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Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (Documentary)

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Neglify

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Trailer

Currently in theaters for a limited two-week run, in NY LA & SF. Will premiere on HBO on March 29th.

Based off a book by Lawrence Wright, this documentary explores the cult of $cientology. This is a subject I have first-hand experience with, and it can be some scary shit sometimes being in a cult. I saw the film tonight (on Hubbard's birthday) and thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a great starter package for someone looking to know the crazy stuff without too much Googling. But do read Wikipedia pages for sure, about L. Ron Hubbard, David Miscavige, Scientology, et al.

This article gives a great summation of the film and what it covers. The premiere anti-$cientology website.

You should also watch $cientology's official "slam video" for this documentary. These videos are used within the Church in ethics cycles to "dead agent the black propaganda" when Scilons are caught reading naughty stuff on the internet. It is pretty fascinating to watch though, as they show off their lavish slave camps. I would love to mash-up audio from the Gibney doc with some of this type of footage.

Alex Gibney Propanganda Video


Also of note, here is $cientology's "slam video" they made about Haggis when he defected in 2009. This is the dorkiest rinky-dink slander video ever, funky cool dumb editing.

The Many Personas of Paul Haggis

Also, for kicks, if you've never seen it, here's the full uncut Cruise video from 2004.

 
I don't know why but I've got a sudden craving for some ants...

antcandy3.jpg


I'll look out for that doc (The trailer won't play in my region though).
 
a neg sighting! [insert complicated hand signals here] with a recommendation, no less—huzzah. will check out the docu when i can, man.
 
Fascinating. As a non-HBOer, I hope this shows up on Netflix someday.
 
Hola, Neg! Hope you're well, hombre. :)

I read the New Yorker article on Haggis that started this whole thing, then read part of the Going Clear book. I stopped about halfway through its bio of Hubbard, which is its first section, not because it wasn't crazy and/or entertaining (it totally was), but because I felt I'd gotten my fill of the subject. Scientology ropes you in as a self-esteem/self-help support group, while collecting generous fees, then lets those who've pre-approved themselves through service and dedication join the full-on (increasingly-less) "classified" inner cult within.

Hubbard's actual life is probably too weird and loopy to fit into a single movie, which may be why The Master, which I still haven't seen, is not really that. If one did fit his whole life into three dramatized hours, there'd be a lot of skipping around, making it feel like the highlight reel of a 9-hour miniseries, which is why HBO should totally make a 9-hour miniseries on his life, a la John Adams.

Or - you what could also be very cool? A half-hour HBO dramedy about new recruits of Scientology-like organization in LA. First, we spend a few episodes with our protagonist, who's only dimly aware of the organization via Dianetics-like billboards and on-the-street recruiters she ignores. Then, in episode four or so, she agrees to go to an indoctrination session. Over the next few episodes, she starts to adjust her life to, and feel comfortable with, this new experience, and meets a cute guy during the group sessions. Then, in the wham episode, just after our hero's friends and family hold an intervention to break her free, she discovers that the religion is actually completely legit, and due to an interplanetary emergency, she has to be promoted to a high-level member real fast! At which point the series turns into a Scientology/Power Rangers/Friends mashup, with her previous friends and society at large continuing to believe she's being victimized by a shameless cult, when in reality she and her new pals are saving the world on the regular, and on a shoestring budget of most of their regular income. Then, before this new status quo/joke gets too stale, there's a Gainax Ending, and the series ends in a cosmic brouhaha. :-D
 
TV's Frink said:
Fascinating. As a non-HBOer, I hope this shows up on Netflix someday.
Click to expand...

I doubt it will be on Netflix, maybe in a year or something. But, if you're a DirectTV member, there should be a free HBO weekend Apr 10-13 and Going Clear will be playing then.
 
Pictures aren't working.

I'm on Comcast, maybe they'll have a free preview at some point. And if it ever comes out on DVD, I can do the Netflix disc thing.
 
Pricing for the “Going Clear” on Vimeo has not yet been determined.
Click to expand...

Bah, humbug.
 
i previously missed that OT thread. i had some idea from our previous convos, but wowsers.

brother neg, hope you're well, and i'z fifths & sixths what bingowings said.

hope life is brimming with goodness & positivity, man. create a beautiful path and walk it, brother.
 
ssj said:
i previously missed that OT thread. i had some idea from our previous convos, but wowsers.
Click to expand...

^^ Concur. What the aero hip thrust guy said.
 
hi neg good to hear from u again.
i have never put any thought in to this stuff before.
i dont even know anything about it except that tom cruse and john Travolta are in it.
so i will have to give this a look just to see what Scientology is.
 
reaper18783x said:
hi neg good to hear from u again.
i have never put any thought in to this stuff before.
i dont even know anything about it except that tom cruse and john Travolta are in it.
Click to expand...
In a nutshell, it's a cult that hooks in members by initially pretending to be something akin to a self-improvement course, then brainwashes its members, bilks thousands (at a minimum) of dollars out of them, and controls their lives. Its teachings start out sounding semi-sorta-kinda-plausible, but as its members become more and more brainwashed, they are taught to believe concepts that are hilariously ridiculous. They are taught that their problems are caused by an infestation of "engrams" (painful memories not accessible to the analytical section of the mind) that have latched onto their thetans (souls), and that all non-Scientology religions (Christianity, Buddhism, etc) are the results of people's thetans having been brainwashed in a past life.

