With all of the hype about this film, I am surprised some of the TL SciFi afficianados have not mentioned it. I read Hubbard's work long before I ever heard the "D" word so I look forward to the film, even if I thought the book was over long.
Have you guys heard the hype about the movie, re: subliminal messaging? Supposedly the church of Scientology (The book was written by L. Ron Hubbard, L. Ron is a Scientologist, Travolta is a Scientologist, see the connection? :) has worked to include in the movie subliminal messaging to make a person open to the ideas of the Church, and to make them interested in joining. I can't find the article right now, I'll keep looking, but it was a long thing written by people who claimed to be former members of the church of Scientology, who were privy to all their dastardly plans. Either way, something to think about, if you find yourself seeing the movie and suddenly thinking that maybe those Scientologists have it right fter all :)
If I recall correctly, L. Ron Hubbard invented Scientology. And now I recall why I recall that . . . Harlan Ellison claims he was there when Hubbard decided to kick off his new religion.
Scientology is bullshit, as any deliberately invented religion is, but this interview was clearly not Ellison's finest hour. He's always been a shit-stirrer, both by nature and (probably) because he believes there's no such thing as bad publicity.
I'm in total agreement re: Scientology (and Ellison's proclivity to self-promtion). Hence my disclaimer about the "D" word (Dianetics). Whatever the case, Hubbard could write Sci Fi and Battlefield was his best. I would be interested in what kind of subliminal messages the movie could hold. I keep thinking back to playing Beatle albums backwards to hear a scratchy "I buried Paul".
I'll have to take your word that Hubbard could write sci-fi; I tried to read one of his most noted works, FINAL BLACKOUT, but didn't get far - the style was excruciating. [Hmm...interesting word "excruciating" - it's derived from a Latin word meaning "to crucify".]
Re. "subliminal": if you consciously hear it, it's not subliminal. (Sorry, I seem to have come over all pedantic :-))
I know very little about Scientology/Dianetics except that I've heard it's kinda a "pay to advance" scheme. I've never read Battlefield, but am looking forward to the movie for it's own sake. I heard similar "Scientology propaganda" charges levelled against Phenomenon, which I kinda enjoyed. But I'm not a Scientologist yet, so if there was propaganda in that, it probably wasn't too effective.
I recall something similar about the movie THE EXORCIST. The claim was that there were certain frames of a bloody skull clipped into the film to promote terror. The idea was that one frame was inserted every so often and was not discernable while watching the film. At the time this created quite a stir because this type of subliminal messaging was a violation of the film-makers code of ethics. As I recall there was some sort of Congressional investigation which typically lead to nothing. I wonder if the film-maker slipped a few frames of a man yawning into CIDER HOUSE RULES. It certainly had that effect on me.
Well, Battlefield Earth seems to be getting completely trashed independant of any Scientology undertones (which I haven't heard anything about, BTW). My favorite reviewer seems to be representative with this lambasting, while the only non-bilious review I could find was on Mr. Showbiz.
Have you guys heard the hype about the movie, re: subliminal messaging?
Supposedly the church of Scientology (The book was written by L. Ron Hubbard, L. Ron is a Scientologist, Travolta is a Scientologist, see the connection? :) has worked to include in the movie subliminal messaging to make a person open to the ideas of the Church, and to make them interested in joining.
I can't find the article right now, I'll keep looking, but it was a long thing written by people who claimed to be former members of the church of Scientology, who were privy to all their dastardly plans.
Either way, something to think about, if you find yourself seeing the movie and suddenly thinking that maybe those Scientologists have it right fter all :)
If I recall correctly, L. Ron Hubbard invented Scientology. And now I recall why I recall that . . . Harlan Ellison claims he was there when Hubbard decided to kick off his new religion.
Scientology is bullshit, as any deliberately invented religion is, but this interview was clearly not Ellison's finest hour. He's always been a shit-stirrer, both by nature and (probably) because he believes there's no such thing as bad publicity.
I'm in total agreement re: Scientology (and Ellison's proclivity to self-promtion). Hence my disclaimer about the "D" word (Dianetics). Whatever the case, Hubbard could write Sci Fi and Battlefield was his best. I would be interested in what kind of subliminal messages the movie could hold. I keep thinking back to playing Beatle albums backwards to hear a scratchy "I buried Paul".
I'll have to take your word that Hubbard could write sci-fi; I tried to read one of his most noted works, FINAL BLACKOUT, but didn't get far - the style was excruciating. [Hmm...interesting word "excruciating" - it's derived from a Latin word meaning "to crucify".]
Re. "subliminal": if you consciously hear it, it's not subliminal. (Sorry, I seem to have come over all pedantic :-))
I know very little about Scientology/Dianetics except that I've heard it's kinda a "pay to advance" scheme. I've never read Battlefield, but am looking forward to the movie for it's own sake. I heard similar "Scientology propaganda" charges levelled against Phenomenon, which I kinda enjoyed. But I'm not a Scientologist yet, so if there was propaganda in that, it probably wasn't too effective.
I recall something similar about the movie THE EXORCIST. The claim was that there were certain frames of a bloody skull clipped into the film to promote terror. The idea was that one frame was inserted every so often and was not discernable while watching the film. At the time this created quite a stir because this type of subliminal messaging was a violation of the film-makers code of ethics. As I recall there was some sort of Congressional investigation which typically lead to nothing. I wonder if the film-maker slipped a few frames of a man yawning into CIDER HOUSE RULES. It certainly had that effect on me.
Well, Battlefield Earth seems to be getting completely trashed independant of any Scientology undertones (which I haven't heard anything about, BTW). My favorite reviewer seems to be representative with this lambasting, while the only non-bilious review I could find was on Mr. Showbiz.