Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jossi (talk | contribs) at 05:04, 8 November 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Lord of the Universe
Video box cover
Directed by	Top Value Television
Produced by	David Loxton, Top Value Television
Edited by	John. J. Godfrey Wendy Appel
Distributed by	Subtle Communications
Release dates	1974 VHS edition 1991
Running time	58:27 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	USD$30,000

Lord of the Universe is a 1974 satirical documentary film about Guru Maharaj ji, now known as Prem Rawat, at an event in November 1973 at the Houston Astrodome called "Millennium '73". A speech by one of Maharaj ji's followers, Rennie Davis is featured in the documentary, as well as criticism from Abbie Hoffman. Maharaj ji is later shown at a press conference, answering questions from reporters about claims his followers have made about him. The term "Lord of the Universe" was later used in articles in Rolling Stone and TIME about Maharaj ji and the Divine Light Mission organization. The documentary was first broadcast on PBS on February 2, 1974, and released in a VHS format on November 1, 1991.

The documentary was generally well-received, and garnered its TVTV production team the 1974 Alfred I. du Pont/Columbia University Award in Broadcast Journalism (DuPont Award). The documentary received a negative review in the New York Post, and positive reviews in The New York Times and the Chicago Sun-Times. The San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote that the TVTV team had improved since their previous work, but wanted them to move on to more challenging subjects.

Content

The documentary chronicles Prem Rawat, his followers and anti-Vietnam War activist Rennie Davis, at an event in November 1973 at the Houston Astrodome, "Millennium '73", which was billed as the: "most significant event in the history of humanity." According to Thomson Gale, the rapidly developing movement ran into trouble, beginning with its inability to fill the Houston Astrodome in a highly publicized event." Rennie Davis, a follower of Guru Maharaj Ji, was one of the spokespersons and speakers at the Millennium '73 event. His speech is featured in the documentary. He said about Guru Maharaj Ji "When I went to see Guru Maharaj Ji, it was not to embrace God, but to see what he could show me. And all I can do now is be honest about what happened. Guru Maharaj Ji showed me God."

According to a review in Electronic Arts Intermix and as displayed on the front-cover of the 1991 edition, a cynical Abbie Hoffman commented: "If this guy is God, this is the God the United States of America deserves." At the time of the Astrodome event Hoffman was in hiding after breaking his bail conditions whilst awaiting trial for the alleged attempted sale of cocaine worth an estimated $500,000 on August 29, 1973. Hoffman was co-founder of the Youth International Party, and author of Steal This Book. The back cover of the 1991 VHS release, features an undated statement in the The Los Angeles Times that says: "Those premies who came in private cars can leave now" says a loudspeaker voice. "Those who came in rented buses can stay and meditate until further notice."

Rolling Stone Magazine subsequently wrote an article in 1974 utilizing the term "Lord of the Universe". A compilation of articles in Rolling Stone described a press conference with Maharaj ji on the second day of the "Millennium" event. A reporter asked Maharaj ji about the extraordinary claims made by his followers, to which he responds: "Respect me as a humble servant of God trying to establish peace in the world." The reporter then asks why there is such a contradiction between what he says about himself and what his followers say about him, to which Maharaj Ji responded: "Well... why don't you do me a favor ... Why don't you go to the devotees and ask their explanation about it?" A later article in 1975 in TIME Magazine reported on the use of the term "Lord of the Universe", by devotees of Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission. Events depicted in the film were further described in Kahn's Rolling Stone: The Seventies. Author Bob Larson also attended the event, and described it in Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality.

Production

The documentary was produced by Top Value Television (TVTV) and shown on PBS Television to a national audience in the United States on February 2, 1974, and re-released to VHS on November 1, 1991, by Subtle Communications. The trailer was originally broadcast on WNET Channel Thirteen television. TVTV's team utilized graphics, live music, and wide angle lens shots. The production was the first Portapak video documentary made for national television, and it was also the "first program originally made on 1/2-inch video tape to be broadcast nationally."

