How To Become a Cult Leader (Netflix, 2023)

Happy merry holly jolly, everyone! It’s our season finale, and we have a dubious gift for you! Holiday movies already have the magic market cornered, so we’re here to offer balance by demystifying some things that might otherwise seem to fly around in the ethers with Santa’s sleigh. Spoiler alert: they’re to do with religion! While Merinda’s taste in holiday horror tracks toward the 1974 Black Christmas movie, Mike serves up some this year with How to Become a Cult Leader—the 2023 Netflix series that greets religious minority groups with snark and disdain. Sit back and listen to the feelings fly, friends! What is it about

“religion” that tends to flatten structural inquiry? When are we willing to be reflective about our own complicity with exploitative systems and when are we not? What is it about the us/them dichotomy that gives a bear hug to our worst impulses? And how do other binaries like private/public and sacred/profane get in on that action? Why is it so much harder to give the reality media treatment to religion than to something like love? Merinda is incredulous and tries not to swear too much. Mike provides insights about authenticity claims. Ghosts of episodes past (particularly, casting callbacks and young-Mike lore) appear! We reflect on what we’ve learned over the last few months and gear up for a long winter’s nap. We’ll be back in a few weeks, friends! Until then, sit back with a cup of cocoa and settle in for some comparative analysis. And remember: every time a bell rings, a metanarrative gets its wings.