Scientology in The Master | Renegade Cut

[Applause] [Music] in the Paul Thomas Anderson film the master Freddie a troubled world war two veteran Stow's away aboard a ship the captain a man named Lancaster Dodd is a writer and leader of a movement called the cause even before the release of the film critics noted similarities between the cause and Dianetics a form of self-help that eventually became Scientology Anderson admitted this saying I based it on l ron Hubbard a lot of it related to the early days of Dianetics there are some superficial similarities of course in the film Dodd has a son Val who doubts his father's sincerity Hubbard also had a son Quentin who rejected his father's teachings and died of an apparent suicide at the age of 22 Dodds wife Peggy is similar to Hubbard's allegedly ruthless third wife Mary Sue also Dodds appearance and personality matchup with Hubbard very well the murder cycle seemed that changes everything in the narrative fits in with a real-world occurrence involving Hubbard the founder of Scientology famously crashed his motorcycle in 1974 and some Scientologists cite the incident as the moment when Scientology grew stranger but there are darker parallels in the film and all of them are helpful when trying to understand Scientology Scientologists believe that the reactive mind commands our awareness purpose thoughts actions and our bodies through counseling called auditing the Scientologists believe they can reduce and even erase the power of the reactive mind the source of irrationality fears and nightmares this all sounds like a form of therapy at first but then it gets tricky those who reach the higher teachings call it operating fate and three or ot three a state of being beyond the initial clear state are then taught about Xenu an intergalactic ruler who implanted Satan's or alien spirits in Earth's volcanoes millions of years ago Scientologists believe that because Satan's move from body to body we are able to act says memories from previous lives and these memories are the cause of a lot of our trauma in the master we get a slimmed down version of this Lancaster Dodd also believes in past lives and that these lives cause our trauma he much like Hubbard has no proof of this Xenu was invented from whole cloth there's no historical Xenu in the way that some other religions can claim some historicity in their myth Oh historical figures through records artifacts and surviving documents also other religions are not quite so quick to take your money I can go to a Christian Church for free every Sunday I might hand out a dollar in the collection plate or I might not but if you want these counseling sessions from the Church of Scientology you pay and the more you go the more you pay in the master Dodd is confronted by Freddie about the fact that he seems to be making all of this up and that the cause seems to be more of a business enterprise than a faith the master is teaming with the nautical imagery the beginning of the film follows Freddie's service in world war 2 we see him on the beach and on his ship it was actually L ron Hubbard who served in world war ii though his service was less than distinguished Hubbard wrote that he sunk two Japanese submarines but in reality he opened fire on what turned out to be a log and dumped most of his depth charges on rocks when he accidentally showed a Mexican island he was removed from command Hubbard claimed he was crippled in war and that his religion saved him but records prove that the worst he ever suffered during war was arthritis and a case of conjunctivitis Elrod Hubbard spent a lot of his time captaining his ship rather than living on land but this was not due to some great love of the sea he was avoiding the authorities most notably for tax evasion a branch of Scientology called C organization a fraternal religious order got its start aboard three ships the Diana the Apollo and the Athena in the film the ship is called the ilithyia ilithyia much like the real world Sea Org is a reference to Greek mythology members of Sea Org signed a lifetime contract to be part of the Fraternal Order but the contract actually lasts for a billion years Hubbard wanted to give the impression that those who join the highest order of Scientology were not only joining for life but also for their future lives at the end of the film Peggy says that followers of the cause are dedicated for a billion years Scientologists who pose security risks or do not meet the standards of the religion are dealt with by the RPF the rehabilitation project force they are housed in Sea Org camps and faced grueling punishment former Scientologists have compared the RPF camps to gulags in the former Soviet Union those punished by the RPF often live in rat infested basements engaged in degrading jobs for years all while denied visits from their spouses or children bear in mind the Sea Org and the RPF are not government institutions Scientology is a religion they cannot legally inflict physical punishment or illegally keep you somewhere against your will but they do see org acts as if it has the authority of the military but they have no more legal authority than URI toward the end of the film when Freddie asks where dad's daughter Elizabeth is Peggy says DCF this has never explained but it sounds like the causes version of the RPF it's doubtful that freddie will ever see Elizabeth again in the master we are introduced to processing Lancaster Dodd sits Freddy down records him asks him a series of questions forcing him to answer quickly without thinking and while keeping his eyes opened no blinking this bears a noticeable similarity to auditing much like processing in the film auditing is based in repetition controlling emotion and reliving past trauma Freddy faces times in his life in which he had sex with a member of his family and unresolved feelings about a woman he loved named Doris in the master and in real world Scientology these sessions are recorded but only in Scientology do they use a device called an e meter it's basically a crude lie detector of sorts but performed by amateurs auditors say that an e meter detects the mass of your thoughts