Product: Jonestown - The Life & Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
Rating: 4.0
Remember,remember,the 18th of November
"Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" is an illuminating look at the terrible events of November 18,1978,and the circumstances leading to it. The massacre of 900 people at Jonestown happened 3 decades ago, yet it remains relevant today. It's a tragedy that our country still struggles to comprehend. Like Jim Jones' victims who were denied a final resting place until Oakland's Evergreen Cemetery took them in, the tragedy wanders,ghostlike, on the fringes of our consciousness.This American Experience documentary manages to cover a lot of ground in its brief hourlong time (survivors like Stephan Jones are omitted,as is the murder/suicide of Sharon Harris&her; children in Georgetown,or Harvey Milk's praise for the group) It begins with Jim Jones' roots in rural Indiana. He witnessed racism and poverty firsthand,and decided to take them on. He became Pentecostal, then went to California. As a Disciples of Christ pastor, Jones was dynamic. He had somewhat of a Christian commune in Ukiah (he thought it would be a perfect refuge from nuclear war) The former Peoples Temple building in Ukiah is now Redwood Valley Assembly of God. In Ukiah, Jones initiated the "White Nights"--rehearsals for mass suicide.At first, Jones seemed noble. He championed racial integration,an end to poverty; his church took in the homeless,the drug addicted, the unemployed. He found San Francisco more amenable, making friends with Assemblyman Willie Brown and Mayor George Moscone. It was in San Francisco,he became more radical,cloaking his Communist beliefs in Christian practices (the congregation still sang spirituals,there were still full immersion baptisms) Jones went from being a religious leader to being anti-religion. He told his congregation "We're all [...]",yet proclaimed himself the only heterosexual (while sexually exploiting male♀ members alike) Jim Jones' downward spiral into paranoia,megalomania, and self-destruction is at once tragic and chilling. In Guyana,his congregation hailed him as "Comrade/Leader/Our Father." Though Jones once condemned contraception and euthanasia, he forced his followers to commit suicide as he looked on his pavilion. He went from telling his congregation that only God has power over life,to telling them that they had to die,as a "revolutionary suicide.""Jonestown" is strong in its firsthand interviews with survivors. The survivors recount the torture,isolation,and trauma they experienced. There is still heartbreak. The wounds are still fresh. "Jonestown" offers valuable lessons on the cult of personality,and its dangers. It's a timely warning, thought it happened 30 years ago. Remember, remember, the 18th of November.