Wild Wild Country

Wild Wild Country is a Netflix documentary series about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), his one-time personal assistant Ma Anand Sheela, and their community of followers in the Rajneeshpuram community located in Wasco County, Oregon.[1][2][3] It was released on Netflix on March 16, 2018, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.[3][4][5][6]

Wild Wild Country
Genre
Directed by
  • Maclain Way
  • Chapman Way
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)Juliana Lembi
Running time64–71 minutes
Production company(s)
DistributorNetflix
Release
Original networkNetflix
Picture format1080i
Original releaseMarch 16, 2018
External links
Website

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Part 1"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
The movement begins in India in 1968 filling stadiums with 20-30K people. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) speaks about capitalism, spirituality and sexuality and followers practice a dynamic form of meditation. Westerners begin moving to India to join the movement so the group decides they want to build a commune but find political resistance in India. A westerner shares with them the Constitution of the United States and the group decides the United States is the best place for them to practice their way of life. They buy 80,000 acres in Antelope, Oregon (a very small town of about 50 people) and begin bringing in mobile homes and building materials to build their agricultural commune. Sheela, the secretary, is managing the group's millions of dollars.
2"Part 2"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
3"Part 3"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
4"Part 4"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
5"Part 5"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)
6"Part 6"March 16, 2018 (2018-03-16)

Reception

Critical reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 44 critical responses and judged 98% of them to be positive, with an average rating of 7.92 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Wild Wild Country succeeds as an intriguing examination of a forgotten piece of American history that must be seen to be believed."[7]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com wrote "by handling this story so intelligently and by opening its heart to a very complicated idea of good and evil, Wild Wild Country has a profound, mesmerizing power itself".[8]

In 2018, Wild Wild Country won the Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.[9]

Criticism

Some have criticized Wild Wild Country for leaving out critical information regarding the activities of the Rajneesh followers, particularly regarding sexual assault of women and children as well as possible intent to unleash an AIDS epidemic.[10] Journalist Win McCormack wrote that "Where the filmmakers have fallen down on the job is in the area of interpretation. They have not addressed squarely some of the more important issues raised by their film, and have left others out completely. The latter category includes a few of the cult’s most odious practices, as well as the true extent of the threat it posed not only to its immediate neighbors in Oregon, but to the entire world."[10] Jane Stork, one of the main sources for this documentary, reported in her autobiography Breaking the Spell: My Life as a Rajneeshee and the Long Journey Back to Freedom (2009) that her own children were sexually abused during her time in Rajneeshpuram.[11] This was not included in the documentary.

Osho International Foundation's reaction

The Osho International Foundation, which co-administers Rajneesh's estate and operates the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune, India, responded to the docuseries on their website Osho Times, saying that "Unfortunately, the docuseries fails to explore key aspects and so does not give a clear account of the real story behind the story", and arguing that the events in Oregon were part of "a U.S. government conspiracy, from the White House on down, aimed at thwarting Osho’s vision of a community based on conscious living."[12]

References
  1. Debnath, Neela (March 8, 2018). "Wild Wild Country on Netflix: When is Wild Wild Country released on Netflix?". Daily Express. Express Newspapers. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. HT Correspondent (March 1, 2018). "Wild Wild Country trailer: New Netflix series will take you behind the controversial history of Osho". The Hindustan Times. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  3. Turnquist, Kristi (March 14, 2018). "Netflix documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon revisits an amazing, enraging true story". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  4. "Wild Wild Country". Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Institute. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  5. Finberg, Daniel. "'Wild Wild Country': TV Review | Sundance 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  6. Schager, Nick (March 12, 2018). "Inside the Crazy Sex Cult That Invaded Oregon". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  7. "Wild Wild Country (Season 1)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  8. Allen, Nick (16 March 2018). "Netflix Docuseries Wild Wild Country is Fascinating Entertainment". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. Littleton, Cynthia (2018-09-09). "Anthony Bourdain, 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and 'Saturday Night Live' Win Big on Night 2 of Creative Arts Emmy Awards". Variety. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  10. McCormack, Win (2018-03-27). "Outside the Limits of the Human Imagination". The New Republic.
  11. Sussex, Lucy (April 19, 2009). "Breaking The Spell : My Life As A Rajneeshee, And The Long Journey Back To Freedom - BOOKS". The Sunday Age. Fairfax Media. p. 21 (Section: M).
  12. "Wild Wild Country – The story behind the Story of Rajneeshpuram". oshotimes.com. Osho International Foundation. March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
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