the French Documentary on Tranquility Bay/WWASPS

[BuzzKill]

A friend of mine wrote to see about obtaining a copy  and the following email was received. She forwarded it to me, and I asked her permission to post it here.

It seems to confirm that WWASP is trying to keep the film from being distributed here in the USA.

From: Ma�lle Guenegues
To:
Subject: Re: Documentary exposing WWASP
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 2:24 AM

Hello,


Thank you very much for you request regarding "Tranquility Bay" by Mathieu Verboud & Jean Robert Viallet.

We can sell you a NTSC copy of the film for $65 + $20 for shipping.

If you agree with these conditions, please send me a confirmation by email.
We will then send you an invoice and the vhs as soon as we receive your payment.
There is 2 weeks delay to have the NTSC copy made.

Please, make sure that all taxes & bank costs are at your charge.

Kind regards,

Ma�lle Guenegues
Doc & Co
13 rue Portefoin
F-75003 Paris
Tel:   33 1 42 77 56 87
Fax:  33 1 42 77 36 56
email: http://www.doc-co.com


 

Subject: Re: Documentary exposing WWASP
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 9:49 AM

Hi ,

After giving it a second thought, and since I'm not up-to-date as to the current status between WWASP and the production company and distribution of this title in the USA. I'd rather you direct your request directly to them. Here is their email: doc@doc-co.com
http://www.doc-co.com

[001010]

[Anonymous]

Is this the same one documentary?

http://cafety.org/index.php?option=com_ ... 8&Itemid=2

Has anyone obtained a copy yet?  What's the word??

[001010]

No, I don't think that's the same one.

[BuzzKill]

Yeah - that's the one I'm talking about.
It recently aired in Australia.

I feel confident we'll eventually be able to get it.

It must be very eye opening for WWASP to be suing to keep it out of the country.

Seems like that would raise some interest with the first Amendment folks - the media hounds and so on.

[Anonymous]

Buzz,


This is the problem with these kinds of stories.

"The film follows the progress of a defamation suit that WWASP brought against single mother, Sue Scheff, who set up a website detailing her objections to the way her son was treated in Tranquility Bay, Jamaica."

They aren't accurate.  With facts that are as false as this one, who can you beleive?

[BuzzKill]

Well, Not having had the op to see the documentary as of yet, I would say that this is a result of the blurb author not paying close enough attention to the content; and making some assumptions that would have been corrected, had they paid closer attention.

 The only miss-statement in the quote is that Sue's son went to TB. I expect the blurb author assumed her beef was with TB - b/c the film is largely dealing with TB; and not understanding that TB is part of a much larger problem; and that Susan was objecting to the larger problem. I'd say, probably, they also assume one of the boys interviewed was Susan's child.

We know differently - but the blurb author does not - and is reviewing a film in a language that is not their own.
The Blurb is inaccurate with regard to this bit about Suan'as details - but I don't think this means the film itself will be inaccurate in any respect.

WWASPS efforts to with hold it from American viewers, makes me think it is most likely very accurate - and disturbing - and that is why they are fighting to keep it off the air over here.

Keep in mind - these are the same people who brag about keeping a girl on her face in OP for 18 months! No problem with telling the world all about it. So, why are they fighting to keep this French documentary off the air, unless it is exposing disturbing information that is all to accurate, and that might actually effect business?

But, as WWASPS doesn't want to let us see it, we shall have to reserve final judgment until we can somehow thwart their efforts to with hold it.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think the WWASPS v. PURE trial will go down in history as a non-consequential in the big picture.  If that's what the documentary focuses on, then it's a waste of time and money.  The stories the children told to help bolster Scheff's case have all been told before .. there are hundreds of them out there.  WWASPS is past the point of worrying about suffering any consequences as a result of allegations of abuse.  Frankly, most people who hear this stuff blame the parents for being so reckless with their child's safety and well-being.

WWASPS is adding more and more schools to their network ... spreading like a cancer into every region of the U.S. It's past the point of trying to stop them ... and besides, you are all forgetting something key to their success and fast growth:  TROUBLED PARENTS.  As long as there are troubled parents, the WWAAPS programs will be full of their kids.

