So anyway, The TV company I'm working for is letting me develop some ideas i had for a TV show...sadly they don't see the Greatness of Monkey Ballroom Fight or 'Tramp Attack' or even 'Celebratity Face Brick'. The visionless fools. But for the Idea I need to creat a fake cult and here is where you come in Create for own cult. It has to be believable (so no cult of the shoes) but funny, The type of thing that if you get the joke it's funny but if not you'd think it could really exist. Whoever makes Best Cult gets a prize* Ideas? *No Garantee this prize will be good or actually exist.
[quote:a1d64e5d09="Rincewind"]It has to be believable (so no cult of the shoes)[/quote:a1d64e5d09] cult according to dictionary.com [quote:a1d64e5d09]- Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing. - The object of such devotion. - An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest. [/quote:a1d64e5d09] Can I point out people who obsess about shoes and spend ludicrous amounts on them, which is nothing short of obsessive, and get together with friends to go shoe shopping...it's not intellectual but its certainly esoteric
[quote:2e0ef77fc1="Venerico"]How about mushroom cult? [/quote:2e0ef77fc1] Would these then be the magic kind or more on the lines of shanterelles and truffles and so on? :lol:
What would this Mushroon Cult do, pray tell? A cult of woman who obcess about shoes is hardly good television. Besides, it would probably be in breach of contract with 'Sex in the City' or something.
teddy bear cult??? (we all love them 8) ) a cult of cults (obsess over different types cults) fancy pencil case cult (at the moment its who can get the smallest one possible, they just got over a recent bout of 'must have huge pencil case with just 2 pens inside' phase) or how about the pen cult? pens are important...lots of different types and brands ...
Bit to Silly. It has to be a more realistic, sinster cult...possibly one based on a fact/set of believes but just twisted in a way.
How about a cult venerating some sort of political Leader? Tony Blair or George Bush for example. Imagine- the Gospel according to St. Tony People would have to dress like them and effect their mannerisms. ____ Actually what might come accross well on TV would be to get all the Look-alike people who pretend to be these characters to be a cult. That might work well for all the Beckham want- to-bes perhaps?
A cult that despises cults? adds a bit of irony... sorry...thats the best i can come up with at the moment...
A sinister cult you say? Well if it's sinister you want then clowns are your answer. *mutter, mutter, happy faces, mutter, white make- up, mutter, mutter, oversized clothes, mutter* no but seriously they have always been really scary to me. ___________________________ Did you ever see the episode of the X- Files with the Golem in it? Mulder & Scully investigated a new housing development. People who didn't keep all the regulations and laws of the development were killed by the Golum- eg not having their bins facing the right direction outside their houses on rubbish collection day. Off the point I know but I will get to it.... How about having a cult the involves something fairly 'straightforward' (off the top of my head, but following on from the X files story- A Houskeeping cult -perhaps a cover for 'ladies who do lunch') but the consequences for 'stepping out of line' within the cult could be the spin on it... (eg someone doesn't put the tie backs correctly onto their cutains gets whipped or something)
Virus-worshipping cult For people who decided "if you can't beat'em, join'em" and now resort to chants and ritual sacrifice in hopes of being spared. For added morbidity, if you're a cult member and you actually fall sick, then you're a sinner who wronged the Great Virus, and whatever happens to you is a divine punishment.
Hmm don't they say truth is stranger than fiction? Surely you have the answers right here! You've heard of Heaven's Gate? Well how about "Doors to Paradise", a sinister cult who use copious amounts of alcohol in the belief that it brings them closer to the light. Then there is the strange cult of the "Torta del Ba" who believe that only by the consumption of rich food encased in pastry can a state of true spirituality be attained Also there is the Opalite Sisterhood who believe that these gems have a mystical quality and collect them in the hope of spiritual advancement.
Here is one that I made up: The Vollständig Mentiras The Vollstandig Mentiras is a cult that exists in the south West Valleys of Wales. The follow the teachings of a Dutch Philosopher Wag Kerel, (who is currently serving 2 years in a French prision after been arrested trying to smuggle drugs) who believe that technology is evil and a virus on the planet. The cult practive ‘Endarkenment’-smashing the lights off cars and in shops and ritualistic cow-tipping. Can you spot my language jokes?
