Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Who's your Daddy?? The Master, Scientology, Manson

So I saw "The Master" because I heard it was based on Scientology and the guy who made "Boogie Nights" was the Director and the early reviews said it would win a million Oscars.

I happen to know a thing or two about Scientology. I also went and read a good deal of reviews from a website which is run by former high ranking members of the "Church". We are in agreement that this movie is more or less directly based on the life of L. Ron Hubbard. The references are made in many sequences of the movie, and many of Scientology's theories and verbiage are referenced throughout the dialogue.

However it is not an expose of the quasi-religion, or the imagined creation of another. They simply use it as a backdrop. It is more the story of one broken man who wanders into it. This movie is absolutely stolen by the performance of Joaquin Phoenix. Most people who see this film will walk away thinking about his character Freddie Quell, and even I had a hard time paying attention to anything other than his every unpredictable moment in this film.

I won’t spoil this movie for those who have not seen it, but it did make me think of the constant mentioning of Manson's connection to Scientology and the fact that Bruce Davis also has been connected to the church, and murder of two people who lived on a Scientology property. Just because helpless young people were slaughtered in such a brutal manner - do they have to drag up the usual suspects? If ever there were a group of people as dangerous and mysterious as the Manson Family- would not the Scientologists be among them? The Process, Scientology, Church of Satan? Why do so many want to connect them to Manson? It seems there were no shortage of fringe groups to join if you were a lost confused soul during this period of time. Why do you suppose that some chose the darker ones during a time of so much promise, hope, and light???





5 comments:

  1. I'm kinda embarrassed to say I walked out of it about a third of the way in, Saint. You are dead on of course about J Phoenix's performance, it was riviting. But the movie just put me in a sour mood and I didn't find the dialogue compelling at all, which kind of surprised me. I needed a lift so I bailed on The Master and went in to see the Clint baseball movie which was another stinker - I found it weirdly joyless.
    I did see some good previews though so there is always hope.

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  2. I was dissapointed myself with the actual flic- but I was also playing the secret game of " count the Scientology references"- so it got me through it...

    Mrs Circumstance told me to mention the movie sucked lol

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  3. misanthrope - 'one who hates or mistrusts humankind'.
    really, Matt??? Just because I thought Claire Watkin's book was boring and bleak, and that the two movies I saw this weekend were both stinkers.
    I'l readily admit to grumpiness, and also that one of my pet peeves is piss poor writing, but I don't think I have crossed into Charlie's turf of "hating mankind". At least I hope I haven't. EHarmony let me it, though I confess to serious data distortion.

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  4. Haven't seen it yet, but calm down. Just a movie. We're all adults here, aren't we?

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