That's a fact ... which no documentary French or American made will change. At best, it will provide some interesting entertainment, like Brat Camp, people are desensitized to child abuse and/or exploitation.  It's become reality tv.

Pass the popcorn!!!

 :smokin:

[Anonymous]

Case in point, for every WWASPS school that gets shut down or turned down ... another one pops up.  I expect to see double the number of WWASPS member schools and programs within the next 5 years, maybe even triple. Even if regulated, but the numbers make sense, they will still BUILD IT AND PEOPLE WILL COME. They have the war chest (financing) and like I said earlier, they have the desperate, troubled parents (clientle).

[Antigen]

Why begin and end w/ WWASP? This has been going on for over thirty years, folks. It started out w/ Bobby DuPont as head of the National Institute of Drug Abuse being tasked by Nixon to find a magic bullet for the expected wave of heroin addicted Vietnam vets. That epidemic never materialized, but the war had already been declared, funded and set into motion.

So just lately, ya'll have come into contact with these lunatics. Welcome to my nightmare. And the pro-drug war, pro-program people seem to be all a twitter with excitement over the coming coupe, don't they? But I think all this publicity and success is about the worst thing that could ever happen to the industry.

There's a major, glaring and insurmountable flaw in their reasoning. They based their enthusiasm on the idea that the vast majority of Program graduates are better off than before and pleased with the experience. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most program grads, even those who sincerely believe that their lives took a turn for the better as a result of the intervention would not place their own kids into a similar program nor recommend it to friends.

The growing army of happy Program supporters simply doesn't exist. If it did, well think about it. How many families have been involved in the toughlove hategroup over the last 36 years or so? Hundreds of thousands? A million? Millions? So... where are they now? Except for the few reprobates in government and those who have cloistered themselves in the industry, no one else with firsthand experience w/ these groups will support or even tolerate them in their own lives and communities.

No, I think this whole sad saga is about at the tipping point. I also think it's closely tied to broader social and political trends. Take the Büsh people for example. They've been stark raving loony for decades. It's been truly frightening for someone like me watching someone like that flakazoid, Donald Rumsfeld, hold forth with his diatribes on pop philosophy in response to important questions on foreign policy and not be dragged from the podium by the nice young men in their clean white coats. But that's changing.

More and more people are starting to come to grips with the harsh reality that these people are nucking futz. And I think the Martin Lee Anderson story is starting to break broadly. They're not just talking about these particular sadistic guards who's flesh and blood was involved in that torture/murder. They're talking about the sadistic lunatics who give them their orders. And they happen to be the very same people who put their own kids in the early Synanon based programs, the Seed and Straight.

The hook is coming out, these dangerous lunatics are being dragged off stage, the game is almost over. Thank God, thank God!

...to disarm the people (is) the best and most effective way to enslave them...
-- George Mason

_________________
fka ~ Antigen
Drug war POW  
Straight, Sarasota
`80 - `82
return undef() if /coercion/i;[ This Message was edited by: Eudora on 2006-03-21 09:36 ]

[BuzzKill]

You might be right.
Hard to say just yet, what effect, if any, the WWASP V PURE trial will have.

The one real value that it provided is a sworn to record of the abuse that takes place. IMO - Ken Kay's testimony was very enlightning. And of corse, I feel the parents who testified have provided an invaluable public record of the realities of WWASPs' programs.

All of this may be very helpful in educating the public. It may be useful in getting state and federal legislation passed. Or not. Its still to soon to tell.

WWASP often discounts this kind of testimony as "old news". The Legions of Faithful who drop in often parrot this. But any testimony in a trial - or any account published in a book - is always by its nature going to be "old News". New News, is what news papers are for - and we have plenty of examples of New News to consider as well. Besides - as I often ask in response to the "old news" comments - What has changed? Answer - Nothing.

As for exactly how the French documentary covers the issue - Well - I can't say, as I haven't seen it. But, I can speculate, based on some of what I know about the making of it. They were at the trial - so it makes sense they do cover the trial.
However - I also know of long and detail interviews they did, that have nothing to do with the trial. So, I would guess the trial is just one part of the larger story they tell with their documentary.

