An Ex Scientologist Discusses The Master
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 พ.ค. 2019
- For quite some time I've been meaning to get a review done of Paul Thomas Anderson's movie, The Master. Although Anderson himself said that his movie is not about Scientology, I beg to differ. I think The Master demonstrates some of the most interesting and dangerous aspects of destructive cults and I show through the course of this video why this is so. Enjoy!
#TheMaster #Scientology #ChrisShelton
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Movie review mixed with ex- Scientology commentary? I’m here for this.
Fun fact:
Joaquin Phoenix grew up in the Children of God cult. It seems quite a few celebs did also: Glenn Close and Rose McGowan among them.
When his parents saw the light and left, the family all changed their last name to Phoenix from Bottom.
JAYE R. Uma Thurman spent her childhood in one too,, plus, her step-father was Timothy Leary(LSD king of the 60's). Fact
@@tamara6212 I think you are not right about Uma. His father is a scholar on Tibetan Buddhism, translator and also teaches Buddhism. I dont think she was raised in a cult. Uma is not a Buddhist, but I dont think she considers his father's religion a cult.
That probably could explain how he must’ve been attracted to this movie.
@@tamara6212 the king of a CIA psy ops to create the hippie movement. LSD awaking the mind to true reality and so forth is one of the greatest lies being perpetuated.
I have looked for a former scientologist to review/react to this film.. Thank you for a great analysis Chris! No one could have done the master greater justice than Philip Seymour Hoffman, such a true force of nature..
I always wondered about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death! Knowing how crazy Miscavige is, could he have made his death look accidental in retribution for this film?
Former members should join together and file a Class Action lawsuit against Scientology for cheating them out of their money and abusing them both mentally and physically.
They signed their rights away to sue, most of them.
Don't join the Pee Org!
Thank you for this. Phoenix was awesome and Seymour astounding. Their chemistry was great. I forgot about this movie and how scary it is. I’m continually amazed how well and healthy you are after all that time in such a horrible environment.
When I saw the movie for the first time I had no clue it was based on Scientology. But when I heard the sentence: "I am a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist a relative philosopher" I've got the feeling this sounds like Hubbard. When I saw the scene with the processing I knew it.
Had not planned to watch this in its entirety, just in parts. But I was totally engrossed. "Master"fully done! (Forgive me.) Excellent in all facets, Chris. Kudos. Super hug!
Me too, was going to watch 10 or 20 minutes before cooking dinner! One of my all-time favourite films. Chris did a great job.
Same here. This was very good. Totally agree Shelley.
And Mary!
I’m renting it tonight!
As a long-time PTA fangirl and scientology cult-watcher, I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis of The Master, Chris. I saw the movie in the theater in 70mm--PTA did a limited release in this format to select movie houses. Dear gods, it was gorgeous...I got a special kick out of the narrative because I was pretty familiar with at least the major milestones of early scientology and specific auditing and processing techniques. But I clearly (ahem) missed some things, so I am grateful that you took the time not only to describe the film in the context of cult minutiae, but also to dig deeper into the themes running throughout--master/servant, father/son, ego/id. You reminded me how truly brilliant it is, from the dialog to the acting to the cinematography to the score.
I wish the film had gotten a better reception by critics and the movie-going public. People mostly seemed confused by it. PTA's hedging in interviews about whether it really referenced scientology, while understandable, didn't help sell it very well. I hope now that the cult's dirty laundry has become broader public knowledge, folks will revisit The Master with a deeper appreciation for it.
You're right that PTA quite obviously did a lot of homework to prep for this film. He has said in interviews that he was always fascinated by cult leader types, and that this was the impetus for the film. But his research was so very specific to scientology. I often wonder if he was at least partially inspired by the experiences of Jeremy Blake (and his long-time partner Theresa Duncan). Blake had done visuals for Punch-Drunk Love which helped to catapult him into the art-pop culture scene of the early aughts. He and Duncan would go on to claim they were being harassed by scientologists. Both died by apparent suicide in 2007. I can't imagine that didn't in some way influence PTA's choice to dig into this particular subject matter.
Thanks again for this deep-dive review, Chris!
