Cruise's latest Scientology video demonstrates the 'church' is no more than self-opinionated fantasy, which prompted naive and inadvertent self-promotion.
Tom Cruise’s latest release has shot him back into the limelight quicker than any Hollywood blockbuster, but in an attempt to conceal more controversial Scientology comments, the notorious ‘church’ has only managed to fuel more criticism against it. The more Scientologists have tried to ban the video, the more they have managed to draw attention to it.
What Scientology Says about Itself
The Church of Scientology describes itself as “the study of truth”, but also makes it clear that following this truth is not compulsory:
…no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.”
Yet Tom Cruise demonstrates how this “truth” seems to be nothing more than conceited fantasy.
How the Video Made Cruise Look Foolish
During the nine-minute video the actor says that when a Scientologist drives past an accident, they aren’t like anyone else because “you know you’re the only one who can really help”.
He also says that Scientologists are "the authorities of the mind,” adding “...we are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on improving conditions, we can rehabilitate criminals...we can bring peace and unite cultures...”
He talks continuously of having a responsibility to put things right, but it is the arrogant manner in which he comes across, to the theme tune of Mission Impossible, which is likely to turn even more people away from both Scientology and Cruise as an individual.
The Response of the Church
Rather than simply ignore the video’s existence and let a simmering, but quiet, row die away, the Church of Scientology took steps to have it banned across the internet. This not only failed to happen but actually had the opposite effect by highlighting its existence and giving Cruise the perfect, but unwanted, advertising.
Although the video couldn’t be used on British-based websites because of copyright laws, it was still available on YouTube and Google Video made it available through links to other sites.
Mark Stephens, a media specialist at London law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, said: "The Scientologists, by taking action to enforce their copyrights, have made it a news story...Consequently, every news organisation on the planet has put the controversial video on their website - a real case of making a disaster out of a crisis."
The Impact of the Video on Scientology and Tom Cruise
On its own, the video may have been dismissed as simply irrelevant nonsense by the various people who saw it. Yet with recent stories about the controversy of Scientology which have surfaced during the last few months, this video has only added to the views that this ‘church’ is a bizarre cult.
For those people who believed Tom Cruise was a weird and wacky person, this video appears to be evidence in favour of his warped viewpoint. He certainly doesn’t do himself any favours with the unwavering comments he makes and his performance could well sway those who were previously unsure of his intentions.