As for the troubled Parent thing - sure - the parents are a mess, and made really bad decisions in the care of their teens. But it is wrong minded to blame them only or entirely. It is far to simplistic a view of a very complicated issue.

The teens themselves bare some responsible - at least the ones who are not mentally ill - many of them are. But for the ones who are not - they are responsible for behaving in ways that result in worried, anxious, desperate parents - who then make  the decision to do something desperate in the hope of doing some good.

One could argue that The teen culture that glorifies defiance and opposition to authority is responsible for the proliferation of B.M. programs.

When you have A society that punishes Parents for the actions of teens, who are out of control; and yet creates an environment that makes controlling them impossible, you will have set up a perfect society for the proliferation B.M. programs.

When you have a society that creates distrust and hostility between the generations - you will have  a situation where detachment is more common than affection. Where the ties that bind are broken.  Thus creating the situation where parents just want the kid out of the way. Their is a selfishness factor that seems to have permeated society, that seems to lead to much divorce, and consequently, the common problem of Step-parent syndrome.  You know - the : "I want this man/woman; you my child are in the way; and I think you might be smoking pot - so off you go" kind of thing.
Its much like the I/me/mine kind of selfishness taught with such effectiveness in the Seminars.

And too - the inability of parents to find appropriate care for their mentally ill children often leads to them seeking Private care. They then find these programs - which have no problem claiming to be able to help such children - when in fact, their "treatment modality" is most certainly the most devastating thing one could do to a mentally ill person. But this is not what they tell the parents. The parents, being extremely stressed, and also probably very ignorant, have no idea anyone would commit such fraud. Which brings us to. . .

Finely - To have such a proliferation of B.M. programs, you have to have greedy, unscrupulous men and women willing to take advantage of these societal ills. Alas - there is no shortage of such persons.

Ginger writes: The hook is coming out, these dangerous lunatics are being dragged off stage, the game is almost over. Thank God, thank God!

I hope your right!

*[ This Message was edited by: BuzzKill on 2006-03-21 10:00 ]

[Antigen]

On 2006-03-21 09:56:00, BuzzKill wrote:

One could argue that The teen culture that glorifies defiance and opposition to authority is responsible for the proliferation of B.M. programs.

And another one could argue that an established culture that demands respect but does not earn it, demands blind, unquestioning compliance to arbitrary and flat out false beliefs and morally bankrupt policies earns itself a good healthy, sustained defiance and opposition.

The toughlove hate group response to the challenge with authoritarianism and a chilling willingness to squash the kids rather than acknowledg the merrit of their grievances.

Finely - To have such a proliferation of B.M. programs, you have to have greedy, unscrupulous men and women willing to take advantage of these societal ills. Alas - there is no shortage of such persons.

These have been with us always in every culture and every chapter of history. Corruption might be defined as a system in which these types consistently rise to the top.

It takes a village idiot to believe that a family needs instruction from the government to raise a child.
-- Anonymous homeschooler

_________________
fka ~ Antigen
Drug war POW  
Straight, Sarasota
`80 - `82
return undef() if /coercion/i;[ This Message was edited by: Eudora on 2006-03-21 11:55 ]

[BuzzKill]

///And another one could argue that an established culture that demands respect but does not earn it, demands blind, unquestioning compliance to arbitrary and flat out false beliefs and morally bankrupt policies earns itself a good healthy, sustained defiance and opposition. ///

Well, Yes - one could :wink:

I'm not suggesting absolute/blind obedience to Any authority figure or cultural norm. Certainly not advocating the destruction of individuality or one's sprit/will.

I'm also not talking about the natural pulling away and pushing boundaries that takes place in any healthy family. A certain amount of defiance and opposition to ones parents is natural and good.

I was thinking more about defiance for defiance's sake. The coolness of anarchy. That mind set causes many un-necessary and self destructive behaviors.


I'm Not suggesting even the most outrageously defiant teen "deserves" WWASP style B.M. - only that it plays a roll in why it flourishes.