Below is a video briefly telling the "origin story" of Scientology that members are taught to believe as fact once they have been brainwashed and swindled enough to reach OT level 3 (OT means Operating Thetan.)


I kid you not. They really do teach that, although they try their best to deny it to the public.

It started with L. Ron Hubbard. He was a pulp science fiction writer during the 1930s and 1940s that got tired of the low pay and hard work associated with his craft. He was also a con man always on the lookout for some easy money. In 1950, he published a pseudo-scientific philosophy/self-help book called "Dianetics". In 1952, he created a "religion" called Scientology based on the ideas he had created in "Dianetics", and established the "Church of Scientology" in 1953. This "church", of course, required a number of substantial payments to rise within its levels.

Ever since then, Scientology has continued to recruit members (usually people suffering from depression, drug addiction, or other such problems) by promising to fix all their problems, then bilk as much money as it can from said members. It requires that members tell all of their secrets during a process called "auditing", in which they hold parts of an "E-meter" (a sort of crude polygraph that can supposedly detect engrams). Scientology uses auditing sessions to implant false memories of past lives in its members, and also allegedly uses the secrets gained through auditing to blackmail uncooperative members. Scientology has been involved in many shady matters, such as infiltrating the United States government, stalking and harassing members and former members and their families, doing their best to slander and sue the living daylights out of anyone that tries to expose their dark secrets, and allegedly making certain people "disappear".

They keep the truth from their members by forbidding them to read about Scientology from sources outside of those provided by the "church" or associating with people that are critical of Scientology. They also teach that all psychiatry is evil. They use those of their members that are celebrities (Tom Cruise, John Travolta, etc) to promote Scientology, and try to present it to the public as a glamorous "religion of the rich and famous".
 
hbenthow said:
In a nutshell, it's a cult that hooks in members by initially pretending to be something akin to a self-improvement course, then brainwashes its members, bilks thousands (at a minimum) of dollars out of them, and controls their lives. Its teachings start out sounding semi-sorta-kinda-plausible, but as its members become more and more brainwashed, they are taught to believe concepts that are hilariously ridiculous. They are taught that their problems are caused by an infestation of "engrams" (painful memories not accessible to the analytical section of the mind) that have latched onto their thetans (souls), and that all non-Scientology religions (Christianity, Buddhism, etc) are the results of people's thetans having been brainwashed in a past life.

Below is a video briefly telling the "origin story" of Scientology that members are taught to believe as fact once they have been brainwashed and swindled enough to reach OT level 3 (OT means Operating Thetan.)


I kid you not. They really do teach that, although they try their best to deny it to the public.

It started with L. Ron Hubbard. He was a pulp science fiction writer during the 1930s and 1940s that got tired of the low pay and hard work associated with his craft. He was also a con man always on the lookout for some easy money. In 1950, he published a pseudo-scientific philosophy/self-help book called "Dianetics". In 1952, he created a "religion" called Scientology based on the ideas he had created in "Dianetics", and established the "Church of Scientology" in 1953. This "church", of course, required a number of substantial payments to rise within its levels.

Ever since then, Scientology has continued to recruit members (usually people suffering from depression, drug addiction, or other such problems) by promising to fix all their problems, then bilk as much money as it can from said members. It requires that members tell all of their secrets during a process called "auditing", in which they hold parts of an "E-meter" (a sort of crude polygraph that can supposedly detect engrams). Scientology uses auditing sessions to implant false memories of past lives in its members, and also allegedly uses the secrets gained through auditing to blackmail uncooperative members. Scientology has been involved in many shady matters, such as infiltrating the United States government, stalking and harassing members and former members and their families, doing their best to slander and sue the living daylights out of anyone that tries to expose their dark secrets, and allegedly making certain people "disappear".

They keep the truth from their members by forbidding them to read about Scientology from sources outside of those provided by the "church" or associating with people that are critical of Scientology. They also teach that all psychiatry is evil. They use those of their members that are celebrities (Tom Cruise, John Travolta, etc) to promote Scientology, and try to present it to the public as a glamorous "religion of the rich and famous".
Click to expand...

that is messed up thanks for letting me know. it sounds insane.
i think i will stick to what i am now and that is not believe in anything till i see it for my self.
thanks hbenthow.

i still wanna see the doco when it comes out, i wanna see ants hahahahahahaha
 
Finally got the chance to watch this and I must say, fantastic documentary.
 
There's also an interesting two-part BBC documentary about Scientology from the show "Panorama" with John Sweeney, with the first part called "Scientology and Me" and the second "Secrets of Scientology". In a way, it makes a good prequel to "Going Clear", because one or two of the people that are still Scientologists in the "Panorama" episodes later left Scientology and agreed to tell their stories in "Going Clear". In other words, you get to see a "before and after" of them if you watch both "Scientology and Me/Secrets of Scientology" and "Going Clear".
 
One of the neat things about the move we just completed is we were able to get a new deal from Comcast that includes all the movie channels for less than we were paying before we moved (for 2 years, anyway).

Yay, Going Clear on HBO On Demand soon :)
 
I watched this the other day. Fantastic documentary. I knew a little about how powerful they were but it is downright scary. Much respect for those who shared their story, likely at their risk.
 
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