We have fables like Beauty and the Beast teaching us that we oughta give the somewhat less-than-hot men a second chance and look beyond the external to see their true beauty within.
That’s nice. The drag is it only goes one way.
The Beast sure is beastly - but he wants a beauty. And whereas his character is treated sympathetically, and we are taught to give them a chance, females in our fables do not get the same treatment.
Remember Cinderella’s sisters? My gosh, even their feet aren’t pretty enough.
Can anyone name one story, fairy tale, or myth where the lead woman isn’t a beautiful princess? And where the less than beautiful aren’t vilified?
Now we have the horrid reality TV series, Average Joe, where once again, Princesses are told that they should kiss the frog.
Where is the opposite story? Where are Princes told to take a closer look at the homely but hard working washer woman, or to go beyond the sour expression of the little match girl to see what lies within?
We need more of these stories like that out there - where women are valued for more than looks. The Paper Bag Princess is a lonely warrior.
And don’t get me started on the lack of merits in Princesses. That’s for another post.
Just watched this and it’s a great precis of how cults can suck you in.
But, I also noticed there’s a lot of stuff in here that the so-called “Secret experts” - which as I said before are sales experts - are using to get you to buy their personal development programs.
Here are some choice gems taken from the above film - which uncannily mirror The Secret’s, and a lot of other personal development programs marketing strategies.
To be a successful cult leader you should:
use deception. Don’t tell them who you really are, lie, leave out important information, or distort information.
promise to fulfill their dreams. Tell them you have the secrets to self-improvement
offer them something free. Tell them time is running out - they have to make their decision now
separate your new recruits and surround them with happy people. Love bomb them
demonize outsiders - develop an “us vs them” mentality, say the others don’t get it
tell them the idealogy “answers all questions to all problems.”
induce guilt. (The Secret says it’s one’s own fault that negative stuff happens - it’s because we are thinking negative thoughts and so we attract that which we think.)
tell them there is a part of their mind they must eliminate
make up stories about yourself to boost your importance…but start slowly
That was just half way through the film.
Compare the notes in the movie with some of “marketing techniques” on these landing pages I picked randomly.
Joe called himself a metaphysician in the movie, but he is really a copywriter. He coined one of his marketing techniques Hypnotic Marketing, and you should never forget it when reading his stuff. In fact he makes no secret that he knows how to put you into a hypno-buying trance, dousing his copy liberally with commands like Buy Now, or Go See This.
So “Go Now” to this page and check out the crazy promises Joe makes. “There’s NOTHING like it!”
Mr. Fire as he calls himself is also is an affiliate marketer of this program Simpleology. It better be easier than reading this ridiculously long page.
So watch. And think. Especially before “buying it.” And remember the biggest sane-maker is to mix and mingle with as as many diverse people as possible.
