Netflix fans accuse Ashley Madison documentary of 'gaslighting' viewers
When it comes to jaw-dropping documentaries, turning to Netflix is a safe bet - and its latest offering, about extra-marital affairs, is no exception.
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal landed on the streaming platform on 15 May.
The three-part documentary explores the 2001 launch of Ashley Madison, a website set up to enable married people to have illicit and discreet affairs. By 2015, they had 32 million users. And then they got hacked.
A team of hackers, still unknown and referred to only by 'The Impact Team', took over control of the website and demanded it be shut down, or they would leak millions of users' sensitive data.
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Bosses at Ashley Madison ignored the threats and continued to operate. The hackers held true to their word and spilled the details of millions of unfaithful spouses, leading to divorces, family breakdowns and lawsuits.
Despite this huge security breach, Ashley Madison continues to operate to this day and bears the same tagline: 'Life is short. Have an affair.'
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal hears from the people behind the infamous website as well as former users who were outed by the hacking.
One of the main people we hear from is Sam Rader, who joined despite being married to Nia Rader - and the two were a popular Christian couple on YouTube.
He says in the documentary that using his real information when signing up was a "stupid decision".
Series director Toby Paton told Variety: "I think Sam in particular felt like it was the right time for him to really finally come clean and really confess the full truth of what had gone on. Because he says things in the series that he’s not really told anyone before — or certainly not spoken publicly about before."
In the documentary, Sam explains that while he loved his wife and children, he felt his life had become somewhat boring because of his routine, so felt drawn to the website, looking for some excitement outside of his marriage.
Yet, many viewers aren't buying that excuse.
On Reddit, one person wrote: "No real sympathy for the betrayed spouses whose lives were ruined. Far too much sympathy for the cheating men on the site.
"Some of these people being interviewed are actively gaslighting us as the audience. Saying 'Ashley Madison taught me that the cheater is not the only one to blame'.
"YES, THEY ARE. When your partner who has sworn to be faithful to you lies to you, goes behind your back and has an affair (emotional or physical) with another person that is your cheating partner's fault and ONLY their fault."
Commenters weighed in with their own thoughts.
One person said: "Agree 100% with them gaslighting the audience! I do not understand what they were trying to achieve. I cringed SO hard when the main woman gushed about what a good wife she was because she slept with him right after he told her he had an account with AM. No no no."
Another added: "Agree. There are so many men who are going to watch “the good Christian” wife essentially co-sign her husbands cheating and internalise it as permission for their own cheating."
Tyla has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Topics: Documentaries, Netflix, TV And Film
Kya Buller