The Hollywood screenwriter born in a cult
Guinevere Turner spent her childhood in a cult as strange as any film. Aged 11, she was kicked out. Aged 18, she faced a dilemma β€” return, or make her way in the world outside?
Guinevere Turner grew up in a cult in 1970s America. Centred around a charismatic banjo and harmonica player called Mel Lyman, cult members believed Lyman was the messiah, that aliens would come and take them to live on Venus and that women should serve men. When Guinevere was 11 years old, her mother was kicked out of the cult, but Guinevere begged to stay with the only family she had ever known. On the outside, following years of abuse from her mother's boyfriend, Guinevere was tempted to rejoin, but a pivotal moment changed her mind. She went on to write the seminal film Go Fish and co-wrote the screenplay for American Psycho, but it was only when writing about women in the Manson cult that she realised it was time to tell her own story.
Presenter: Seyi Rhodes
Producer: Sarah Kendal
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp 44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Guinevere Turner. Credit: Elizabeth Turner/Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
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