In
a way, it is all Oprah Winfrey’s fault. For the kids out there, she was once a
prominent daytime talk show host who has since fallen into obscurity. James
Arthur Ray was one of several New Age self-helpy gurus she anointed on her
show. Her seal of approval launched his motivational speaking business to a higher
level. Unfortunately, the exclusive retreat he offered diehard devotees of his half-baked
spirituality included a fake Native American sweat lodge. Three of the faithful
who followed Ray inside would die inside the stifling death trap. Obviously,
Ray is much more directly to blame for the resulting tragedy, but the sincerity
of his contrition seems to be open to interpretation, at least judging from
Jenny Carchman’s Enlighten Us: The Rise
and Fall of James Arthur Ray, which screens during the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
James
Arthur Ray was found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide by a jury of
his peers. As the doc begins, a chastened Ray has just been released into an uncertain
world. Ray preached a combination of prosperity gospel and New Age
self-fulfillment using his own success as his own best case study. Obviously,
he will need to revise the script now that he is a bankrupt parolee.
Initially,
Ray says all the right things. He takes responsibility and eats humble pie.
However, in retrospect, viewers will realize they never see him reach out to
families of the victims. Just as Ray starts his Lazarus-like return to the
speaking circuit, Carchman flashes back, giving viewers a tick-tock analysis of
the tragedy in Sedona—and it is absolutely devastating. Anyone who watches the
second half of Enlighten Us would
most likely vote to uphold Ray’s conviction and possibly void his parole.
So
what to make of Ray? That is a tricky question. Carchman provides some helpful
history and context of the self-help movement, explaining Ray’s place in the
hierarchy. Even though he never broke out to the extent of other Oprah favorites,
he had become a cottage industry unto himself. He even had a pyramid for his
followers to work their way up, much like Scientology.
Carchman’s
approach is even-handed enough to give viewers grist to consider him a
veritable David Koresh or Ralph Waldo Emerson, depending on their inclinations.
However, the fact that the controversy surrounding his exclusive first
post-prison interview with Piers Morgan (who was allegedly managed by Ray’s
media advisor John Ferriter) is never acknowledged becomes especially awkward
now that CNN Films have acquired Enlighten
Us.