"As early as age 18 when he watched his then idol Mao Zedong overthrow the Chinese government, Jim Jones realized that the way to achieve social change through Marxism in the United States was to mobilize people through religion." - Marceline JonesWHO IS HE?
Jim Jones, the leader of the People's Temple, born May 13, 1931, died November 18, 1978, as instigator of the Jonestown massacre, a mass murder of over 909 people, the second greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster in American history, behind just 9/11. Jim Jones, a manipulative and yet highly intelligent man, within his life time, single handedly created one of the most notorious and deadly cults - the People's Temple, creating even his own village, 'Jonestown' - a 'sanctuary' and 'social paradise' as he dubbed it, of which nobody was allowed to leave and abuse - sexual, physical, psychological seemed to thrive, as well as his own drug addiction and psychological paranoia, as his members remained brainwashed and enthralled by his magnetism and powerful leadership, but in lethal danger. In a time when racism was rife, he travelled through America setting up interracial churches and organizing anti racist rallies, attended by prevalent politicians of the time such as Harvey Milk, and even helping rebuild slums in Rio de Janeiro - perhaps how he first began to establish himself as this revolutionary he imagined himself, but was always harbouring an unhealthy extremism, idolizing Communist leaders and fascinating over death and religion as a child, fantasizing about the domination of America through Marxism - his infiltration of the church being part of his plan to instigate this. These obscure fascinations, his paranoia and psychological complexities combined with his extreme Communist principles and a drug addiction culminated in the People's Temple and the eventual Jonestown massacre - high on LSD and marijuana, he convinced his followers that fascist forces were coming to convert their children, that they would parachute down and torture them all and that they should commit not suicide, but 'revolutionary suicide,' protesting the conditions of the inhumane world they lived in and 909 people, 303 children, drank the cyanide laced Kool Aid he had prepared, dying minutes after in their 'sanctuary' province in Guyana.
We incorporated a few seconds of the above footage of Jim Jones, raising his arms after he'd finished a speech, literally two or three seconds because we felt this was all we needed to make the statement we wanted - to allude to the real threat of cults, the manipulation and psychological control they exercise, the very real danger they can present - and we thought incorporating some archive footage of him could imply not only that our cult was deeply ingrained into history, perhaps that it was some incredibly current reworking of an old cult that had been brewing underground or suddenly reappeared, but that it had the power and the weight of Jim Jones, probably the most powerful and manipulative cult leader that has occured, behind it. In the same way Jim Jones played on the politics of his day - racism being the key issue, as well as Communism and this idea of an equal, unoppressed society and the fears these instilled into people, we wanted our cult to play on the fears of present day - the ever present threat of terrorism, the threats of the internet, of the two combined, cyber terrorism etc. and we wanted to really induce a sense of paranoia and fear that we thought Jim Jones could inspire.
We incorporated a few seconds of the above footage of Jim Jones, raising his arms after he'd finished a speech, literally two or three seconds because we felt this was all we needed to make the statement we wanted - to allude to the real threat of cults, the manipulation and psychological control they exercise, the very real danger they can present - and we thought incorporating some archive footage of him could imply not only that our cult was deeply ingrained into history, perhaps that it was some incredibly current reworking of an old cult that had been brewing underground or suddenly reappeared, but that it had the power and the weight of Jim Jones, probably the most powerful and manipulative cult leader that has occured, behind it. In the same way Jim Jones played on the politics of his day - racism being the key issue, as well as Communism and this idea of an equal, unoppressed society and the fears these instilled into people, we wanted our cult to play on the fears of present day - the ever present threat of terrorism, the threats of the internet, of the two combined, cyber terrorism etc. and we wanted to really induce a sense of paranoia and fear that we thought Jim Jones could inspire.
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