by Nika Bee 8 Replies latest jw friends
There was a documentary about Jehovahs Witnesses (in Austria) on the Austrian TV channel ORF2. It can be seen here:
http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/4204899-Kreuz---Quer/episodes/5322965-kreuz-und-quer
For some reason I can't hear the sound, just read the subtitles.
I am watching it at the moment, so I cannot say much yet, but might post something later or tomorrow.
Are you able to make that link clickable, please, Nika Bee?
I'm on an iPad and it's really difficult to copy and paste that URL. A clickable link would be a real help. My German isn't perfect but it'll give me most of it!
I don't know how to make it clickable. If someone can telll me I try.
Thanks!
Ok, almost finished - so many memories.
In this documentary there is no narrator, only JW talk. Most of the scenes are posed (they also try very hard not to speak dialect), some scenes are from the district assembly (convention?). Gerrit Lösch is talking (I didn't know he was from Austria).
There are scenes from door-to-door service, a shepherding call, a meeting.
Seems polished, trying to give a "normal" image. But it looks kind of creepy, puppet like.
Some go out of their way to replace JW jargon. For example the guy in the German printery uses the word "Gottesdienst" - translated something like worship, but JW in Germany don't use it for their meetings, because it is associated with catholicism (or protestantism).
thanks for the link.
indeed a weird kind of documentary, where there isn't any narration, just a sequence of scenes. The introduction states that it took them several years to get the Witnesses to work together with them for this, so I guess it was part of the deal.
One particular detail, 2 sisters are doing door-to-door on appartment blocks, and they did not get a single positive reaction. and every 5 minutes or so, they showed another door with the 2 sisters, same result, over and over again.
It overall shows a watchtower world where nothing is allowed (including plays to help children refuse worldly invitations), and everybody is dressed up every second of the week. A creepy movement to be in.
So I guess, all in all, not too bad, however kind of boring.
Hoffnung
I watched this and wasn't sure what to think. But now I really believe it's rather damaging to them, they all seem quite lifeless just from their own words. Heck, just the fact that some scenes are obviously scripted and rehearsed before. And the newly baptised girl who's mute as a goldfish (with about the same body language), with her JW friend doing all the talking - what else do you need to know?
So I really like this non-confrontational style, it's a lot more revealing and credible and doesn't put off those who are already in the JW mindset.
As a complement to that, one of the best websites I've ever found on the German-speaking web was "Zeugen Jehovas auf den zweiten Blick" ("a second glance on JWs"), and I can thank the author for preventing at least one baptism. Why? It's not an ex-JW site, it's not particularly negative, doesn't quote lots of strange WT stuff, it's just kind of like a friendly but skeptical raised-eyebrow look on the religion, stating facts and some (not very strong) opinions. So JWs and those on the way to being sucked in can read it without their apostate alarms going off immediately.
TIP: just put a space after the end of a link...works for most to make it linkable.
