Going Clear (2015)
Like Kumare, the documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a film to watch not for inspiration, but as a sanity check for your spiritual path.
How L. Ron Hubbard went from pulp science fiction writer to founder of a new religion is interesting, but it is the footage of actual Scientology conferences and interviews with former members that drives home this film’s message about the dangers of belief. At times I forgot I was watching a documentary: there was Tom Cruise with a ridiculously large medal around his neck, saluting a huge portrait of L. Ron Hubbard… this can’t be real, I thought. It was.
That is what I find so astonishing: perfectly reasonable, intelligent people, who find themselves signing a billion year contract to join the Sea Org, donning mariner uniforms, scraping rust off of a cruise ship, and hoping to cross the “Bridge to Total Freedom.” All the while, the religion they are devoted to is gathering hundreds of millions of dollars, buying property all around the world, harassing former members, and building files on anyone who threatens them. You’ll have to watch Going Clear. It’s too hard to explain.
See as well the book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright.