The Garden: Commune or Cult (2023) S1 E1
Birdsforme 2 points 6 months ago.

Intentional communities have existed since 1500 BC. Some are religious based, some counterculture. The sensationalism of this video reminds me of overdramatazation that one finds in reality tv. If this group wanted a neutral documentary of their commune and intentions, this is not it. It is poorly done, Too much personal video of a few people with their conflicts with new people. This should have had a narrator along with every permanent member saying a bit of why they are there and what they do. It is ironic that this community got so much media attention. Not far away an self sustaining community existed since 1971 complete with their own school, band, vegie dairy and medical center. Look up “Steve Gaskin`s Farm”. Only after the founder died in 2014 did the community eventually change. However parts of it still exist today. It did not turn to media for attention, and did just fine. Also in the episode The Rainbow family was mention, but only in reference about one of the current members of this new community. The crime that is brought up in this episode refers to a crime committed in 2020. It was about a double murder of two women traveling to one of the annual Rainbow gatherings. Hitching rides can be dangerous no matter where one is going. To blame a group for this crime makes as much sense as blaming a Rock group for a murder that happened on the way to their concert. As I said, this documentary is poorly done and I think it will harm this group more then give it the positive notice it wants. Proving my point are the comments that have already been made here. Allowing this doc to be made without any editing rights is probably the worse thing this group did. The way it is presented, it will just feed the masses tendency to draw extreme opinions based on nothing but misinformation and drama.

AmieWarren 0 points 6 months ago.

The founder of the group was born and raised in the Rainbow Family. I don’t know why they left the old space, but I know it says several “Garden” groups have been set up across the country. This sort of smacks of the Rainbow Family under a different name.

I don’t know about murders, but the Rainbow Family camped in the Ocala National Forest near me once and completely trashed it. They left uncovered feces all over the place, tons of garbage and even abandoned tents. It cost Florida 10s of thousands to clean it all up. Now, to prevent large groups from camping there again, they’ve shrunk the available camping space to almost nothing and are giving out tickets for not removing your trash or using catholes for toilets. It used to be a great place where you could just drive around and find a remote, hidden place to camp and be all by yourself, but now, all campers are crammed together in small spaces.