Re: LA Premiere: “Inside the Scientology Celebrity Centre: An Ex-Parishioner Reveals
Just finished watching Steve's movie.
I think it is a tiny masterpiece of guerrilla theater/activism, and I loved the length and the topics he was able to cover - from LGBT issues to Shelley Miscavige. If the regging/induction section seems a bit long - I felt that the length helps one to understand the relentless nature of Scientology recruitment and why it eventually becomes so abusive. He breaks so much down, including the experience of the Purification Rundown and being pressured into joining the Sea Org.
The fact that he doesn't have the rights to most of the material he uses may suggest a filmmaker's naivety, but in some ways it makes it more powerful for me, because it isn't a documentary for HBO, but something that feels professional, yet "homegrown" and "grassroots" at the same time. It really shouldn't hold your attention for 2 and half hours with most of it just being a talking head looking at the screen, but Steve's innocence and genuine dismay at what happen to him makes the experience fresh to the listener. Even though I'd heard all those stories before told by other people, Steve's methodical explanation, and lack of hysteria but genuine bewilderment help bring out the true insanity of what he experienced. I think this is an invaluable tool to a younger generation who might get tricked into Scientology - Steve in the generation that they are recruiting in all their new videos - they even put him on a poster. This is a remarkable achievement and I applaud Steve.
I compare this to the Jason Beghe video. They are much different in tone: Jason's video is darker, distinguished by a real sense of pain and loss that makes it a beautiful portrait. Steve's honest, direct approach and the testimonial of his partner is devastating in a different way. I wish the ending was a little less compromising, but even that might be strategic - arguing for "reform" for the people who may not want to see the church dismantled but just changed or updated for 2014. Still, I ask the question of all of you - can a true cult be reformed or rehabilitated? The things Steve describes about Hubbard's philosophy seem endemic to what Scientology is at its very core. You can revise a practice, but can you revise a doctrine?
I wasn't going to comment on this, but I'm frustrated with Roz Cohn and this whole BHP, Katselas thing. The fact is that this section of the video may take up 1 minute, possibility less in 2 1/2 hour movie. I don't know if it is professional frustration or jealousy that is motivating her rampage, (perhaps she is threatened by Steve's direct approach which contrasts her own "showbiz-y" take), but she has managed to do in this thread what the best Scientology "moles and trolls" achieve - derail the conversation from a celebration of this young man's achievement to a debate on something tangential to the whole of the film.
I'm not trying to shame anyone who has weighed in on the controversy, but I just think that if Steve's effort suffers because of Roz Cohn's campaigning against him publicly and calling him a liar - it will be a real shame and an outrage. I watched the entire movie and while he might have articulated some aspects more clearly for some people's tastes - he covered a hell of a lot of information in what is still a short amount of time (this could easily be a 8-hour miniseries.) Katselas legacy will remain intact and the BHP will be fine.
What I want to focus on is the fact that it takes a hell of a lot of courage to tell your story against the cult, especially after suffering PTSD, and I think the focus should be on the fact that a work like Steve's (and Roz's) can literally save lives and should be encouraged and celebrated - especially by those of us who know what an artist is up against with CoS.
Congratulations Steve!