///These have been with us always in every culture and every chapter of history. Corruption might be defined as a system in which these types consistently rise to the top. ///

No argument here.

[Antigen]

On 2006-03-21 12:02:00, BuzzKill wrote:

I'm also not talking about the natural pulling away and pushing boundaries that takes place in any healthy family. A certain amount of defiance and opposition to ones parents is natural and good.

Yeah, and the algorythm to determine the proper level has to factor in just how fucked up your parents and community are. My one bold act of defiance was to empty my bank account, pack a bag and set off into the wild beyond to start a new life all on my own. It was a radical, risky thing for a 15yo kid to attempt. Certainly, I hadn't thought it through quite well enough or I would have planned on someplace to go, instead of just hoping I'd fall in with a decent situation.

But was it out of line? I was rebelling against, defying and opposing being placed into a brainwashing program. Not that I could have articulated it at the time, I certainly couldn't. Now that I'm grown and I can articulate it well enough, I don't think I was wrong. I think my parents were dangerously unbalanced and all of the adults in our lives should have seen it clearly and had the sack to do something about it. Hell, many of those adults did talk about how sorry they felt for me, being locked down and isolated as I was, always walking on egg shells, scared of getting put in the Seed.

But they didn't act. Not for me, not for my older brothers and sister, not the neighbors. And, to a large degree, they still don't. You want to know why kids ta day are so angry, surley and defiant? Just look at the way we treat them. We're the grown ups, they're the kids. If there's a wide-spread problem between the generations, the onus has to be on the older generation to identify and correct the problem. The kids just got here. They haven't got the education or life experience yet to even be able to articulate what the problems are, never mind to come up w/ strategies to solve them.

Hammering thin lies into their heads like "Just go to school and get a diploma!" or "Respect authority!" or "Work hard and be honest and you'll prosper" isn't going to cut it. Forcing them to go along with, or even to believe these lies isn't going to make them true.

What we should be doing, instead of scapegoating kids ta day, is figiring out why a diploma is worthless, why the value of hard work and honesty have been so debased in our economy and how we, as a society, can address those problems.

I was thinking more about defiance for defiance's sake. The coolness of anarchy. That mind set causes many un-necessary and self destructive behaviors.

Or, to look at it another way, the value of exploring alternatives whenever the status quo doesn't meet muster. "NO" is just one word. Saying it, however often or loudly ain't gonna cut it. It's not enough information. If you buy into the zero tolerance, just say no mindset, you abandon your kids to their own devices to find satisfaction. Might it not be better, instead, to concede that the system we've built for them really is flawed and to help them come up with better, more honorable, more effective ways to rebel?

Just a thought.

No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening - still all is Beauty!
-- John Muir

[Anonymous]

Bottom line is these warehouses are full of mostly white, middle to upper middle class kids who for the most part HAVE NOT gotten in trouble with the law, are not doing heavy drugs, or are chronic truants/runaways. They are kids whose parents are too busy to deal with even normal teenage behavior who hear about these programs typically by word of mouth or on the Internet.  This doesn't mean there aren't kids on probation or suffering from minor to severe mental health issues.  There are -- it's just the majority of the kids are your average garden variety teen .. experimenting with drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. all the same stuff their own parents did in an era when the worst thing that could happen to them (the parents) was to get send to juvie for their proverbial wake-up call.  They may refuse to go to church (like David Van Blarigan who also called his little brother GASP .. a BUTTHEAD .. angering his fundamental christian parents and getting him a one way ticket to Tranquility Bay.

The reason these places exist is to warehouse children.  How they get there varies ... and in truth, it doesn't even matter.  They take all kinds of kids ... just as long as their parents hand over a blank check or are willing to barter (recruit other kids for one month free tuition)

It's an effing racket that will never go away as long as their is DEMAND.  The best anyone can hope for is that these program kids grow up to be better parents, lawyers and law makers ... to reverse the trend in time to save the next generation of kids from being ... well, SAVED, by evil, greedy, emotionally regressive people dressed up like Teen Helpers.

:smokin: