Halloween Bingo 2022
I think this is an excellent way to show and explain the way cults suck in new members. The author is just a few years my junior and I remember seeing various “religions" during my first year on a university campus, attempting to recruit the unwary. Hell, I know older people who've become overzealous recruiters for programs, people, or products. The graphic novel format engages the reader visually through the art as well as intellectually with the words. It reads much more quickly than a traditional memoir, making it more easily accessible.
Boucher understands how easily young people can be lured away by a cult, having experienced it. She seems to have been from a pretty ordinary family, but she wasn't out of high school yet. She was still learning who she was and had no clear idea of what she wanted to do with her life. This is a vulnerable stage of life, when a person is susceptible to being steered into dubious life paths. Separated from family, friends, and their usual environment, all people can be convinced to change their minds about some things. Once the cult has accomplished that first shift, they know they can do more and the pressure increases.
Getting in is so easy. Accept the wrong invitation. Trust someone too quickly. Then getting out is so hard. The cult has become both family and friends and the cult member has difficulty believing outside information. Boucher gives an eye-opening account of the aftermath, with shame, depression, and nightmares. She was ashamed that she was “dumb" enough to get swept up in the Moonies, not giving herself the compassion that she deserved. It took quite a while to overcome the programming and her life had been pulled out of shape. Education interrupted, skating competition abandoned, family ties in need of mending.
Cults = mindfuckery. I read this graphic novel for the Psych square of Halloween Bingo.
No comments:
Post a Comment