While I was watching it, I thought it was quite good, similar to Wild Wild Country with far more primary documentation of conversations, etc. I enjoyed how they shaped the narrative around these two members, who they later revealed were deeply privileged and favored by the cult leadership (Mark because of his professional success, Sarah because of her charisma and that she was based in Pacific NW), and grew the story slowly by adding in storytellers like Jane, Barbara Bouchey, and Toni Natalie. It took its time with Keith, showing him first as Mark/Sarah saw him during their first years in NXIVM and slowly eroding the image from prophet/genius to abuser/charlatan.
But then I read the witness testimonies during his trial and the sentencing, and although the last episodes talks a little bit about NVIVM in Mexico, it really ignores the abuse faced by Mexican women, such as that he raped at least one Mexican girl when she was 15 and kept her in nearly-complete isolation for 12 years. Also Kristin Keeffe's testimony is absolutely damning, and even though she was in the documentary, it barely touches how much they fucked with her - for example, after she left the cult, a private security firm stalked her and insinuated themselves into her life by pretending to be her neighbors/friends, when in fact they were being paid $400,000 by Bronfman and Raniere.
As I watched it, I appreciated how it grew the story from two storytellers, establishing this initial 2005-2017 timeline, and then slowly going back, little by little, into the early 2000s, into the 90s. But the failure to cover exactly how sick and torturous he was seems kind of inexcusable to me.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on it
I thought on the one hand that using Mark as a central storyteller was kind of brilliant because of how little he personally suffered compared to even his wife, who herself was never in DOS or forced to have sex with Keith. But on the other, that he took up so much of the story didn't feel earned, and eclipsed people more hurt by the organization, especially Mexican women who were almost completely unmentioned. I think another way to use Mark would have been to center Bonnie more, and then talk about his redemption arc given the kind of insane sexism they show in episode 8, like "hey yeah I guess my wife was just sleeping on the floor and that was okay."
Catherine was a bit tough because yeah, she comes from such insane privilege - it's not just a royal, it's Prince Charles that they name drop - but on the other, this investigation and media attention is significantly driven by her. I'm pretty she's how they pull in the New York Times, but it doesn't really focus on the fact that her publicly getting involved is kind of a problem. Because this is a case about significant abuse and sex trafficking, she kind of just doxxes her daughter like, right off the bat. I'm not sure there was a way around that? But if you were wondering if private person and adult India Oxenberg got branded and starved as part of a sex cult, her mother would like you to know that yes, she did.
My partner had the same objection you did early on, looking for more of the sociology and birds-eye view of the situation, but the creators, just like the folks who made Wild Wild Country, made the decision to only interview people directly involved - insofar as they made that decision, I thought the chronological progression to DOS and Jane, then to Barbara, then to Toni was really smart. But this limitation may also have been why the 12 year imprisonment of Cami went totally unmentioned in the doc? And why there is so little information on the person I wanted to know the most about, Nancy Salzman. Guess we'll find out more in Season 2, which is happening, and will feature Keith himself.
yeah, it is so fucked up that
- Keith indoctrinated Nancy's daughter
- The ending suggests Keith and Nancy have an intimate "vow"
The Frank Report sucks [actual headline: Roger Stone Claims Biden Will Pardon Raniere, and it's taken seriously], but here's the transcript of Kristin Keeffe's initial statement to the court during Raniere's sentencing. It's barely touched on in the series