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Reviews and Media on HBO Documentary Going Clear

Type4_PTS

Diamond Invictus SP
Toronto Star:

Scientology exposé causes a stir at Sundance

<snip>

An excoriating exposé by Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), the film puts Cruise, Travolta and other members of their shadowy religion into a very bad light. It’s solid journalism, exhaustively researched — it’s based on Lawrence’s Wright’s 2013 bestselling book — and the portrait it paints through sheer weight of detail is devastating.

The Church of Scientology is seen as a cash-grabbing and reputation-destroying outfit, one that holds members hostage both physically and mentally, and exacts vengeance against anyone who leaves or discredits it. The church has already launched its own counterattack, taking out recent full-page ads in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times to condemn the film sight unseen.

<snip>

Full Story: http://www.thestar.com/entertainmen...entology-expos-causes-a-stir-at-sundance.html
 

Lohan2008

Gold Meritorious Patron
Shame about the media focusing on the phone tapping ordered by DM but as long as the feeding frenzy gets more Scilons out the door, that is a WIN.
 
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JustSheila

Crusader
Shame about the media focusing on the phone tapping ordered by DM but as long as the feeding frenzy gets more Scilons out the door, that is a WIN.

I'm not so sure the focus on the phone-tapping is a bad thing.

For some reason, that hits people hard, it makes news impinge on their personal lives, space and privacy and I think that's why there is so much focus (besides the usual celebrity focus). Some look to celebrities as almost family members, or idols or ideals. So when they are involved in illegal, reprehensible acts against each other, the public switches to new idols.

It's a huge button, besides being a crime. People have a right to privacy and get pretty angry about violations. THEN, since that hits home, they get more interested in the rest of the story.

I mean - a US President was practically impeached over what started as phone-tapping, but that was the big news and still what most remember about Watergate. Never mind Nixon's criminal acts - it is the phone tapping that brought him down.

It's a big deal. It won't ever be forgotten that Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology hire people to do phone tapping to break up families, and it is not the main general public cause for further investigation and to shut that cult down.

It didn't make sense to me that it was such a big deal in the midst of so much worse about Watergate, either, but there you have it - it hits the public much harder than we think.
 

chipgallo

Patron Meritorious
CNN just ran a clip and is saying that "Going Clear" is shocking Sundance. This is on the highly watched historic snow storm coverage so millions of eyeballs. The on-screen CNN talent seemed amused by the subject.
 

Leland

Crusader
I'm not so sure the focus on the phone-tapping is a bad thing.

For some reason, that hits people hard, it makes news impinge on their personal lives, space and privacy and I think that's why there is so much focus (besides the usual celebrity focus). Some look to celebrities as almost family members, or idols or ideals. So when they are involved in illegal, reprehensible acts against each other, the public switches to new idols.

It's a huge button, besides being a crime. People have a right to privacy and get pretty angry about violations. THEN, since that hits home, they get more interested in the rest of the story.

I mean - a US President was practically impeached over what started as phone-tapping, but that was the big news and still what most remember about Watergate. Never mind Nixon's criminal acts - it is the phone tapping that brought him down.

It's a big deal. It won't ever be forgotten that Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology hire people to do phone tapping to break up families, and it is not the main general public cause for further investigation and to shut that cult down.

It didn't make sense to me that it was such a big deal in the midst of so much worse about Watergate, either, but there you have it - it hits the public much harder than we think.

All Americans know phone tapping is illegal.

Even a husband can't tape his own phone ....so as to listen to his wife.

Recording someone's voice without their knowledge is illegal in US.

It is a great hook to hang these bastards on.

It is a privacy issue....along with being sleazy...and very insecure...and a rat bastard husband.......

AND...being thought of as someone who has money.....doing as he pleases...despite fair play and the law....and most people not liking that.

It should tarnish his reputation....very nicely.
 
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ILove2Lurk

Lisbeth Salander
As this is the biggest event since Anonymous, I think a new thread is a good idea.

Glad a new thread started. The other one left me out of breathe!

It was first up on Nov 24th if you can believe it (500+ replies; 21,000 views).

In a few days, I'll rustle the weeds a bit and see if I can find out anything about what cities other than LA and NY that the movie will be released in. Or someone else will find out.

Humor
Yesterday during the two-hour window while the movie was screening, I was on severe emotional tenterhooks. :biggrin:

It was like when the first space shuttles went through their re-entries from outer space back to the ground. Their radios go off for a bit and you're holding your breath all that while until that the radio comes back on and you know they're safe. High anticipation.

I felt like that. Funny. It was a historic moment for me.

Impact
Not as many people read non-fiction books anymore. When people do buy non-fiction books, only 10% get beyond the first chapter, get distracted, and lay the books aside. Per survey supposedly, or so I've been told.

Video will have a greater impact than the Going Clear book in this day and age, for sure.

Other than HBO customers and Amazon DVD sales:

  • Free HBO weekends for all satellite subscribers happen about four times a year
  • DVD library rentals (all Gibney's work is at my library)
  • Free library streaming through hoopla (much Gibney available)
  • Netfilx rentals
  • Pay to stream (various)
On and on. Many distribution channels for a film for a long time.

