A year ago, we were fortunate enough to be in the audience for the worldwide premiere of Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie at the London Film Festival. We thought it was hilarious. Louis has such an amazing sense of timing, and his comedic talents are otherworldly.
Denied access to Scientology officials or church facilities, Theroux and his director, John Dower, came up with some pretty clever ways to dig into Scientology’s ideas. We think they did a great job, and we also applaud the former Scientologists who appear in the movie, including Jefferson Hawkins, Marc Headley, Steve Mango, and Marty Rathbun. (Yes, we think Marty did just fine, and if he lost his cool a couple of times on camera, it just made for a better movie.)
We also had a few criticisms, which we spelled out in our story about the film last year. Theroux gets a lot of mileage out of proving that you can get the church to point a camera at you if you point a camera at it, but that didn’t seem as important to us as other Scientology subjects that didn’t get examined — the way it rips apart families, for example.
Well, now Bunker contributor Chris Shelton has his own issues with the movie that he has spelled out in his latest video. It turns out that he shares some of our concerns, but he had other criticisms that we didn’t consider. Like us, Chris heartily recommends that people see My Scientology Movie, but he also has some interesting observations about it that might only come from someone who spent 27 years in the church.
Give it a look and then let us know how his views compare or contrast with your own thoughts about Theroux’s fascinating feature.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 20, 2016 at 07:00
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Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
