moontaco <moontaco88@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Last night NBC aired an episode of "Law& Order: Criminal Intent" that
> centered around a guy in a sort of cult that stole a lot of money from
> another guy to give to this cult called GraceNote and then murdered
> the guy and his son. It seemed to me to be based on Scientology,
> though it was on a smaller scale and wasn't referred to as a religion
> and people took classes. There were references to the Program and the
> guy said he was developing a strategy for his life. There was this
> whole thing about GraceNote followers believing they were being held
> back from being extraordinary by experiences in their past. And there
> was a big emphasis on money. At one point the guy said, "I could see I
> was being handled," and at another he said to a detective, "You're not
> *clear*." There was also some business about people who died being
> starved for two weeks before they were murdered or made to commit
> suicide.
>
> Anyway, curiously (at least, to me), Karen Black was in a small role.
> I hadn't seen her in ages and thought she was very good (maybe just a
> little overdone). But isn't she in the COS? It seemed odd to me that
> she'd be on a show like this.
I saw most of this, and you did a good job with the summary. It was absolutely Scientology and the Lisa McPherson case, not just a combination of various cults. My guess is that Karen Black wouldn't see any similarities, or maybe she just needs to cash.
-- Rod Keller / rkeller@voicenet.com / Irresponsible Publisher Black Hat #1 / Expert of the Toilet / CWPD Mouthpiece The Lerma Apologist / Merchant of Chaos / Vision of Destruction Killer Rod / OSA Patsy / Quasi-Scieno / Mental Bully
Message-ID: <3E19A766.80408@sympatico.ca>
From: Kim P <yduzitmatter@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" w/ Scn-like group
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2003 10:57:26 -0500
Organization: Bell Sympatico
Rod Keller wrote:
> moontaco <moontaco88@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Last night NBC aired an episode of "Law& Order: Criminal Intent" that
>>centered around a guy in a sort of cult that stole a lot of money from
>>another guy to give to this cult called GraceNote and then murdered
>>the guy and his son. It seemed to me to be based on Scientology,
>>though it was on a smaller scale and wasn't referred to as a religion
>>and people took classes. There were references to the Program and the
>>guy said he was developing a strategy for his life. There was this
>>whole thing about GraceNote followers believing they were being held
>>back from being extraordinary by experiences in their past. And there
>>was a big emphasis on money. At one point the guy said, "I could see I
>>was being handled," and at another he said to a detective, "You're not
>>*clear*." There was also some business about people who died being
>>starved for two weeks before they were murdered or made to commit
>>suicide.
>>
>>Anyway, curiously (at least, to me), Karen Black was in a small role.
>>I hadn't seen her in ages and thought she was very good (maybe just a
>>little overdone). But isn't she in the COS? It seemed odd to me that
>>she'd be on a show like this.
>>
>
> I saw most of this, and you did a good job with the summary. It was
> absolutely Scientology and the Lisa McPherson case, not just a combination
> of various cults. My guess is that Karen Black wouldn't see any
> similarities, or maybe she just needs to cash.
>
>
Hubby and I watched the whole show ( I am a big Law and Order fan :-) )
It was very scientology oriented - when the kid said "You are not clear" I darn near choked on the Muffin I was eating!!
It had a scene in there about an Introductory Seminar - described by the main character as being 4 hours of repetitive suggestions and people leaving feeling "euphoric" from the group hypnosis.
One other scene that caught my attention was when during the investigation they talked to one of the victims of the money grab - a dentist - who bought the courses and the so on and then was black-mailed into dropping charges of fraud (the inference was that an affair was used to get him to drop the claim/charge)
Worth the hour IMHO
Kim P
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2003 11:00:46 -0500
From: tikk <tikk@tikk.net>
Subject: Re: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" w/ Scn-like group
Message-ID: <3e19a83b$1@news2.lightlink.com>
moontaco wrote: > Last night NBC aired an episode of "Law& Order: Criminal Intent" that > centered around a guy in a sort of cult that stole a lot of money from > another guy to give to this cult called GraceNote and then murdered > the guy and his son. It seemed to me to be based on Scientology, > though it was on a smaller scale and wasn't referred to as a religion > and people took classes. There were references to the Program and the > guy said he was developing a strategy for his life. There was this > whole thing about GraceNote followers believing they were being held > back from being extraordinary by experiences in their past. And there > was a big emphasis on money. At one point the guy said, "I could see I > was being handled," and at another he said to a detective, "You're not > *clear*." There was also some business about people who died being > starved for two weeks before they were murdered or made to commit > suicide.
