This is actually quite a big deal as People has been notoriously friendly to the cult over the years, so much so that many believed that they had to have a highly placed scion working for them. This shift to writing a "negative" piece is a fantastic sign that they've finally woken up and smelled the coffee!
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright – review
Sukhdev Sandhu applauds an eye-opening account of America's most controversial religion
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John Travolta signs copies of Battlefield Earth in London, 2000. Photograph: Matthew Fearn/PA
At the end of the 1940s, L Ron Hubbard – a sinophobic college dropout turned pulp writer (his pseudonyms included Joe Blitz and Legionnaire 148) turned reckless naval officer (one report claimed he was "lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and co-operation") turned ulcerous and gonorrhea-afflicted war veteran – hatched a plan to revive his stuttering fortunes. "I'd like to start a religion," he's reported to have declared. "That's where the money is."
Going Clear, Lawrence Wright's new study of the man and his followers, shows just how right he was. By 1950, Hubbard had developed a self-help system called dianetics, which was to form the basis of the Church ofScientology, whose assets are now reputed to be in the order of £1bn. Yet, though it claims a membership of 8m worldwide, independent studies suggest only 30,000 Americans call themselves Scientologists: that's less than half the number of Americans who identify as Rastafarian.
The line between fact and fiction, objective reality and fevered speculation, has always been foggy when it comes to Scientology. That's partly because of Hubbard and the weird eschatologies he devised, which involved a despotic leader named Xenu and billions of spirit-like creatures called thetans who were transported to Earth only to be dropped into volcanoes before being blown up by hydrogen bombs.
It's also a result of the litigious and bullying tactics of church members, who scare off would-be investigators (to the point that Wright's book can't be published in the UK). And perhaps it's something to do with our desire for a narrative – equal parts Hollywood Babylon, ufology and David Koresh-style cult – that couches postwar American history, especially the gulf between its sunny side-up rhetoric and its rather glummer social polity, as one big conspiracy theory.
The Hubbard that emerges from Going Clear is certainly no saint. He's a serial cheat, an abusive husband who kidnapped one of his daughters from an early wife and claimed to have "cut her into little pieces and dropped the pieces in a river", an increasingly sybaritic ideologue who believed America's jails and mental hospitals were full of inmates who had been unsuccessfully aborted by their "sex-blocked mothers to whom children are a curse, not a blessing of God".
But Hubbard, even though he lived in a country estate in Sussex in the early 60s, and dreamed of taking over Rhodesia, is also the embodiment of a peculiar and not unimpressive kind of American dynamism: a Barnum-like huckster, confidence man as philosopher, the quack who would be king. That will-to-power – as epic in its ambition as the tales in the science fiction journals where his theories were first elaborated – is also evident in the world's most famous modern-day Scientologist, Tom Cruise, who is reported here as saying: "If fucking Arnold can be governor, I could be president." (The book records Cruise's denial that he ever said this.)
Going Clear has been eagerly awaited following the Pulitzer prize-winning Wright's 2011 New Yorker article about the church, which drew heavily on the testimony of Academy award-winning film-maker Paul (Crash) Haggis, a former Scientologist and father of two lesbian daughters who later recoiled from the church's anti-gay theories. The book is diligently researched, calmly expository, and full of fascinating side-stories (most readers will be unaware of Hubbard's fondness for the teachings of English occultist Aleister Crowley or his influence on the writings of William Burroughs).
Over the past week American bloggers have been exultantly cherrypicking it for bizarre episodes and tut-tutting over Hubbard's apparent reaction to the early death of his son Quentin: "That little shit has done it to me again." Particularly disturbing is Wright's description of a darkened basement in a Scientology building where difficult members and their children were holed up.
Most batty detail? Hubbard's chronically awful thousand-page dystopiaBattlefield Earth turns out to be Mitt Romney's favourite novel.
All in a day's work for Tom: Cruise gets a gun to held to his head by Emily Blunt... as minutes later he is spotted kissing mystery blonde
By FAY STRANG
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He brought Trafalgar Square to a standstill last November filming scenes for his upcoming movie All You Need Is Kill.
And on Saturday Tom Cruise seemed determined to bring another part of the city to a halt – this time Whitehall, home of parliament.
