The Family (Netflix original)

Taek

Taek

Well-Known Member
Anybody else watching this? I'm 2 episodes in and pretty gripped by it.

Jeff Sharlet is a journalist I discovered through twitter, that has done some really interesting investigative work with organised religion in the US, he wrote a book called The Family a few years ago now about his experiences with this group of people that referred to themselves in this way.

What he goes through is like a weird fucking mystery thriller, it encompasses politicians all the way up to the president (multiple presidents actually), and the super rich and influential, all based around this idea that Jesus isn't how we think he is.

I definitely recommend it based on what I've seen so far.
 
I watched the first episode and the presentation of this dude bro Christianity is both creepy and fascinating. Some of the ideas behind it aren't bad. Dumping all of the other religious trappings to follow the teachings of Christ would be ideal to me. However, the way The Family has twisted the idea of Christ into this ultra masculine figure that would manipulate his way into influence is highly un-Christ like. Instead, it's all a twisted way of using Christ for Coe to push his own ideas which are based in the ideas of Nazis and other totalitarian groups and that's not me reading into it, when describing his ideas Coe quite often mentions Hitler and the Nazis.

The series has brought up a lot of interesting points, but let's see if it can actually do something other than make vague inferences about what The Family is doing. They've got influence, world leaders come to see then, but what are they doing with this influence they wield?
 
I thought the second episode was a lot less compelling than the first. I really liked the glossy re-creations of Sharlet's time with the family in the first episode. The acting was really good and you could tell that Sharlet was starting to fall for them a bit which made it all the more creepy. Those scenes had a lot of atmosphere.

In comparison the second episode is more traditional documentary material. It's still compelling, but not particularly gripping. I am familiar with the two scandals mentioned in the episode, but I forgot how hilarious it was when everyone thought governor Mark Sandford had disappeared for a nature hike somewhere, then he came back and had to admit it was because he had an affair.

I also miss George Cromwell as Coe from the first episode. Cromwell can make even the most innocuous stuff sound sinister.
 
ZetsubouKaiji said:
I thought the second episode was a lot less compelling than the first. I really liked the glossy re-creations of Sharlet's time with the family in the first episode. The acting was really good and you could tell that Sharlet was starting to fall for them a bit which made it all the more creepy. Those scenes had a lot of atmosphere.

In comparison the second episode is more traditional documentary material. It's still compelling, but not particularly gripping. I am familiar with the two scandals mentioned in the episode, but I forgot how hilarious it was when everyone thought governor Mark Sandford had disappeared for a nature hike somewhere, then he came back and had to admit it was because he had an affair.

I also miss George Cromwell as Coe from the first episode. Cromwell can make even the most innocuous stuff sound sinister.
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I think the third and fourth episodes are more gripping as a documentary format, but I must admit that I miss the acting style of the first episode.

The information itself is still incredibly interesting, but I feel it may have lost something by not giving us the young Sharlet to empathise with.
 
The 4th episode really pissed me off. The organization does wield influence in the US, but they still can't control policy the way they want to so they expand outside the US targeting weaker nations that want a bit of The Family's influence. They can't force their morals on the US so instead they go around the world trafficking with some of the most regressive politicians and actively making the world a shittier place.

The fifth episode shows what an easily manipulated manbaby Trump is. It's not wonder The Family backs someone so easily manipulated.

Overall, it's hard to do a five hour documentary on such a furtive organization. The Family tries to hide itself and it has been most successful. This would have probably been better as something movie length because there's a lot of padding and repeated points because so little of substance is known about this group.
 
I think the 4th episode was the strongest in terms of information, if not narrative. It's the one where you see the true terror of the Family and what they're capable of when given free reign to do what they want. In this case push their horrific agenda onto entire societies.

The 5th episode really shows just how well they can manipulate someone when that someone is receptive to it. Trump is a fool that believes he's predestined for greatness, so the family encourages that and they're right inside his inner circle.

The "surrender to God" moment gave me chills I must admit. Flashbacks of my early teenage years.
 
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