In his only filmed interview, made in 1966 for television, L. Ron Hubbard provided the basics of his Scientology process, plus provided this reviewer with an overwhelming sense of unease. The DVD release and accompanying forty-four page booklet are meant as recruiting tools for possible Scientologists. Hubbard submitted to a fifty-one minute interview with an unnamed reporter, Tony Hitchman according to online research, and tried to explain to the sometimes skeptical questioner some of the basic tenets of Scientology. Let's do the shorthand version of this. Remember, this is a summation of Hubbard's statements in the interview, I don't know about the modern beliefs of the organization:
Scientology is the fastest growing religion in the world. Hubbard began studying Man after witnessing the shocking brutality of Asia when he lived there as a teen. He did not write or study straight philosophy like other "ivory tower" philosophers, he went out, lived with, and observed twenty-one primitive races, including Filipino pygmies and Mongolian bandits. Hubbard was looking for one common denominator that linked all of Man, both primitive and advanced, and he discovered that the denominator was Survival. Now, Man is a spiritual being first and foremost. We are spirits encased in flesh, put here by a universal author or higher power- he does not say whether that would be God or space aliens. It is this earthly life, with all its temptations, that turns Good Man into drooling Bad Man. Scientology opens the eyes of its subject and shows them how to shake loose all of the roadblocks that renders them incapable of resolving their own problems. Hubbard really bristles when Scientology is compared to psychology and psychiatry. Psychology calls Man an animal, rejecting the spirit; "a very Germanic idea," he mutters. Psychiatry deals with the insane, a group of people Hubbard calls a lost cause who are beyond help. Scientology literally means "the study of knowledge or truth"- Man must know himself in order to help himself. Who helps the Man? The Auditors. The Auditors have training that equals twelve years of collegiate study, guiding a subject (ethically, of course) through the throwing off of the mental baggage that is holding everyone back until the subject reaches the Clear stage. At the Clear stage, a person has been unbrainwashed through Processing, their IQ has increased (proven by university research, although Hubbard did not name any specific universities), and this person's spirit can deal with any earthbound problem headed their way. Want be an Auditor? You must have beingness- the ability to interact with your environment, a high IQ, good moral fiber- no "bad background", be educated, and have a desire to help people. Want to learn more? Hubbard insists you spend a couple of years or so reading all the books, then contact a local organization for meetings.
This was originally filmed in black & white, and then colorized for the video release. The colorization process had not come a long way since Ted Turner tried to ruin the great films of the Golden Age of Hollywood, both Hubbard and Hitchman look like they are wearing pancake batter for makeup. Hubbard as an interview subject seems uncomfortable- grinning goofily, rising occasionally, and sometimes nervously addressing the camera directly. Some of the interviewer's questions are tough, and sometimes Hubbard can be prickly- he can prove there is life after death, but that is "too technical" to cover on this program. Hubbard's dismissal of "the insane" is the most troubling aspect of the film. Is anyone with a mental illness a lost cause? A failure? Their spirit is beyond help, so they should be relegated to a human trash heap according to this man. You might think I am overreacting. No, it's right there in artificially tinted black and white. No drugs, says Hubbard, only vitamins. Chemo patients, diabetics, epileptics- toss out your pill bottles and pop a supplement? Maybe by the word "insane," Hubbard is referring to the serial killers and politicians of the world? According to the handy dandy glossary in the back of the disc's booklet, "insane" is defined as "an individual who is incapable of any responsibility for his own acts and social conduct." This definition can be applied broadly, covering everyone from infants to dementia patients. If the church's thinking on this subject has changed, the video shows no evidence of it through an onscreen comment, voiceover, or edit. The interview may be decades old, but changes to the disc could have been made and points clarified if the distributor had thought them necessary. "An Introduction to Scientology" is just that. I do not see the allure, you would think a religion rich in this much celebrity would put out a product with more bells and whistles, instead of the hollow thuds and hot air that was L. Ron Hubbard's thought process here.
Scientology is the fastest growing religion in the world. Hubbard began studying Man after witnessing the shocking brutality of Asia when he lived there as a teen. He did not write or study straight philosophy like other "ivory tower" philosophers, he went out, lived with, and observed twenty-one primitive races, including Filipino pygmies and Mongolian bandits. Hubbard was looking for one common denominator that linked all of Man, both primitive and advanced, and he discovered that the denominator was Survival. Now, Man is a spiritual being first and foremost. We are spirits encased in flesh, put here by a universal author or higher power- he does not say whether that would be God or space aliens. It is this earthly life, with all its temptations, that turns Good Man into drooling Bad Man. Scientology opens the eyes of its subject and shows them how to shake loose all of the roadblocks that renders them incapable of resolving their own problems. Hubbard really bristles when Scientology is compared to psychology and psychiatry. Psychology calls Man an animal, rejecting the spirit; "a very Germanic idea," he mutters. Psychiatry deals with the insane, a group of people Hubbard calls a lost cause who are beyond help. Scientology literally means "the study of knowledge or truth"- Man must know himself in order to help himself. Who helps the Man? The Auditors. The Auditors have training that equals twelve years of collegiate study, guiding a subject (ethically, of course) through the throwing off of the mental baggage that is holding everyone back until the subject reaches the Clear stage. At the Clear stage, a person has been unbrainwashed through Processing, their IQ has increased (proven by university research, although Hubbard did not name any specific universities), and this person's spirit can deal with any earthbound problem headed their way. Want be an Auditor? You must have beingness- the ability to interact with your environment, a high IQ, good moral fiber- no "bad background", be educated, and have a desire to help people. Want to learn more? Hubbard insists you spend a couple of years or so reading all the books, then contact a local organization for meetings.
This was originally filmed in black & white, and then colorized for the video release. The colorization process had not come a long way since Ted Turner tried to ruin the great films of the Golden Age of Hollywood, both Hubbard and Hitchman look like they are wearing pancake batter for makeup. Hubbard as an interview subject seems uncomfortable- grinning goofily, rising occasionally, and sometimes nervously addressing the camera directly. Some of the interviewer's questions are tough, and sometimes Hubbard can be prickly- he can prove there is life after death, but that is "too technical" to cover on this program. Hubbard's dismissal of "the insane" is the most troubling aspect of the film. Is anyone with a mental illness a lost cause? A failure? Their spirit is beyond help, so they should be relegated to a human trash heap according to this man. You might think I am overreacting. No, it's right there in artificially tinted black and white. No drugs, says Hubbard, only vitamins. Chemo patients, diabetics, epileptics- toss out your pill bottles and pop a supplement? Maybe by the word "insane," Hubbard is referring to the serial killers and politicians of the world? According to the handy dandy glossary in the back of the disc's booklet, "insane" is defined as "an individual who is incapable of any responsibility for his own acts and social conduct." This definition can be applied broadly, covering everyone from infants to dementia patients. If the church's thinking on this subject has changed, the video shows no evidence of it through an onscreen comment, voiceover, or edit. The interview may be decades old, but changes to the disc could have been made and points clarified if the distributor had thought them necessary. "An Introduction to Scientology" is just that. I do not see the allure, you would think a religion rich in this much celebrity would put out a product with more bells and whistles, instead of the hollow thuds and hot air that was L. Ron Hubbard's thought process here.
