Review: Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief
REVIEW: This powerful doco addresses one of the most maligned and intimidating organisations on the face of the planet: the Church of Scientology.
Leigh Paatsch
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Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief (M)
Director: Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie)
Starring: Alex Gibney (narrator), Lawrence Wright, Mike Rinder, Marty Rathbun, Paul Haggis.
Rating: ****
In search of a faith behind the mask
No-one could accuse American documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney of coming down hard on soft targets.
In an unfathomably prolific period stretching back a decade, Gibney has successfully come to grips with slippery subjects such as Enron Inc., Julian Assange, Al-Qaeda, Lance Armstrong and the Catholic Church.
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Now, with Going Clear, Gibney is addressing one of the most maligned and intimidating organisations on the face of the planet: the Church of Scientology.
Though most people know of Scientology — an unorthodox belief system created by the late L. Ron Hubbard — very few people know much about Scientology.
Therefore Going Clear takes on its topic from an interesting and unexpected angle.
According to best-selling investigative author Lawrence Wright (a featured contributor whose 2013 bestseller on Scientology serves as Gibney’s thematic road map), we are not being treated to an exposé here.
Instead, the goal of Going Clear is “to understand Scientology, what people get out of it, and why they go into it in the first place”.
As a result, some viewers of Going Clear — especially those with an already fixed opinion of Scientology — may initially be disappointed with Gibney’s carefully reasoned approach.
Yes, Scientology’s infamously aggressive stance towards any coverage of its activities has undoubtedly influenced Gibney’s cautious stance.
Nevertheless, the filmmaker’s intense determination to establish and maintain a balanced, informative context for his work trumps all misgivings.
A deep-focus examination of how Hubbard cobbled together the core teachings of Scientology from his own dabblings as a writer of science fiction makes for fascinating viewing.
So too does a chronicle of Hubbard’s movements once he establishes a following, and then moves to fashion a rather eccentric philosophy into something resembling a religion.
It is argued quite strenuously here that Hubbard’s strategic motives had more to do with money and power than spiritual matters.
However, it is not until Going Clear starts covering the activities of Hubbard’s controversial successor David Miscavige — and his association with celebrity Scientologists such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta — that the documentary really enters dark and often disturbing territory.
Miscavige’s management of the organisation on a financial and personal level comes under stinging attack from a number of former associates, many of whom make devastating accusations of physical and psychological abuse that are worrying to say the least.
Originally published as Review: Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief
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