I'm not sure to what extent the information in the documentary was new - it was nearly all based on the excellent book by Lawrence Wright which was published last year. Indeed to my mind, there was as much shocking material in the book that was missing from the documentary. (Side note: Stupid British libel laws mean the book was never published in the UK, and I had to import a US edition. Furthermore, libel laws in Northern Ireland have to date prevented a UK TV airing on Sky Atlantic who have the rights, and instead there was a limited cinema run of the doc, notably excluding Northern Ireland).
And while Cruise is heavily involved in Scientology, he's not truly a spokesperson for it. From what I've read about the subject, there's not a specific allegation of Cruise locking someone up against their will, or subjecting ex-members to abuse - the really nasty side of the "church." If there was something hanging then fair enough, and Stewart should have gone after him. But otherwise it would have been akin to talking about peodophile priests with a guest who's Catholic (the analogy doesn't quite work). Cruise isn't really the Pope of Scientology - that's David Miscavige. And an interview with him, I'd love to see. Anyway, I suspect it's all moot because as I suggested and seems to have been confirmed, Cruise's PR people were never going to let it be a subject. Given that his main reason for being on the show was to promote a film, and Stewart basically *never* lays into celebrity guests, then it would have been massively out of character for him to have done so in this instance. There have probably been celebrity guests in the past who believe in homeopathy, but he probably wouldn't get into that with them either. Adam On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 7:50 PM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > The Emmy-nominated documentary makes the topic ripe for discussion. > Some of the information in the documentary had been reported before > but a lot of it was also new. This is the first time the information > has been made available on such a broad basis. And Tom Cruise is > practically the pope of Scientology. > Stewart is the one who wags his finger at the news shows for their > shortcomings. It's fair he gets some finger wagging in his direction > for his short comings. > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 11:13 AM, Jon Delfin <[email protected]> wrote: > > The trouble is, it isn't news. Cruise has been on with Stewart many > times in > > 16 years, and I disagree that the documentary changes the situation as > far > > as plugging a movie is concerned. Granted, I haven't read the article, > so my > > commentary is possibly lacking foundation. For instance, is there > anything > > in it about Stewart not interrogating any of the other famous > Scientologists > > who have come to hype their product besides Cruise? > > > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 1:23 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> I think the Atlantic's criticism is exaggerated, but so are the defenses > >> of Stewart. > >> > >> With response Dave, if the Atheist Community is unable to detect a > >> difference between Scientology and the Presbyterian Church, then it > suggests > >> atheists can be as blind and irrational as christians. The expectation > for > >> questioning Cruise is not based on the implausibility of Scientology's > >> theological claims (if so, then it would be appropriate to ask if we > would > >> expect Stewart to grill a Catholic celebrity on the logic of > >> transubstantiation). The predicate here is the documentary "Going > Clear", > >> which was on HBO just this April, and has recently been nominated for > >> several Emmys. The documentary does not make fun of Scientology's > theology, > >> it alleges clear instances of abusive and potentially illegal behavior, > many > >> specifically revolving around Cruise himself. As noted in the Atlantic > >> piece: > >> > >>> "The movie alleges, among other things, that the actor personally > >>> profited from slave labor (church members who were paid 40 cents an > hour to > >>> outfit the star’s airplane hangar and motorcycle), and that his former > >>> girlfriend, the actress Nazanin Boniadi, was punished by the Church by > being > >>> forced to do menial work after telling a friend about her relationship > >>> troubles with Cruise." > >> > >> > >> Not asking Cruise about these allegations in his first media > availability > >> since the doc aired is more like not asking a Catholic celebrity > directly > >> implicated in the pedophile controversy about those charges, than just a > >> policy of not getting into an interview subject's religious beliefs. > >> > >> OTOH, The Atlantic does seem to overstate its criticism of Stewart, > almost > >> as if it has never actually seen an episode of TDS. The Peabody's and > other > >> critical acclaim have not been based on Stewart's interviews of > celebrities, > >> but on his political satire and media criticism. Stewart has only one > peer > >> in interviewing non-fiction book authors (Colbert), and is among the > best in > >> interviewing politicians and journalists. But he has long been at the > bottom > >> when it comes to interviewing celebrities, and his Cruise interview was > just > >> as trivial and meandering as the vast majority of his celebrity > interviews > >> have always been. > >> > >> If Bill Cosby were doing a media tour I don't think Stewart or really > most > >> other reputable outlets at this point would not focus on the rape > charges. I > >> don't think Cruise is quite at the Cosby level, and it is a judgement > call > >> how to handle him. IN a six minute promotional interview it would be > tough > >> to pivot from "how do you do all those stunts?" to 2.5 minutes of "do > you > >> really let the church of Scientology pimp girls out to you, and then > punish > >> them if they say anything critical about you or the Church?". If > Stewart had > >> said to Cruise's people "he can come on the show, but we are first > going to > >> do a segment on "Going Clear", and then ask Cruise questions about it > during > >> the interview" I would not have criticized him (though of course Cruise > >> would never have agreed to that). > >> > >> The real problem, also noted by The Atlantic, is that Mission: > Impossible > >> is a Viacom property, as is TDS. I doubt Viacom ordered Stewart not to > >> embarrass Cruise, but under the circumstances, it would have been best > >> practice if TDS had found some way of making the conflict of interest > >> transparent on the episode, and perhaps noted that, as is almost always > the > >> case with celebrity interviews, they had decided to keep the interview > >> light. > >> > >> If the Atlantic gives Stewart's Cruise interview an "F", I would give it > >> (grading on the typical TDS celebrity interview curve) a "C". > >> > >> > >>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 9:30 AM, 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV > >> <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> > >>> Or maybe he didn't ask him anything because he was there to promote a > >>> movie and not Scientology. Unless we expected that he'd ask a Christian > >>> guest (out of nowhere), "Hey, what's the deal with that coming back to > life > >>> thing? Was Jesus a zombie, or what?" To some of us in the atheist > community, > >>> Xenu isn't that far removed from Jehovah. There was no reason for him > to go > >>> there and I'm glad he didn't. Who cares, ultimately? > >>> > >>> --Dave Sikula > >>> > >>> > >>> On Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 1:58:59 PM UTC-7, Steve Timko wrote: > >>>> > >>>> I was wondering the same thing. Stewart was such a fan boy. > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/tom-cruise-jon-stewart-the-daily-show-scientology-mission-impossible-rogue-nation/399956/ > >>> > >>> -- > >>> -- > >>> TV or Not TV .... 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