I like that one Marica. Sleepy do those cults really exist? Edit: Sorry switched the retard button off. Very good. Also does anyone know of any real freaky cults. I can remember seening one where people would let themsleves get bitten by posionous snakes.
how about a cult worshiping the geat dinosours (spling?) of africa? out to prove to the world that God really did create us all :roll: (sorry Hex, stole your classmates stupidity) What about a cult devoted to Hobo's? I think that'd be hilariouse seeing random people go out and pray to hobo's :badgrin:
out on a limb I typed cults into wikipedea and got this [quote:97747c0e53]Cults is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is known for its historic granite housing, making it largely a wealthy area of the city.[/quote:97747c0e53] then deleted the 's' at the end and dicovered this link at the bottom of the page, which I though was an amusing view point... Is wkipedea a cult? Interestingly this is found in the 'bad jokes and other deleted nonsense' section...
[quote:58232d1f9c="fairyliquid"][quote:58232d1f9c]Cults is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is known for its historic granite housing, making it largely a wealthy area of the city.[/quote:58232d1f9c] [/quote:58232d1f9c] Largely would apparently mean "not the bit that sleepy_sarge lived in" !!
That wikipedia thing is mad! People got depressed because they felt they were drawn into a cult? That strikes me as a little odd in it'self.
[quote:d31576499b="Dane"]That wikipedia thing is mad! People got depressed because they felt they were drawn into a cult? That strikes me as a little odd in it'self.[/quote:d31576499b] it was in the joke atricles section so I wouldn't take it too seriously but I think it's an interesting idea. Don't think it would work for Rincewinds tv thing though...
[quote:d86cad6d40="Rincewind"]I like that one Marica. Sleepy do those cults really exist? Edit: Sorry switched the retard button off. Very good. Also does anyone know of any real freaky cults. I can remember seening one where people would let themsleves get bitten by posionous snakes.[/quote:d86cad6d40] Ah, but they're mostly only freaky on first sight! If you learn more about them, you learn to understand... I'm brooding on an idea basing on a paper I am doing about a vodoon cult, the paper will probably never get ready... sigh...
How about a cult consisting of fans of a highly successful author who, when they start communicating with each other, find that they have a lot of other interests in common, but also enough differing opinions to make for interesting discussions, and become a thriving community - as any cult tends to do, they try to maintain certain standards despite the efforts of outsiders, especially the Four Posters of the Apocalypse - Dragonbiddy, Juggicide, AppleStrudel and Gooner, but as so often can happen to cults they end up being hounded out of their original location by heretics, and are forced to set up home in a new place where they can keep their civilized way of life under their own control - Oh, no - it would never work - who would believe it? Sorry - couldn't immediately think of a suitable alternate name for the fourth Poster!
I grew up in a cult The Children of God. So, if you need any information on the stratagies of brainwashing, just let me know. P.S. Thats one of the calmer versions of how it all went down. Also, you can see my mom in the London 1972 picture, she's the blond one in front. This is a great quote and sums up the cult rather well: "The Family's core beliefs are very similar to those of fundamentalist Christians, in that they believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, they believe in the Trinity, the Virgin birth, salvation by faith in Christ and most of the basic doctrines of fundamentalist Christians. They depart from the mainstream however, in their sacralization of sexuality and their belief that sexuality between consenting adults is admissable independent of marital relations, and communication with departed spirits amongst other doctrines. "
Cult of Good ol' Bill of 34 Cockstooth Road They believe that the last of the old gods is sleeping in the form of William "Bill" Miller, a mechanic living on Cockstooth Road in, oh, say Surrey. They believe that Bill subconsciously controls the universe, and thus try to win his favor. However, they also believe that if Bill ever becomes aware of what he is, the elder god living deep within him will awaken, and bring about the end of the world. Thus, they have been careful never to let him know who they truly are. Bill leads a fairly normal life save for the occasional gifts given to him by robed strangers in the street, and the occasional chicken sacrificed in his name. He figures they're just unusually gregarious circus folk.
