By Actaeon
Allison Mack is an interesting case.
I followed her blog for a while. She had some interesting things to say about acting and her venture into directing, plus she had a curiosity about “philosophical” deepity.
She seemed like a smart person who regretted never having gone beyond high school, and she had a curious mind. And then there was that bizarre stuff about NXIUM, JNESS, and about her mentor and guru Keith. She even did an online book club. The book was called “Shantaram” (it took me days to dredge up the title of that book from memory) and it’s godawful. I’m willing to bet it was suggested to her by Raniere. It’s precisely the kind of book a person who would join a cult would read.
So from having read her blog and sampling her taste in (ahem) literature, here’s my half-assed take on Allison Mack. She seems extremely naive, a bit insecure (aren’t we all) and eager for a shortcut to Life Wisdom. Capable and quite smart. And she really, really liked a book written by a guy who is plainly a boastful liar. Did I mention she seems terribly naive?
So yes, I’d say she’s a victim. Kind of. She was manipulated by Raniere, obviously. But she let herself be manipulated. We’re all responsible for our actions even though the things we do are seldom entirely of our own making. She was an adult when she began her involvement in this NXIUM scheme, recruiting people into something that looked like a pyramid scheme and a self-improvement racket. She wasn’t forced into it by economic necessity, she had a successful TV career, 10 straight years with a network show. So if she was a victim, she was also happily victimizing others, enthusiastically recruiting people into the racket.
Little warning bells ought to have been going off in her head. She thought ESP was helping her career. Why? Her acting career stalled, predictably, after Smallville ended. She was making money I presume, profiting from her work for NXIUM. She had made a deal with the devil, and was quite happy with it. Hardly a victim.
When she was first getting involved with the cult, people warned her. Pointed her to the evidence. She chose to ignore it. Victim? hardly.
When the branding of women and the blackmailing of DOS members began, the alarm bells should have been deafening. She was a perpetrator by then. Fleeing across the Mexican border to avoid arrest. Victim? Not a bit of it.
Well, she’s a criminal now, by her own admission. Odd as it sounds, it seems her descent from well-meaning naif to felon snuck up on her bit by bit. That’s why I find her such an interesting case.
[…] response to Guest View: Allison Mack is not a victim – by her own admission she’s a criminal, I wish to point out to the author, “Actaeon,” that you base your judgment on Allison […]
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[…] Actaeon wrote a post entitled Guest View: Allison Mack is not a victim – by her own admission she’s a criminal and the post described Allison Mack’s Book Discussion Group which she had […]
[…] response to Guest View: Allison Mack is not a victim – by her own admission she’s a criminal, I wish to point out to the author, “Actaeon,” that you base your judgment on Allison […]
Actually, from what I can tell, her acting career hadn’t stalled. . Smallville might have ended, but if you look at her IMDB page, she was still working, and would’ve continued to do so, had she not been manipulated, brainwashed, and hypnotized like all of the other arguably intelligent and successful people that got ensnared in NXIVM. She was still booking work and had great momentum going. Bottom line is that there was something about the techniques that were being used ther— NLP, and hypnosis that lead otherwise normal people to do some weird sh*t. So yes, is she guilty? Of some things yes. But I do think she’s also a victim. That’s what’s fascinating about this case and the people involved.
Thanks for that insight, and perspective.
The other interesting thing that was revealed in Mack’s blog early on, was her engagement to her long-term boyfriend Pete. As I’ve detailed elsewhere, that relationship turns out to have been rather bizarre; he was something of a young Raniere (and perhaps also a bad boy along the lines of the protagonist in Shantaram), which means Mack has had two extended, manipulative and abusive relationships. I think of the old saying “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
I think it’s still hard to tell to just what extent she was a victim or a perpetrator herself, and I’m hoping that between trials and journalists’ investigations, we’ll get more insight into that in the future. But I suspect that those who were smitten with Mack’s girl-next-door character in Smallville, are going to be disappointed if not even jolted.
People who think an actor has the attributes of the role they play are as stupid as the actor. Mack is both a victim and a perp, what’s so hard to understand about that?
Oh so you are back with “she was abused so she is a monster”.
I already explained how wrong you are with this.
BTW, no you didn’t detailled…You acted like you knew anything based on a shady interview that is probably not being real .
All you did was trying to pretend that as Pete was tattoed (and got Allison to do 2 tattoos), he probably gave her a basis to create the branding.
Except it’s not her creation (that’s a fact, not a fake interview) and that if it was true, a vast majority of people in USA would be branded.
Anything you can twist against Allison , you use it (true or not).
