Poster for Going Clear
Going Clear is a documentary by Alex Gibney, based on Lawrence Wright’s book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, which had its publication cancelled in the UK (you can get it on amazon, though). Wright originally wrote about Scientology for The New Yorker, profiling Paul Haggis leaving the organisation, and article which can be found here. Read it, then read The Looming Tower, Wright’s book on Al Qaeda. The watch The Siege, which he wrote the screenplay for, a prescient 1998 film about a terror attack in New York that became a surprise hit after 9/11.
I have no issue with the beliefs of Scientology. Believing that millions of years ago Xenu transported billions of people to Earth (then called Teegeeack) in ‘planes that look like DC-8s, placed them in volcanoes and killed them with hydrogen bombs is no more ridiculous than the belief than believing the Jesus was resurrected, Moses was told to lead the Israelites by a burning bush, or that the Qur’an is the exact word of Allah. Hindus, like Glenn Hoddle, believe people pay for their sins in previous lives.
My issue comes not from their ideology, but their practices. If you leave, friends and family don’t speak to you anymore; you are labelled a “suppressive person”, if you join their Sea Org, one of the organisations within Scientology, you have to sign a billion year contract.
Scientologists hate psychiatry. I’m not sure why. as the “audits” a member must undertake seem a lot like therapy; you go over incidents in your life and try to resolve them. The trouble is, the person auditing you writes down everything you say. The film alleges that Tom Cruise’s audits were filmed.
Obviously, we can only speculate about what Cruise, or John Travolta might reveal in an audit, and wonder why they have stayed in a “church” for so long. Cruise isn’t stupid; I’ve had to watch Collateral (you haven’t seen Collateral? What the fuck are you doing with your life? Great film, nice FNL links. All good films lead back to Dillon, Texas, now.) while writing this to remind me how good he can be after seeing him salute a picture of L Ron Hubbard, a liar and fantasist, a cosying up to David Miscavige, the current head of Scientology and whose wife hasn’t been seen in public since 2007, a fact curiously missing from the film. Reading between the lines, Cruise and Travolta have probably said something that would be damaging to their careers if it were revealed, so they stay in. It is alleged that Scientologists in Sea Org provide cheap labour for Cruise, so it obviously has its benefits.
It’s worth noting that people that leave Scientology continue to practice the religion outside the organisation. Mark Rathbun, interviewed in the documentary, was one of these Freezoners, or Independent Scientologists. They obviously believe it works, or maybe they just have Stockholm Syndrome.
It’s obvious that Scientology is a cult, and shouldn’t be given tax exempt status. Believe what you want to believe, but don’t force your beliefs on others, or attack those that criticise you. That’s not the sign of a mature religion with confidence in itself. Katie Holmes divorced Cruise because she didn’t want their daughter growing up in a dangerous religion. Holmes now attends a Catholic Church, which of course is not a dangerous religion at all and has never harmed anyone.
The film itself is a little long, but beautifully shot (there’s something about digital and people’s faces). There are great drone shots of the ridiculous Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles. It’s worth watching, but if you’re the sort of person who reads about this shit anyway (like I am) you won’t learn anything new. I’m looking forward to the next Mission: Impossible film slightly less now.
films in middle depth 