This film "has legs," as they say in the biz. :yes:
 

Smurf

Gold Meritorious SP
Criminy! Can an aging SP get a break anymore? I've gotten 4 calls from media today wanting my reaction to this gargantuan slime:

http://www.freedommag.org/hbo/white-papers/graham-berry.html

and.. OSAbot John Alex Wood's response to me today on Twitter..

"Criminon - effective criminal rehab prog which addresses the root of criminal behavior @ Garry Scarff" with a link to a cult Criminanon video.

I told one very ignorant journalist who said she "wants to give the COS the benefit of the doubt" that the HBO docu is an attack on religious freedom.. to do her fucking homework & Google 'Scientology crimes' and 'David Miscavige abuse" before she waste any more of my time, then I hung up on her. Bitch. :angry:
 

JustSheila

Crusader
Smurf, do you need some help with comments and tweeting back to these Ronbots?

Just post it. Here and at the Bunker while everyone's around. The hell with these creeps. I'm sorry to hear that their reaction to Alex Gibney's film is to come after you. Why, you'd think you were the producer or something! Typical bully Scientologists.

FUCK YOU, OSA!
 

Free to shine

Shiny & Free
From Jeff Hawkins:

Jefferson Hawkins • 3 hours ago

Alex Gibney's documentary already looks like a major game-changer. While there may be "nothing new" revealed, the fact that it is presented in a major HBO documentary by an Emmy and Oscar-winning director is huge. It will reach a much wider audience. Well done to Tony, Mike, Marty, Spanky, Jason, Tom, Hana, Sara, and anyone else involved. It does take courage to speak out.

Scientology's response is predictable and laughable, particularly when they jumped the gun and smeared the wrong people. They are locked in to Hubbard's "tech" on handling criticism. Anyone challenging Scientology is "attacking," anyone attacking is an "enemy," any enemy must be personally attacked and smeared. That the rest of the world sees these ad hominem attacks as petty and vindictive makes no difference. That such actions actually prove the point of the documentary makes no difference. They cannot modify their behavior as it is locked in.

Major celebs like Cruise and Travolta are being forced into a position where they will have to decide whether to jump ship or go down with it. They can no longer claim they "didn't know."

I'm glad the documentary includes some factual information about the actual size of Scientology. They have gotten away with inflated figures for far too long. I noticed over the weekend that they have moved the LA Events from the Shrine Auditorium (capacity 6,300) to the Dolby Theater (capacity 3,400) - no doubt because of their "unprecedented expansion."
http://tonyortega.org/2015/01/26/sc...r-with-predictable-smears/#comment-1818128614

Just read an eloquent response:

Michael Leonard Tilse • an hour ago

This documentary, as Jefferson Hawkins says earlier, is a game changer.

But, why is it a game changer? What has been the game and how is it now changed?

The game used to be: Extract money and work from people by selling them a piece of blue sky and when anyone objects, ruin them utterly. Destroy the lives and reputations of anyone who knows damaging secrets about Scientology. Gain leverage over any law enforcement bodies to ensure safety. Hide behind a religious facade.

Hubbard started this game, he crafted the rules and enforced them. He hoodwinked those he influenced into throwing their own creative energies at following and expanding his scorched earth policies. It worked for a long time.

A primary reason this game worked is because it existed in the shadows. It was never a general topic of public debate. It was never on the radar of very many important people. And when a major public opinion player like Time Magazine exposed it to public view, Scientology's minions and lawyers made it so painful for them that they never did it again. And it scared the piss out of anyone else in the media who might be thinking of anything similar.

As long as Scientology and it's abuses were not in the broad public eye, it could be ignored. The stories and books and blogs of exscientologists just did not have much of an impact on public policy, because the public was not informed. And because the public was not informed, they were not outraged. And because there was no public outrage, the politicians could safely ignore Scientology. And the politicians most certainly knew about Scientology. They heard from them regularly and their own back channels gossip knew all about their infiltration and safepointing and dirty tricks. Politicians are people and people make mistakes. Scientology makes it their business to know those mistakes and to use them as leverage. So, weighed against very little demand from the public to do anything about Scientology, and the very heavy weight of what could be thrown against them by Scientology, Politicians do nothing.

Scientology makes it very expensive to take them on legally. A politician or prosecutor or law enforcement cannot justify the massive expense of taking them on, if there is no public awareness of the crimes and demand to do something about it.

Comes now Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright. A powerful book becomes a powerful documentary with enough credibility in its authors and enough backing by a major public media organization that it finally can bring to broad public awareness the abuses and criminality of Scientology. It has the stories and the facts.

It can reach the broad public via Television, via Movie theatres, via private viewings from video players and the Internet. It won't be just the few, the ones who have a connection or the ones who used to be involved that know the dark side of Scientology. It will be Joe Sixpack and Soccer Mom. And the public outcry as to why nothing is being done will begin. And that changes the game. Because there are too many Joes and Moms for the politicians to ignore. And it becomes an issue. It becomes a way for a politician to make a name for themselves. It overbalances the leverage Scientology has relied upon.

