MovieChat Forums > Sons of Perdition Discussion > Reminds me of the 'Rumspringa' doc.

Reminds me of the 'Rumspringa' doc.

posted 10 years ago by rrpostal
1 reply | jump to latest

I always expect kids who come from these hyper religious, anti-everything lifestyles to be driven and succeed when they are given some more latitude. But these docs focus on the particularly unmotivated teens who don't seem to succeed very easily, with help or without.
I don't mean to equate the two cultures except in their seclusion. But with both it seems that the only outside influence that manages to infiltrate their teenaged lives is bad popular music, a pre-teen fashion sense and meth. These kids were living with a millionaire, yet that what was the stuff they found fascinating? None of them found science, computers, whatever enthralling. It's not that I disliked them, I just really wanted one of them to show a twinkle of greater intelligence. I don't mean to say that smart people don't fall for meth or any of the other things they did. It's just that they showed no outward signs of being greater than their surroundings.
I can only think there are those people still caught in these circumstances, and they aren't even cool to these kids.

[–] BlackDog123 10 years ago

So although you've noticed a pattern of substance use and "unmotivated" behavior, you don't think their lifetime of restricted, isolationist upbringing would continue to affect them in the world outside their fundamentalist religion? These kids have been told they're "special," that they can't trust anyone outside their small community. That they'll go to Hell if they disobey. Suddenly, they have a million options. They discover they weren't stricken down after the first puff of a cigarette. It's overwhelming to them, and they've never learned to respond maturely to temptation because the "real world" was kept away from them. The boys said they were taught scripture and math in school, and that's it. No English, no science, no technology, no U.S. or World History. They're so far behind their peers, drugs and outrageous behavior may be the only way they feel they can fit in. Their behavior makes perfect sense to me. We're also talking about 15 and 16 year olds in the first year of their escape - at the two-year follow up, they were all doing well for themselves.

I think the millionaire and his wife had wonderful intentions, but the reality of going from a quiet, orderly existence with one child to having three or more traumatized teen boys (who immediately called them "mom" and "dad" - the wife looked about 25, certainly not old enough to be their mother) was too much. Those boys belonged in the group home with other FLDS refugees and professionals with experience. They seemed to do much better there. The well-off guy and his wife bit off more than they could chew, unfortunately. I hope they continue to interact with runaway boys and girls, but more in the capacity of mentors rather than foster parents.

They're coming to get you, Barbara!