Actaeon,
You base your judgment on her blog from after she started to be groomed…
Her blog was,at first, her way to express herself but became a manifest of the grooming.
Through time she was visibly changing.
You might not notice this but people who knew her before did.
She was not at all interested by Nxivm at first.Kristin convinced her that it would help her.
She wanted to get out after the first meeting (she was then with her boyfriend).
But she was convinced by KK to continue a bit more…Then something changed.
Even Chad said that she got from a person who was alarmed to a person who was convinced.
She didn’t had the choice about the manipulation…She was groomed too far when she met Raniere.
You also say she was happily victimizing others but it’s not true…It’s obvious for those close.
When people pointed her the evidence, it was too late…It was in 2012 and the grooming was mostly done.
I remind you that most of the cult allegation were made AFTER she was in it…
She was there for quite some time when the TU article were published.
She didn’t flee to mexico…She was in LA a few days before and was frequently in NYC before that.
From what i heard, she was called over there a day before the arrest of Raniere happened.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it was some sort of a trap…Why nicole would film the arrest with Allison only on the film.
She admitted the extorsion part…She is still a victim of nxivm!
She just admitted collecting the collateral and “using” them as a mean of pressure (it was redacted by the prosecution, it’s obvious)
The truth is that the victim stated that she didn’t say she would use the collateral but they “believed” she would.
Read the court document for this info…
If you stick by what you read here and there, i understand your position. But Believe me, Allison is not the monster depicted by some.
Still, it’s a pleasure to read someone who is not going in blind rage like Shadow so i’m glad to read a well thinked article opposed to Allison.
It’s a nice change.
Allison Mack……Victim or Villain?…….the battle continues……Shadowstate1958…..is now joined my a new younger hip ally…. by the name of Actaeon……
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Seriously, Allison Mack never murdered, raped, or molested anyone. She deserves to be punished she committed crimes but she did not commit capital crimes.
Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong.
Allison Mack is a person who was inspired by the novel “Shantaram” an inspiring (?) story of a heroin addict who robs banks.
Face Facts: Allison Mack is a Freak and a Pervert.
Nope, you are a freak and a pervert.
You now pretend (like you did with a lot of the quote she posted) that because she read a certain book,she is a monster?
Wow…new low reached!
Excellent post. And, I would add the factor of coercion. Because, being at the very top of the DOS’s pyramid Mack was not being coerced by Raniere into taking those photos, but she was coercing those women to do them. She was in fact torturing them physically and psychologically. Let’s not forget.
Wait what? First ,she was not at the top , it’s known factually. The court case clearly place her lower than the top.
Second , she was coerced…She was asked to give WAY more collateral than the others and she was not making the decision.
The victims clearly said that Allison was answering the message she received.
Also,the court case is absolutely not referring to any kind of physical torture.
She technically didn’t torture psychologically them directly as the victim said she didn’t threat them to release the collateral but they “believed” she would release them.
Mack is reported as saying she “takes one for the team.”
She is no innocent in all of this because she could have walked away and she didn’t.
She stayed to the bitter end and would still be branding other women and recruiting him fuck toys.
Go back to your fake cult…
The victims could also have walked away if we follow your stupid opinion…
That shows exactly the kind of person you are!
It’s not very difficult, Mack is both a victim and a perp.
“She seemed like a smart person who regretted never having gone beyond high school, and she had a curious mind. ”
Even people who have a college education and an advanced degree understand that education is a continuing process throughout one’s life.
I’ve probably learned more after graduating from college than the years I spent pursuing a higher education.
That said I believe that Allison Mack lacks a moral compass to guide her.
One does not need much education to understand that slavery is wrong and branding people with a hot iron is immoral
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” She seems extremely naive, a bit insecure”
If Allison Mack’s ego is so insecure that she can be manipulated into committing brutal acts after being bombarded with false flattery, then
Allison Mack is indeed a dangerous person.
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“She was making money I presume, profiting from her work for NXIUM. She had made a deal with the devil, and was quite happy with it. Hardly a victim.’
if Allison Mack wants to further her education she should read such literature as Goethe’s “Faust” or Stephen Vincent
Benet’s “The Devil and Daniel Webster.”
Both stories are highly relevant to Ms. Mack’s circumstances.
Both stories are about people who sell their souls to the Devil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust
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As for “Shantaram”
Here is a description of this novel.
It is a very curious and disturbing (weird) book for Allison Mack to read.
Shantaram is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escaped from Pentridge Prison flees to India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantaram_(novel)
Does Allison Mack see herself as a bank robber and heroin addict?
Does she view herself as a member of organized crime?
Then Shantaram is the book for her.