JWs as portayed in the media

by Nathan Natas 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Nathan Natas

  This is a spin-off from the thread about Bill Maher's omission of JWs from his film, "Religulous" that shamus100 started.

  I cannot recall EVER seeing the JW misology accurately portrayed in the media. Most recently there was the premiere episode of US TV series "Lie To Me" in which the supposed JW kid said that he was praying for the souls of some people. At that point I changed the channel. Those of us who actually were JWs know that we spent precisely zero time praying for anyone's souls. I have to wonder what the motivation of the series writers are if they can't be bothered to get their facts straight. The guy might as well been a Presbyterian or Methodist.

  Am I alone in this? What other examples can you think of where JWs were inaccurately described?

  We already know that all the media produced by the WTB&TS fits this, but what supposed entertainment productions can you recall?
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  unclebruce

  No you're not alone NN. There's a lot of bs out there in the media's representation of JW's.

  Much of it is ridiculous and others such as this seem real enough but ... well something doesn't seem right.

  I keep watching it trying to find the flaw:

  Benny out on Sermon Work
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  WTWizard

  They have people working in publicity, to make sure only good things are said about the witlesses. Their Showcase washtowels enhance the religion's image as doing good. They have media picking up on embellished "experiences" at Grand Boasting Sessions, telling how people are so happy (when they are not) pio-sneering, or how miserable their lives were before becoming witlesses (and, once they do become witlesses, they leave out the part where the religion simply kills their personalities). In court, they lie and tell the media how children have normal goals, leaving out the goal of Beth Hell and pio-sneering.

  The Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery works to make sure that negative stories are not picked up by the media. It is rare that one does break out, and we have to thank apostates for very hard work to make it happen (like Barbara Anderson in Nov 2007 for her hard work exposing the pedophile incidents). However, I have not heard further information about pedophiles on mainstream media since--evidence that the Washtowel Slaveholdery used coercion and threats to silence the media about their problems.

  One more reason we cannot trust the mainstream media. The reporters are often threatened by special interest groups to shut up about the truth (in this case, the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery). So, when a story does show up on mainstream media, you know it's much more widespread than it appears (and needs more investigation from independent sources). But you can bet your bottom penny that, if a group was a threat to those special interests and was going to make this a free world again, the mainstream media would be used to lambaste that group.
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  Morgana

  There is one main reason why JWs are often inaccurately described in the media: complete disinterest in the details of their faith from the general public. The authors know the name, and they know that JWs are some sort of weird Christian fundamentalists. That's enough for a story (sometimes even a good one as in "Lie To Me", if you are able to abstract from these particulars and details); they have no reason at all to do any more research, and 'frankly, my dear, nobody (except ex JWs) gives a d***' (to adapt a quote from Rhett Butler).

  And, of course, (ex) JWs take themselves and their suffering far too serious and important, and tend to think that the whole world is aware of that - and cares. It does not.
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  blondie

  Here is a comment from a new show on TNT, Leverage...fairly accurate. The reason why the media don't have an accurate picture is that 99.9% of them were never jws themselves and only see the WTS PR stuff and the person in front of the door.

  After she leaves, Sophie points out that Parker's never asked for their help before and walks out behind her, leaving Hardison looking at Nathan silently. Nathan defends himself, saying there was a reason he made Parker do jury duty-she's a loose cannon. Hardison comes to her defense by telling an anecdote from his own life: Growing up, he lived with a foster mother who was a Jehovah's Witness. She'd make him get dressed up (wear a bowtie) and come with her to go door to door spreading the Word. That's he learned how to talk to people. Parker never had that. Yes, she can jump off of skyscrapers and do all of that fancy acrobatic stuff, but she clams up when it comes time to talk to people. Nathan should give her a break.

  http://www.aceshowbiz.com/tv/episodeguide/leverage_s1_e11/
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  jws

  There was the portrayal in the movie Friday:

  Jehovah's Witness: Are you prepared for Jehovah's return? 'Cause if you're not, we've got a pam...
  [Craig slams the door in their faces]
  Jehovah's Witness: Well fuck you. Half-dead motherf***er. Come on, sister.

  Although that might be pretty accurate.

  I don't remember the specifics, but there was a Kevin Costner movie called "A Perfect World" where he kidnaps a JW kid. I didn't see the whole thing, but I seem to remember something being wrong about that too. Maybe something about the kid being afraid of going to hell?

  The lack of fact-checking is probably true of films in general. Movies are filled with anachronisms, for instance. They might design a 50's style set for a movie taking place in 1953, but you'll have somebody who notices that such-and-such seen in the movie wasn't sold until 1956. 99.9% of the people watching don't notice and don't care. The job is to tell a story, not get bogged down with the realism. JWs are probably known for being door-knockers living a life of denial by not celebrating holidays or birthdays. When that broad profile might match a character, they might choose to make that character a JW. They aren't going to take it further and research the religion thoroughly.
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  slimboyfat

  unclebruce is that JCanon?
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  unclebruce

  Hi slimboyfat, I think it's his younger brother Benny.

  :::

  Seriously though, i don't think the various mainstream media's representation of Jehovah's Witnesses is as influential as people think. Sure people are annoyed that JW's knock on their door but they're not seen as any kind of threat. They're just taken as deluded by amiable idiots. Bible thumping, God bothering weirdos that don't warrant more than a wry smile or (rare) rude jesture. It's not until you mention the destruction of families and abuse of children that ears start to prick up and people become concerned.