# John Travolta in Battlefield Earth - Scientology plot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 16, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745 "2000-03-16T13:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulYeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e36b37/32.png) [@PaulYeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulYeah)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/1 "2000-03-16T13:54:00Z")
John Travolta co-produced and is starring in am upcoming film adaptation of L. Ron Hubbard’s sci-fi novel Battlefield Earth. As I understand it, Travolta is a Scientologist. Is this part of some master-plan to promote Scientology? Does it matter? Why does this make me paranoid? Just look at him posing with the BE novel: [http://www.battlefieldearth.com/movie/movie.html](http://www.battlefieldearth.com/movie/movie.html) Paul Yeah ---
**Author:** ![PaulYeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e36b37/32.png) [@PaulYeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulYeah)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/2 "2000-03-16T13:56:00Z")
Sorry, I probably should have posted this to MPSIMS. ☹ Paul Yeah ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/3 "2000-03-16T14:00:00Z")
All this paranoia about Scientology is getting a little silly. I mean, frogs flyingg aboutt, since we quertle frins behob and ghosble. Right? ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/4 "2000-03-16T15:00:00Z")
Ok, there is one really big problem I have with Travolta playing this part. In the book Terl (Travolta’s part) is a 9 foot tall purple alien that weighs like 800 pounds. I just can’t envision the ‘boy in the bubble’ in this role! * * * Carpe Jugulum ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/5 "2000-03-16T15:04:00Z")
I dunno, aenea. He **did** beef up quite a bit for Pulp Fiction, y’know. Waste Flick Lives! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/6 "2000-03-16T17:32:00Z")
Yeah, why should Travolta get that role when so many 9-foot purple alien actors need work? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/7 "2000-03-17T03:57:00Z")
My understanding is that Travolta pushed, hard, to get this movie produced, and insisted on starring as the 800 pound purple alien. Just walk up to him and make a hand-motion that looks like a clam opening and closing its shell. That ought to shut him up. \ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2000, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/8 "2000-03-17T09:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by tracer: > **Just walk up to him and make a hand-motion that looks like a clam opening and closing its shell. That ought to shut him up. \** huh? ---
**Author:** ![Greyson3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/258eb7/32.png) [@Greyson3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greyson3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2000, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/9 "2000-03-18T06:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Larry Borgia: > \*\* huh?\*\* [http://www.xenu.net/clam\_faq.html](http://www.xenu.net/clam_faq.html) That is, if you DARE! (cue spooky music) ---
**Author:** ![FreakFreely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@FreakFreely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakFreely)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/10 "2000-05-01T02:23:14Z")
Well, I don’t think it’s a scientologist plot. If you look at the ads and the webpage, you’ll see that the producers are trying to distance this movie from scientology as much as possible. In fact, on the webpage, [http://www.battlefieldearth.com](http://www.battlefieldearth.com), it has a bio of Hubbard, and it doesn’t mention dianetics or scientology even once. And the scientology website seems to make no mention of the Battlefield Earth film, neither does Operation Clambake, the leading web-authority on scientologist debunking. So if it is a conspiricy, I’d bet it has more to do with money than spreading their tendrils. But then, everything scientology gets involved in is in some way a persuit of money anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/11 "2000-05-01T02:58:14Z")
On the other hand, all of the message boards about this movie that I can find have been flooded by Scientologists who insist that _Battlefield Earth_ is the greatest science fiction novel of all time, and the movie(which they haven’t even seen yet) is destined to be an Academy Award winner. As far as parallels between the movie and Scientology go, I don’t think it’s any great coincidence that the villians in the movie are mind-controllers call “Psychlons”, and Scientology teaches that psychologists are evil mind-controllers. ---
**Author:** ![JDeMobray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@JDeMobray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDeMobray)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/12 "2000-05-01T03:03:56Z")
Geez, a cult that doesn’t like psychologists. Really makes you wonder what the world is coming to doesn’t it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/13 "2000-05-01T14:30:59Z")
I think I only read the first two books or so…I wonder how much the movie resembles the books? The previews seem to indicate your regular alien shoot-em-up. ---
**Author:** ![PeeQueue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@PeeQueue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeeQueue)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/14 "2000-05-01T14:44:08Z")
carnivorousplant: You may be thinking of the Mission Earth series by L. Ron Hubbard. He also wrote a book called Battlefield Earth which was not part of a series. PeeQueue ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/15 "2000-05-01T14:46:28Z")
Carn, you’re thinking of someting else. Battlefield Earth was only one (big) book. It’s not based on that ten-book series Hubbard wrote, that I assume you are referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/16 "2000-05-01T14:51:23Z")
The 10 book thing was the “Mission Earth Dekalogy”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/17 "2000-05-01T15:00:46Z")
I very happily stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/18 "2000-05-01T18:11:35Z")
FreakFreely says: > [@](#): > > Well, I don’t think it’s a scientologist plot. If you look at the ads and the webpage, you’ll see that the producers are trying to distance this movie from scientology as much as possible. In fact, on the webpage, [http://www.battlefieldearth.com](http://www.battlefieldearth.com), it has a bio of Hubbard, and it doesn’t mention dianetics or scientology even once. And the scientology website seems to make no mention of the Battlefield Earth film, neither does Operation Clambake, the leading web-authority on scientologist debunking. Here are my guesses for what you’re seeing:[ul][li]Ads and webpage won’t mention the scientology connection because an association with scientology will not help selling the film to the public. (Remember, this is the religion that was mentioned on the cover of Time magazine as “The Cult of Greed”.)[/li][li]The church website doesn’t mention it, and my explanation would be that they are trying to downplay the aspect of “L. Ron Hubbard, science-fiction author”. In a biography at the church website, [L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of Scientology](http://theology.scientology.org/eng/Chap07.htm), it is only mentioned that he wrote “in a wide variety of styles.” However, they describe his scientific credentials in great detail.[/li]As far as the “clambake” site (are you referring to [http://www.xenu.net](http://www.xenu.net)?), I don’t know why they’re not mentioning the film, however I will note that the film is not promoting scientology openly, from what I’ve read, so maybe the site has decided to ignore it.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-travolta-in-battlefield-earth-scientology-plot/17745/19 "2000-05-01T18:48:14Z")
> [@](#): > > **Terl (Travolta’s part) is a 9 foot tall purple alien that weighs like 800 pounds.** The magic of Visual Effects make Travolta appear to be 9 feet tall. Constipation makes him appear purple and weigh 800 pounds.