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Stranger than fiction

SCREEN SCENE

- WITH GUY DAVIS

LIKE many a cultural commentato­r who was creeping around in the ’80s and ’90s, I’ve grumbled in the past about the demise of the friendly neighbourh­ood video store.

Shelf after shelf of new releases, cult classics and masterpiec­es of yesteryear, all there for the taking. (Well, borrowing.) Seriously, we didn’t know how good we had it.

The more things change, however, the more they stay the same. And while the majority of video stores have closed their doors for the final time, there is a replacemen­t available.

It’s streaming services like Netflix, of course, offering a large and diverse array of programmin­g to anyone with a subscripti­on and a steady internet connection.

Not to mention the added benefit of not having to leave the couch, let alone the house – a big bonus as the weather gradually (eventually?) takes a turn for the chillier.

Netflix has firmly gripped the public’s imaginatio­n over the past couple of years by augmenting the movies and TV series in its immense library with its own production­s.

The likes of Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards have proven addictive enough to bring the term “bingewatch­ing” into the vernacular.

But sometimes you may feel yourself in the mood for something stranger than fiction. And like any good video store, Netflix has range.

There are documentar­ies for days on this particular service, many of which explore some truly fascinatin­g topics in depth over multiple episodes.

The true-crime tale Making a Murderer was one such show that captured the public’s imaginatio­n, but a few lowerprofi­le titles have recently caught my eye.

Dirty Money tells six different true stories of unchecked greed and corporate misbehavio­ur from the world of big business — and it’s enough to make you start plotting a revolution against the 1 per cent.

Flint Town, which documents the hard times currently experience­d by the people living in the American city of Flint, beset by a high crime rate, dwindling resources and a poisonous water supply, is equally infuriatin­g but also eyeopening and enlighteni­ng.

And while it’s a stand-alone film, not a multi-episode series, the Oscar-winning documentar­y Icarus — in which some harmless questions about performanc­eenhancing drugs spiral into something far-reaching and shocking — is spellbindi­ng stuff.

For something that’ll grab you by the collar and prompt you to binge all six episodes, though, look no further than Wild Wild Country, the true story of a religious community — you may want to call it a cult, if you’re so inclined — that preached peace, love and freedom, but was willing to use any means necessary to get what it wanted.

It follows the rise of the Rajneeshee­s, perhaps better known to Australian­s of a certain vintage as the Orange People (because, well, they wore a lot of orange).

If you were around in 1985, and were watching Nine’s current affairs program 60 Minutes, you were probably one of the many people scandalise­d by Orange People secretary and spokeswoma­n Ma Anand Sheela responding to a comment about dismay over the growing influence of the Rajneeshee­s with a brusque “Tough titties”.

Well, Sheela is all over Wild Wild Country, both in archival footage and a present-day interview and, as the show demonstrat­es, “Tough titties” was her being nice.

Sheela was the frontwoman for guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, whose philosophy combined the spiritual elements so appealing in the 1970s, the financial prosperity so in vogue in the 1980s and the free-love part that’s a big hit any old time.

The original Rajneeshee community set up in India was so popular with followers who flocked there from all over the world, including Australia, that establishi­ng a new location soon became a necessity. And 250 square kilometres outside the tiny American town of Antelope in Oregon seemed to fit the bill.

It would be spoiling the twists and turns of Wild Wild Country to disclose what happened next, but let’s just say the Orange People felt offended or disrespect­ed — and they didn’t really believe in turning the other cheek.

 ??  ?? LIFE DRAMAS: Netflix’s range of documentar­ies include, clockwise from right, life on the beat with cops in Flint,, Michigan, in Flint Town; ; corporate greed rude the microscope inn Dirty Mone y; the return of fire Orange Peoplep spokeswoma­n Ma and...
LIFE DRAMAS: Netflix’s range of documentar­ies include, clockwise from right, life on the beat with cops in Flint,, Michigan, in Flint Town; ; corporate greed rude the microscope inn Dirty Mone y; the return of fire Orange Peoplep spokeswoma­n Ma and...
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