Posted by Helen on: 01.17.2008 /
Two days ago Gawker.com posted an interesting video of Tom Cruise talking about Scientology. Apparently this was on youtube for a little while but it was removed, probably because the Church of Scientology objected.
Gawker has said they will keep the video up no matter what the Church of Scientology says because it’s newsworthy. As they predicted, they did receive a notice of copyright infringement from the Church of Scientology yesterday.
For those who prefer transcripts, here’s a transcript of the Tom Cruise video. Here’s one quote that sums up a lot of his comments.
Being a Scientologist . . . When you drive past an accident, it’s not like anyone else. As you drive past you know you have to do something about it because you know you’re the only one that can really help.
Comment by: benjamin ady
1 01/17/08 6:54 AM | Comment Link |Hmmm…
Haven’t seen the video. But his comment above is actually a fairly sensible attitude from one perspective. It works against the diffusion of responsibility.
Comment by: Helen
2 01/17/08 7:26 AM | Comment Link |Benjamin, when someone thinks “I should help because I might be the only one who is in the right place to help and has the time/money/ability to help” then I agree that’s a great attitude. Like Esther in the Bible story, in fact. I like how Christians hold her up as an example of someone who took responsibility and acted instead of waiting and hoping someone else would help.
The part about Tom’s quote I find creepy is, that’s not what he means. He means Scientologists are the only ones with the answers. They are superior to everyone else. They are the only ones who can help because of their superiority.
That’s what I think based on this quote plus the rest of his comments. If anyone thinks I’ve misunderstood him feel free to correct me.
Helping is good but I find people who ‘know’ they are better than everyone else (or ‘know’ they belong to a group whose members are superior to all outsiders) scary.
Comment by: joe
3 01/17/08 8:09 AM | Comment Link |I saw the video, but I’m not sure I’m any the wiser.
He seems to have a messiah complex - or is that just me?
Has anyone seen Magnolia? The scary thing is that I don’t think Tom Cruise was acting in that movie…
Comment by: Deborah
4 01/17/08 8:46 AM | Comment Link |Hi Helen,
I saw this yesterday and could hardly contain my laughter. He was so scattered out…did he ever really make a point? I just wanted to say hi as I haven’t talked to you for so long. Smiles!
Comment by: Helen
5 01/17/08 11:50 AM | Comment Link |Joe, yes, maybe that’s it. I guess I should be careful not to judge all Scientologists based on one of them. That wouldn’t be fair. I did read some of their source materials years ago so my opinion about Scientology is not just based on this interview. They believe in reincarnation. To move forward you have to have all your past traumas dealt with in all your lives including when you, say, were a fish that was eaten by a predator. I don’t think I was supposed to see the book that was in as a non-Scientologist. I found it in a second-hand bookstore when I was living in California (25 years ago).
Hi Deborah :). I agree he could have been more articulate.
Comment by: hoverFrog
6 01/17/08 4:26 PM | Comment Link |Tom Cruise once again shows us why he is one of the premier entertainers of the 21st Century.
Comment by: Doreen A Mannion
7 01/19/08 3:23 PM | Comment Link |I saw that video, and the faces he made sometimes, and the way he cackled at other times, showed much more range than any of his films that I’ve seen….
I find their whole vendetta against psychiatry rather frightening, as someone who has been helped by that profession, both pharmacology and otherwise.
Comment by: Julie Marie
8 01/22/08 8:48 PM | Comment Link |I saw the video and assumed they were cutting and pasting together bits of answers to questions we weren’t privvy to.
If that was actually a monolog–oh dear. It seems to me he talked for a long time and said nothing that made any sense. But done with such conviction!