Binge-worthy: Ashley Madison docuseries uncovers murkier corners of human psychology
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In a scene from the Netflix docuseries Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal, Christian vlogger Sam Rader and his wife Nia released an apology video after his name came up in the Ashley Madison user data leak.
PHOTO: NETFLIX
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Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal
Netflix
3 stars
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal – a docuseries about a Canadian online dating service aimed at people looking to cheat on their romantic partners – is a morality tale, marketing study and whodunnit rolled into one.
From May 13 to 19, it was the second most-watched English-language show on Netflix globally and the fourth most popular Netflix series in Singapore.
Through interviews with former staff, customers and reporters, the three-part series tracks the spectacular growth of the Ashley Madison website from its 2002 launch to the infamous 2015 data breach that saw hackers expose millions of users’ identities.
A story thick with irony, it peers into some of the murkier corners of human psychology. Here are a few reasons to delve into the sex, lies and scandal.
1. Cornering the adultery market
The 2000s saw the launch of several major online dating websites, but Ashley Madison was easily the most radical.
A founder heard that 30 per cent of users on conventional dating websites were actually married and saw a gap in the market.
So Ashley Madison was launched with the tagline, “Life is short. Have an affair”.
Thus began a stream of provocative marketing messages designed to rationalise being unfaithful, including that it might even save a marriage to have a discreet affair, ideally with someone married too.
And it worked. By 2015, the site had 35 million to 40 million members in dozens of countries and was a cash cow.
2. Lies upon lies
In hindsight, it surprises no one that a company promoting dishonesty would be less than forthright itself.
The most glaring lie was about how safe users’ data would be – and the show later reveals several other strategic fibs.
Meanwhile, the users were lying through their teeth, and the fallout from the hack in 2015 exposed everyone from school teachers to celebrities.
The show interviews a few of them, but the most memorable – and possibly the least sincere – is Christian vlogger Sam Rader, who realised he might lose both his marriage and YouTube career.
3. An inkblot test
The data leak was extensively reported, so there is little new information in the series, apart from the speculation about who was behind the hack.
It is far more interesting seeing how people compartmentalise and rationalise their behaviour.
The show is also a Rorschach test, with viewers who have been unfaithful themselves more likely to be sympathetic.
The forgiving wife of one user even quotes a biblical verse about “not casting the first stone”, believing everyone has secrets they would be ashamed of but should not be condemned for.
But the biggest kicker is that despite the fiasco, Ashley Madison has grown bigger than ever, and claims to have 70 million active users today.