LOVE THIS EPISODE CHRIS!!!!!
WOW
You are an excellent movie reviewer. I hope that you consider doing more reviews, even non scientology themed movies. You have an undeniable talent that seems so natural.
Cant wait for another!
Elizabeth Lynne He used to have a separate channel for that (I enjoyed it), but it wasn’t getting enough attention for how much work he put into it.
Can we just acknowledge how underrated Joaquin Phoenix is? Great review and interesting commentary on its reflection on Scientology.
He really is the best actor in our generation... imo.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is an outstanding actor who is a great foil for Joaquin.
Joaquin is my favorite!
Joaquin was raised in a cult. So, I’m sure he had personal, firsthand experience.
No!
I am surprised that no one has noticed that the name of the group-The Cause, is a play on what the Church of Scientology is referred to in abbreviated form-The CoS.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!! Omg. This is absolutely the best video to date, Chis.
*makes hour and half worth of popcorn*
I really enjoyed the way you put this video together. I think you chose good scenes to show and the commentary was straight to the point and easy to understand.
Thank you, Chris, a great analysis of one of my favourite films. Anderson did such a brilliant job all the way around. I so miss Hoffman. Joaquin was achingly pitiable and unlikeable, and yet draws out compassion. His physicality in this role is agonizing, especially in the jail scene, his transformation shown in his face throughout is haunting. Another fantastic and terrifying portrayal of cult life and its aftermath is the film Martha Marcy May Marlene.
I started watching Homeland again from Season 1, and the "relationship" between Nicholas Brody and his captor/master Abu Nazir is such a good illustration of how prisoners can become radicalized.
This was such a brilliant analysis of the film, Chris. Your experiences in the cult and your knowledge of its techniques makes your commentary so real. Your video is a Must Watch for anyone who is a Scientology watcher. Thank you for your continued brilliant work.
Thank you!
Hey Chris. Currently reading your book. Love it. Thank you so much for all your hard work with your videos and everything else.
Thank you for coming forth and speaking the truth. It’s much appreciated and respected 🥰❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️
I’ve been hoping for something like this for a while! Thank you!
Very much enjoyed your very eloquent and extra insightful commentary on both the film and the cult itself. Well done and keep up the good work. Greetings from London!
This is the best video I've watched on TH-cam. And I watch A LOT of videos spanning a lot of topics. Very well done and much respect!
Thank you!
I enjoyed this Chris. Amazing. Thank you
Very insightful analysis of this Fantastic movie. Big thumbs up Chris, keep up the good work :)
Wow thank you Chris. I was waiting for you to talk about this movie. I
First I want to say that when P.S. Hoffman ODd, we lost a true talent of this generation. What a waste. Second, I enjoy P.T Anderson's films immensely. Now to the scenes, Freddie making hoch out of the photo developing chems broke me up. Those old developing and washing chemicals were nasty as could be.
When one has experienced the power of being addicted to someone who is twisted and manipulative, whom you learn to love and hate at the same time, you don`t really have to have been in a cult in order to understand the inner fight of your soul and brain and between reason and madness. Being tortured, at first on a subtle emotional level, often unrecognizable to an untrained and ignorant observer and then increasingly suffering on a physical level. It consumes your soul and body that you and your experiencers talk about in your videos. And it often is a miracle to save yourself from such a bond. But if you succeed to break free physically, you will be followed by psychic instability and inner pain and it takes years of hard inner work to regain at least a certain healthy level of recognition of your true self and to form a bond with what you believe is the true YOU and not just a sum of multiple expectations that were forced on you since you took the first breath. Thank you, Chris.
All true. Rachel Bernstein and I actually discuss this exact thing in a few of the podcasts we did together. Being in a relationship with a narcissist follows the same model as a cult leader-follower relationship.
@@ChrisSheltonMsc
Thank you for your kind reply, Chris.
