Joseph Laycock’s “Where do they get these Ideas? Changing Ideas of Cults in the Mirror of Popular Culture” examines how new religious movements (NRMs) are affected by  popular culture, specifically movies and television, more than perhaps tv news stories. Laycock argues that this type of media is able to shape public discourse because it has the ability to create any type of story about NRMs. This therefor creates a population uninformed about the realities of NRMs. In the past, when researchers have looked into hypotheses concerning the media portrayal of NRMs or cults, they have only focused on the news media, but there is so much in today’s popular culture that discusses this topic as well. The author identifies three ways in which pop culture has influenced public perception of NRMs: medicalization, deviance amplification, and convergence. Medicalization applies to a process in which deviant behavior is defined as a medical problem to be treated within the medical profession. Most cults are accused of brainwashing their members, making them liable for medicalization. Deviance amplification refers to a media hype, where media has the ability to distort deviant behaviors into representations of a bigger social issue. Convergence draws a parallel between two or more activities that have been amplified, to make a problem appear even more widespread.

To  address his research topic, Laycock uses data from reports of acts, behaviors, and events, and perhaps some organizational data as well. To collect this data, he went into public records and literature concerning his topic of interest. He looked into public records of televised programs such as The Simpsons, The Manchurian Candidate , Get Smart, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Charmed, South Park, and Dollhouse. The author does recognize, in his conclusion, that to further this study, more quantitative should be done. This would allow for measurement of the effects of fictional narrative on public attitudes. That being said, most of his research is qualitative, looking at documented text, speech, and observable patterns. Overall, this article was really interesting! I do, however, agree with his concluding ideas of adding in some quantitative data to round out the research. I think this is an important subject to take on, given the negative ideas swarming around society as it pertains to cults and NRMs. It is essential to examine how public opinion is so greatly influenced by the media, especially the sectors that are given creative freedom.

Laycock, J. (2013). Where Do They Get These Ideas? Changing Ideas of Cults in the Mirror of Popular Culture. Journal of the American Academy of Religion,81(1), 80-106.