It really was a great episode and put to shame the recent Law & Order (original flavor) episode about Falun Gong. While there were many digs at Scientology, the structure of the organization more closely resembled Landmark/EST (long weekend seminars).
Besides the mentions above, other possible Scientology references included the dissatisfied dentist (scn often targets dentists and chiropractors through management seminar bullshit) & the cause of all three deaths was ultimately dehydration, perhaps a nod to Lisa McPherson.
The argument by Goren to Eames about why he thought they were a cult was the highlight of the show for me .. the writer responsible for the episode has a history that suggests he'd definitely be aware of Scientology - lots of sci-fi stuff in his past.
> Anyway, curiously (at least, to me), Karen Black was in a small role. > I hadn't seen her in ages and thought she was very good (maybe just a > little overdone). But isn't she in the COS? It seemed odd to me that > she'd be on a show like this.
I don't think she's in anymore. Maybe her appearance was revenge for having to live with the constant embarrassment of this listing on IMDB.com:
# Road to Freedom: L. Ron Hubbard and Friends, The (1986) (V) .... Featured Performer (Vocals: 'The ARC Song')
> moontaco
~ tikk
From: Rod Keller <rkeller@unix01.voicenet.com>
Subject: Re: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" w/ Scn-like group
Message-ID: <1XrS9.1028$gU.535900@news2.voicenet.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2003 03:36:29 GMT
moontaco <moontaco88@yahoo.com> wrote:
> tikk <tikk@tikk.net> wrote in message news:<3e19a83b$1@news2.lightlink.com>...
>> moontaco wrote:
>> > Last night NBC aired an episode of "Law& Order: Criminal Intent" that
>> > centered around a guy in a sort of cult that stole a lot of money from
>> > another guy to give to this cult called GraceNote and then murdered
>> > the guy and his son. It seemed to me to be based on Scientology,
>> > though it was on a smaller scale and wasn't referred to as a religion
>> > and people took classes. There were references to the Program and the
>> > guy said he was developing a strategy for his life. There was this
>> > whole thing about GraceNote followers believing they were being held
>> > back from being extraordinary by experiences in their past. And there
>> > was a big emphasis on money. At one point the guy said, "I could see I
>> > was being handled," and at another he said to a detective, "You're not
>> > *clear*." There was also some business about people who died being
>> > starved for two weeks before they were murdered or made to commit
>> > suicide.
>>
>> It really was a great episode and put to shame the recent Law & Order
>> (original flavor) episode about Falun Gong. While there were many digs
>> at Scientology, the structure of the organization more closely resembled
>> Landmark/EST (long weekend seminars).
>>
>> Besides the mentions above, other possible Scientology references
>> included the dissatisfied dentist (scn often targets dentists and
>> chiropractors through management seminar bullshit) & the cause of all
>> three deaths was ultimately dehydration, perhaps a nod to Lisa McPherson.
>>
>> The argument by Goren to Eames about why he thought they were a cult was
>> the highlight of the show for me .. the writer responsible for the
>> episode has a history that suggests he'd definitely be aware of
>> Scientology - lots of sci-fi stuff in his past.
>>
>> > Anyway, curiously (at least, to me), Karen Black was in a small role.
>> > I hadn't seen her in ages and thought she was very good (maybe just a
>> > little overdone). But isn't she in the COS? It seemed odd to me that
>> > she'd be on a show like this.
>>
>> I don't think she's in anymore. Maybe her appearance was revenge for
>> having to live with the constant embarrassment of this listing on IMDB.com:
>>
>> # Road to Freedom: L. Ron Hubbard and Friends, The (1986) (V) ....
>> Featured Performer (Vocals: 'The ARC Song')
>
> Yeah, I didn't think there was any question that the writer of the
> show was somewhat familiar with Scientology. I forgot to look for a
> writing credit at the end (though actually, I think they show that at
> the beginning....). Have to watch out for it in reruns--I wouldn't
> mind seeing it again anyway.
The episode is entitled "Con-Text."
"The prime suspect of the double homicide of a father-son crime figures is a another son who was motivated by a self-improvement guru."
http://www.tvtome.com/LawandOrderCI/season2.html#ep32
-- Rod Keller / rkeller@voicenet.com / Irresponsible Publisher Black Hat #1 / Expert of the Toilet / CWPD Mouthpiece The Lerma Apologist / Merchant of Chaos / Vision of Destruction Killer Rod / OSA Patsy / Quasi-Scieno / Mental Bully