History YMMV / GoingClear

* HarsherInHindsight: When Paul Haggis visited the ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds2005'' set, Creator/StevenSpielberg observed the Scientology tent which Creator/TomCruise had set up and commented to Haggis that Scientologists were "the nicest people". Haggis jokingly replied that it was because "we keep all the evil ones in the closet." Telling this joke got him in trouble with the church. [[HellholePrison It was not until much later that Haggis learned why]].

* HarsherInHindsight: When Paul Haggis visited the ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' set, Creator/StevenSpielberg observed the Scientology tent which Creator/TomCruise had set up and commented to Haggis that Scientologists were "the nicest people". Haggis jokingly replied that it was because "we keep all the evil ones in the closet." Telling this joke got him in trouble with the church. [[HellholePrison It was not until much later that Haggis learned why]].

--> “When I saw my name in a full-page ad in ''The New York Times'', I knew. Docs don’t get full-page ads, and when they do, they do really well.”

* ParanoiaFuel: You thought you were confessing your past memories to help yourself get over them? Too bad, they're being recorded and used as potential sources of blackmail if you leave the church. And if you do leave, you'll be harassed and spied upon by agents of Scientology for the rest of your life. And there's very little you can do about it because the church has almost unlimited resources to litigate and will abuse the First Amendment to claim religious freedom.

--> “When I saw my name in a full-page ad in The New York Times, I knew. Docs don’t get full-page ads, and when they do, they do really well.”

* AwesomeMusic: Will Bates' extraordinarily eerie, minimalist, sci-fi inflected score sells the madness of Scientology quite well. The Xenu segment is probably the best example of this.

* HarsherInHindsight: After visiting the ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' set and observing the Scientology tent which Creator/TomCruise had set up, Paul Haggis jokes to Creator/StevenSpielberg that most Scientologists are good and "the evil ones are kept in a closet." Telling this joke gets him in trouble with the church. [[HellholePrison It's not until much later that Haggis learns why]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Scientology and its executives don't pass it as often as you'd think. They pass it '''far more often than you'd think''':
** For Creator/LRonHubbard himself it was either joining up with Jack Parsons' perverse black magic cult in TheForties or ''kidnapping his own daughter'' and having her locked in a cage in UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}} while he wrote treatises on masturbation and sex, then later telling his wife that he killed their daughter and threw her body parts into a river.
** David Miscavige passed it by ''being born'', since he was already physically abusing ''his parents'' and siblings as a small child.
** Creator/TomCruise's usage of Scientology slave labor in the form of Sea Org and RPF members is pretty damn awful, and elevates him from simply being a laughable and eccentric celebrity to being a true criminal.
** And for Scientology itself, you can [[LongList take your pick from]] the RPF, the Hole, using children in the Sea Org, treating said workers like they're inmates in a concentration camp, its homophobic attitudes, using personal information gleaned during auditing sessions against people who question the Church, making usage of NewSpeak to control its followers, driving current and former members to suicide by bankrupting them and harassing them, and outright ''killing'' people like Lisa [=McPherson=] due to neglect, abuse, and pseudoscientific "solutions" to mental and physical health disorders, plus everything else Scientology does on a regular basis simply by ''continuing to exist''.

** And for Scientology itself, you can [[LongList take your pick from]] the RPF, the Hole, using children in the Sea Org, treating said workers like they're inmates in a concentration camp, its homophobic attitudes, using personal information gleaned during auditing sessions against people who question the Church, making usage of NewSpeak to control its followers, driving current and former members to suicide by bankrupting them and harassing them, and outright ''killing'' people like Lisa Mc!Pherson due to neglect, abuse, and pseudoscientific "solutions" to mental and physical health disorders, plus everything else Scientology does on a regular basis simply by ''continuing to exist''.

** For Creator/LRonHubbard himself it was either joining up with Jack Parsons' perverse black magic cult in TheForties or ''kidnapping his own daughter'' and having her locked in a cage in Cuba while he wrote treatises on masturbation and sex, then later telling his wife that he killed their daughter and threw her body parts into a river.

** For [[Creator/LRonHubbard Hubbard]] himself it was either joining up with Jack Parsons' perverse black magic cult in TheForties or ''kidnapping his own daughter'' and having her locked in a cage in Cuba while he wrote treatises on masturbation and sex, then later telling his wife that he killed their daughter and threw her body parts into a river.