English is my third language and I wasn`t sure you would get the essence of my much too long comment. So, thanks again and thank you for teaching me so much about Scientology. You have answered questions that have been preoccupying me for years. Friendly greetings to you and Melissa :)
@@ChrisSheltonMsc you are so right Chris!!
le chat, we have the same perception. Let me add that this is a true addiction.. All addictions are based on a created 'Traumabond'. Whether it's a toxic substance (drugs), a toxic person (narcissist) or a toxic (narcissistic religious) Cult. I personal experienced them all !! Traumabond is about the overwhelming love/hate feelings, fight between soul and brain etc. Bottomline: learn how to put boundaries to protect yourself from toxic people. They love to cross your boundaries and will litterally....destroy you.
Rachel Bernstein's podcast, Indoctrination; a weekly conversation series about protecting yourself from systems of control, is a great place to look at these kinds of similarities. Check it out!
Great commentary on a great film. Love your channel, and loved your book "Scientology: A to Xenu: An Insider's Guide to What Scientology is Really All About". I watched this film a few months ago and as I watched it, I found myself hoping you'd post something like this! Thanks! :D
I applaud you Chris for the most captivating and interesting video you have ever done. Your wealth of knowledge and intelligence helped me to understand what was going on in The Master but, more importantly, the unique relationship that is the cult master/slave relationship and how LRH exploited and controlled his followers. It gives us a glimpse into how he did this and what he was thinking. Your very astute observations has now made it easier for me to watch The Master for the 1st time.
Excellent work Chris.
Well done.
Great analysis, thank you. I'm Australian and don't know a whole lot about Scientology/L. Ron Hubbard so this was very helpful. I'm also glad you mentioned codependency near the end there, a lot can be understood of cults by doing research on the Narcissism/codependency model.
Oh dunk I did not know Rami Malik was in this as well as Laura Dern for small roles - I love having people who know this minutiae of these worlds and interest to go deep dive style into the things we'd miss.
Rami is my favorite person alive.. just saying... blessings
Hollywood Sperm.
Really loved this video. Thank you for making it.
I finally saw this movie last week, and after that I just had to find the time to watch this video! I really enjoyed the movie and your commentary on it.
Wonderful work as always.
Chris, 1:07:32 is like a Christmas present, there is never enough Bowie.
Never enough BOWIE. I miss him.
Riveting. Thank you for this incredible review amd analysis!👍
My one criticism of this is that the sound of the movie clips was too low - I could hardly discern any of the dialogue.
Thank God, I thought it was my headphones
I really enjoyed this. I saw this movie years ago and not knowing much about scientology at the time never knew it was based on that cult.I just thought it was a cautionary tale about how crazy ass religions/cults could be, and how manipulative their leaders/self proclaimed gurus could be. Thanks for the explanation. Keep up the good work.
I think any honest movie on Scientology will be about how dangerous crazy ass religious cults can be.
Yes!! Ever since I saw this film I was excited for your take on it. The small problem with it (and with many vids mixing film clips and commentary) is that the way that the movie audio is mastered to have broad dynamics causes the volume of your commentary to be thrown out of proportion with the volume of the clips. Just a small nitpick though; the commentary and clip choices so far have been great.
Overall, film audio is generally mastered for theater to the extent that dialogue is super quiet and music or sound effects like explosions far too loud in comparison for home release. The movie audio needs to have its dynamic range compressed ("brickwalled") in order to reduce the range and thus get rid of the major differences between dialogue and music/effects.
😒😒😒😒😒😪
I see a movie as being a compressed story. I do not mind being in broadened in this way.
I like the lighting on their faces during auditing sessions... It catches the emotional state their in.. the facial expression of shame, anger .... Cool .. cool.... Good breakdown, music is quirky.. and I liked the fighting scenes, with the cops... Bravo!!!!
I am so happy to see this video restored. I was watching this morning and had to stop about 30 mins in, then when I came back to pick it back up the video was taken down by Lionsgate even though this is CLEARLY Fair Use.
Excellent commentary. Enjoyed your insight immensely.
hi chris - great movie & I loved the way u presented it so we could watch it 2gether. Endless talent my friend 👍👍
Thank you!
Your video makes me want to see this movie again. I found it confusing when I saw it before. Good review and breakdown.
Thank you! The test is to say "no" and observe the reaction. Thanks,teach.
