I watched the HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief. This film is about the rise of Scientology and the controversy that it has created. This film explores the mind L. Ron Hubbard, his backstory, how he was a science fiction which, ultimately, inspired him to create Scientology. This film also explores the abuses and other things this religion has done in present under its leader David Miscavige. High ranking officials such as, Mike Rinder and Mark Rathbun were interviewed for this film. Celebrities who were members of this religion were also interviewed for this documentary. Celebrities include Paul Haggis, Jason Beghe, and Tom De Vocht.

I liked how the people being interviewed varied in ranking in Scientology. They had senior executives, celebrities, and lower level people being interviewed. This provided a wide arrange of perspectives on what really happened.

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The graphics were also amazing in this film. They had the image of a typewriter writing things when they would bring up topics about Scientology. This was used because Hubbard wrote Dianetics, his famous book that is the foundation of Scientology, on a typewriter and many of his science fiction book on one as well. They also used 1950’s style film at the beginning when L. Ron is describing an event or one of his interviews. I liked this because this style of film is what time period he lived in and created a sense of being there. The lighting in this documentary was very harsh and casts long shadows on their face. This shows the seriousness of this topic. The music they have in the background during the interviews is very effective. For example, people said they had a euphoric feeling after an audit (a questioning of some sort). They played a calming music to resemble that feeling. They also put in the iconic  typewriter typing sounds whenever they would show a picture of L. Ron Hubbard typing something at his desk and would cut away to the same image of a typewriter typing the next topic of discussion. They would use L. Ron Hubbard's voice to describe the language used in Scientology. They also used little sounds effects, like the typewriter sounds, but with bikes passing by, they would add the little bike bell ring. They added people talking in a room when they showed film of people registering for Scientology. To introduce new people in the interview they would introduce them with what Scientology meant to them and then would transition to a black screen with their name and what their position was. The font was all in a typewriter font, consistent with the typewriter being constantly shown.

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I would recommend this film. As someone who didn’t know much about Scientology before watching it, it did a great job of explaining what it was about and why it as controversial as it is. The language used in Scientology is well explained to the viewer. This film is entertaining as well and is very well done.