In 1991 a VHS video edition was released. On the packaging it is claimed that Guru Maharaj Ji "promised to levitate the Astrodome". The only reference to this in the video is by a believer who states "I would like to bet anyone who wishes to make some 'green energy' that by November 15, the Houston Astrodome will physically separate from the planet which we call Earth and will fly." Reviewers of the documentary including: TVRO, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Art Journal repeat this claim in varying forms.

Reception

Awards

The documentary received the 1974 Alfred I. du Pont/Columbia University Award in Broadcast Journalism (DuPont Award). The jurors from the 1974 DuPont-Columbia awards stated that the documentary was: "hectic, hilarious and not a little disquieting. With a heavier and less sure hand, the subject would have been squashed beneath the reporters’ irony or contempt. As it was, cult religion was handed to us, live and quivering, to make of it what we would." The group’s work impressed WNET president John Jay Iselin , and he raised additional funds which helped TVTV to produce five more programs, including Gerald Ford’s America.

Reviews

The documentary received mostly positive reviews, but did receive some criticism in the New York Post, where Bob Williams called it a "deplorable film" and "flat, pointless, television". He wrote: "The hour-long program was remiss in not providing some small examination of the available box-office take of the goofy kid guru, much less telling prospective contributors how it got involved in spending how much of its foundation grants and viewer subscription money in such a questionable venture without more inquisitive journalistic endeavor, or ignoring gurus." Katy Butler writing in the San Francisco Bay Guardian stated that the TVTV style had improved since their previous work, noting: "This show has fewer interjections from TVTV personnel, fewer moments that drag, more technological razzle-dazzle (color footage, slow motion, stop motion, tight and rapid cutting)." However, she also described Guru Maharaji and his entourage as "an easy target," and wrote that "anybody can look like a fool when a smartass wide angle lens distorts their face, and teenage ex-dopers who think a fat boy is God don't stand a chance." Butler wished that TVTV would move on to more challenging subjects for their future work.

John J. O'Connor, of The New York Times described TVTV's work as "a terrific documentary," and complimented the team on the visual results of the piece, noting: "After TVTV superbly dissected the guru, his 'holy family' and his followers, more objective viewers might have chosen to laugh, cry, or throw up." Ron Powers of the Chicago Sun Times called the documentary "highly recommended viewing," and described it as: "..both as an example of skeptical, unimpressed (but never vicious) journalism, and as a peek into the future of television...a clever, ironic and eventually devastating documentary." Electronic Arts Intermix described Lord of the Universe as "a forceful expose on the sixteen-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji and the national gathering of his followers at the Houston Astrodome."

