Hoyt
Richards should have had more fun during the 1980s. He was considered one of
the first male supermodels, on a similar level as Cindy Crawford and Stephanie
Seymour, with whom he worked. Unfortunately, Richards was simultaneously a member
of a New Agey cult with its own alien mythology. Richards explains how he fell
prey to the cult and how he escaped in Brent Huff’s Welcome to the Beyond (trailer here), which screens during
this year’s DOC NYC.
A
former Ivy League college athlete, Richards had a rugged New England kind of
look that would have particularly suited Ralph Lauren, who did indeed use him
in some of their campaigns. He was one of the only male models who had any
fraction of the publicity devoted to his more famous women colleagues. Life
should have been great for him, but he was under the sway of Frederick Von
Mierers, the guru of the “Eternal Values” cult. According to his spiel, Von
Mierers and his followers were really enlightened alien beings from the
spiritual center of the universe, who had come to Earth to save it from our
tacky, evil ways, but of course, he was the only one who retained his former
memories.
Yes,
it is crazy, but Von Mierers shrewdly planned his seduction of Richards. In
fact, he played an instrumental role encouraging Richards’ early modeling
career. Huff also clearly establishes how some of the dysfunctional dynamics in
Richards’ family made him particularly susceptible to the tactics typically
employed for cult recruitment. As a result, Richards was bankrolling Eternal
Values and faithfully returning to Von Mierers’ Manhattan pad each night,
instead of partying into the early morning hours.
The
story of Richards’ cult ensnarement is pretty crazy stuff on its own, with the supermodel
glamour giving it additional sex appeal. He is also remarkably candid in his
interview segments, readily admitting how deeply he was sucked in and how badly
it warped his perception. The film definitely makes its point: if someone who
has as much going for him as Richards did could still be vulnerable to cult
manipulation than the same is probably true for just about everyone else too.
Unfortunately,
there is an inescapable scruffiness to the film, despite a surreal animated
sequence illustrating the loopy Eternal Values creation myth. Partly, that is
because so much of the footage was clearly shot on consumer-grade video,
particularly that of Richards’ mother and Von Mierers, while they were still
alive. There might be no way around that, but whether it is fair or not, the
resulting film has a look and vibe that is probably better suited to television
than theatrical screenings.
Ironically,
Richards was envied by men and desired by women at a time when he was leading a
double-life. There are important lessons to be drawn from his experiences, but
the presentation still just isn’t very cinematic—a more distinctive score
definitely would have helped (we’re always happen to recommend artists). Still
recommended for its real-life drama and Richards’ often painful honesty, Welcome to the Beyond screens this
Tuesday (11/13), as part of DOC NYC 2018.
