Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence

I had heard about this story when it occurred at the time, and watched the 3 episode documentary because it was reviewed so positively by most critics. It did remind me a little bit of the NXIVM cult, as someone else mentioned in another review. I guess some people think that what Larry Ray did to these people wouldn't be possible, but sadly, there are many people out there looking for answers who are not very strong-minded, and want others to do all their thinking for them. As you can see in the documentary, not all the Sarah Lawrence friends fell under Larry Ray's evil spell. Sadly, some did. The manipulation and the implanting of false memories was stunning. Watching and listening to Larry Ray was like watching and listening to Pure Evil. One of the good/bad things about society today compared to 40 years ago is that people can easily videotape and audiotape themselves (and seem to enjoy doing that, by the way). Sadly, I'm sure things like this happened 40 years ago, but there is little, if any documentation of what happened. Now, we get to see a lot of it.

This documentary was close to perfect as far as how it was delivered. It was facts: Aftermath interviews with his former victims and audio and video of Larry and his former followers during the cult. There was no sensationalizing and none of that rehashing of the same information over and over like they do in many documentary series. The only thing that is missing is the information they couldn't gain access to because of some people refusing interviews and the timing of when the documentary was made. Watching the documentary made me look up more about it online, because it was so intriguing. I found it extremely interesting, disturbing, and skillfully done. I watch every cult documentary out there, even some bad ones, but I have had to turn some off because they were so poor. I wish every cult documentary was done this well. Some reviewers said it was too long, but I could definitely watch several more episodes.

I went thru a lot of emotions while watching this Hulu documentary: Intrigue- As to why I had never heard of this situation and why the hell is this adult living in this dorm? Where is the damn RA?! I was a RA in college and I would have kicked his a$$ out.

Bewilderment- At the human mind and how the human mind can get so brainwashed to believe certain things by a charasmatic individual. Cults are so fascinating to me in general. I could see how college students whose frontal lobes are still being developed could easily get involved in a very manipulative situation.

Mild blown- At what Mr. Larry Ray was able to convince these students to do for him. Almost to the point where I was like this can't be true but then reminded myself of the Waco Branch Davidians, Jim Jones, and Heaven's Gate where adults blindly followed these men which ultimately led to their deaths so anything is possible.

As many millennial women do, I love a good cult story. This one takes the cake as far as modern-day (post-2000) sex cults go. This doc gives shocking insight into the events and experiences that took place within a small group of friends on and off the Sarah Lawrence campus starting in 2010 and lasting for over a decade.

Whether or not you are not familiar with this story, watch this series. It gives first hand accounts of what took place and also offers just an absolutely insane glimpse of just how far brain washing can go. The home footage and audio recordings are harrowing and the things these kids were convinced to do is genuinely incredible.

It's a well put together documentary and some seem to be marking it low because of the subject matter. Stories like this need to be told even though they are disturbing because they highlight the dangerous ways evil minds can control other people with some disastrous outcomes. Bullying is heinous in itself but when it goes to such dangerous lengths the punishments need to be severe to put the message out there. Documentaries like this give you insight on how different types of rulership have been developed over the centuries where people are controlled. This was a small example of what can happen to a nation under the control of a narcissistic psychopath and their cohorts where the people get to a point where obedience is the only way to survive.