After reading Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, acclaimed journalist Lawrence Wright’s excellent tome on the strange origins and bullying practices of Scientology, my first thought was, how the hell can anyone in their right mind be part of this “religion”? And after watching HBO’s documentary of the same name, which first aired last night, I really wonder how any sane person can remain involved with this group (Tom Cruise, the group’s cocksure celebrity spokesman, may have lost his marbles years ago it seems).
Scientology’s alleged tactics of intimidation, arranged relationships, and brazen practices of parading a hugely successful business as a religion are all brought to light in this damning production that profiles eight former members of the group, including former spokesmen from the highest levels of the organization as well as Wright (who was never a member but is an expert on the group). Of course, the Church of Scientology vehemently denies pretty much everything director Alex Gibney lays clear here, although no one from the organization agreed to speak to him or offer a comment for the film, and it seems he has ample documentation and interviews to back up the facts (you’d have to with an organization as litigious as Scientology).
Laid plain, the allegations in the film range from the Church of Scientology using over one thousand lawsuits against the IRS to force the government agency to declare it a religious group (and therefor tax exempt) to playing violent mind games with higher-ups while they were housed in filthy trailers to separating parents from children and forcing family members to disengage from one another forever once someone is caught having critical thoughts about Scientology.
Given the intimidation tactics Wright outlined in his book, it’s a brave feat for him to have written Going Clear, for Gibney to turn it into a documentary, and for HBO to stand behind the movie given the shitstorm the Church of Scientology may start because of it.
Of course the juiciest bits in Going Clear, both the book and documentary, involve celebrities, namely John Travolta and Tom Cruise, since actors help sell the group’s offerings to the little people. One of Travolta’s former helpers at Scientology speaks out against the group now and is on camera talking about the ways the church allegedly strong-armed the actor into staying loyal (aka keeping certain sexual secrets out of the press). But the section on Cruise offers the biggest gossipy revelations, including allegations that the church is responsible for breaking up his marriage to Nicole Kidman and turning their adopted kids against her (her father was a well known psychologist at the time and Scientology is very anti-sciences of the mental health, or really any, variety). There’s also the story of an arranged girlfriend plucked from the Scientology troops for Cruise and unceremoniously dumped a couple weeks later — of course, the Church of Scientology denies this as well.
The scariest bits, though, and what gave me crazy nightmares after I finished the movie, involve the spying, pestering, and intimidation tactics former Scientologists admit are part of the church’s scheme to keep people quiet — methods that one of these ex-members even catches on film. The fact is, people choose to become Scientology members, to hand over their money and divulge personal secrets that the church keeps forever on file. Except perhaps for the minors, no one is forcing anyone to become a member. But Wright and Gibney detail what a harrowing experience it can be to try and get away from Scientology. It’s not like you just stop going to church and still hang out with your friends. And that, in my mind, is the basic definition of a cult — a group you can join at any time, but which makes it nearly impossible to leave. It’s especially freaky, as Gibney points out at the end, as the Church of Scientology’s ranks shrink to under 50,000 members, but the property holdings keep growing worldwide, including, of course, an outpost here in San Francisco (located at the border of the Financial District and North Beach on Montgomery) and nearby bases in Berkeley, San Jose, Los Gatos, and Mountain View.
Given the intimidation tactics Wright outlined in his book, it’s a brave feat for him to have written Going Clear, for Gibney to turn the book into a documentary, and for HBO to stand behind the movie, especially given the shitstorm the Church of Scientology may start because of it. (For now the church has created a pretty bizarre Twitter response to the documentary, which of course is anything but boring.). Hopefully this is the beginning of a growing trend where people feel empowered, instead of cowering, in the face of this frightening organization.
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Photo courtesy of HBO
