Question.

[conuly]

If I say something along the lines of "drink your kool-aid, kids" and say that it's a scary line, do you know what I'm talking about?

Comments

[yuki-onna.livejournal.com]

Yup. Jimmy Jones and the All-Singin', All-Dancin' South American Suicide Revue.

[anotheralice.livejournal.com]

Sure. Jim Jones and the mass suicide at Jonestown with the poisoned kool-aid, right?

[conuly]

One of my friends hadn't heard of it, and she's generally well-educated. I'm trying to figure out if this is something that's less well-known outside of the US.

[conuly]

Catchy.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yup. I've even seen the bad TV movie with Powers Booth. :)

[evilsibe.livejournal.com]

*murrrs atta jonestown juice*

lj friended

[yadfothgildloc.livejournal.com]

Th suicide cult(s?) that drank cyanide in kool-aid, or some other poison. Jones or something.

Jim Jones.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I thought everyone knew about that.

Re: Jim Jones.

[conuly]

So did I. Learn something new every day.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I'm not in the U.S. and I know about it. Jim Jones, People's Temple, Guyana, shot a U.S. government representative, then drank poisoned Kool-Aid in a mass murder/suicide (not everyone drank voluntarily, IIRC, including small children; Jones encouraged the mothers to give the poison to their children.)

[mortaine.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know, but I can totally understand why someone would not know. If I hadn't attended a very specific liberal arts college, I would probably not have been exposed to that particular part of recent history.

[conuly]

I thought it was a part of general cultural awareness, like 9/11 or Waco or WWII.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do. Calling Mr. Jones?

[griffen.livejournal.com]

That may be due more to your friend's age; most people I know who were born in the 80s and later don't know much about it unless they have the sort of morbid curiosity that lends itself to reading books on the subject.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm old enough to remember when that happened, too...

Jim Jones's cult's mass Koolaid/pudding suicide in Guyana.

[velasco.livejournal.com]

Yes. Who doesn't? :P

[aquamizuko.livejournal.com]

I didn't know until I saw the comments on here. :P

Re: Jim Jones's cult's mass Koolaid/pudding suicide in Guyana.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

Pudding?

o_o

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

Me, too. I was in Grade 6, and we studied it in our social studies. We read things from the newspaper every day in that class. Progressive, private elementary school.

Re: Jim Jones's cult's mass Koolaid/pudding suicide in Guyana.

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

I don't remember any pudding? I am I just getting old? :-)

Re: Jim Jones's cult's mass Koolaid/pudding suicide in Guyana.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I don't either.

hrm.

[mhari.livejournal.com]

It takes me a minute. I've heard the "poison koolaid" spiel, but I don't (or didn't) know the provenance, and my first reaction is just as likely to be "yeah, that giant talking glass pitcher is pretty freaky".

[zathras26.livejournal.com]

I was born in the late Sixties, and the first time I ever heard of Jonestown was in 1986, IIRC. It came up in a group of folks I was hanging out with once, and I was the only one who had never heard of it. Everyone thought that was pretty weird.

[azuresunglasses.livejournal.com]

Lol, I wasn't born in the 60s and I've known that phrase for--- years. "Don't drink the koolaid.'
I've never liked koolaid anyways, blech.

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

I'd actually never heard of that one before. Then again, I tend not to hear about those types of things.

Someone a few comments up mentioned pudding though. And I do remember the story about the cult who believed that a comet (hailbop) was sent by god to take them to heaven so a whole bunch of them ate poisoned tapioca pudding. Or something like that, I'm fuzzy on the details. But I found a link! http://anw.com/halebopp/heaven.htm