The actor was seen shooting scenes in full military attire, at one point looking slightly pained as he practiced a shooting scene with co-star Emily Blunt - which involved the blonde holding a gun to his head.
Practice makes perfect: Emily Blunt holds a gun to Tom Cruise's head on All You Need Is Kill set in London
The 50-year-old looked handsome in a tailored khaki ensemble, which was completed with a smart hat and aviator style sunglasses.
Despite his ready-for-action attire the actor, who was in character as Lt Col. Bill Cage, was seen just milling around laughing with various cast members and even getting close to one pretty member of the film team.
Tom was seen whispering into the petite blonde's ear and at one point it looked like the actor was moving in for a kiss .
Gun-toting: Emily Blunt certainly looked like she meant business as she held a revolver to Tom's head
An officer and a gentleman: Cruise looks like he is getting very close with a member of the production team
The mystery woman couldn't help but smile as Tom worked his Hollywood magic as the crew took a break from filming in central London.
In fact the military uniform made Tom look rather dashing and it was certainly having an effect on the young woman, who looked enthralled by the actor.
Nearby another actor stood wearing a futuristic battle outfit, similar to one worn by the famous Mission Impossible star in scenes already filmed.
What a charmer! Tom moves in for a kiss backstage in London, but just who is the mystery woman?
Back to work: Tom Cruise was seen filming in Whitehall on Saturday for All You Need is Kill
The 50-year-old looked handsome in a tailored khaki ensemble, which was completed with a smart hat and aviator style sunglasses.
Despite his ready-for-action attire the actor, who was in character as Lt Col. Bill Cage, was seen just milling around laughing with various cast members.
Nearby another actor stood wearing a futuristic battle outfit, similar to one worn by the famous Mission Impossible star in scenes already filmed.
Fun: The 50-year-old actor was in high spirits on set in London, laughing with crew members
Warriors: Tom was joined on set by an actor dressed in what looked like robot inspired military armour
Co-star: Emily Blunt joined Tom on set as he changed into a more casual camouflage outfit
Leading lady: Emily plays Rita Vrataski in the blockbuster
Sci-fi: The armour is similar to that worn by Cruise in scenes which have already been filmed
Getting ready: Cruise stood on the sidelines waiting to film his scenes for the upcoming movie
The synopsis for the film - which Cruise began filming last summer in the UK – reveals that Tom's alter ego doesn't fare too well, almost immediately being killed in battle.
However, in the world of science fiction, anything is possible and Cruise's soldier character finds himself caught in a time loop.
He finds that he can relive his last day over and over again, becoming more skilled as time goes on.
Military garb: Emily was dressed in combat style trousers with a pair of army boots, while her hair was off her face
Military men: The area was full of extras dressed in various types of military attire
Origins: The film is based on Japanese light novel of the same name by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, with illustrations by Yoshitoshi ABe
Dapper: Tom looked smart in his khaki suit, hat and aviator sunglasses
Directed by The Bourne Identity's Doug Liman, the film also stars Emily Blunt and Titanic's Bill Paxton as the tough leader of Cruise's platoon.
A large chunk of the movie was filmed in Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire - the same studios where the Harry Potter franchise was shot.
All You Need Is Kill is based on the Japanese light novel of the same name by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, with illustrations by Yoshitoshi ABe.
All out: The area was fully transformed with tanks on set as well as all the extras
Warner Bros. has scheduled it for release on March 7 2014.
But it will face some tough box office competition from the likes of Disney’s Maleficent, which stars Angelina Jolie, and DreamWorks' animated feature Me and My Shadow, in which Kate Hudson is voicing a part.
Police were sent to Tom Cruise’s property in Los Angeles in January of this year following a report about an alleged armed intruder.
Neither Tom nor any of his family members were at the house at the time and the call is now believed to be a prank after Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived on the scene and found nothing suspicious.
Ongoing: Tom has been filming since last summer in the UK and the film is due out in March 2014
Directed: The Bourne Identity's Doug Liman directs and the film also stars Emily Blunt and Titanic's Bill Paxton as the tough leader of Cruise's platoon
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2272415/Tom-Cruise-wears-military-attire-returns-filming-London-Robocop-esque-warriors.html#ixzz2JnhI357L
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