You hear all the time about Cults who believe that aliens are God, and then they try to make contact with the aliens. Some believe the spaceships will come for them at the end of the world, etc. How about a Cult who believes that aliens are the devil? Maybe they go and stalk out people (actors and actresses in this case) who've been abducted and exorcise their demons? They are set against all electricity on the believe that somewhere in space the alien devil is recieving old tv and radio broadcasts. So maybe they hi-jack a station and send their own message of warning to him? Which they estimate will be recieved by him in 600yrs time, which they believe will stop his evil plans to destroy earth. Their overall plan is to go and bring down SETI, believing SETI will make contact with the alein devil and bring his wrath upon us all.
and the cult against the alien devil could refuse to eat wheat (wheat based products) because of crop circles, and cattle (etc) because of mutalations, in the belief that the alien devil minions have been playing with the food
[quote:43a4bc8177="Rincewind"]Om anything you can tell me about cults would be great![/quote:43a4bc8177] Almost all cults emphatically deny that they are, in fact, cults. Most cults use some subversive form of brainwashing. Most cult refuse to let thier children have 'secular' education. Instead they home school them, or put them in 'cult boarding schools' (as was the case with me). Most cults have some sort of doomsday/end of the word/aliens are comming sort of twist. Some cults are violent in thier brainwashing techniques and practices. Alot of cults believe in women subjagation and having more than one wife. All cults have to have a 'leader' of sorts. Anything else you need to know, just ask. edit to say: [i:43a4bc8177]ALL[/i:43a4bc8177] cults have a really hard time getting the second generation to follow in thier footsteps.
How do the local community react to the cults? Are any of the members of the community ever secret cult members.
That really depends on the type of cult. If it's something like, say, the Freemasons, then yes, they could be members of the community that are secretly members of a cult. If it's a cult like The Children of God or the Branch Davidians (the Waco, TX cult) then no, all the members would live withing the confines of the cult. As far as the local community reacting to it, most cult have some kind of 'front' (a youth center, a bible school, a kibbutz, a hippy commune) so most of the local community would not [i:9fde73baee]really[/i:9fde73baee] know what went on there.
Ok. Interesting. Where people slightly suspecous of what goes on in these 'front' if someone was to say, 'hey, these people are really a cult!' would they believe them or do they thing these fronts are perfectly normal.
I think they are probably more suspisious than not. When I was growing up, I was very aware that most people thought of us a 'a cult' no matter how hard we tried to hide it.
No, it's funny how much they denied being a cult. Most of the members considered themselves part of a 'movement' and they also used the word 'sect' alot, but always very strongly denied being a cult. I, myself always thought of them as a cult, especially after I left and found out how the rest of the world lived.
I'd hesitate to put secret societies in with cults. Some cults may also be secret societies, but they're not the same thing. Freemasons and the Skulls, for example, are more-or-less old-boy's-networks. Light on the brainwashing and heavy on making future contacts for business and so forth. Also, Mowgli, Ba would say that's actually a pretty good question, given the hold cults have over their members. It can often be very difficult to leave.
[u:1658efa623]This [/u:1658efa623] is the dictionary.com result for a search on "cult". Items 2 and 3 in the first entry are pretty well neutral, but others are somewhat judgemental and tend to imply something not quite right - simply through usage the word has taken on a sinister meaning - however, from where I stand as an agnostic, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. all qualify as cults.
Om's cultist backround only adds to her general rockness, I would guess,(though not sure) that Om left becuase she was a second generation member?
That's not really a reason, Rinso. In fact, one would think having been raised in the cult would make it [i:c0b2955723]harder[/i:c0b2955723] for her to leave, since she'd been raised entirely in the precepts of the cult.