Take avantage of simple minded people .... I think this cult has a lot to answer for
Make no mistake. Hubbard built this trap for everybody. And he was even more delighted when he could get the smart ones.
I've seen this movie many times because it is the most fascinating movie. I agree with very much of your interpretation. Lancaster is sad in the end while he sings to Freddie because it is goodbye to his friend, probably the only friend he has. Peggy is the real cult leader, as displayed while Lancaster types dictating Peggy's words, "And this is where we are at..." This movie is so complex, I see something new every time, as a hundred times and more I have watched it. One final notice of mention is that on the dvd cover art, Freddie is the most prominent picture, and the only face not mirrored in the Rorschach design. Freddie Quell is the master.
The acting in that movie was amazing but it was honestly one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen so I didn’t finish it. I do appreciate your commentary you’ve presented here Chris
Kudos my friend, well done!
OMG, is The Terminator a Scientologist? "I'll be back" sounds a lot like "We come back."
"Master"piece Chris, Thank you !!
Perfect Chris! I watched the movie recently and you nailed it.
Phoenix can do anything. He is amazing!!
Typical top quality Chris Shelton material. Well done Chris.
Great great, review chris, spot on i think.
I felt castigated watching this, great analysis.
This is a masterpiece. I hope it gets a lot of views.
One of the reasons Joaquin might have been so good in portraying Freddie was that his family had been in a destructive cult when he was a child. Pulled from the experience. I think it was Children of God.
Fascinating and insightful review! Thank you Chris! Next up maybe review Battlefield Earth!
Great job, Mr. Shelton.
I discovered your channel by chance,and I like your style!😂 It's easy to have opinions,they're like belly buttons because we've all got them. I'm keen to learn from other people's experiences. We learn from our mistakes but we don't have time to make every mistake so we need to learn from other peoples' mistakes too! Hello from Edinburgh. ( burruh, not burrow😉)
I saw it at TIFF and just watched this movie a couple nights ago. I'd take away maybe 20 minutes but it's such a great film. I'm an ex-Scientologist and it's pretty accurate.
VERY insightful. Thanks
Very Educational video. As an Ex SO I know. You did a great job in this video. I think this is my favorite so far. Now the alliance between the church & the muslim brotherhood is something to keep an eye on.
Loved this movie, and love your breakdown of it. All the best.
Excellent analysis ❤
Absolutely fascinating
Bravo!... Good show!!
I'd say this is my second favorite film, right behind Network (1976)
Crazy now wonder why lot of these celebrities in Scientology have hissy fits whenever you ask them about what their beliefs. Most cults or religions shouldn't be mad or upset about folks not sharing their views.We should be embracing them and spiritually guiding them.
Love your video...and your shirt!
Bravo! Masterfully done.
Sorry to hear that.
I can't believe I rented this online but never watched it... now it's too late. You'd think they'd know and let us watch later.
I think I just watched it on Netflix... either there or HBO but fairly certain it was 'flix
Or "wives be subservient to your husband's".(PERIOD)
Excellent commentary
Great video 🤙🏻
Thank you.
Yo Chris. Fun stuff.
Thanks for doing this, PTA movies are fantastic and any movie Jonny Greenwood scores are epic. Knew the movie was using Scientology as its base. Thank you for reviewing.
Great video CS ! Have you ever done a video about The Path ?
Thank you for this because I tried to watch this when it was free on the Roku channel and after about 45 min. I just could not watch any more. I was just bored to death and I usually like Joaquin Phoenix movies. I guess I would not have made a very good Scientologist...Thank God.
Bravo!!! 👏👏👏👏❣️
Hey I loved this video
It's really interesting and makes me want to watch the film again.
Lmfao I’m obsessed with this movie rn and I have a life long love of Labyrinth so this video just freaked my bean 💀 Jareth really IS a goblin cult leader loooool
01:06:05 men in the Mormons will say they "Knew each other in the pre-existence"
I never even heard about this movie till NOW
masterful
Joaquin Phoenix was raised in a commune cult, so he has some experience in these things.
