In Rory Kennedy’s four-part HBO documentary “The Synanon Fix,” the director explores Synanon, an organization formed in Santa Monica and designed to assist individuals struggling with drug addiction. Established in 1958 by Charles “Check” Dederich, a former alcoholic, Synanon was the country’s first in-patient rehabilitation center designed for people suffering from dependency issues. Dederich was among the first to try to have drug addicts help each other instead of relying on therapists or medications.
After attracting donations from people around the country who wanted to help the rehab facility, Synanon metastasized into a “nonprofit” with more than $30 million in assets including communal properties and farms in California. Members, who consisted of addicts was well as “squares” (non-drug users), were encouraged to participate in the Synanon Game, which was attack talk therapy. Children were isolated from their parents and raised by caregivers. Eventually members shaved their heads and had to...
After attracting donations from people around the country who wanted to help the rehab facility, Synanon metastasized into a “nonprofit” with more than $30 million in assets including communal properties and farms in California. Members, who consisted of addicts was well as “squares” (non-drug users), were encouraged to participate in the Synanon Game, which was attack talk therapy. Children were isolated from their parents and raised by caregivers. Eventually members shaved their heads and had to...
- 4/8/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
From books and docuseries to podcasts and big-screen thrillers, true-crime tales are everywhere. Much of it is thinly researched retreads of well-worn cases and subjects that feel exploitative in the end.
“Born in Synanon” is none of those things. The four-part documentary, directed by Geeta Gandbhir, that premiered in December on Paramount+, is a richly detailed look at the evolution of the California-based cult from the 1960s through its demise in the early 1990s. The storytelling is enhanced by a wealth of high-quality film footage of the inner workings of a group that began as a sober-living program but descended into the madness of a cult. And the perspective could not be more intimate. “Born in Synanon” follows Cassidy Arkin, whose parents were prominent members when she was born in 1974, as she tries to make sense of the community that surrounded her for the first six years of her life.
“Born in Synanon” is none of those things. The four-part documentary, directed by Geeta Gandbhir, that premiered in December on Paramount+, is a richly detailed look at the evolution of the California-based cult from the 1960s through its demise in the early 1990s. The storytelling is enhanced by a wealth of high-quality film footage of the inner workings of a group that began as a sober-living program but descended into the madness of a cult. And the perspective could not be more intimate. “Born in Synanon” follows Cassidy Arkin, whose parents were prominent members when she was born in 1974, as she tries to make sense of the community that surrounded her for the first six years of her life.
- 2/3/2024
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Synanon, the self-help rehabilitation center turned notorious cult that operated from the 1960s through the 1980s, was initially pitched as a refuge for people with substance abuse disorder. Back then, people in recovery didn't have many options for getting genuine treatment. As the interviewees for the new Paramount+ documentary series Born in Synanon recall, the alternatives were either jail or an asylum.
Like many (though not all) cults, there was a germ of virtue in Synanon's origin story. The group’s rise in the 1960s coincided with a time of great upheaval in American society, and its origins as a drug treatment program pointed to an honest desire to help people. And, as director Geeta Gandbhir and former Synanon member Cassidy Arkin learn through their many interviews, many former members do credit the organization and its founder Chuck Dederich with getting them clean.
Like many (though not all) cults, there was a germ of virtue in Synanon's origin story. The group’s rise in the 1960s coincided with a time of great upheaval in American society, and its origins as a drug treatment program pointed to an honest desire to help people. And, as director Geeta Gandbhir and former Synanon member Cassidy Arkin learn through their many interviews, many former members do credit the organization and its founder Chuck Dederich with getting them clean.
- 12/12/2023
- by Joe Reid
- Primetimer
When I was a kid growing up in the Berkeley flatlands, I used to play with a couple of neighbor kids, Tony and his little brother, Mikey. One day in 1979, two men got out of a car, approached Tony and Mikey’s house, and beat another man with a club. The neighborhood buzz was that the assailants were from a group called Synanon, and they were unhappy that their victim had left the group.
I was nine at the time, and none of this made sense. But it all came...
I was nine at the time, and none of this made sense. But it all came...
- 12/11/2023
- by Chris Vognar
- Rollingstone.com
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