which is bogus pseudoscience they also say that a meters help us detect images from past lives during auditing Scientologists purge bad memories to go clear the concept of eliminating the reactive mind that houses our fears Scientologists also claim that by eliminating this past trauma actual physical ailments can be cured in the film Dodd says that processing the film's version of auditing can cure cancer the causes processing like auditing bamboozles the person taking the test they believe that they can travel back through time into their memories and relive past lives it's the stuff of carnivals but dressed up as science in one scene in the master Lancaster Dodd after revealing a second book is questioned by another believer in the cause she asks why the phrasing for finding past memories has changed because the new word imagined suggests making up memories rather than genuinely locating them Dodd responds vaguely but the implication is that this will be easier for people to envision their so-called lost memories it will create more followers more believers and therefore more money for the cause and for dodd himself there are differing theories within Scientology criticism as to whether or not l ron Hubbard believed in Dianetics and Satan's and all that after all a lot of his religious concepts that would eventually become the basis for Scientology appeared in his earlier science fiction writing skeptics say that Hubbard merely repurposed his pulp short stories into a religion to make money and that everything was a scam there were many who knew Hubbard who have since claimed that he told them he wanted to make it big and that the best way would be to start a religion others even those who now condemned Scientology as quackery say Hubbard was a true believer and that he was once even terrified during an auditing session when the founder of the religion believed he had a vengeful thetan living inside of himself in the master we never learned how sincere Lancaster Dodd is either his son insists that Dodd is making things up as he goes along but there's never a gotcha scene in the film in which Dodd is exposed as a swindler people have genuinely believed stranger things and with even less evidence but does that matter in the real world does elrod Hubbard's intentions his private thoughts matter more than the consequences of his actions Scientology is bunk but so is a lot of supernatural stuff people are free to believe what they want so long as it doesn't hurt anyone the Church of Scientology does hurt people so does it matter if a dead man believed it was real or not does it matter if Hubbard was a true believer or an intentional liar does that change the living conditions of the RPF would it make the harassment campaigns against ex-scientologists sting any less would it make the wallets of those taken in by a meter auditing any less empty Hubbard detailed his rules for attacking critics in a number of policy letters including one often quoted by critics as the fair game policy any critic of the Church of Scientology is called a suppressive person and may be deprived of property or injured by any means tricked sued or lied to or destroyed this policy from 1967 was no longer displayed in public shortly thereafter but critics argue only the term was removed but not the practice in separate cases in 1979 and 1984 attorneys for Scientology argued that the fair policy was still a core belief of their church and as such deserved protection as religious expression harassment campaigns exist to this day and the Church of Scientology would like it protected under their religion the list of ex Scientologists who have spoken out against the church and its cruel practices is long too long for this video I will leave resources in the description people debate whether or not Scientology is a religion and whether Hubbard believed his own nonsense in the film there are scenes in which Freddy doubts his new faith and returns to it and doubts it and returns to it Freddy is a lost soul and his quest for meaning in his life something to believe in a master is central to the film but whether or not Dodd believes his own [ __ ] isn't as important as what his actions regardless of intent have created to me the question of whether Hubbard was a scam artist who hurt people or a zealot who hurt people is probably not all that important to those he hurt and those who continue to be hurt long after he passed away hi everyone if you like what I do please click on the orange patreon link below that's how this show happens it's also the only way to request an episode also please like share subscribe and click on the notification bell so that you never miss an episode I'll see you next week

Channel: Renegade Cut

Views: 131,905

Keywords: renegade cut, the master, the master 2012, the master review, the master analysis, the master scientology, the master scene, the master ending, the master clip, the master trailer, the master how scientology works, the master philip seymour hoffman, the master joaquin phoenix, the master paul thomas anderson, scientology, facts about scientology, what is scientology, secrets of scientology, culture of scientology, l ron hubbard, l ron hubbard interview

Id: aKH6Ma-J1Dk

Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 28 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/hrlemshake]

Renegade Cut has some great stuff, but this one's a dud. All he did was note the obvious similarities between CoS and The Cause, that anyone who knows what CoS is would catch instantly, going into the actual philosophy of the film itself in the last minute. For anyone who wants to know about the truth behind Scientology and its awful history, watch "Going Clear or Scientology: The Prison of Belief". It's an amazing and engrossing documentary, I believe it might be on Netflix. If anything, this video was a 10 minute version of this movie.

[u/elmo18]

This dude sounds like a robot

[u/brownu95]

It’s weird how Tom cruise was allow to see this movie. I know he’s friends with PTA but still it’s ironic

[u/MoreFault]

u had me at chuckys daughters tits

[u/elmo18]

This dude sounds like a robot