Bordering the line between mainstream popularity and subversive, underground fame, dozens of actors throughout the history of modern cinema have displayed unconventional characteristics that have made them cult heroes in certain subsections of movie fandom. Thanks to their eccentricity, the likes of Nicolas Cage, Gary Busey, and the horror icon Bruce Campbell have each magnetised loyal fans from across the globe, yet there’s a line between cult fame and the act of actually inspiring the creation of a real-life pseudo-religion, an accolade the late Robin Williams would surely rather not have.
Despite passing away in 2014, Williams became a key source of inspiration for the former religious leader Amy Carlson, who created a cult where she channelled the spirit of the deceased actor, presumably after having watched 1997’s Flubber one time too many. The ambitiously titled ‘Love Has Won’, also known as ‘The Galactic Federation of Light’, which sounds like a Star Wars organisation based at Sunderland F.C., was a new religious movement that boasted just 25 full-time members at its peak.
Though described as a normal student in her youth, Carlson became curious about the whacky side of philosophy after finding Lightworkers.org, a forum where she met Amerith WhiteEagle, an individual who began to claim that Carlson was a divine being. Together, WhiteEagle and Carlson formed what was eventually named ‘Love Has Won’, with the latter leaving her husband, family and job at McDonald’s to pursue her new career, contacting deceased celebrities from beyond the grave.
Settling down in Colorado, as if this whole nonsense was part of an episode of South Park, the small group gathered, proclaiming that Carlson was 19 billion years old and had been reincarnated 534 times, even as some of history’s most iconic figures, including Joan of Arc, Marilyn Monroe and Cleopatra. Supposedly, Carlson was a deity of extreme power who would lead 144,000 followers to a higher plane of existence yet still had time to pay Dr. Phil a visit in 2020.
Indeed, fitting in with the theory that this was all just a South Park episode come true, Carlson claimed to need to regularly confer with ‘The Galactics’, a team of spiritual leaders, much like the ‘Super Best Friends’ for advice and general guidance. On this team of entertainment Avengers were John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Robin Williams and (the very much alive) Donald Trump, who kindly took time out of their schedules to help Carlson with her endeavours.
Misinterpreting Williams’ advice to “seize the day” and Jackson’s plea to “take a look at yourself and then make a change”, Carlson created a culture of fear and conspiracy, encouraging her followers to make money flogging body butter and moisturising kits online. After years of preaching such beliefs and regularly contacting The Galactics, eventually calling Williams the archangel Zadkiel, in 2021, the group reported having “ascended” following the death of their leader, who passed away after ingesting an abundance of colloidal silver, a substance conspiracy theorists believed could cure Covid-19.
Love had, indeed, not won in the end, with many former members having reported gross mistreatment during their time in the cult, with several of their experiences being documented in HBO’s Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God. Even with the guidance of Williams, Lennon and the rest of the good bunch, a loving ethos couldn’t be conjured, with The Galactic Federation of Light crumbling as quickly as it came.
