Is Spencer Pratt in a Cult?

Ever since Spencer Pratt came onto the scene as Heidi Montag's boyfriend in the MTV reality show, The Hills, I have wondered just what his problem is. Right from the start he steps in as this overbearing, anti-social figure hovering over Heidi's life. Heidi, the uber confident, ever social gal about town for some unknown reason lets Spencer get away with jeopardizing her job, alienating her friends and family, and making a fool of her in public. If you're unsure where that latter statement is coming from, remember the scene where Heidi catches Spencer at the club with a group of girls when he thinks Heidi is out of town? Yep, I know, it's easy to forget some of the sketchy things he has done because there have been so many.

I want to make clear that I am not saying that Spencer is in fact in a cult, just merely that his behavior leads one to wonder...

That said, I'll move on to the top four reasons why I think Spencer is in a cult.

Alienation and Isolation

Cult members and leaders are famous for their tactics of isolating a chosen new member. In order to convince the recruit that the cult or cult leader is special enough to require this level of devotion, the cult needs to alienate that person from family and friends who may disagree.

We have all noted how Spencer has slowly over the years of their relationship isolated her from her friends and family to the point where Heidi's life is Spencer.

Control

Cult leaders always play on control, they have to or the jig is up. The only way to get someone to believe that you are a deity or that your way of life is the only way of life is to shut off the thinking and questioning of cult members through continued exercise of control.

Spencer attempts to control everyone in his surroundings: Heidi, Stephanie (his sister), and Brody (his bud) and when that fails to work, we begin to see violent outbursts.

Rage

Cult leader/member often, in the beginning, seems completely unemotional, but as they feel control slip away, they begin to unravel exhibiting violent outbursts of rage.

Case in point is Spencer's recent statements of wanting to hurt Holly (Heidi's sister) and his overall distaste and anger toward Heidi's mom. His temper has clearly escalated out of control since the beginning of the show and with his growing public notoriety. If Lauren Conrad only knew that she had probably seen the best of Spencer - poor Holly.

Odd Behavior

As the loss of control continues, cult leaders exhibit odd behavior. Spencer, of late, has been covering himself in crystals to ward off the negative energy. He's got Heidi joining in, peddling the crystals to the few friends she has left. He seems to believe that if he covers himself in enough crystals, he can wish away all the other people in the world, and live in peace with Heidi.

To that I say, why don't you just move to Siberia and be done with it. Squeeze your crystal in your hand real hard and say, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...

I used to hold out hope that Heidi would end that relationship but I think she has hit the point of no return there. Good luck to them both; here's hoping they find whatever it is they're looking for.

Sites:
The Hills
MTV

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Sources:
All of the information regarding cults/cult behavior is my own general knowledge acquired over the years from TV specials and books.