Wild Wild Country
May. 12th, 2020 05:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calzephyrBack in the day, Canadians had few TV choices and if you lived in certain parts of the country, your American TV came from different parts of the US. In Alberta, that was Spokane TV. I always wanted to visit Spokane--I felt like I knew it as well as my hometown. We watched Spokane news, Spokane commercials and Spokane became like a mirror city I didn't live in.
Anyway, I remember the time that a religious group tried to poison a town in Oregon. But, like, most things, I forgot about it until Netflix coughed up this fabulous and engaging documentary, Wild Wild Country. It provides an excellent narrative that gives context to the news stories. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) created a commune, or, intentional community, in 1981. It was called Rajneeshpuram and featured housing, an air strip and more.
Depending on your point of view--and the documentary chronicles the experiences of the local residents and Rajneeshees--Rajneeshpuram was either a force for enlightenment or a force for disruption. Tension between the two groups escalated over time as the Rajneeshees bought local businesses and armed themselves. The infamous salad bar salmonella poisonings happened in 1984 and then there was a plot to murder a US state attorney in 1985. Voter fraud followed. Apparently the documentary does leave out some things, such as sexual assault and child abuse within the commune. However, you can look this stuff up on Wikipedia or just watch the documentary! It's fascinating.
Anyway, I remember the time that a religious group tried to poison a town in Oregon. But, like, most things, I forgot about it until Netflix coughed up this fabulous and engaging documentary, Wild Wild Country. It provides an excellent narrative that gives context to the news stories. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) created a commune, or, intentional community, in 1981. It was called Rajneeshpuram and featured housing, an air strip and more.
Depending on your point of view--and the documentary chronicles the experiences of the local residents and Rajneeshees--Rajneeshpuram was either a force for enlightenment or a force for disruption. Tension between the two groups escalated over time as the Rajneeshees bought local businesses and armed themselves. The infamous salad bar salmonella poisonings happened in 1984 and then there was a plot to murder a US state attorney in 1985. Voter fraud followed. Apparently the documentary does leave out some things, such as sexual assault and child abuse within the commune. However, you can look this stuff up on Wikipedia or just watch the documentary! It's fascinating.
