90. Witness to Jonestown

An inside look at the rise and fall of Jonestown, this documentary explains the theories behind the Peoples Temple.  It started out with the best intention of trying to create a foundation where people can be treated with equality.  But all that glitters isn't gold.  It turns out that even while they were still in the United States it was becoming even more tyrannical everyday.  If people tried to escape or withdraw from the church, they were dragged back and beaten in front of everyone.  But people didn't seem to question them because they performed great deeds for the community. 

Jim Jones's started to create his "Utopian" town in Guyana to get away from the corrupt Americans and their impending doom.  Here he could have even more control and play into his delusions that people were out to kill him.  He made it nearly impossible for anyone to leave and once they did, they would be put on an enemy list where even their own son would want to kill them.  When Congressman Leo Ryan and a group of journalists went to investigate, all hell broke loose which lead to the mass suicides and killings that happened from drinking the koolaid.

Even though this is clearly a made for TV documentary (MSNBC) the content and visuals draw you in.  It's easy to judge an event, but to hear about personal stories and the build up is worth a watch.  Especially as time to goes on, people seem to know less and less about it, so its great that they were able to get all the interviews, footage, and eye witnesses before they became lost in time. 

Rating: ***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1U1eJdNUjM