MovieChat Forums > Jim Jones Discussion > Misunderstood?

Misunderstood?

posted 4 years ago by Adam60z (3766)
6 replies | jump to latest

In the sense that most people think he was a preacher and his followers commit mass suicide. Nothing is further from the truth! Jim Jones was a Communist i.e. Atheist, who realized he could get followers by posing as a Christian who did fake faith healings. His particular brand of Atheist Communism was of the Stalinist-North Korean variety and he treated the concentration camp victims of Jonestown accordingly.
So on Nov. 18th, 1978 he ordered the massacre of Congressman Ryan and party, and then ordered the death of everyone else (909 in Jonestown, 5 at Port Kaituma, 4 in Georgetown). A few died willingly, most including hundreds of kids were murdered. As we come to the 42nd anniversary there are some good documentaries out there as well as the original Powers Booth definitive dramatization.
But that said there is something alluring about this death cult that always fascinates me.
https://www.history.com/topics/crime/jonestown#:~:text=The%20death%20toll%20at%20Jonestown,In%20total%2C%20only%2033%20survived.

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 4 years ago

You have to read the book "Raven". Jones is fascinating. I agree he is totally misunderstood. Liberals use him as the poster-boy for the dangers of Christian fundamentalism, but as you said, he was a radical Communist and used Christianity only as a front to recruit gullible people. HBO was supposed to be adapting Raven for a miniseries. I guess the project died. Have you ever heard this speech of his? Probably the most chilling speech I have ever heard. He was like a real-life Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, but far more militant and extreme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UovN6B8yTEA

[–] Adam60z (3766) 4 years ago

I was thinking Francis Ford Coppola and/or Brando may have taken their cue from Jones, however the film over 10 years in the making was completed in early 1977, over a year prior to the massacre. But yes, it's an interesting synchronicity there.
Definitely Raven is the definitive book about the whole thing. I mean there have been so many documentaries made including a bunch for the 40th anniversary, one more isn't really necessary.
In any case Jones was far left any way you slice it. That doesn't mean though that all his stances were illegit. I don't want to go into politics here, but it was a matter of absolute power corrupts absolutely and he was a megalomaniac. But unlike Stalin who had all of the USSR or Hitler who had all of Germany he had 1000 seniors and kids in a jungle.

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 4 years ago

But unlike Stalin who had all of the USSR or Hitler who had all of Germany he had 1000 seniors and kids in a jungle.

Something we can all be thankful for! Another thing about Jones is that he seemed to victimize African Americans disproportionately. A large majority of his cult was made up of persons of that demographic. I don't know if that was deliberate, or if they were just more accepting of the enthusiastic style of preaching he used.

I think the Raven adaption was planned as a dramatic series. Would have been cool as the excellent Powers Boothe miniseries is about 40 years old now.

[–] Adam60z (3766) 4 years ago

Well his whole original shtick was he was Mr. Integration in the '50s, before anyone else. However this was mostly for self promotion, and his organization became racist in effect, as with rare exception whites held power positions and blacks didn't. There were many reasons it ended up as mostly blacks in Jonestown, but simply put they were more powerless, poorer, and hence easier to be hoodwinked into going there. Then once there they were trapped.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 4 years ago

I used to have it on VHS, but I have never come across a decent DVD or BluRay. I rented a DVD years ago but yeah, it looked just like a VHS dub. I've tried a few .AVi and .MKV files too, but they were just taken from the same source.