The second season of the controversial Korean docuseries In The Name Of God: A Holy Betrayal is finally here, and I’ve had the misfortune of watching it. When it comes to documentaries, they’re meant to show us things in their rawest form. The points of view of the victims, the detectives, and people who fall prey to the many problematic institutions of the country are definitely something we should be aware of, but what I hated about In The Name Of God, which carries forward to The Echoes of Survivors, is the fact the show dehumanizes victims by exploiting them in every way possible through depictions of the incidents they went through in dramatized skits. Honestly, hearing about the terrifying things some of these people went through is already hard enough, but to show us visuals that might seem somewhat titillating because of the angles and lighting choices is truly unfathomable in my opinion.
The Echoes of Survivors sees 3 new cases apart from the JMS cult, which we already saw a lot of in the first season. The final two episodes of the series are the ones that I could most easily digest because they show us the struggle of the victims who were stuck under rubble, which truly makes you feel claustrophobic, letting you empathize with the victims. However, in the other three cases, there are instances of sexual assault, which I understand need to be described in detail because of documentary purposes, but to sensationalize the victims’ trauma is just heartbreaking, to say the least. What’s worse is that, for example, in the Brothers’ Home case, the victims who have survived are seen wearing the tracksuits they had to wear back when they were kidnapped, the entire backdrop looks terrifying, and they even have to go as far as to hold number plates to drill in the point they’re making. This is truly exploitative in my opinion.
I understand the point of the documentary, though. It is to show us how far people can go for power and money, and how that affects the victims of the grave crimes they committed. I do see that the previous season had some sort of an impact, but I still stick by the fact that the director basically harasses people in order to get their statements if they had something to do with the perpetrators. This isn’t what documenting is meant to do, though, is it? If someone is unwilling to give a statement, there’s nothing you can do about it, so harassing them is only going to make you look bad. If someone hasn’t let the last 30 years turn them resentful, they’re not going to change their mind now.
Additionally, I’m not convinced about the cases that were chosen for this season. The Sampoong one is the most appropriate of the lot, though. The other bit that I don’t quite understand about the show is how long it spends giving us gruesome details of what these criminals did, only to wait for the last few minutes to show us the inner workings of the crime. The whys, whats, and hows. Given these are cases that affected the whole nation, most people probably already know about what happened. However, if this is aimed at global appeal, it is lacking in many ways. Yes, it’s important to pay attention to victims, but this doesn’t mean we need them to relive traumatic moments and feel absolutely devastated in the process.
The level of trauma across the 4 episodes is very high, and I would recommend not watching it all at once. I think the show specifically opens with the most scandalous cases before going to those that can be least sensationalized by the end. There’s something meta about the whole thing, because it’s almost as if the creators of the show are exploiting the victims a second time over, somewhat contradicting the message they’re trying to put out there. No, I’m not saying they’re committing crimes, but it’s almost as if, just to make their show famous, they’ve edited and presented stuff in such a way that you feel like you’re watching one of those true crime documentaries where the victims are extra involved.
Of course you feel heartbreak for the victims, and you wish they hadn’t been through such trauma, but it’s all overpowered by the horrendous nature of the crimes committed against them, that we have to look at and hear about repeatedly. Does it make sense to show us multiple victims reiterating how terrible their abuse was? I want to look at it through a different perspective as well. Suppose I was a part of a cult, and I saw a show like this about the leader of my cult; would it change my mind? I’m not too sure. I might just dismiss it out of hand? Maybe the authorities will perk up and be more careful next time? I’m really not sure, but at the end of the day, I can’t get over the fact that this show is highly sensationalized for, unfortunately, entertainment purposes. Because that’s just what it is.
After having watched the whole thing, I’m left feeling like I’m not immune to basically anything and can’t really connect with anybody or feel empathy thanks to the exaggerated and dramatic reenactments and the studio setup of the interviews. I also feel like the show could’ve done a much better job at protecting the victims rather than desensitizing us as an audience by making the victims feel worse about their own situations. Yes, we want to hear their stories, but not at the cost of their mental health. So truthfully, the only opinion I’m left with after watching this very heavy show is that I wish they hadn’t made it. I’m sure other people may feel differently, but this is how I genuinely feel. So I’d give The Echoes of Survivors 2 out of 5 stars, mainly for the Sampoong case.
