were and how they selected the victims - they did not target everyone. That's why it's so important for us ask questions and rely on more than trust and belief.I’m not going to lie, the level of religious freedom in Korea was always fascinating for me. On the first glance the idea of all the religions being able to rather peacefully coexist in one country, where no one is truly judged by their religious beliefs sounds like a utopia. With this level of acceptance and “no questions asked” comes a big danger though: the country becomes a breeding ground for cults. How many reincarnated Jesuses can there be in the small country of South Korea at the same time?
The documentary presents a rather uncomfortable question: what to do with victims who become perpetrators? How much can be forgiven based on the brainwashing they went through, and how much responsibility should they take for their actions? The leaders were evil, we can all agree. We wanted them to be punished and suffer as much as their victims did. What with the members? Logically speaking you know they are the victims, but it’s impossible not to feel any resentment towards them.
Some people may say it was unnecessarily detailed, unnecessarily graphic, unnecessarily descriptive, but I strongly disagree. Did this documentary make you feel uncomfortable? Angry? Sad? Scared? Good, then it did its job to present the reality of the victims. Saying it was unnecessarily detailed is like saying it was unnecessary realistic - they used real footage of the events, they used real photos, videos and recordings, they used real testimonies - it was not shown for a shock value, it was shown because it was the reality of what happened. The reality was just that shocking, awful and evil.
If I were to complain about one thing production wise - some footages were shown a few too many times, especially of JMS in the first 3 episodes. They kept showing the same videos of him preaching, and that I felt was a bit too much and truly unnecessary. Showing it once would be enough.
TW: I don’t know… feels like anything you can think of: rape, dead bodies, suicide, self harm, abuse, child neglect, child abuse… They show real photos and videos from crime scenes and recordings from victims, even the reenacted interviews are detailed and based on the real statements from real victims. It’s a lot.
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Unnecessarily graphic.
It's a great documentary series that depicts real life horror stories and how people are taken advantage of in the name of faith.I would definitely recommend everyone to watch it, although I also think it's not for the faint of heart or the easily impressed.
And for sure be careful if you're a SA victim, this series might be triggering for you, especially the first 2 episodes and the last one.
Also it's incredibly frustrating and sad to know some of this is still current with ongoing trials.
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This review may contain spoilers
Brainwashing & indoctrinating
Watching and hearing all these victims stories made me so sick to my stomach. I’ve never wanted to kill somebody so much before in my life.I’m a christian and what that sick twisted bastard did/is doing is far cry from what the Bible talks about. He used his own selfish, sick, vile, disgusting needs to lure these innocent young women and trick them into thinking that they were doing something “good” for God. Moreover his prime targets in the beginning was young people(men and women) who were going to university because they’re malleable. I know this cause I was once apart of a church that I grew up in which preyed on young people. Especially those who were in high school and university. And what they did was isolate you from your family and friends and make the people in the church become your everything. And all of this was done to control you. Thank goodness I left before they could’ve done some severe damage.
What baffled me was how this devil incarnate of a man only got 10 years. In the documentary one of the former members said, “that Jeong Myeong-seok’s goal was to sleep with 10,000 women. And he claimed to have come close to that.” Well if that’s the case he should be given a sentence for each of the women he raped and sexually assaulted. Cause that’s exactly what he deserves!
What sickens me is the fact that man is still roaming and he has brainwashed people into fighting in his behalf. I hope one day someone just poisons his water or castrates him. Cause that what a filthy dog like him deserves
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When a people's search for hope led them to despair.
This documentary series is not for the faint-hearted.It presents a reality hard to grasp for those who are not prepared to see the gruesome reality of cults, or for those who cannot wrap their head around how "followers" of certain cult are able to place their faith on these "sheep dressed as wolves."
The time period most of the cults were established was a time of uncertainty and unrest in the country. It was time when people, struggling to survive life, search not only for a living but a reason to live. These people came across a place that gave them comfort in their moment of pain, gave them a community that understood their needs, gave them the hope that they needed to see that light at the end of the dark tunnel they are in... If you find a community like this, wouldn't you be tempted to come back again and again and do anything to keep that flame of hope burning?
While watching this show, many of us may think how foolish these cults' followers must be to believe these self-proclaimed gods. But eventually, we will realize that the one who are crazy are not the victims but those real-life villains who ruin many people's lives and relationships to satisfy their greed.
You are warned that this docuseries is incredibly graphic and that you should get ready with either your hankies or puke bags when you start this show. The timeline is not presented chronologically, since the focus of this docuseries is not so much the history of the cult but the story of the victims (hence, the literal translation of the Korean title: "I am God: A People Betrayed by God") so sometimes the pacing might get a bit confusing. Also, at the beginning of each segment, they show a sort of preview of what's to find out in the interviews and the way this is presented looks like the segment has already begun, so knowing this in mind may help you not find some scenes redundant.
I recommend this to anyone interested in the documentary series' topic. To anyone who will watch this out of curiosity, I recommend you tune down a bit your hope for a satisfying conclusion. Recommended for rewatch? Not really. Unless...
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More people should watch it to know the truth behind cults
The whole documentary about religious cults is just fucking weird, because the cases in this documentary are all true events, which makes it even weirder. All of the cult leaders are basically criminals who commit crime using the name of the Lord, brainwashing people and deceiving their followers like a grand scale of scam. The documentary goes so deeply into how everything operated in those cults, it's hard to imagine why so many people would believe in this kind of stuff. It is really terrifying but also highly informative, more people should watch it so that no more victims will ever fall for these shits again.Was this review helpful to you?
