Dançando para o Diabo

Robert Shinn saw a golden opportunity to expand his flock by 7 million followers through his son's band of influential Tik Tok dancers, and dollar signs danced across his eyes. His true intent lies plainly in the title of company he set up to do so - 7M Management, that is to manage 7 million potential followers and their coffers, because those who follow these dancers would by proxy be following him in his demented grandiose mind.

It was especially heartbreaking to see Dean, Miranda's father, breaking down in tears as he described his horrific realisation that he was losing his daughter to the cult of Robert Shinn. Only thirty minutes into the first episode, you can see the mechanism of the cult churning away at isolating the dancers from their families to gain total and complete control over them in the name of Jesus.

I am not a believer in religion but I also would never believe something as omnipotent as a god would care for a portion of our earnings; what use would they have for it. What has Robert Shinn or any of the other proselytisers done with all the money they have stolen from their followers, other than spend it on themselves? These malignant narcissists know the power of religion and wield it to gain supply, but their appetite is insatiable. In the age of social media and rapid influence, it is more relevant than ever before to question someone's motives when they use the influence of religion on you.

As Episode 1 of "Dancing For the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" (2024 release; 3 episodes ranging 49-38 min each) opens, we are in "Detroit, MI" and a woman named Melissa laments "I miss my sister so much". That would be Miranda, whose dance videos, made by 7M, have gone viral on TIkTok. 7M happens to be run by a pastor of the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles. Miranda has severed all contact with her family... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from director Derek Doneen ("The Price of Free"). Here he digs into the situation at the Shekinah Church in Los Angeles which also runs the "talent management" company called 7M. The documentary's talking heads are primarily former members who have left. We are given ample evidence of financial shenanigans and worse. A man who claims to be "Man of God" and manipulates people into believing that if they please him, they please God directly. Hmmm, where have we heard this before? It is your classical cult. It never fails to amaze me how people still fall for this, time and again. At 3 episodes, this clips by in no time.

"Dancing For the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult" premiered on Netflix earlier this week. I watched all 3 episodes in a single setting. If you are intrigued how people get sucked into a cult, whether they realize or or not, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

As many people point out, the story is too short to be made into a series, if it was an 1 hour and half documentary it would have been a lot more consistent. The story is necessary to be told, I myself didn't know about it, and it's hard to understand how people subject them selves to this kind of cult, particularly Miranda, who looked like had everything, a supportive family,a loving sister. Why she would abandoned them and everything to live with a crazy old man with a history of abuse, it's hard to understand.

I agree that people have the right to choose their own paths, even to follow crazy religions , but if there are evidences of sexual assault, as it seems to be the case here, so there should be intervention and investigation, because there are victims. Many victims of sexual abuse don't get away of it because they are too afraid, or because they are threatened, so this is when the police should take a step, which doesn't seem to be the case here. At least they show as if the police couldn't care less about the situation, which is really sad The worst from this miniseries is how they put aside the most serious case involving the cult, the Korean sisters who were actually abused, the series show a little or almost nothing of what happened to them or others like them and this is really frustrating Miranda's sister seem to be the one who suffers more, I really feel sorry for her, and I agree that the parents must not ignore the facts only to be able to see Miranda a little while every year. Miranda's time with the parents at the end is clearly completely superficial, you can see how uncomfortable she is, and how everything seems fake, and her sister is the only one who seems to understand this. All we can hope for is that one day this evil leader may be punished, so he won't hurt anyone else.

This could've been a lot better. It's so drawn out because they insist on showing many clips of this awful "social media dancing", which isn't even good and is choreographed poorly. To make it worse, they play sound clips of the incredibly creepy and grating voice of Robert over them, which makes it even more painful to watch. Also, there's really nothing to this other than a family exploited low-IQ, gullible people to line their pockets with money. Kind of like what pastors at every mega church too. Just another Joel Osteen-lite.

You can tell this entire story in a 45 minute episode. Also there isn't much of a conclusion, yet. Premature, drawn-out series, most likely just being used as a cash grab, which is super ironic given that the context of this documentary is gullible people being exploited for money!

Another upsetting case of vulnerable people getting swallowed by cults and religion. The exploitative, predatory leaders of course get away with everything because "religious freedom" *barf*..

Seriously, you can have your beliefs about an afterlife without ever joining any church or movement.. without following a bunch of rules that are made-up to benefit the predatory leaders (yuck!)

People are lonely and we urgently need plenty of affordable, non-religious meetup community spaces all around the world where people can go to when they crave community. A place where people can grab a coffee, talk to each other, play board games, etc.. I think that would benefit society WAY more than any "holy" building (They exist for power and profit).

When it comes to this documentary, I sincerely hope that Miranda and the other cult members wakes tf up and see what's really going on. And the ex-members who are trying to get Robert convicted; I cheer for you all the way from the other side of the atlantic ocean.. Take that mf DOWN!