The new kids DVD - was it deliberate? What are we missing?

by cedars 57 Replies latest jw friends

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  cedars

  Hi everyone

  Normally I don't go in for these conspiracy theory ideas, but a comment by kurtbethel on another thread got me to thinking. Might this latest DVD actually be proof that there are operatives inside Watchtower HQ who are deliberately sabotaging the Society's material? Or are the Society really THAT stupid that they would score such a dramatic own goal, i.e. with Sparlock?

  In my opion, it's difficult to arrive at a more satisfactory explanation as to how they could have "dropped the ball" so spectacularly with this DVD. I've watched both videos a few times now, and each time I am more and more impressed by how fake and stereotyped the characters are, and how over-dramatized and exaggerated everything is. It's almost as though the videos were intended as a spoof or comedy. Maybe they were, and whoever orchestrated the whole thing knows full well that the GB members have such a humor-vacuum that they would completely miss all the subtle innuendos when presented with the films for final approval.

  On the other hand, if it WAS deliberate, and someone intended the DVD to be so blatantly awful, do the pros really outweigh the cons? Yes, we as adults can mostly see the funny side (once we have gotten past the disturbing flashbacks of suppressed childhoods for those of us who were born-ins). However, regardless of how awful and unbelievable the DVD is, many kids will still take it seriously. Hell, some adults will take it seriously too. This is the only major flaw I can think of in the conspiracy theory. If it was intentional, then the amount of potential damage caused by the DVD would (and will) far outweigh the gains made in exposing the organization to the world as a crazy cult.

  Also, I keep thinking of how embarrassingly short the whole production is. Even padded out by the hypnotic singing "obey us" montage and the message from Anthony Morris III (which could have been put together in one bethel afternoon) the video is embarrassingly short - really too short to justify the DVD burning, packaging and distribution costs. Could it be possible that they were forced to pull production half way through, and just roll out whatever they had, no matter how short and "unfinished"?

  Put it this way, I can't imagine them deliberately setting out to produce such a short DVD with only two tiny stories. I couldn't imagine pitching the idea at a bethel meeting, and I couldn't imagine accepting the idea if it were pitched to me. That only leaves (in my mind) the possibility that it wasn't intended to be this way. We are looking at an unfinished product, that's how I see it.

  Somehow, it all doesn't add up. There are way too many questions. I would love to know the full story.

  Cedars
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  Disillusioned Lost-Lamb

  Good point Cedars.

  I too thought that something's just not quite right with this DVD; every time I see any part of it I'm left going "HUH?".
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  edmond dantes

  I think its for real it but I might be wrong who knows however it looks to me as if they are producing this solely by themselves and it looks a bit amateurish as if they are just starting out in the internet distribution side of things.

  It reminds me of the plain artistic drawings in the publications of the fifties like its being done on the cheap .
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  Amelia Ashton

  It was the WTBTS forced me to take down the Caleb vids.

  They complained to youtube about me. I got 5 separate emails, 1 for each clip.
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  outsmartthesystem

  I truly think it is just GB ineptitude at its finest. Yes the characters are fake and stereotyped and yes it is over-dramatized and exaggerated......but that's how these guys roll! The dramas at the DC are fake and exaggerated. All the talks are designed for periodic canned applause. The skits and presentations at circuit assemblies are beyond fake and way over-dramatized. How about the fake presentations they make on stage during the announcements before the service meeting? I used to be one of those brothers that showed the congregation how it is done. Isn't it amazing that you can convince an athiest that God exists by using the bible in just 60 seconds on his doorstep? He'll even invite you back for a further discussion! How about the pictures in the magazines? Yeah. All male witnesses mow the lawn in khakis. And all sisters wear skirts at all times. And little children wear dresses to play outside. Everything about this organization is fake! It does not surprise me at all that this 15 minute disaster is stereotyped and exaggerated. It is actually expected.....at least by me

