You may have been somewhat familiar with the religion of Scientology if you are a fan of two of its most famous adherents, Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but Alex Gibney’s striking documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, making its debut March 29 on HBO, goes way beyond the external facade to reveal an — at best, weird; at worst, frightening, abusive and borderline fascistic — organization.
Cruise and Travolta are, of course, featured in prominent portions of the documentary (although both declined to participate in the film, archival footage is offered, including a segment with Cruise speaking at a Scientology gathering, which has the bizarre feel of a cross between a cheesy Vegas show and Triumph of the Will).
The parts with Cruise and Travolta explore how the group holds on to its two biggest celebrities tightly, primarily to use them as selling points, apparently. Both stars appear to have drifted from the group for a while, but were reined back in (in Travolta’s case, it is implied that the group may have held secrets revealed during their initial “auditing” of him over his head to keep him around).
Scientology has appealed to other Hollywood stars, as well, some of whom have since left and are interviewed in this film, including Oscar-winning writer Paul Haggis (Crash) and actor Jason Beghe, who currently stars in Chicago P.D. Both are now out of the group, and like the other ex-Scientologists featured in the documentary, are filled with a combination of anger at having been strung along for so long, and shame at letting themselves be taken in. Haggis, in particular, recalls his moment when he began to see the light, as he was revealed the faith’s “creation” story (which you are only allowed to see after a lot of time and money has been invested in the group, a big difference from other religions, most of which feature their creation story up front). When Haggis read the truly wild recounting of Scientology’s creation myth — involving a galactic overlord named Xenu — he says he thought it was, at first, an insanity test: Perhaps if you believed the story, you were unfit for the group.
The story Haggis read was scribbled by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, who in the 1930s and ’40s was a well-published pulp fiction writer before he realized he could make more money with a religion. A good part of Going Clear delves into Hubbard, who certainly seemed troubled (at one point in the film, it is suggested Hubbard used Scientology as a way of helping himself, and what at first was more of a money-making venture for him became a mindset).
Beyond the celebrities featured in the film, there are other former Scientology members, including some high-ranking ones, who are spilling the beans on the group (the group is notorious for attacking anyone who questions them, and HBO has prepared for the backlash with over 100 lawyers).
Some of the saddest moments in the film come from recollections of borderline slave labor forced upon some members, as well as the psychological cruelty of forced “disconnection” of members from loved ones who are not also believers, or who are deemed a “suppressive person.”
Based on Lawrence Wright’s book, and a hot ticket at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Going Clear is fascinating not just for its specific look at Scientology, but also at how dangerous unquestioning faith of any sort — religion, political ideology, etc. — can become.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief premieres on HBO March 29 at 8pm ET/PT.
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Courtesy of HBO
