Like different quirky TV presentations that discover coercively controlling teams, Sirens leans into the “wackiness” of cult lifestyles. Set on a faraway island, an prosperous group exists below extravagant rule of Michaela Kell aka Kiki (Julianne Moore). Her faithful fans – a lot of whom are hired by way of her – are dedicated to making sure her each whim is met.
This in moderation curated life seems ordinary however flawless, till outsider Devon (Meghann Fahy) arrives in search of her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) and starts to light up the keep watch over and cult-like behaviour getting used as gear of oppression.
It’s simple to snigger at the side of Sirens, to get stuck up within the eccentric characters and absurd rituals – from assistants being suggested to sext Kiki’s spouse to rituals round perfuming her lingerie drawer every morning. We shake our heads on the characters’ alternatives and reassure ourselves: “I would never fall for that, I would just leave.”
However the uncomfortable reality is it’s now not that easy.
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What portrayals of cult communities in sitcoms incessantly omit, or gloss over, is the deeply manipulative psychology at the back of why leaving a cult is extremely tricky.
Analysis into cult studies has proven, cults don’t simply entice other people bodily. They entrap them mentally and emotionally too.
I’ve noticed this in my very own analysis into easy methods to assist youngsters and their households withstand exploitative and coercively controlling people and teams. We do see such entrapment in Sirens however it’s incessantly obscured by way of the wackiness of Michaela’s cult-ish group.
Isolation and love-bombing
In the true global, entrapment begins with isolation. New recruits are progressively bring to an end from their toughen networks, separated from their family and friends.
We see this in Sirens between Simone, who’s Kiki’s assistant, and her outsider sister Devon. In a single episode, for example, Simone makes it transparent to Devon that their matching sister tattoos had been now not precious to her.
What was once as soon as a display of affection has transform seen as “trashy” by way of Simone. It is a mirrored image of ways Simone was once being manipulated clear of her earlier values.
Rejecting the significance of familial relationships is a device incessantly utilized by cult leaders, enabling them to build rifts between the individual within the cult and their liked one at the out of doors.
In Sirens, we see a sisterly dating transform ruptured on the instruction of the tough Kiki, who exploits the vulnerability of Simone to her personal benefit.
Then comes the love-bombing – a flood of reward, consideration, and affection. It feels superb, particularly to somebody who has been lost sight of or undervalued.
When the individual expresses marvel, the gang responds with strains like, “that’s because we truly see you” or they belittle the individual’s earlier relationships.
The message from the gang is obvious: handiest we price you. Best we perceive the true you.
Worry and dependence
However the honeymoon segment does now not ultimate. Quickly, the concern of being solid out takes dangle. The gang convinces the individual that they may be able to handiest transform their easiest self throughout the staff, that they’re enjoyable the next future by way of being guided by way of the chief.
Leaders in cults use authoritarian techniques, incessantly portraying themselves as messianic figures with mystical powers. They call for unwavering loyalty and devotion. Wondering their authority isn’t tolerated. Any worry or query is reframed as a non-public failing moderately than as professional worry.
Punishment for dissent reinforces the chief’s dominance and sends a transparent message to the remainder of the gang: Don’t query. The chief and their doctrines are irrefutable.
Michaela Kell runs her tribe of acolytes with an iron fist.
Macall Polay/Netflix
This kind of keep watch over can lead other people to do issues they by no means imagined they’d.
Take the scene the place Simone willingly chews gum that has simply been in Kiki’s mouth. We may draw back at this, suppose it’s gross and strange, but it surely’s symbolic of one thing a lot larger: it depicted general keep watch over being exerted over any other.
Right here we watch as Kiki insults Simone, telling her her breath stinks. As an alternative of being noticed as cruelty it’s perceived as care, and Kiki then giving Simone the gum she has simply chewed to rectify the issue, is perceived as kindness. Simone is thankful and doesn’t query it in any respect.
Simone’s thoughts has been manipulated. Devon asks her: “Does Michaela have her talons so deep in your brain you cannot tell, you are in trouble?” Thru the use of idea reform ways, cults hack minds. They override important considering and change it with concern and dependency.
The consistent sense of risk and concern helps to keep contributors in a state of acute pressure, impairing their capability to suppose obviously or make rational selections. Alternatively, this consistent concern is going on in a spot they’re many times instructed and are convincing themselves is the place they have got by no means been happier.
The cognitive dissonance of this will give a contribution to the gang’s skill to retain contributors even if exposing them to extended mental and or bodily abuse. Even after somebody leaves, the results of this trauma can linger for years – infrequently an entire life.
Survivors incessantly go out those teams with only a few tangible sources. Schooling and employability can have been limited and housing and fiscal independence are incessantly tightly managed by way of the gang.
Many survivors be afflicted by psychological well being problems and different pressure triggered bodily illnesses. Because of this, survivors require quite a lot of varieties of toughen and other interventions over the reason for their restoration.
And but, in popular culture, cults are incessantly performed for laughs. The trauma is diminished to punch strains. To be truthful, presentations like Sirens successfully seize the ordinary nature of cult lifestyles and optimistically studying this piece has helped you glance past the laughs to peer the darkish nature of ways those teams function. For survivors, cult lifestyles isn’t eccentric or surreal – it’s demanding.