Credits

Source

See also

• Parody religion
• Religious satire

References

1. ^ "Video History Project: Resources - People Text". Retrieved 2007-11-07.Set in Motion: The New York State Council on the Arts Celebrates 30 Years of Independents: On Television], Video History Project, Leanne Mella, 1994
   It was to the Lab’s director, the late David Loxton, that Michael Shamberg of Top Value Television (TVTV) brought his proposal for The Lord of the Universe, an hour-long documentary on the activities of the Guru Maharaj Ji. At a time when television news organizations had yet to make the leap from 16mm film, TVTV linked the styles and techniques of the New Journalism then in vogue to emerging video technologies, thus pioneering a new means of imagemaking for television...Like other TVTV projects, The Lord of the Universe was produced for about $30,000. WNET’s President, John Jay Iselin, was so impressed with the group’s work, that he raised additional private funds to allow the Lab to commission five more TVTV programs, among them the series Gerald Ford’s America.
2. ^ Staff. "Video Preview: Lord Of The Universe". MediaBurn Independent Video Archive. 2006 FITV. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
3. ^ Staff. "The Lord of the Universe". Electronic Arts Intermix. 1997-2007 Electronic Arts Intermix. Retrieved 2007-11-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
   "The Lord of the Universe", 1974, TVTV
   Awarded the Alfred I. du Pont/Columbia University Award in Broadcast Journalism, The Lord of the Universe is a forceful expose on the sixteen-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji and the national gathering of his followers at the Houston Astrodome -- Millennium 73, billed as the "most significant event in the history of humanity. In the last word on the events, a cynical Abbie Hoffman comments, "If this guy is God, this is the God the United States of America deserves."
4. "Guru Maharaj Ji". Biography Resource Center. Thomson Gale, Farmington Hills, Michigan. 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
   Through the mid-1970s the rapidly developing movement ran into trouble, beginning with its inability to fill the Houston Astrodome in a highly publicized event, Millennium 73.
5. Kent, Dr. Stephen A. (2001). From slogans to mantras: social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam war era. Syracuse University. pp. page 52. ISBN Syracuse University. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
6. Cameron, Charles (November 1973). Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? (book). Bantam Books, Inc. pp. Introduction. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Staff (November 1, 1991). "Distributed by Subtle Communications". Lord of the Universe, VHS. Subtle Communications, 1208 W. Webster, Chicago, Il 60614. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
8. "Hoffman Held in Narcotics Case". The Washington Post. August 29, 1973.
9. Staff (March 14, 1974). "When The Lord of All The Universe Played Houston". Rolling Stone Magazine. pp. Pp. 36-50. {{cite news}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
10. ^ Kahn, Ashley (1998). Rolling Stone: The Seventies. Little, Brown and Company. pp. Section: 1973: "Who's your guru" by Richard Michael Levine. ISBN 0316815470. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
11. "One Lord too Many". Time Magazine. Time Warner. April 28, 1975. Retrieved 2007-11-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    Guru Maharaj Ji is worshiped as the "Lord of the Universe" by devotees of the Divine Light Mission in many countries round the world.
12. Larson, Bob (2004). Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. pp. 149–153. ISBN 084236417X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
13. ^ Staff (Awarded: 1974). "The Lord of the Universe". DuPont-Columbia Award. Columbia University, The Journalism School. pp. Subject: RELIGION. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    The Lord of the Universe, Subject: RELIGION, News Organization: TVTV, Awarded: 1974, Summary, Silver baton. 16-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji and his American following at a three day spiritual festival. Producer: David Loxton., Jurors' Comments, TVTV and WNET/13’s "The Lord of the Universe," a 60-minute report on Guru Maharaj Ji, was, according to the jurors, hectic, hilarious and not a little disquieting. With a heavier and less sure hand, the subject would have been squashed beneath the reporters’ irony or contempt. As it was, cult religion was handed to us, live and quivering, to make of it what we would., Original Air Date: 2/24/1974. Total Running Time: 01:00:00, Archive Number: 1973/74.9.TV
14. ^ Boyle, Deirdre (Autumn, 1985). "Subject to Change". Art Journal. pp. Vol. 45, No. 3, Video: The Reflexive Medium, pp. 228-232. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
15. ^ Staff. "Lord of the Universe". Video Data Bank. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
16. High, Kathy. "On Reel New York". thirteen WNET New York. WNET. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
    "THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE, for example, a documentation of Guru Maharaj Ji's Millennium '73 revival meeting at the Houston Astrodome by Michael Shamberg's TVTV group, was edited at the TV Lab. This was the first program originally made on 1/2-inch video tape to be broadcast nationally."
17. Staff. "TVRO: Lord of the Universe (1974)". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
18. Staff. "The Lord of the Universe [videorecording] : Guru Maharaj Ji / for TVTV". Cruzcat Catalog. University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 2007-11-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
19. Wiliams, Bob (February 25, 1974). "On the Air". New York Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
20. Butler, Kay (February 28, 1974). "Dissecting the Guru on the Tube". San Francisco Bay Guardian. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
21. O'Connor, John J. (February 25, 1974). "TV: Meditating on Young Guru and His Followers". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
22. Powers, Ron (March 16, 1974). "'Participatory TV Goes to Guru Gala". Chicago Sun Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• Streaming video, Media Burn Independent Video Archive (mediaburn.org)
• 3-minute excerpt, Creative Commons License, Internet Archive

• 1974 films
• Prem Rawat
• American films
• Satirical films
• Religion films
• American documentary films
• English-language films
• Films set in Texas
• DuPont-Columbia Award recipients
• Documentary television films
• Parodies