Reviews and Media on HBO Documentary Going Clear

[JBWriter]

<snip>...it would be a great little documentary itself to just piece together people's lobby reactions after just having watched "GOING CLEAR"... <snip>

Agreed - that's a great idea.


Similarly...

Wouldn't it be fun to get people to post a selfie to Twitter & Instagram on March 29 during the HBO premiere broadcast
using the hashtag: #GoingClearReactionSelfie

Reaction Selfie Example:

JB

Note: Of the 19 never-ins who attended Going Clear the other night, 11 have already seen it a second time.
And 7 of the remaining 8* are seeing it a second time tonight.
(*I'm the lone hold-out, but will be seeing it again soon.)

 

[Smurf]

"Tom Cruise usually casts himself as the hero in his films, but he’s definitely the “heavy” in a new documentary on Scientology to be broadcast in two weeks on HBO. And his depiction may affect the international box office returns of his new Mission: Impossible sequel, which opens July 31. Paramount, the distributor of this $100 million-plus blockbuster, knows that Scientology is an incendiary issue in Germany and a few other European countries. Will the studio need a strategy to deal with Cruise’s cause, or will it totally ignore the issue?"

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/s/bart-fleming-alex-gibney-hbo-160033909.html

 

[Claire Swazey]

Can hardly wait to see it!

 

[CommunicatorIC]

CNN - Brian Stelter speaks to filmmaker Alex Gibney about the media attack campaign waged by the Church of Scientology against his HBO doc, "Going Clear," which looks at the world of Scientology.


http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/03/15/scientologys-war-against-media.cnn

Video at link.

 

[Magoo]

My Religion, The Church, Reformation, Scripture, apostate, Ecclesiastical, minister, plenty of crosses, The Church, the Church, The Church.​

A minute or two of a reading of a small part of the Brennan legal declaration on religious cloaking, and a few lines from some of Hubbard's more cynical instructions on Scientology posing for the public as a religion for purposes of expediency, plus focusing on the unsavory nature of it IRS deal of 1993, would keep this documentary from becoming just another speed bump on the Scientology road to Total Me Dumb.

At this time, I'm getting mixed signals as to whether it impales itself on Hubbard's religion angle or not.

Let's hope the documentary tilts in the direction of non-impaling.

Veda:

Thank you for posting this photo!
THIS is the Minister's outfit I've told people about.
First let me set the scene.
OSA asked me and a few others to go survey Heber's minister's outfit, due to his "bad PR".
His ministers outfit was a sky blue with gold embroidered crosses on each side
and a Gold Sea Org patch on the breast.

Back then, I was asked to go Survey how Heber looked, with locals downtown.

So we walked around downtown, asking people 3 questions.

To my SHOCK....here were the answers.

1) What does this man remind you of?
Answer: "A Con Man" (Or "Someone who screws other people") ALL were like that.
"Used Car Salesman, trying to rip you off"

2) What do you think this man would be doing?
"Trying to screw some babes around a swimming pool" (Truefax)
"Ripping you off"
"Trying to get your $$$$" (I didn't make any of these up--this IS what people said!)

3) What is the one thing in his suit that your attention goes to and what does it remind you of?"
" The patch---it looks like Avis Rent a Car"
"The patch---it looks like a fraternity patch"
"The gold crosses---they look phony"

I never laughed SO hard in ages, and *I* (then) was a "true believer".

They switched Heber to an all black minister's outfit the next day after the surveys
were turned in.



Thanks, again, Veda!

Tory/Magoo

 

[programmer_guy]

At the Riverside Mission (1970s) all black was not required... only the shirt and collar.

 

[hummingbird]

This is how I'm feeling today...

Imagine my surprise when I flipped open my copy of Entertainment Weekly magazine yesterday and saw a pic of Big Blue. Really favorable review, which said, in part "If Going Clear were a Hollywood thriller, I’d complain that it’s too over-the-top. But this is real life, which is hard to believe. And it’s disturbingly good."

Then this morning I fire up CNN.com and there's a big story on there about how the cult is mounting a media offensive against the movie.

Dang, this is gonna be fun to watch!!

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Los Angeles Magazine: Going Clear Isn’t the Controversial Scientology Documentary People Were Anticipating. It’s Better

http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/new-scientology-documentary-takes-no-cheap-shots/

* * * * * EXCERPT * * * * *

We hear from a mother—who initially believed that Scientology would enable her to save the world—who had to rescue her sick, fly-ridden, urine-soaked infant from the Church child care center before literally running into a friend’s waiting car. Another mother tells about her adult daughter “disconnecting” from her after being instructed to do so by the Church.

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Boing Boing: Scientology goes Full Tim and Eric on 'Going Clear' documentary

http://boingboing.net/2015/03/16/scientology-goes-full-tim-and.html

 

[JBWriter]

Los Angeles Magazine: Going Clear Isn’t the Controversial Scientology Documentary People Were Anticipating. It’s Better

http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/new-scientology-documentary-takes-no-cheap-shots/

<snip>

Excerpt:

Crucially, Gibney never imposes a point of view on the material, instead allowing the weight of the facts to speak for themselves. One of those facts: Jason Beghe and Marty Rathbun are willing to help members of the Church of Scientology looking for a way out.

It would have been easy for Gibney to produce a piece of entertainment about L. Ron Hubbard, or Tom Cruise, or Operating Thetans, as so many others have done before. He did something much more difficult. He made a film about Scientology that will break your heart.

^^^ My bold above.

JB

 

[Smurf]

They switched Heber to an all black minister's outfit the next day after the surveys
were turned in.

Funny. Ken Hoden wore all black with a clerical collar & with that wide goofy grin of his, he still looked like a mix of con man & pimp.

