From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following lists specific Scientology references in popular culture along with other cultic references that fans suggest may be, wholely or in part, veiled references to Scientology.
[edit] Specific references to Scientology
[edit] In film
- The Profit [1] (2001). Scientology critic Bob Minton financed a feature-length satire of Scientology. In the film, Scientology terms such as "Auditing" and "Scientology" itself were renamed, but the filmmakers stated that they used Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, specifically as role models for the settings, plot, and characters in the film. The film was screened theatrically only once, in Clearwater, Florida. It has not been released on video. It is one of the few films blocked from distribution by a U.S. court order.
- The Bridge (2006). 18-year-old filmmaker Brett Hanover directed a low-budget feature-length film, a fictionalized story of involvement and disillusionment with Scientology. Unlike The Profit, the film did not shy away from using the name "Scientology" and explicitly used Scientology terms throughout its storyline, going so far as including actual clips from official Scientology promotional and training materials. Rather than release the film theatrically, Hanover premiered The Bridge on the Internet, and made it available for free downloading and viewing at several popular Web video sites, including Google Video and the Internet Archive, where, following Hanover's withdrawal of it, it is no longer available for the stated reasons of "issues with the item's content". On October 5, 2006, Hanover asked the film to be withdrawn from circulation, as he would no longer support it and cited "copyright issues"[2]
[edit] In television
- Nip/Tuck. In 2006, season four, the characters Kimber and Matt join the Church, making them the first Scientologist regular characters on a prime-time TV show. [3] In the second episode of the fourth season, Kimber has a hallucination in which Xenu appears to her. Though the Scientology "tech" and details are portrayed in a simplified way, the show is incorporating the Scientology storyline as a serious subplot, rather than a parody or a one-time jab.
- In the South Park episode Trapped in the Closet, Stan becomes a Scientologist after being recruited to take a personality test and then becomes their leader after followers start believing he carries Hubbard's thetan. This episode is controversial for a few reasons. It calls Scientology a "worldwide global scam", and makes fun of Tom Cruise's ordeal with the media calling his sexual orientation into question. Soul singer and voice of 'Chef,' Isaac Hayes quit the show, some say it was over its treatment of religion. The episode depicts Tom Cruise as denying being 'in the closet' amid several blatant pokes at this. To avoid legal issues all names in the credits are Mr or Mrs Smith.
[edit] In theatre
[edit] In books
- William S. Burroughs, who briefly dabbled with Scientology, wrote extensively about it during the late 1960s, weaving some of its jargon into his fictional works, as well as authoring non-fiction essays about it. In the end, however, he abandoned Scientology and publicly eschewed it in an editorial for the Los Angeles Free Press in 1970.[2]
[edit] In music and albums
- Many of Chick Corea's songs contain explicit references to Scientology and various works by Hubbard. For example, "What Games Shall We Play Today?" refers to the philosophical concept in Scientology that life consists of "games" in which the objective is to extract joy and satisfaction for oneself. His 2004 album To the Stars is a tone poem based on Hubbard's science fiction novel of the same name. His latest album, The Ultimate Adventure, is also based on a Hubbard novel.
- Frank Zappa's 1978 concept album/rock opera Joe's Garage lampoons Scientology in the song "A Token of My Extreme." Zappa uses terminology such as "L. Ron Hoover" and "Appliantology," telling the main character 'Joe' that he "must go into the closet" to pursue his latent appliance fetishism.
- Gary Numan had popular songs laced with Scientology references in the 1980s such as "Me, I Disconnect from you", "Praying to the Aliens", and "Only a Downstat", influenced directly by Burroughs' Scientology-based writings. [4] [5]
- Australian rock band Something For Kate released a song titled "All The Things That Aren't Good About Scientology," which includes lyrics such as "too much to see, too much to read, on your bridge to OT."[3] The album version features the lyrics "tonight in your town, the stars are looking down, on you and me;" however, when played live, lead singer Paul Dempsey alters the lyrics to "...Tom Cruise is looking down, on you and me."
- Maynard James Keenan, lead singer of the progressive rock band Tool, has been a vocal critic of Scientology. Tool song Rosetta Stoned appears to be a direct satire of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard's life. In addition to this the Tool song Ænema contains the lyric "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard, Fuck all his clones".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
