Tag Archives: cult

Why “The Following” Is The Worst Show, But I Can’t Stop Watching It

Julie GersteinApril 8, 2013 //
UK's Reality TV
4 reasons why reality TV is better in the UK than the U.S. Read More »
Reality TV Lessons
11 Life Lessons From This Year In Reality Television
Eleven lessons from the year 2011 in reality TV. 12 Photos »
TV Shows We Miss
Reality TV Shows We Miss
We wish these 10 reality TV shows would get a reboot! 10 Photos »

Do you watch “The Following,” the Kevin Bacon show about an Edgar Allen Poe-obsessed serial killer named Joe Carroll? No? Good for you. I do. And I can’t stop myself, even though it’s one of the worst, most unbelievably, faultily constructed shows out there. Briefly — SPOILER ALERT if you for some reason plan on Tivo-ing this season or something — the show follows ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy as he works with the FBI’s cult unit to track down a serial killer named Joe Carroll, who has started a murderous cult that worships Edgar Allen Poe. Carroll is out to be reunited with his son Joey and wife Claire, who totally hates his guts and is in love with Ryan Hardy. Naturally, Joe has some cult members kidnap Joey in order to lure Claire to his den of leather-bound books and sipping whiskey, and all this is clearly culminating in some kind of mass rampage.

There are only, like, four more episodes left, which THANK GOD, even though I dutifully turn it on every Monday night, grit my teeth and watch it. What’s my problem with “The Following”? I am up to my eyeballs in suspension of disbelief. I am happy to suspend my disbelief — this is TV after all — but my disbelief has suspended its disbelief. The show’s creators and writers took a very awesome thriller idea — an ex-FBI agent chasing a cult-crazed serial killer — and made it dumb. Here’s how. Keep reading »

Pray Tell: Jenna Miscavige Hill And Megan Phelps-Roper Escape Scientology And the Westboro Baptist Church

Lilit MarcusFebruary 7, 2013 //

This week, two women who escaped from extreme religious sects told their stories. One escaped from Scientology, the other from the Westboro Baptist Church. Although a small number of people grow up inside groups like these in America, it’s as important as it is startling to hear from these women and hear how, even in this modern world, there are still people who want to oppress women, control their bodies, and prevent them from getting educated. Keep reading »

Man With 86 Wives Defies Government Divorce Order

SimchaSeptember 2, 2008 //

We’ve all dated cocky guys, but Mohammed Bello takes the cake! About a month ago, we here at The Frisky were befuddled by the story of a Nigerian man with 86 wives. At the apparently arrogant age of 84, Mohammed Bello was still fathering children and seen as a preacher and healer to his wives, most of whom are in their twenties, and his brood of 170 kids. His compound has been a constant source of aggravation and embarrassment to the Muslim population of his own country, who see him as a crazy cult leader. In fact, he’s even been receiving death threats. Since even most Islamic fundamentalists believe you can only have up to four wives, the state has ordered Bello to divorce at least 82 of them by this Sunday or face exile from Nigeria. So what does Bello’s camp have to say in his defense? Spokesman for the self-proclaimed shaman, Mohammed Tahir, counterattacked with, “He is not going to divorce any of his wives. Rather he is going to marry more.” Boo-yah! It’s on! [Reuters]

Keep reading »

Big, Big Love: One Man, 86 Wives

SimchaAugust 11, 2008 //

While three sister wives may seem like one big, happy family on Big Love, try having 86! Mohammed Bello Abubakar, an 84-year-old Muslim preacher in Nigeria, has married more women than years he’s been alive and most of his wives are, surprisingly, in their twenties. Can you imagine trying to feed the 170 children he’s fathered?! Neither he nor his wives work, but they somehow manage to pay for the $915 (26.5 lbs) worth of rice they consume each day. Needless to say, the Islamic Authorities in his home state consider him a cult leader, but he fancies himself a shaman who doesn’t believe in modern medicine. Abubakar credits his healing powers with his ability to attract so many women. He told the BBC, “I don’t go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them… That is why I have been able to control 86 of them.” Um, what a romantic? [BBC] Keep reading »