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.

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.

This series show how a website exploited married people who wanted to cheat on their spouses without getting caught.

What is truly amazing is the sheer number: at one point, 37 millions subscribers !

Also some of the characters are presented as actually very good people. One is a Christian who really loved his wife and kids. Another one is a respected minister in a church.

However, what is unbelievable is that these millions of people gladly gave all their most private information and trusted the website to protect their privacy.

I watched the whole 3 episodes in one sitting.

I thought it was well put together by Netflix.

This documentary has a lot of excuses and rationalizing for why it's ok for cheaters to deceive and betray their partner's trust. For the record, it's not just religious people who think infidelity is wrong and immoral.

The CEO, who only appears in clips, seems like the biggest sleazebag.

As for the Christian couple, they're attention seeking phonies and probably only agreed to be in the documentary because they're clearly addicted to views. Everything they said felt inauthentic and just an excuse to have screen time.

Overall, the story is interesting, particularly the hacking, but this definitely didn't need to be three episodes. Even two is pushing it.