Very true Ba. [quote:6120d395a9="Pixel"][u:6120d395a9]This [/u:6120d395a9] is the dictionary.com result for a search on "cult". Items 2 and 3 in the first entry are pretty well neutral, but others are somewhat judgemental and tend to imply something not quite right - simply through usage the word has taken on a sinister meaning - however, from where I stand as an agnostic, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. all qualify as cults.[/quote:6120d395a9] Not exactly pixel cults are more a local leader centric gathering of worshippers, see there is a leader who is worshipped and hence has power over people, financial gain etc.. In principle a religions shouldn't have that leader (no religous leaders don't count, they are not meant to benefit), the idea behind them is the idea is bigger than the people. Not leader xxx (or the idea of leader xxx) as the object of worship etc etc. Defining religions as cults thats more just playin with words for shock value. Groups do exist within religions forcused around a leader in a cult like fashion though.
Pepster - what I was trying to point out with the dictionary.com link was that the word cult has a much more general meaning, but by usage has come to be interpreted more in the way that you describe.
There has been some academic literature looking at the nature of cult and how it influences people to become members and how to become such devotional adherents to what sometimes seems total bollocks... all of this has looked at religious cults but there is more work being done on the cult of celebrity. The whole thing can get pretty sinister I watched a doco on the hari krishna movement from the 70-80s where the strict home-school teaching of communally owned children turned into beacon for pedaphiles who were given unlimited access of up to 50 children 24 hours a day...And there seemed to be a lot of other abuse going on too. Some of the major attractions is that there is power in conformity, ie in that the self is magnified through the lense of a powerfully knit group. If your sense of self isn't strong, confused or your 'trying to find yourself'. Cults have appeal in that they tell the self who to be, and that the self is stronger through the group and if you leave the group you will lose your sense of self. It is similar to theories of self-concept and social identity, in that part of our self-concept is our perception of our roles in society, so if you have strict tightly controlled role within the cult society your self-concept will be narrow, strongly linked and difficult to establish outside of the group. Sorry, none of this has really answered your question but I'm an academic and I've done work in this area so its easy for me to show off Lets see... answering the question... A cult that believes that the bible lost its focus when it talked about Jesus as the shephard and the meek he was really referring to were sheep. It is a cult that celebrates the define power of sheep and tries to achieve divinity through the care and worshipping of sheep. It could be set in New Zealand or possibly Scotland :cooler:
[quote:cb16b4e298="Ba"]That's not really a reason, Rinso. In fact, one would think having been raised in the cult would make it [i:cb16b4e298]harder[/i:cb16b4e298] for her to leave, since she'd been raised entirely in the precepts of the cult.[/quote:cb16b4e298] I mean in the sense that, maybe, becuase you where raised via the cult precepts you want to rebel agianst them.
[quote:004e32dcee="Rincewind"][quote:004e32dcee="Ba"]That's not really a reason, Rinso. In fact, one would think having been raised in the cult would make it [i:004e32dcee]harder[/i:004e32dcee] for her to leave, since she'd been raised entirely in the precepts of the cult.[/quote:004e32dcee] I mean in the sense that, maybe, becuase you where raised via the cult precepts you want to rebel agianst them.[/quote:004e32dcee] The problem with that is that you may not be familiar with another way of life. Rebelling involves something to rebel to, to replace a given way of life with another. It's not just saying no when others keep telling you to say yes. You live a lifestyle which, by its definition, says no.
[quote:1562d354e5="Roman_K"][quote:1562d354e5="Rincewind"][quote:1562d354e5="Ba"]That's not really a reason, Rinso. In fact, one would think having been raised in the cult would make it [i:1562d354e5]harder[/i:1562d354e5] for her to leave, since she'd been raised entirely in the precepts of the cult.[/quote:1562d354e5] I mean in the sense that, maybe, becuase you where raised via the cult precepts you want to rebel agianst them.[/quote:1562d354e5] The problem with that is that you may not be familiar with another way of life. [i:1562d354e5]Rebelling involves something to rebel to, to replace a given way of life with another. [/i:1562d354e5] (My italics -Pixel). It's not just saying no when others keep telling you to say yes. You live a lifestyle which, by its definition, says no.[/quote:1562d354e5] Sorry, Roman - I don't agree on this - the first stage of rebelling is rebelling [i:1562d354e5]against[/i:1562d354e5] - in any situation of rebellion, one has first to be dissatisfied with one's current situation - finding something to [i:1562d354e5]replace[/i:1562d354e5] the system you are rebelling against is the next step - and if one is brought up in a cult, one will almost certainly need to break away first to find what those choices are.
