JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PEOPLES TEMPLE

THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT.

This documentary "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" is the best treatise on this subject that I have ever seen. All of us feel at sometime that the world will end, and this is the way that Jim Jones felt on November 18, 1978. This catastrophic event was very carefully captured, and we can watch these confusing events unfold in real time. I have seen many specials on The Peoples Temple and this PBS work is the most carefully researched, the most objective account. There are no reenactments, just film footage, the careful placement of photographs against events, and the painful commentary of former members, most of which were stricken with the tragedy of the multiple loss of family members.

The best aspect was the thorough coverage of the early church in Indiana and then the move to California. You can hear much of the preaching of Jim Jones and see footage of the early church. Jim Jones was clear at that time, and was an early champion of the rights of blacks, even in the 1950s. Also he was a socialist and used the communal teachings of Jesus to persuade new members to join the congregation. Some of the frauds were revealed too and the ways he held these poor people in his grip. He used sex to control them also. Jones: "...If You see me as your God I will be your God". It is surprising to see his popularity unfold early on, but one has to put on blinders, reminded of the darker aspects of this story unfolding. In the mid-seventies Jim started taking drugs and got very paranoid. This I suppose is the basis for his messiah complex which made him conscious that everyone was out to get him and his people.

The extras are really good and provide many of the individual stories that have been so carefully preserved. Through the years I have gone through this sorted tale many times, wondering why this happened, and it is still a mystery, even as it seemed that something miraculous was to happen, but suddenly the devil took hold. One suspects that you must be careful who you worship, who you hold up as a messiah. I recalled how shocked I was when I learned that JFK had so many affairs, even when he was the commander in chief. This was troubling. Jones had many affairs with men and women and then hushed it up. People could not talk with one another. His taped voice was a constant drone on the loudspeakers in Guyana, just like the FBI did in Waco with David Karesh. I also saw how gospel music played a deep role with the Peoples Temple. Jim was very in tune with the African American experience, and almost seemed black himself. I was reminded of Elvis and his miraculous crossover.

This tale has been told over and over again. It will be told many more times. A much more precise assemblage of photos, facts, and footage was applied in this American Experience special. This PBS documentary is the best retelling of these twisted events to date and will be included in my collection, as I still attempt to probe how these bizarre incidents could have come about. One new thing that I saw was that the Kool-Aid murder/suicide had been rehearsed many times before. Noone tried to stop him before that time, and then when Leo Ryan went to Guyana and actually tried to stop his crazy plan, he had a back-up strategy to counter him.