Synanon Film

I wanted to look at the reception the film about Synanon received during the time that it was released. The movie on Synanon was released in 1965 and was released at the time where Synanon was getting its start and gaining notoriety for being an effective treatment for drug addiction. The movie gives the viewer a look at how The Game was used early on to help members kick their drug addictions. The Game is shown in the film when the group sits in a circle and begins to call each other out on why they became addicts in the first place.

I found a movie review written in the New York Times at the time of the film's release. The review praises the film for giving the audience an inside look at the methods used by Synanon to help their members get clean. Because the film was made before Charles Dederich turned Synanon into a cult, it paints the group in a positive picture. The film review praises the film and group for tackling the problem of drug addiction, which at the time was not getting the attention needed to combat the problem. In fact, the film review even describes the film as shedding both light and hope for drug addiction.

It would difficult to find a positive media portrayal of the Synanon group nowadays after what Synanon became. Popular culture now sees the Synanon group as a cult that abused its members instead of helping them. The Game, shaving its member's heads and attempted murder are likely what you would find in any media portrayal. But yet before all of the bizarre changes made by Charles Dederich, Synanon was viewed as a pioneer in drug rehabilitation.

Synanon Film Review, New York Times, 1965