[quote:fa65f760f7="mowgli"]This is going to sound somewhat arsenine, but what made you leave? [/quote:fa65f760f7] You know, for a long time when I was trying to 'make it' in the world I asked myself that same question. What made me reject my whole life of beliefe and cultish ways. I think the first thing I came up with was I was tired. I was tired of changing diapers and cooking meals and begging on the streets. Most of all I was tired of getting in trouble for 'being rebellious' and 'foolish'. If I had not of left, I would have been excommunicated. Eventually. I couln't conform, I had different ideas about life and god. All the 'laying on of hands' and 'casting out the demons' was not going to change my core beliefs. I started 'doubting the word' when I was about 8 years old. 'Doubting' was a very serious offence and I got into much trouble, I lived in constant fear of the next beating and 'talking to' of which there were many. When I was about 16 years old, they tried to 'fix' me by sending me to an intense brainwashing camp for teens. I was put on 'silence restriction' and they changed my name to 'Joan of Arc'. I recieve frequent beatings and got in trouble for anything I did. This went on for 2 years. When I was 18, I left, I flew to Florida and never talked to any of those people ever again. I coun't even talk to my parents for a couple of years. I guess you could say they 'beat' it out of me. Haha. For many, many years I denied that anything bad had ever happened to me, I lied about how I was raised, I never told anyone. Eventually, after many years of drugs and alcohol I wound up in AA where I learned (amoung other things) to forgive and come to terms with my life. Sorry to be so wordy, I hope this answers your question.
Do you mind me asking this Om (and you may have answered this before) : Do your parents (and the rest of your family?) still follow the teachings of the Cult? and Have you met anyone whom you knew in the sect since you left who has tried to re- establish your connection with it? I apologise if these questions are too personal and understand if you do not wish to answer.
Because this conversation is becoming less academic and more personal, I'm going to have to bow out. I don't think that discussing my parents and siblings or any other members on a public message board is a very wise thing to do. Back to the topic at hand. Rinso, did you come up with some interesting ideas and such? Have you a good sketch you can share with us? Are you thinking about starting your own cult now? These are the questions that keep me awake at night.
Ok. This is my Idea...it's not *really* my Idea just an Idea that game from something I said and the development people liked and wanted be to develop more to see if i'm any good. [b:dfcf044399]EVIL IN OUR MISDT How much do you really know…? How much do you really know? Is what you are told the whole truth? Do you believe what you are told or what you know? In a cutting-edge mockumentory we aim to investigate the media influence into our understanding of the world. Can we always trust the story hungry media? Can we be sure they won’t pervert the truth to make a better, edgier, headline? In the format of a mockumentary in which a cutting edge filmmaker/journalist and his team (actors parodying the real thing perfectly), try to create a completely false perception of an evil lurking in a small town (a real documentary). The Filmmaker will play on society’s trust of the media and fear of the unknown to attempt to convince the community that their town is the site of a dark and sinister cult. This unique format mixing ‘reality’ and ‘fiction’ will provide an entertaining and fascinating insight into how we view each other, the media and, ultimately, the truth. The audience will follow the footsteps of the hot shot filmmaker as he tries to make name for himself by making the ‘cutting edge documentary of the year’, regardless of how much fact (or lack of) his story is based on. He will try to use every trick of the trade to create a mystery conspiracy out of nothing, manipulating a real life community. The filmmaker will go to greater extremes and more elaborate ploys to reel the community into his web of lies. The focus of the show will shift between the ‘reality’ exploits of a community put under increasing pressure to suspect and mistrust each other and the behind the scenes ‘fictional’ world of the egotistical ‘filmmaker/Journo’ and the bickering fights between the director (caught by the cameraman-who knows such footage can earn him a pretty penny on ‘it will be alright on the night’ shows) who questions the ethics of the documentary. Finally, after much of their documentary is shot and edited, the egotistical journalist sacks the director who then promptly returns to the real people they have conned, tells them the journalist was conning them all (not admitting his own culpability) and asks them “how they feel about it” just like real journal’s do after an appalling disaster. At which point reality and fiction will blur in a dramatic climax ‘Evil in our Midst’ is an original and innovative