Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal

We weren't planning to watch this three-part docu-series, but a few extra hours the other day and a fetid curiosity led us astray and we binged it in one sitting. Once again, I'll save you the time and unless you really care about a skeezy website that helps people have affairs, there isn't much there there. I'd heard about the major hack, but knew (or cared) little about it and after watching this show, I didn't feel much sympathy for the people whose names were leaked. However, the show did raise an interesting point about the people who dove into the data and made it more easily accessible. As we continue to see, vigilante internet mobs can be dangerous, with their self-righteousness and certitude. The most empathetic character was the wife of the pastor who killed himself after his name appeared in the leak, and the least interesting (and annoying) had to be the nauseating Christian influencer couple who took up the most screen time. I needed a shower after watching this and am convinced Noel Biderman is one of the more despicable and poisonous pied pipers in the business world.

Of the handful of the people they profiled, I.e. Christian guy, suicide guy, etc they all took ridiculous selfie / regular photos with really stupid looks on their faces, like they were always trying to be funny....

I believe that anyone who constantly takes pics like this are liars who are hiding something. I'll admit this is a far fetched theory but I've notice this in other documentaries also. A real man doesn't do this. So take a look at your significant others social media and also the photos around your house. You might be married to one of these unfaithful idiots and you didn't even know it.

No matter how interesting the subject matter may be, this "series" is biased beyond belief. At first I almost couldn't believe that the victims of this doc were the unfaithful partners, it just seemed insane. But yes, we were expected to watch the cheaters explain their stories as if they are recounting traumatic events and feel sorry for them.

The "victims" paint themselves as naive and discontent partners tricked into doing something stupid (not immoral, just stupid) who then faced unfair consequences.

It's quite rich that the filmmakers have people in the doc explaining how the hack ruined so many lives, and yet don't see the hypocrisy that they are defending those guilty of infidelity, which undoubtedly ruins lives. They want us to be scared of the group responsible for the hack, but I think they should be seen as America's most noble whistleblowers.

A story really that was not compelling or needed to be told,unless it changes minds of those who think deceiving is productive or lucrative.

What bothers me as much as cheaters are those who forgive or push blame,it was the other person & so forth.. Bottom line: Cheaters don't change,really-They just get smarter doing it!

If the victims don't hold people accountable they are only causing a chain reaction,for others to experience the same type fate.

Any website is responsible for how personal data is used,especially after promising things being secure.

Those involved in this didn't seem to learn anything,otherwise this cash cow series wouldn't of been produced.

Lastly- YouTube couple.. Before seeing this did years back catch a few of their videos,they always gave me the ick factor due to not feeling authentic of many things.

In the early 2000's, when online dating was still relatively taboo, one firm took the monotony out of monogamy, Ashley Madison, unfortunately for the company and users, the site was hacked, and details made public.

Ok, so it's not exactly enlightening or educational, it's the kind of series you'll watch as you have tea and toast, whilst reading your newspaper, what it is, is an interesting story about human behaviour.

You will hear from hypocrites, more hypocrites, and a few people who very much have their feet on the ground.

I had a few questions, who did it, what would the fallout be, and would she stay with him?

You get some answers, unfortunately not all of them, but it's worth sticking with, episodes two and three are a lot more satisfying.

I wish Netflix would take note of so many comments, focused on the same thing, stop making your documentaries so long, this is yet another example, part one is virtually redundant, it establishes one thing, people cheat.

7/10.