"They're Freaks!": The Cult Stereotype in Fictional Television Shows, 1958–2008

Abstract

This article analyzes the stereotypical portrayal of cults on fictional television shows and demonstrates the vital role that this popular culture form plays in the dissemination of anticult ideology. Through an in-depth examination of five episodes that aired between 1998 and 2008, it delineates how these shows employed stereotypical cult elements, such as fraud and violence, as well as contrasts in clothing, setting, and lifestyle to differentiate conventional religion from the dangers and delusions of cults. Further, the article reveals how usage of the cult concept is not limited to the present context and documents the historical pervasiveness of the cult stereotype on television since 1958. By highlighting these patterns, this study shows the power and implications of the cult stereotype. It illuminates how these television shows constitute a powerful force in defining and policing the boundaries of religious legitimacy in American culture.

(Re)Introducing “Secular Religion”: On the Study of Entangled Quests for Meaning in Modern Western Cultures

“…This was probably due to the increasingly negative reputation that cults were gaining in the public eye. In the wake of the widely publicized serial killing spree of the Manson Family in 1967, the armed Numen 67 (2020) 256-279 bank robberies of the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, and especially the Jonestown mass murder-suicide of the People's Temple in 1978, "cults" got a bad name (van Driel and Richardson 1988;Richardson 1993;Richardson and van Driel 1997); they still carry this reputation today (Olson 2006;Neal 2011;Laylock 2013). As sociologist Eileen Barker noted soon after, "No new religion would be regarded in quite the same light or treated in quite the same way after Jonestown" (1986: 330).…”

Kült Ve Kültür Arasinda: Yeni̇ Bi̇r Kült Tanimlamasina Doğru

“…Bk. : (Collin, 1982;Davis, 1996;Faulkner, 1996;Ibrahim, 2013;Neal, 2011;Olson, 2006;Panchenko, 2004;Richardson, 1979). Bu hareketlerde daha çok beyin yıkama (brainwashing) ve zihin kontrol (mind-control techniques) tekniklerinin kullanıldığı bilinmektedir (Collin, 1982).…”

Demonizing ISIL and Defending Muslims: Australian Muslim Citizenship and Tony Abbott's “Death Cult” Rhetoric

“…This has influenced the harsh attitudes towards them of some Western religious bodies and their followers, which in turn have become historically and culturally embedded in many societies, through the mass media and organized opposition in the form of the Anti-Cult Movement (Pfeiffer 1992;Melton 1998, 614;Olson 2006;McCloud 2007;Neal 2009). Indeed, as cults and sects have been associated with moral and martial insurrection -including allegations that they are inspired by, or advancing the cause of, Satan -they have been incorporated within the frameworks of Western theological and political demonologies.…”