And we, the audience, keep clicking play to find out. If you want to tap into this trend, don’t just show the cult—show the crack in the porcelain . The moment a character in a perfect missionary society questions the mission, you have your audience hooked. That tension—between devotion and doubt—is the most entertaining content you can produce.
Popular media’s job is to ask: At what cost?
Today’s popular media has flipped the script. Where old Hollywood portrayed missionary societies as noble (think Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ), new content exposes the “position” as restrictive. In The Handmaid’s Tale , Gilead is the perversion of the missionary ideal. In Yellowjackets , the wilderness becomes a brutal, private covenant. The drama comes from watching individuals struggle to breathe in a room designed to be spiritually perfect.
And we, the audience, keep clicking play to find out. If you want to tap into this trend, don’t just show the cult—show the crack in the porcelain . The moment a character in a perfect missionary society questions the mission, you have your audience hooked. That tension—between devotion and doubt—is the most entertaining content you can produce.
Popular media’s job is to ask: At what cost?
Today’s popular media has flipped the script. Where old Hollywood portrayed missionary societies as noble (think Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ), new content exposes the “position” as restrictive. In The Handmaid’s Tale , Gilead is the perversion of the missionary ideal. In Yellowjackets , the wilderness becomes a brutal, private covenant. The drama comes from watching individuals struggle to breathe in a room designed to be spiritually perfect.
