Rory Kennedy on ‘The Synanon Fix,’ Boeing and Her Brother Bobby’s Presidential Campaign: ‘I Am Very Worried It Will Lead to Trump’s Election’
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In Rory Kennedy’s four-part HBO documentary “The Synanon Fix,” the director explores Synanon, an organization formed in Santa Monica and designed to assist individuals struggling with drug addiction. Established in 1958 by Charles “Check” Dederich, a former alcoholic, Synanon was the country’s first in-patient rehabilitation center designed for people suffering from dependency issues. Dederich was among the first to try to have drug addicts help each other instead of relying on therapists or medications.
After attracting donations from people around the country who wanted to help the rehab facility, Synanon metastasized into a “nonprofit” with more than $30 million in assets including communal properties and farms in California. Members, who consisted of addicts was well as “squares” (non-drug users), were encouraged to participate in the Synanon Game, which was attack talk therapy. Children were isolated from their parents and raised by caregivers. Eventually members shaved their heads and had to be obedient to Dederich despite his brutality and manipulative behavior. The series explores how this all led to the formation of a cult.
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“What drove me to make this film is knowing that this program started as this incredible drug treatment program that was forward and visionary and taking this forward swing,” Kennedy said after the series premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. “The pillar was no drugs and alcohol and violence, then 20 or 30 years later, they had bought more firearms than any organization in the history of California and had an open bar.”
Kennedy, whose most recent prior doc investigated recent Boeing plane crashes, explores the inner machinations of Dederich’s organization via archival footage and audio recordings made at Synanon as well as interviews with former members of the cult.
Variety spoke to Kennedy and the series’ writer and executive producer Mark Bailey about the docuseries, which debuted April 1 and airs weekly, as well as what is going on with Boeing and the presidential run of her brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
How did you discover Synanon?
Bailey: Art and Laurie Pepper, wrote this terrific memoir called “Straight Life: The Story of Art Pepper” and they mentioned this whole thing that was happening in Santa Monica. It just sounded totally wild. I was like, Why have I never heard of this? With documentary pushing into series more and having a larger canvas to really tell a larger story and then also seeing audiences interest in cults, it seemed like a story that had something timely to say.
Watching members getting verbally ripped apart during the Synanon Game by fellow members of Synanon was hard. But it seemed to work for some people. Was it a good or bad technique?
Bailey: The game was very effective as a therapeutic tool or was found to be very effective with addicts, which was the first population at Synanon. For addicts playing the game in a certain way and having to confront certain truths created a level of self-awareness. That was effective but when it moved out to the broader community — the squares — it functioned differently. It moved away from therapy to more aggressive and controlling and not altogether healthy.
Kennedy: There are many people who would say that they reached a level of intimacy and connection in part because of the game. In part because there was an opportunity to talk about everything. So there was a sense, particularly during those early years, that there was nothing left unsaid. You would have these confrontations in the game, and then outside of the game you would have coffee and embrace each other and have this other level of connection. By the end you really see this deterioration of the game. Chuck would listen into the game, and then he would be able to confront people, but they couldn’t confront him.
The series documents Chuck’s dramatic shift from a sober man looking to help other addicts to a destructive drunk who required women to shave their heads, and married couples to break up and take new partners. Yet in the docuseries former members remember him as “a very moral man” and person who “knew how to fix cultures.” Did it surprise you that these former members still like Chuck?
Kennedy: Your question is kind of impossible to answer because (Synanon) was one thing and then it was a different thing. Chuck was one thing, and then he was a different thing. The people there were one thing and then they changed. There is so much that happens and the impact that it had and how these individuals make sense of it all is fascinating.
Bailey: This is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked power, but also of building community around a single personality.
The four-part documentary “Born in Synanon,” directed by Geeta Gandbhir, was released in December on Paramount+. Does a project being made at the same time about the same subject affect production?
Kennedy: This happened with “Downfall” and we have had it happen with a number of our various projects, some of which we are developing now. Our approach to it is to just stay in our lane and make the best film possible, and not to try to rush it or not to try to beat the other project. We keep our focus on making the best film we possibly can and that’s worked well for us. The truth is that 20,000 people went through Synanon. So there’s a lot of different perspectives. Synanon is such a vast story that we also really felt like there could be 20 films about it.
Why are documentaries about various cults all the rage these days?
Kennedy: I think one theory is that cults have become more popular when society feels like it’s a little out of control and unsettled. We are living through a time where people are dealing with climate change and AI and all of the divisiveness in Congress and things feel a little bit out of control. When that happens, many people look to alternative models. And I do agree with the suggestion that we are also living in this post-COVID landscape where there’s been a lot of loneliness and alienation that we haven’t quite recovered from.
In your 2022 film “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing,” you investigated two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that occurred within five months of each other in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people. The doc reveals a culture of reckless cost-cutting and corporate concealment driven by Wall Street greed. What is your take on the Jan. 5 Boeing 737 Max 9 incident?
Kennedy: The only way Boeing makes safety changes is if they’re forced to do so by the government. Or for financial reasons, but I don’t think Boeing just does that on its own. I would call for a Congressional hearing because the FAA is is investigating Boeing and there’s some good things happening, but to really get to the core, I think you have to investigate what’s happening at the CEO level and at the board level. Why does this culture that prioritizes finances over safety continue? I don’t think you can (answer) that by just looking at what happened to the actual airplane why this particular door came off, and why there weren’t bolts on it. You need to get to the larger systemic issues.
Your brother Bobby Kennedy is running for U.S.President as an independent. Do you feel like might help Trump’s chances of getting re-elected?
That’s my concern, and that’s why I’ve come out and opposed to his election. I think Biden is a fantastic president and has been enormously effective in actually getting things done. But I also think that there’s a lot at stake in this election cycle and there is a good chance that Trump could be elected. It is going to come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states. The polls that I am reading about Bobby right now show that he’s taking 70% of votes from Biden and 30% from Trump. So, I am very worried that his run will lead to Trump’s election. That will be catastrophic. I really don’t want to spend my time coming out against Bobby, it’s not really what I would choose to do, but I think the stakes are too high and I can’t stand on the sidelines, unfortunately.
The first episode of “The Synanon Fix” began airing HBO on April 1. The following three episodes will air on weekly basis and will conclude on April 22.
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