Good video dude I always was curious about what Scientology was about.Based on what I saw from the movie and popularity from Hollywood stars, it sounds like a mean spirited belief system that makes people look like they're clueless.Heck most of all religions are open minded when sharing their views.My family on my mother's side are Jehovah's Witnesses and sometimes when a family member is disfellowshiped they don't talk to them anymore sounds wrong and it is.Most people should think for themselves not be tied down to organization based on somebody's theory.
Did woman have any rights in the origination? Or could they hold a ( clearing throat)"title"?.... Inquiring minds want to know
Film analyst Rob Ager did a brillant analysis of the processing scene.
Can you give me a link to that review pleas? I am very interested in reading it.
@@theresaakins2317 It was a video commentary to the scene. It seems that Rob Ager has taken it off youtube. Sometimes he puts up clips and then puts them behind the paywall of his own site. Then sometimes he puts them back for a while. In fact, he recently put back an analysis of the Exorcist which I had already paid for, haha. Here you can find free and commercial clips: www.collativelearning.com/FILMS%20reviews%20BY%20ROB%20AGER.html
Can you talk about Scientology imagery in Tom Cruise movies? The airplane incident seems to be reflected in Mission Impossible when Cruise is holding on to the airplane as it takes off and tries to open the door
Directed by Paul thomas Anderson, also directed there will be blood. Same style music, background, etc. Cool video 📹 😎.
I've wanted to see this movie ever since I learned about Scientology, to see how it compared. Wow! In places, I knew what the characters were gonna say before they said it. (I love movies like that.) Now I've got to see the whole thing. Is it on Netflix?
I love your t-shirt!! Any idea where I can get one?
I think you can get any of the shirts he wears from his SpreadShirt store (linked in the description box).
Based 👍
Chris, I really liked your review. Finally suscribed, to "tie the knot"..lol.. also, I had the same questions, regarding the writer's intentionality, in terms of actually addressing the zietgiest of DIANETICS, ie "pre Scientology". When I first learned of Scientology, there was no e meter. Just " Dianetic Reverie" , as I recall and illustrated through out the whole movie.
But my main point is perhaps your misuse of diagnosing "Freddie" (?) as the over used and misrepresented term, "Bi Polar"....
First, the clinical/ DSM community, has "lowered the bar", for acceptance of the label "Bi Polar" since DSM3 in 1981... Now everyone is "Bi Polar" which lends itself to a medical solution ( I've never been a Scientologist..lol..).... AND, As a well trained therapist since 1980, and a big "Human Potential", participant prior, I view the client suffering from PTSD, as illustrated it's origins in the beggining of the flick. I would say that secondarily, he'd be considered a "Schizo Affective Disorder" a wastebasket diagnosis, which gives room for the co existentce of Bi Polar (mostly manic type) TRAITS, combined with general schitzophrenic FEATURES. AND I'd rate his psycho social stressors, through the roof (from the Dianetic context) as well as compounded by his adicitive relationship with his chemicaly toxic beverage...
I'm just touchy about the over use and lowering the criteria for plain olde "Manic Depression" , which I believe Freddie is not. Hyper vigalent, yes!.... Don't mean to underscore the excellence of your review...Mack
"UNDER RATE, THE EXCELLENCE." ....
Sorry, your right, under rate.....I guess I need to do more "word clearing".....rofl
Oopps...that was my correction......"oh, well, never mind......RIP...Gilda Radner, aka Rosanne Rosanadana.....ah, the good old days!
Nice coverage on this.
Regarding portraying Scientology or not, I think Scientology had a large influence because it’s currently the best known cult, with celebrities who talk about it at will. Had this movie been made after the Jonestown suicide death pact, Anderson just might have made the master out to be more like Jones. Yes, Anderson studied Scientology, but likely cults in general. There’s almost a script for how cults gain membership and power over their minions, mixed with behaviors that are specific to the bent of each cult. That’s where the mixing and matching come in. Abuse is a feature of cults, and there are plenty of similarities to cults and those who are involved in abusive relationships.
As a society, our best courses of action are to offer comfort to those who escape cults and abusive relationships; as well as providing infrastructure that helps prevent poverty, discrimination, along with full health services.