Scientology connection dogs 'Earth'

By Rick Lyman NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

May 20, 2000

HOLLYWOOD -- The anti-cult networks are kicking up a fuss. Discussion on Internet movie sites is picking over the potentially sinister implications. Anonymous e-mails are whizzing around the country charging that, among other things, subliminal messages are being used to recruit unsuspecting moviegoers. Big summer action movies, filled with stars and special effects, don't often come with such fascinating accessories.

"Battlefield Earth," starring John Travolta as a 9-foot alien with talons for fingers, opened in more than 2,000 theaters May 12. As directed by Roger Christian, who most recently had been the assistant director of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," "Battlefield Earth" is set in the year 3000 and follows the adventures of enslaved earthlings, led by Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (played by Barry Pepper, the sharpshooting redneck in "Saving Private Ryan"), trying to break free of the tyrannical Psychlos (led by Travolta's character).

Controversy has swirled around the film because it is based on the 1982 novel by L. Ron Hubbard, who founded the Church of Scientology, and because the film was the pet project of Travolta, who has made no secret of his dedication to Scientology. Could this be a sneaky attempt to lure unsuspecting moviegoers into Scientology?

The makers of the film and its distributors maintain that "Battlefield Earth" has nothing whatsoever to do with the Church of Scientology and that it is intended to be nothing more than a big summer adventure, devoid of subterfuge.

But several anti-cult Web sites have posted warnings about the film in recent months that contain numerous charges. For example, Cultwatch and Factnet say that the film carries subliminal messages meant to lure people into Scientology, that the film was secretly financed by Scientology, and that Scientology plans recruiting efforts to coincide with the movie's release.

Scientology has been a flash point for controversy almost since its founding in 1954, but particularly in the last quarter-century as some former members charged that they had been bilked and sometimes mistreated by officials of what many refer to as a moneymaking cult. Scientology, which says it is a nondenominational religious organization that helps its members reach a state of mental and spiritual clarity, has vigorously denied all such charges.

Warner Bros. is distributing the film in the United States in an arrangement with Franchise Pictures, an independent production company. Franchise had its first major release earlier this year, the mob comedy "The Whole Nine Yards." There have been no charges that Franchise is affiliated with Scientology.

"We have licensed the book as one would license any property, but there is no financial connection with the church," said Lora Drazen, a Franchise spokeswoman. No money made from the film would go to the Church of Scientology, she added.

Rather, the film seems to have come about because of Travolta's dedication to the story and because it meshed with Franchise's strategy of attracting top stars by offering them a chance to make their dream projects.

Scientology officials maintain that they had nothing to do with the making of the film.

"The only things I know about the movie are what I read in the media," said Marty Rathbun, a Scientology spokesman in Los Angeles. He added that the Church of Scientology has no financial interest in the movie and had nothing to do with how it was made.

Are there subliminal messages in the movie?

"There are none," Drazen said.

Subliminal messages, visual or audio snippets inserted into a film so rapidly that the mind does not consciously register them, are believed by some to create a kind of hypnotic suggestion. Research, however, has repeatedly failed to show that subliminal messages have any such effect.

"Battlefield Earth" is not a Scientology text, the filmmakers say, but an adventure that just happened to be written by the man who founded Scientology. Though some of Scientology's teachings revolve around space aliens, they bear no resemblance to the story of the evil Psychlos.

James Richardson, a professor of sociology and law at the University of Nevada at Reno who studies new religions, said Hubbard's novel had little bearing on the organization's teachings.

"I read it and thought it was a pretty good yarn," he said.

In a statement accompanying the film's production notes, Travolta said: "People have asked me if there is a connection between 'Battlefield Earth' and Scientology. There is no connection. L. Ron Hubbard wrote numerous science-fiction epics, which created the same kind of excitement amid sci-fi circles as such classics as Robert Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land' and Frank Herbert's 'Dune.' Other than being created by the same person, the two have virtually nothing to do with one another."

Jonathan Krane, who has been producing Travolta's films for 15 years, was also one of the producers on "Battlefield Earth," describes the film's genesis in a sample chapter for a book he is writing about filmmaking. The 20-page entry on the making of "Battlefield Earth" is meant to be the book's final chapter, using a case study of the film to illustrate all the points made in the preceding chapters.

Travolta had wanted to make a film based on Hubbard's book since its publication, when the actor hoped to play the young human hero. But it was not until three years ago, Krane writes, that the actor believed that it was time to use his box-office clout to bring the project to fruition. So many years had passed, though, that an aging Travolta felt he needed to play the villain instead.

Krane, who noted that he was not a member of Scientology, said that he respected Travolta's devotion to the group but believed it had nothing to do with the decision to make the movie.

He shrugged when asked whether a controversy might distract from the movie's release.

"I don't think so," he said. "The only time it comes up is when the media asks about it."

The next few weeks will tell the tale.

"I imagine the movie will rise or fall based on how good a yarn it is," said Richardson, the professor (the film took in $11.5 million in its first week, trailing the second week box-office take of "Gladiator"). "I seriously doubt that someone is going to go out and join Scientology just because they see this movie."