I think that a way to leverage this, by those who know the story, is to use this documentary and swell of public interest to educate.

For those who have HBO, have "Going Clear" viewing parties. Invite your friends and neighbors and make it an event. Have discussions afterward. Questions and answers with real ex-Scientologists. Getting others to see it and discuss it. Maybe even forming local groups to write to politicians asking them to do something about it. Getting legislation passed. Making "What is being done about Scientology" a major issue in the 2016 Presidential election.

The game is changed. It's off the sidelines now. It's out on the pitch with the big boys.
 

Orglodyte

Patron with Honors
Wow, I just checked in with Google News on Scientology, and now it's page after page after page of hits on the documentary. It's not just the wiretapping either; every aspect of the film is getting press. What a day!
 

Free to shine

Shiny & Free
Mike Rinder's review:

And frankly, nobody else’s take on the movie is going to have the same meaning to you as you will get when you have the opportunity to see it. Which is itself high praise, as this movie is layered and while it packs the punch of a sledgehammer, it is also extremely subtle and a lot of things contained within it will strike chords, but probably no two the same. I can tell you that Marc Headley was not the only one who cried during the movie. I think ANYONE who has been in or effected by the church is going to have some moist-eyed moments.

.....


But it is so easy to simply leave the viewer with the impression that former scientologists are “kooks” or “dupes” or “bitter haters.” It’s been done plenty of times in the past, along with the easy sensationalist grabs of celebrities or Xenu. Alex and Larry took the time and made the effort to explain WHY someone would get involved in scientology and what it offers and how things turn sour. So viewers can identify “oh, I can see how that could have been me” rather than “I would never fall for that shit.” The proof of that is the standing ovation from the crowd when Alex asked those featured in the movie to join him at the front of the theater after the movie ended. And the dozens of people who walked up to me and others afterwards to thank us for our participation.

http://www.mikerindersblog.org/going-clear-the-prison-of-belief/
 

Sindy

Crusader

The fact that Larry and Alex took the time to get people past the judgment of ex-Scientolgists as kooks falling for shit that they never would fall for themselves, makes me want to cry. That IS the full truth and no one that I have seen so far has been able to get that really understood. That in itself could be a huge game changer on the dynamics of the bring down of the cult. To bring about empathy for the victims/abused/trusting believers is a feat and one which makes the contrast of the cult's wicked behavior look all the more insane and despicable.
 

Free to shine

Shiny & Free
The fact that Larry and Alex took the time to get people past the judgment of ex-Scientolgists as kooks falling for shit that they never would fall for themselves, makes me want to cry. That IS the full truth and no one that I have seen so far has been able to get that really understood. That in itself could be a huge game changer on the dynamics of the bring down of the cult. To bring about empathy for the victims/abused/trusting believers is a feat and one which makes the contrast of the cult's wicked behavior look all the more insane and despicable.

I so agree. And I think it is starting to happen now
I like the short interview with Alex Gibney on Tony's latest article where he is asked if his opinion of the 'church' has changed. Yes, he gets it.

http://tonyortega.org/2015/01/26/sc...r-with-predictable-smears/#comment-1818128614
 

JustSheila

Crusader
[video=youtube;g1j1qwQQ8-Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1j1qwQQ8-Q[/video]

Your mouth is a revolver firing bullets in the sky.
Your love is like a soldier, loyal till you die.
And I’ve been looking at the stars for a long, long time.
I’ve been putting out fires all my life.
Everybody wants a flame, but they don’t want to get burnt.
And today is our turn.

Chorus:
Days like these lead to, nights like this leads to love like ours,
You light the spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us, we don’t need that much.
Just someone that starts, starts the spark in our bonfire hearts.

Verse 2:
This world is getting colder. Strangers passing by.
No one offers you a shoulder. No one looks you in the eye.
But I’ve been looking at you for a long, long time.
Just trying to break through, trying to make you mine.
Everybody wants a flame, they don’t want to get burnt
Well today is our turn.

Chorus:
Days like these lead to nights like this leads to love like ours,
You light a spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us, we don’t need that much.
Just someone that starts, starts a spark in our bonfire hearts.

Outro:
Hmm, our bonfire hearts
our bonfire hearts
Uh, our bonfire hearts
You light the spark

People like us, we don’t need that much.
Just someone that starts, starts a spark in our bonfire hearts.

Chorus:
Days like these lead to nights like this leads to love like ours,
You light a spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us, we don’t need that much.
Just someone that starts, starts a spark in our bonfire hearts.
our bonfire hearts

Days like these lead to nights like this leads to love like ours,
You light a spark in my bonfire heart.
People like us, we don’t need that much.
Just someone that starts, starts a spark in our bonfire hearts.

People like us, we don’t need that much.

So much win. So much compassion. So much support. So much empathy. So much -- and I thought of this song and the tears are just flowing like a floodgate. Okay, I better go now and do real work. Love you all. Congrats to all of us. :grouphug:
 
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