And I feel fine: Aum-The Cult at the End of the World (***1/2) -- Dennis Hartley

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2025/03/22/and-i-feel-fine-aum-the-cult-at-the-end-of-the-world-1-2/

In my 2013 review of the documentary Let the Fire Burn I wrote:

Depending upon whom you might ask, MOVE was an “organization”, a “religious cult”, a “radical group”, or all of the above. The biggest question in my mind (and one the film doesn’t necessarily delve into) is whether it was another example of psychotic entelechy. So what is “psychotic entelechy”, exactly? Well, according to Stan A. Lindsay, the author of Psychotic Entelechy: The Dangers of Spiritual Gifts Theology, it would be

…the tendency of some individuals to be so desirous of fulfilling or bringing to perfection the implications of their terminologies that they engage in very hazardous or damaging actions.

In the context of Lindsay’s book, he is expanding on some of the ideas laid down by literary theorist Kenneth Burke and applying them to possibly explain the self-destructive traits shared by the charismatic leaders of modern-day cults like The People’s Temple, Order of the Solar Tradition, Heaven’s Gate, and The Branch Davidians. He ponders whether all the tragic deaths that resulted should be labeled as “suicides, murders, or accidents”.

While it arguably wasn’t as self-destructive, Japan’s “Aum” cult shared many similar traits, and was no less lethal. If you’re as ancient as me, you may recall the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subway system that resulted in 13 deaths and thousands of injuries. This shocking incident introduced the world to a bizarre spiritual sect hitherto unknown outside of Japan.

In an engrossing (albeit disturbing) new documentary called Aum: The Cult at the End of the World, co-directors Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto paint a “couldn’t make this shit up” portrait of leader Shoko Asahara tantamount to a Bond villain’s origin story (replete with his rejection as a child, seething hatred of society, secret laboratories, evil plans, kidnappings, assassinations, and the inevitable stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction).

. . .