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Film Drunk at Uproxx: Ranking The Church Of Scientology’s ‘Going Clear’ Response Videos, By Watchability

http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/2015/03...rch-of-scientologys-going-clear-smear-videos/

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Yesterday I told you about the Church of Scientology’s attempts to discredit anyone, especially former Scientologists, who appeared in Alex Gibney’s Going Clear, in advance of its television premiere March 29th on HBO. The latest was an open letter to the Hollywood Reporter with a person-by-person takedown of every former Scientologist who appeared in the film or the Lawrence Wright book on which it was based. The letter included links to church-produced videos with awesome titles like “Mike Rinder: The Wife Beater,” “Marc Headley: The Soulless Sellout,” and “Sara Goldberg: The Home Wrecker.”

Stupidly, at the time, I hadn’t watched those videos. I since have, and I can report that they’re comedy gold. As BoingBoing described them, “Scientology Goes Full Tim & Eric.” Here, I rank them all, from least to most watchable.

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

 

[degraded being]

.
.


The media is now an extension of ESMB!

 

[CommunicatorIC]

The Guardian: Match the statement about Scientology to the star - quiz

http://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/17/scientology-film-quiz-going-clear

 

[Leland]

Great article calling TC on the carpet about his abuses in the Cult.

http://observer.com/2014/01/rabbi-shmuley-when-scientology-tried-to-recruit-steven-spielberg/

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Very good article. The author has done her homework.

Religion News Service: “Going Clear:” Scientology’s coverup efforts against the HBO documentary

http://lauraturner.religionnews.com...scientologys-coverup-efforts-hbo-documentary/

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

The narrative that arises from former Church members is that Scientology has a playbook, and an important part of their strategy is to attack the credibility of their detractors. This has led, in part, to their reputation for litigiousness, and seems to have come straight from L. Ron Hubbard (or “LRH,” as they call him) himself, from this 1966 policy letter:

(1) Spot who is attacking us.
(2) Start investigating them promptly for FELONIES or worse using own professionals, not outside agencies.
(3) Double curve our reply by saying we welcome an investigation of them.
(4) Start feeding lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence on the attackers to the press.

Don’t ever tamely submit to an investigation of us. Make it rough, rough on attackers all the way.
​

Making it rough, rough on attackers hasn’t stopped with lawsuits, though. In light of the HBO premiere of Going Clear, set for March 29th, someone within the Church’s ranks has set up a Twitter account (@FreedomEthics) made to look like a media watchdog but actually running a smear campaign against Going Clear filmmakers and participants. They are paying to promote tweets that accuse ex-Scientologists in the film of being liars or, in the case of Mike Rinder, a “deadbeat wife abuser.” Rinder tells a very different story on that front, of being confronted by seven Scientologists while in a parking lot, and says the ensuing scuffle left his wife with cuts on her arms.

* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *

 

[JustSheila]

The Guardian: Match the statement about Scientology to the star - quiz

http://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/17/scientology-film-quiz-going-clear

This quiz is hilarioius! A lot of fun. You guys should check it out and have a go, maybe comment. I got 9 out of 10 right, and it said,

Congratulations! You're at Cleared Thetan level, whatever that means.

The average score is apparently a "3". I guess they need to log onto ESMB more.

 

[sallydannce]

The Guardian: Match the statement about Scientology to the star - quiz

http://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/17/scientology-film-quiz-going-clear

7/10. I need more work.

Apparently...

"OK. If you invest a bit more of your wealth back into the organisation you might improve."

I'm off to max out my credit cards - and put a mortgage on my great-aunts house. Back later. :wink2:

 

[Intelligence]

I don't see this posted anywhere, so will post here.

BIG SCIENTOLGY LAWYER DOX DUMP HER at WWP: (Yesterday at 2:22 PM.)

https://whyweprotest.net/threads/scientology-ready-to-sue-hbo-for-copyright-infringement.124428/

Scientology ready to sue HBO for Copyright Infringement!

EXCERPT:

Sheila Nevins
President, HBO Documentary Films
Re: You Make the Bed You Lie In
Dear Ms. Nevins:

You have a problem. HBO’s and Alex Gibney’s film on the Church of Scientology is completely discredited. We tried to warn you that the film is loaded with admitted liars who make false and defamatory allegations on a whim, but you wouldn’t listen.
Our initial concern proved true: Having spent nearly two years working on the film in secret, Alex Gibney never provided the Church with a single allegation so it would have an opportunity to respond. He never let us provide him or HBO relevant context and factual information. He never even asked the Church any basic fact-checking questions. That explains why it’s full of errors.

...

Freedom of speech is not freedom to lie. Nor should HBO make money by spreading lies and disrespecting the religious beliefs of others while inciting the same kind of bigotry and religious hatred that sadly continues to spread around the world today.
The only responsible action for you to take is to cancel the film. It’s not too late to do the right thing. Do so.

Regards,
Karin Pouw

cc: Richard Plepler, Chairman and CEO, Home Box Office, Inc.

COMMENT:

Hey Karin Pouw,
News Flash. Nobody has any obligation to respect beliefs of any kind. Ad hominem attacks accusing sources as all being liars and threatening the documentary producer because he has quoted scientology materials will not earn any respect either, if that is what you really want. Freedom of Religion is not freedom to lie.

MORE HERE:

https://whyweprotest.net/threads/scientology-ready-to-sue-hbo-for-copyright-infringement.124428/

 

[ILove2Lurk]

. . .

10 out of a possible 10

Congratulations! You're at Cleared Thetan level . . .
​

Wow, I think I know way too much about all this stuff!

​