By A Defender of Allison Mack
This is in response to Actaeon: Allison Mack ruined her own life – no one did it to her!
My view is that Allison Mack was groomed quickly. Her boyfriend Chad explained that. It happened quite fast and she was “under the spell” within the first months.
If, Actaeon, you are saying Allison was under no compulsion to stay (ignoring the whole situation, mental manipulation and collateral – Allison started to give WAY before the other DOS members), then you are saying that the other victims weren’t victims either – because their situation is the same as Allison’s!
First off, “Allison could have left” (and wanted to do until her best friend Kristin Kreuk came to convince her). And once again, the same could be said about ALL the victims!
Worse, when Allison was ensnared in Nxivm, she didn’t have the knowledge available (it was in 2006) about the worst aspects of Nxivm.
The “victims” arrived after the articles against Nxivm started to pop!
If you consider Allison not to be a victim because she could have left, the victims can’t be victims either and it’s a fact that they are victims.
You don’t allow someone to manipulate you in a cult. You seem to forget that we are talking about a cult! A cult that was not known to be a cult when Allison arrived. She saw big names having participated. Her best friend Kristin was in Nxivm and, at first, it was creepy, but it wasn’t looking like anything criminal.
Actaeon asks, “Why, when Kreuk was talking up NXIVM on the Smallville set, why was Mack the only one enough of a fool to get involved with it?”
First, because Allison wasn’t feeling fulfilled, but also because Allison had an almost blind faith in Kristin Kreuk. She was her best friend. Also the age difference. All the cast wasn’t the same age as Allison and Kristin.
Actaeon said, “My speculative answer is that Mack was perhaps naive, weak-willed, and ambitious”.
Naive, certainly. (It wasn’t the first time she wanted to believe in good when there was none).
“Weak-willed”? Maybe. Allison had her problems: low self-esteem and she was worried about not doing something with her life.
Ambitious? Not the way you think. She just wanted a meaningful life. That could be ambitious, but that’s about it.
Let’s be clear, Allison should have trusted her gut, but many other people were in the same position (including ALL the victims).
She didn’t do it of her own free will. She was influenced, manipulated to the core (that is hardly free will).
And you are analyzing this whole situation based on what we know NOW. Back then, there was no strong signal, just a small one.
If a great friend (someone you have faith in) tells you that there is no risk, most people would try harder and put their gut feelings aside.
Once again, I appreciate your analysis Actaeon (it is not fully biased and considering most of the situation). It’s refreshing.