by MADMARY 23 Replies latest watchtower scandals
3rdgen: Those with doubts or are having interpersonal problems might be the best audience for this movie
I agree...and there will be plenty and for all we know there may be plenty of active families who have already watched it. One thing for sure...this movie doesn't help the WT's cause in any way!
it doesn't seem available to buy on Google Play in the UK
I ordered it from Amazon on disc, but it was on Vudu too, so I ordered it so I could watch it immediately.
IMO, fairly accurate portrayals of some JW types. I'm not sure I followed all of it. And I thought some things were wrong. But, generally, the broad strokes were correct.
1) They announced that the girl was no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Later she's referred to as being disfellowshipped. I never remember this happening. If she was disfellowshipped, it would have been announced as such. The "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" was associated with disassociation. But as I recall, they usually announced the person disassociated themselves. So you were either announced as specifically disfellowshipped or disassociated. Not "is no longer a JW". Is this new wording?
2) Also this announcement was made when people could be seen holding Watchtowers. Aren't all the announcements of this type made at the service meeting on weeknights? Whereas Watchtower studies happen on Sunday mornings? And since Sunday is your "public talk" day and you might have new people, you don't do announcements of this nature then.
3) The whole young elder character I found problematic from a reality standpoint. Maybe they're more desperate nowadays, but usually people didn't come to the congregation as an elder. Or has it changed? They come and then, some time later, they get appointed. Somebody introducing themselves as "the new elder" wouldn't happen. First they'd be new and everybody would know them (if not firsthand, through gossip). Then, they'd be appointed elder.
4) An unmarried elder seems highly unlikely too. MS maybe, but an elder?
5) And saying he's going to become a circuit overseer. Hold on a minute, slow down. You're the new guy here. And, see above, you're not married. Nobody's even talking about making you a circuit overseer until you are.
I think the film-makers didn't want to spend a lot of time having different characters playing roles of elders, etc. and developing each one. So they just lumped them all into one character. In reality, this would be a guy from Bethel wanting to date the girl and he might have come to the congregation as a pioneer or MS. But then he can't fulfill the dramatic effects of seeing inside the family AND being on JCs.
6) What happened to the younger daughter? It almost sounds like she committed suicide? If so, she wouldn't have been given a JW service. It sounds like she did something to cause her death. Did she refuse transfusions? Which, presumably, she's been doing after the first incident when she was born. So why now? What happened that made it fatal?
7) Having just listened to a JW funeral, that's NOT how they go. Their script has been published before and that wasn't it.
But they got a lot of the sentiments of some JWs right. I thought the portrayal of the Kingdom Hall was pretty spot-on. You see churches with decorations and such, but the JW halls are just bland.
And I know the feeling when the older daughter picked up the younger one with her friends in the car. Had that feeling all the time. I had my worldly life and my JW life and dreaded when they met just for the types of conversations in that car.
Bloody hell. I avoided looking at this clip for a while. In the end I was glad I did. But it's so real and true to life that it made me cringe. It's OK for me , I've been long gone and no JW family around anymore. But for younger people who are trying to get out - well, my heart really goes out to them.
jws
1. They changed the announcement so all DFing and DA are the same “this person is no longer one of JWs”.
2. The announcement is made during the service meeting, don’t know why they would be holding Watchtowers.
3. Elders are normally transferred with their status intact these days, so they do arrive at new congregations as elders.
4. Unmarried elders are common, especially if they’ve been through the training school.
5. If he’s an elder then why not be considered for CO? They need younger COs badly.
6. I have been to two JW funerals for suicides. It’s up to the elder if he wants to take it.
7. A lot of JW funerals these days seem more focussed on the person. I think it’s just another indication that Watchtower control is slipping and JWs are asserting their individuality.
Trailer looks good. Only one thing I would criticise. The young elder says, “she likes to voice her own opinions too much”. Although the sentiment is correct, I don’t think JWs usually verbalise the criticism that way, because it’s so obviously controlling. It sounds more like an outsider”s critique of the JW position, than an insider’s free expression. How would a JW express it? Maybe they would say something like, “she is critical of Jehovah’s organisation/faithful slave” or “promoting apostate ideas”. Watchtowers have criticised “independent thinking”, and some JWs pick up and use that language, but I get the feeling that many JWs shy away from condemning thinking and individuality in terms as stark as those. Probably because it’s self-consciously just a bit stupid to condemn thinking and individuality, because if you’ve got neither then why bother saying anything at all?
Thanks Slimboyfat. It's been a few decades for me.
But still, an unmarried CO? I thought there was always a little bit less trust over the unmarried. Elder, maybe. But CO. Used to be how you managed your family (even if that was only you and your wife) was a consideration for positions.
To make them a CO and then send them around to a bunch of congregations seems dangerous. For all they know, he's a pedophile or gay. Or he could be using a position of power to F every available sister in his circuit. He's got no wife to "prove" otherwise and keep an eye on him. But.., if that's what they're doing now.
Of course, that could have been a goal of his and he had to check that "married" box off first. And it looks like he was trying to do that. Loved the portrayal of the awkwardness of JW dating. I've often said the pressure was tremendous. Asking somebody out was basically like asking to marry them because that's the only reason you date. And if it breaks up, one or both parties can get a bad rep.
I'm sure this was a small film on a small budget, I thought it was going to be a bunch of new faces who weren't in anything before. But getting Robert Emms to play him. Not that he was a huge star in either, but he's in the new Jurassic World as one of the tech guys and was in Kick Ass 2 as Insect Man.
jws - "...Loved the portrayal of the awkwardness of JW dating...""Awkward" is definitely the right word to describe it.Once in a while, I suspect that - at least on some level - the WT leadership actively wants young rank-and-filers to feel awkward.It's useful, after all, and they aren't burdened with feeling it.
The sister didn't commit suicide - she was anemic, refused blood and died.
A young unmarried elder is not unheard of, and people often discuss goals like becoming a CO especially if they are going to date someone - that is in fact, one thing that uber JWs look for when deciding who to date. I knew some who wouldn't date a brother who wasn't at least an MS and preferably an elder.
I thought the movie was really realistic, and I wondered if they got permission to shoot inside a KH or if they just reconstructed it - the interiors were very accurate in my opinion.
I thought it was clearly well researched because all of the language used was spot on and current from what I could tell.