format. It will explore the topical and intriguing theme of trust, both of the media and each other. It will attempt to bring to the fore and answer a number of prevalent questions. We live in a society that believes whatever the media tells it, often regardless of how much evidence there is to support the tabloid claims. Increasingly the general public is expected to believe what they are told. The aim of the mockumentory is to see just how far this idea can go, can an entire town be led to suspect and mistrust each other? Will it become a witch hunt to find the 'members of the cult'? Will the trust given to the media outweigh their experiences of their neighbours, people they've known all their lives? It questions the relationship between personal knowledge over public revelations. Are we willing to forgo our empirical knowledge of people and take the word of our perceived truth-givers? It will examine the consequences of what happens when someone abuses the power of the media. The news and media are empowered because it is they who reveal secrets which-enlighten us. When this power is abused, either through negligence or other more sinister reasons, will the average person be able to smell a rat or will they believe the unbelievable? This will be much more accessible than a Chris Morris parody while maintaining the sharp, dark humour and staunchly political commentary. A new an exciting genre crossing format, taking the gripping human drama of reality TV and the clever humour of a crafted mockumentory. The dual formats allow the program-maker the freedom to choose which aspect to focus on, the ‘real’ or the ‘fictional’ allowing us to tell the best possible story. Part scripted part real, part improvised, it would be a smart, funny mockumentary ideal for new comic talent – someone who can accurately parody the earnest, trustworthy TV journalist.[/b:dfcf044399] Any comments, questions, On both content and style greatly apprecieted. I think it sounds to wordy, I has to sound catchy and interesting to sell to channel 4 or somewhere.
I have spent a lot of time on the committees of two of the amateur theatre groups here in Brussels, and whenever someone puts up a proposal for a play, as one of life's techies my first thoughts are "OK, what are the problems?", and I am always most impressed by those proposals that recognize problems and give a possible solution - even if that solution is not the one finally used, it still shows that some thought has been put into it. One of the main "problems" I see (apart from getting the show past any production company's lawyers, who would probably scream and try to beat you to death with their briefcases before you could say "Candid Camera", and if you survived that and got the show to happen, having enough fast cars always ready during filming to get you away when the lynch mob arrives ) is the selection of the community. This would depend on whether it is to be a series or a one-off - for a one-off you would need a community small enough to get rumour flying to enough of the community to make a difference but not so small that they just closed up against your "documentary" team right away - a large village might be more suitable than a small town - for a series, then the earlier programs would serve the purpose - people are likely to watch a programme about something controversial in their home town. Of course, you would also have to be sure that there [i:0580eef549]wasn't[/i:0580eef549] a local cult that included a lot of the community concerned.
Great idea Rincewind! I couldn't comment on the style of the pitch (don't know how they are supposed to look) but couldn't you get hold of one that has been successful via your contacts/colleagues? It might give you some style tips.
Sounds great Rinso!- I think it would be good TV! Apologise OM - for being too personal- I'm sorry for asking those questions.
As you said, picking the right town would be really important, it can't be too small a community because then it would just come across as 'tricking the stupid country bumpkins.' When the point of the show is how bias/bad reporting can effect us all. So it has to be a town that most people can relate too. But also there has to be a sense of community, so people can suspect each other or at least know who people are. I'm really not sure about the show at all, but they like the idea. One of the problems I see is the town just not reacting, not really caring, which I think would be worse than them closing off-because that could be manipulated to them hiding something. Apathy is not our friend. How interesting the how are, will depend on how scripted the show is, if the town don't react the show will be more a comedy about the media filmmaker trying to manipulate people. If the town react, it will focus more on how people can be manipulated to believe stuff without needing any evidence. What I need to think about is what does the cult that the filmmaker wishes to convince the towns people of do? It needs to be real enough that people will believe it, but silly enough that people at home can laugh at.