** [[Creator/TomCruise Tom Cruises']] usage of Scientology slave labor in the form of Sea Org and RPF members is pretty damn awful, and elevates him from simply being a laughable and eccentric celebrity to being a true criminal.

* HarsherInHindsight: After visiting the ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' set and observing the Scientology tent which Tom Cruise had set up, Paul Haggis jokes to StevenSpielberg that most Scientologists are good and "the evil ones are kept in a closet." Telling this joke gets him in trouble with the church. [[HellholePrison It's not until much later that Haggis learns why]].
* MoralEventHorizon: Scientology and it's executives don't pass it as often as you'd think. They pass it '''far more often than you'd think''':

* TearJerker: The end of the film, where ex-members look back with regret on their actions as Scientologists, definitely qualifies.

* HoYay: Tom Cruise and David Miscavige are ''close''. Their bromance got going on the set of ''Film/DaysOfThunder'', where they would ride motorcycles together. Miscavige [[GreenEyedMonster became utterly jealous]] when Tom Cruise fell in with Nicole Kidman and started to distance himself from the Church, leading Miscavige to ultimately work to break up Cruise's marriage. In 2004, Miscavige created an award just for Cruise, the "Freedom Medal of Valor". To this day, they continue to have an ''intense'' relationship.

* AwesomeMoments: Spanky Taylor's escape from Scientology. After finding her child criminally neglected within the Church's Cadet Org, she called one of the few non-Scientologists she knew and covertly arranged an escape (since a [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou bodyguard was watching]] her make the phone call). When the car arrived, Taylor jumped in the car with her child, leaving essentially everything she had - physical and social - behind. [[MamaBear Bravo, Ms. Taylor.]]
** On a meta level, the book and especially film seem to be making people far less afraid of criticising Scientology, to the point where they may single-handedly manage to make ChurchOfHappyology into a DiscreditedTrope.

* HarsherInHindsight: After visiting the ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'' set and observing the Scientology tent which Tom Cruise set up, Paul Haggis jokes to StevenSpielberg that most Scientologists are good and "the evil ones are kept in a closet." Telling this joke gets him in trouble with the church. [[HellholePrison It's not until much later that Haggis learns why]].

* HoYay: Tom Cruise and David Miscavige are ''close''. Their bromance got going on the set of ''Film/DaysOfThunder'', where they would ride motorcycles together. Miscavige became utterly jealous when Tom Cruise fell in with Nicole Kidman and started to distance himself from the Church, leading Miscavige to ultimately work to break up Cruise's marriage. In 2004, Miscavige created an award just for Cruise, the "Freedom Medal of Valor". To this day, they continue to have an ''intense'' relationship.

* NightmareFuel: Utterly rife with it. The slave labour practices, the domestic abuse, the criminal neglect of children, the list goes on and on. The film contains its own examples:
** The creepy archival footage of Marjorie Cameron, Hubbard and Parsons' collaborator in the "Babalon Working" sex ritual.
** The Xenu segment, in which the documentary explains Scientology's creation myth is quite disturbing in its presentation. The segment consists of stock footage from life in the 1950s/60s mixed with acidic sci fi visuals and an ''extremely'' eerie minimalist score.
** Two words folks: '''Musical'''. '''Chairs'''. The story is disturbing enough, but - much like the Xenu segment - the cinematography and filmmaking of the scene sells it. You will never see [[SoundtrackDissonance "Bohemian Rhapsody"]] the same ever again.

* NightmareFuel: Utterly rife with it. The slave labour practices, the domestic abuse, the criminal neglect of children, the list goes on and on. The film contains it's own examples:

* AwesomeMoments: Spanky Taylor's escape from Scientology. After finding her child [[spoiler: criminally neglected within the Church's Cadet Org]], she called one of the few non-Scientologists she knew and covertly arranged an escape (since a [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou bodyguard was watching]] her make the phone call). When the car arrived, Taylor jumped in the car with her child, leaving essentially everything she had - physical and social - behind. [[MamaBear Bravo, Ms. Taylor.]]

* AwesomeMoments: Spanky Taylor's escape from Scientology. After finding her child [[criminally neglected within the Church's Cadet Org]], she called one of the few non-Scientologists she knew and covertly arranged an escape (since a [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou bodyguard was watching]] her make the phone call). When the car arrived, Taylor jumped in the car with her child, leaving essentially everything she had - physical and social - behind. [[MamaBear Bravo, Ms. Taylor.]]

* NightmareFuel: Utterly rife with it. The slave labour practices, the domestic abuse, the criminal neglect of children, the list goes on and on.