I think one of the most important impressions I’ve gotten while watching this series is to try and put myself in her shoes, to try and wrap my mind around how it must feel to believe in something so strongly, so deeply for most of your entire life only to discover that your belief was all **wrong! **
That’s difficult to do as a viewer.
I really want to like this series, but it’s pretty staged and it doesn’t have to be. It has a RHO<insert city here> meets Ellen feel to it.
Tell the stories, drop the maudlin over acting. There is no need to manipulate the viewer. They are more likely than not already on your side.
That scene made me think of the pageantry surrounding “The Hunger Games” and that the followers, voluntary or otherwise, were doomed.
*Going Clear *was the dispassionate, cerebral documentary you should see. This is the emotional one. Different audiences, and I’m glad Leah Remini chose to make this for the folks who don’t watch documentaries (and there are a lot of them.)
I’m on her side, you’re probably on her side. This is all about reaching people who didn’t know there were sides. There are a lot of people who watch TV just for the fun of getting outraged, and this is a good one for that. Maudlin overacting appeals to that group.
I’ve read a lot of books on the CoS, and honestly, there is plenty more - this is the stuff they could prove and be sure that they wouldn’t get sued.
Fair enough. Watched Going Clear. Was amazing. I was hoping for this to be… sort of… an extended version of that from one of the inside celebrities that CoS slobbered over til she turned. Just a different approach than I was hoping for.
Cannot disagree with any of this.
Yeah I’ve had a morbid fascination with this cult for years as well. It astounds me that a failed pulp sci fi writer like hubbard could inspire a cult like this. As an atheist religion to me is goofy anyway but this shit boggles my mind.
The apocryphal “if you wanna get rich start a religion” thing certainly worked.
i have spent hours reading hubbards bullshit and its just insane rambling.
Dianetics seemed like a harmless self help book in the 50s, but holy shit.
when the OTIII docs first came out on the net back in the 90s, the COS sued the shit out of anybody that posted them, but after this ludicrous crap became known they gave up. I mean DC-8 airliners depositing hordes of ppl in volcanoes? WTF?
But anyway I can see Catholics or Jews or Muslims believing shit from thousands of years ago, but Elrons bullshit? I cant even wrap my head around how ppl like cruz and travolta and remini, jenna elfman, and more could even begin to believe shit like that.
I applaud people like Leah for exposing it but they were freaking idiots.
The lower the level, the less insane. For instance, one of the entry points was acting coach Milton Katselas and his Beverly Hills Playhouse, which used their drills. That famous intense stare of Tom Cruise is probably the result of Scientology auditing. Or maybe indigestion, who knows. But again, this is not like they are advertising themselves as a flying saucer cult, that happens after you’ve given them hundreds of thousands of dollars and had hundreds of hours of auditing, and you’re committed to it.
Greta Van Susteren, who is about to leave Fux Noize for MSNBC, is herself a Scientologist. 
:eek:
I thought that was Megyn Kelly?
Greta has been a Scientologist for a long time. David Miscavige’s mother was the accountant at the law firm Greta ran with her husband John Coale.
She has a house with Clearwater too.
I’ve never heard Greta comment publicly about Scientology. She’s not a spokesman like other celebrities.
20/20 is doing a feature on Leah Remini and her fight against CoS. It started a few minutes ago.
Sorry for the late notice. I just saw it as I was channel surfing.
I just watched the episode featuring the twin brothers. It has to be the most heartbreaking one yet.
They had one badly needed light moment when the guy’s Scientology neighbor didn’t think the family dog would understand disconnection. She still plays with their dog. The stunned look on Leah’s face was priceless. 
In fairness, shunning, excommunication or whatever you call it is practiced in other religions. Scientology seems to apply it more routinely, but it’s certainly not unique to them.
Oh no, not her. Megyn Kelly knows all about the evils of Scientology. She’s interviewed Mike Rinder several times, and has also interviewed Leah. Greta wouldn’t be in the same room with either of them.
Ha. It’s actually a learned behavior. If you look, you’ll see that Kirstie Alley and John Travolta have that same stare. Leah had it but now only uses it against Scientology. All Scientologists have to do what are called “Training Routines” or TRs. The stare comes from TR-0, where the student and the instructor sit face to face and stare at each other. The student has to go 2 hours without moving any part of their body, saying anything or even making the slightest noise, moving their eyes or blinking. Marjery Wakefield (who was forced to have 6 abortions when she was in the cult) describes the hallucinations that are common with TR-0 in her book The Road To Xenu. There are a bunch of videos on YouTube about it but I haven’t watched any of them.
They gave up because they’re terrified of having David Miscavige deposed. They have the reputation of being a litigious organization, but it’s nothing more than bluster via lawyer letters now.
Scientology’s brain washing techniques are subtle, layered and very very effective. This brief article just touches on a bit of it.
I’m caught up on Leah’s show now and finding it very educational. I knew the CoS had some wacky sci-fi beliefs (would like to hear more about those on upcoming episodes) but I had no idea about the disconnection and destroying of families.
It’s hard to understand how these people are victims until you really hear their stories. The twin brother’s was particularly tragic.
from that website, on the david miscavige violence page, near the bottom
and
i wonder if a coup is in the works with rinder and remini et al?
mc
could explain why the A&E series seems to place most of the blame for the abuses at miscavige’s feet and leaves LRH mostly out of it. its a reformation movement; they’re nailing their grievances to the church door.
mc
you know all of this reminds me of what I read and seen about the freemasons in the mid 1800s …
sort of sounds like a psycho took over a somewhat harmless religion and turned it into this current mess…
That is not what happened at all. A Psycho (Hubbard) invented this scam and called it a religion. It was a way for him to control people, get their money, and have them do his bidding. When Hubbard passed on, Miscavige, another abuser, took over. Therer may have been other leaders in the interim, but it’s all Miscavige now.
Exactly. Miscavage is a True Believer in addition to being a vicious sociopath and most of the the crazy shit he is doing is Hubbard’s crazy shit.
I’ve always found it incredibly odd and suspicious that David Miscavige never gives interviews. It’s painfully obvious he is aware that in the internet age, we know many of the secret crazy stuff Scientology is supposed to believe and he would not be able to defend it in an open forum.
Really any religious leader should be willing, and probably wanting, to openly discuss their life, their faith, their beliefs, etc. Most welcome the opportunity as a way to share something that means a lot to them and can make others’ lives better.
It’s obvious Miscavige does not feel this way at all.