  THEY don't think they've dropped the ball at all. Nor will hundreds of thousands if not millions of JWs. THEY will imagine that this is how life SHOULD be. THEY will imagine that this is how the scenario would go in ALL JW households. (in terms of how to handle a Sparlock-type situation) Just like THEY look at the pictures of everyone wearing suits and dresses all the time in the mags and imagine that's how life SHOULD be. Maybe they think that if they stress how life SHOULD be enough.....they'll convince all the JWs to conform completely to their standards.
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  With the Sparlock video, the Society has forgotten one of the basic ideas from their cult indoctrination playbook, that is, don't introduce the weird stuff until the new member is already well along. There are so many positive Christian messages they could have chosen for the first video... showing love to grandma and grandpa, kindness to neighbors, even witnessing to a friend, but no!, they choose a goofy, negative message which only a fully indoctinated Witness would approve of. Just wait until they start to show this video to new or relatively new studies, young mothers with children who study, this is really going to backfire.
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  edmond dantes

  Something is not right with it that's for sure but the dialogue is pure Watchtower speak forensically it had al their finger prints all over it.

  Another reason I think it is genuine is that they have come in for a lot of flak over the chid abuse scandals during the last few years so to counteract that they are sending out a message saying look we have chidrens welfare at heart unfortunatley for the GB it's backfired on them.
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  LostGeneration

  I think it is their high-school education showing through. They bragged a bit ago about how every article "is reviewed by three GB members" or something to that effect. These guys have been insulated from the real world for decades at minimum, they aren't challenged, because its not allowed. In the "real world", effective leaders put people around them that don't think exactly the same for this reason alone, they don't want to miss something that is important to their company's image.

  Maybe there are a few closet apostates up there, but it doesn't really matter. They wouldn't be found out by this kind of production, because its exactly what the GB orders! They just play it up and the GB swallows it whole because they don't have a critical thinking brain cell in their dome!

  Even the recent public WT shows it, with their silly justification of "miracles" in the bible being true. They actually used this justification for miracles happening: The laws of nature can be broken in the same way rules of grammar are broken (or have exceptions). I mean, if a real "editor" had this fed to them from a writer, they would probably beat the shit out of them if not fire them on the spot. Yet, this stuff goes to print month after month like its some sort of "spiritual food' for the entire world. Whether its intentional or not, the GB of Jehovah's Witnesses ain't gonna catch it!
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  MyLastDays

  I think it is deliberate. I think they see the writing on the wall. They know the internet will kill em. The only way to survive is keep the die hards that will believe anything. When they here things like the overlapping generation or watch this embarrasing dvd the witless I think has to make a mental step to accept it. I think they know they will shrink in numbers no matter what. The more cultish controlloing behavior will only get worse.
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  kurtbethel

  It is simpler and more satisfactory to chalk this up to stupidity and cluelessness.

  But there are dangling little things that make one wonder. For me, most of it resides in the facial expression. In animation, every movement in every frame is very carefully crafted. A lot of this centers on the mom, and the difference between what she was saying and her facial expressions. A good example of this is when she mentions Caleb's friends, the disapproval is strong. Then there is the way she hisses out the name "Satan". A lot of effort was made to make her appear evil and manipulative. Another example is the hissy fit she threw in Caleb's mind as he thought about her finding out he had gotten dirt on the floor. It was very over played. This video makes JW mothers appear shrewish, manipulative and evil. Someone inside had to be aware of this, even as many were also clueless about how this would appear to outsiders. Another thing is Caleb's expressions. Even though he did the "right thing" to make Jehovah happy, it is very obvious that this whole episode really crushes his spirit, right up to the very end. Perhaps a manifestation of what some of the producers felt in their own JW past?

  There is an area between outright stupidity and deliberate sabotage. That is the area of the subconscious minds of the producers. Perhaps that is what we see and is getting telegraphed to those who recognize it.

  As for the damage being done by this video, the calculus of costs vs benefits is a complex one. Who can say that the screws getting tightened on those already in is worth warning away the many on the outside from joining up for this torment? There is so much unknown. What I do know is that we have been given a wonderful instrument created by an organization that discredits itself through that instrument. May Sparlock the Warrior Wizard release many captives!