Reviews

I was not aware of this case of Principal Kenney who hypnothised tens of his students at school, several of whom then died, after seeing how cool teenagers thought an entertainment hypnotist was and how easily they trusted them (bleurgh..... yup that an entirely normal thing for a grown adult responsible for young people's safety and futures to think and say.... bleurgh)

He violated rules of therapeutic intervention, the sacred boundary of teacher/student and basic ethics (including on informed consent/exploitation/power and more), seemingly to improve the performance and standing of the smalltown school for which he was responsible and feed his own ego and wallet.

He uses the epithet of 'Dr' gained from a PhD in 'Educational leadership' (WTF is college/uni nowadays that you can do doctorates in 'educational leadership', what is that?!?!?) to infer he is a licensed healthcare professional. He did no kind of assessment of need, risk, alternative interventions prior to hypnotising multiple teenage students. He filmed the sessions and self published books about and recordings of his exploitation of the student/teacher relationship. The videos of the sessions, well those he did not destroy when the papers got hold fo the story, show mainly teenage boys often immediately with their heads in their headteacher's lap after being put under... incredibly odd and deeply creepy.

Obviously showing direct causation between the deaths of those he hypnotised and his selfish, unethical and unprofessional actions would be extremely difficult and probable cause without reasonable doubt impossible (also there is never going to be sufficient general evidence as to whether the kinds of thing he did could cause deaths/suicides because other hypnotists, apart from PUA, follow ethical guidelines)

The documentary brings the viewpoints of students, some of whom underwent sessions with Kenney others who were friends with those who died, parents of kids including a local journo who covered the case, Dr Kenney himself, as well as licensed hypnotists and others with professional oversight on the matters covered. Its an interesting series that shows the grey areas, geographies/communities and settings that certain types of personality, who get off on power and ego, like to dance and dangle.

Some contributors whether a little naive, still under the influence, or less aware of the nuances of abuse think he was only trying to help, others wanted him to be criminally convicted coz they don't understand how the burden of proof works in the law or in scientific enquiry. The professionals (apart from a coupla from the school who presumably he also did a number on) are much more circumspect and realistic in their contributions.

He, however, did admit guilt in court, as he explains, in order to protect his pension.... I think that statement straight from the horse's mouth says all you need to know about 'Dr' George Kenney. Often these kinda folk have so little empathy that they will tell you exactly who they are, if you're prepared to hear it.

Oh dear. Sometimes you've got to wonder what kinda focus group questions have meant production and media companies try and 'make' someone 'a star'. Jayde Adams isn't a good comic and is not likable - being working class, with a regional accent and bigger than your average actor aren't reasons to build a sitcom around someone. As well as the writing being extremely dry, unfunny, predictable and not based in reality (call centre jobs are hellish, the implied 'frission' between a symetrical, middle-class boss and an incompetent unattractive lazy employee would never happen, when working minimum wage in a boiler room call centre you get abused by most customers so you don't feel like a pseudo-social worker plus these kinda jobs are all now outsourced to PhDs in the developing world) the acting quality, writing and direction is really hit and miss.

Finally the 'kooky' angle they're tryna force by having costumes in krazy clashing colours and the customers 'appear' in the office during calls just comes across as really desperate and tacky.

Fantastic to see genuinely diverse cast is terms of sexu@lity, race, gender, language, nationality, dating culture - age not so much - wish the '29' year old had used her IRL age rather than 'online dating' age.

A show where what bits people have isn't 'a thing' or a driving part of the drama but just is. Without preaching or over-simplifying it provides a glimpse of bi peoples' experiences of bierasure and biphobia from hetero and homo folk alike -one of the suitors who is openly bi and has a trans ex is overlooked for a macho conman whilst some lesbian suitors play into some 'gold star' narrative nonsense. Even though we are over 50% of the LGBTQI+ community we are largely absent in the media (unless promiscuous/poly, psycho, confused, convertable, a plot point) so thanks for allowing us be and date normally.

Its also nice seeing Americans who are somewhat wordly- who've lived overseas, speak (a bit of) the language, are open to diverse people and don't see Paris (and the rest of the planet) as a pastiche you can 'do' in a weekend.

Really enjoyable modern dating show and I actually was rooting for and shipping some -which I rarely do on these shows.

The only negative distraction is a cast member's yankie anachronistic lip plumping - she discussing 'why' but its horrid to see anyone, let alone someone so young, butcher their face and make themselves come across as weak and superficial and less attractive as a result. There is so much more to you than whatcha look like (these doctors or other 'professionals' involved in destroying peoples bodies and confidence should be struck off)

Shame this site is rejecting any reviews of this cutting-edge show- another example of bierasure?

I wasn't aware of this case until this documentary and it is, no doubt, perplexing, upsetting and disturbing for all involved.

Some of the most irritating parts of it are, however, related to the egos and of the cops and lawyers, and this could mean that the loved ones of Robert (a lawyer who had put his brilliance, training &skill towards making the world a better place rather than accruing cash or kudos) may never get the answers they deserve.

The outright homophobia of investigators/prosecutor that entirely distracted them from properly considering, collecting and following evidence, whereever it took them.

Why would the heck would a prosecutor bring any case at all, when there clearly was insufficient evidence to convict? Ego? Re-election? (the system in the USA is weird in this way, why not get the best lawyers to prosecute rather than those needing to be electable?! Why are they so often involved in the investigation-stay in your lane so you can be objective ffs) Most frustratingly for me as a viewer was where was the evidence collected about connections to Mr Wone's work at Radio Free Asia? An organisation funded by the USA government that will obviously be a target of certain republics that don't like their propoganda bubbles burst or firewalls breached? Might a nation like that have operatives in Washington? Do they collect information about what's in the closets of law makers and policy influencers int' capital of their arch enemy? Do they have a history or getting rid of problems in ways that are unexplainable or don't look like a hit? Could they have people who can get in and out of places undetected????? Nothing, nada, this significant part of the victim's life & potential motive not even touched on.... I hope to god it just wasn't covered in this doc, that was sooooo focused on BDSM and open relationships, and that it was considered and properly investigated by the police (and Kirschner?!) I'm in no way suggesting certain people are innocent or guilty (under 2 hours of a peacock doc that is fixated in exactly the same way as the investigating officers can't reveal anything of the sort to a viewer) but there are real flaws in how 'merican justice allows male egos and biases to run roughshod over all sense and objectivity to the detriment of victims' and their families.

Rest in Peace Mr Wone and thoughts to his loved ones.