‘How To Become A Cult Leader’ Dives Into How Jaime Gomez Made His Followers “Try Out” Plastic Surgery Procedures To See the Results

Ever heard of Jaime Gomez or his Buddhafield cult? The third episode of Netflix’s latest true crime series How To Become A Cult Leader is bound to leave you scarred. While the brutal cult leader didn’t drive his disciples to death, like many others, he still left permanent scars on them.

Gomez was driven to start his cult after failing to make it in Hollywood, and many of his practices emulated the exclusivity of the movie industry. The cult leader was picky when it came to bringing in new followers and he often forced them to cater to his whims, ensuring that he was living a life of high class. Pushing it a step further, he forcibly made cult members get plastic surgery to ensure that they were collectively appealing. 

At first, Gomez preyed on his followers’ insecurities and encouraged them to undergo plastic surgery for their own sake. But eventually, he began making them test new procedures that he was interested in getting on his own body, in order to see how they looked. 

The Netflix documentary describes this as Gomez’s need for conformity. One former victim stated, “The boys had to shave their chest. He [Gomez] didn’t like hair on the boy’s chest.” And another echoed, “If you didn’t like what you were wearing, either change it or face public ridicule.”

These expectations reached an extreme when Gomez began increasing his level of Botox and silicone implants, and expected his followers to do the same. “People got chin implants, cheek implants, stuff you put in your lips,” one interview subject said. 

“He would have people try out certain things to see what the procedure was and what it would look like after it was done,” another stressed. “I did see a lot of beautiful people go through these procedures.”

In addition to controlling their image, Gomez controlled the way people ate, which many claim was the type of conformity that was the most heavily enforced. The followers were not allowed to consume dairy, wheat, pork, beef, caffeine, alcohol, gluten or sugar. 

In our review of the documentary, we drew parallels to how Gomez’s rulings emulate certain trends on social media, especially in relation to plastic surgery and diets. The series circles back to the point in the final episode when two cult experts meditate on how now “is the perfect time to start a cult” due to the rise of social media and the easiness of manipulating algorithms.

How to Become A Cult Leader is currently streaming on Netflix.