The Great Scientology War
Oooh, this is so exciting. The trumpets have been sounded in the War of Scientology. Let's start with the background info. There was a 'report' on Fox 11 'News' about a hacking group called 'Anonymous'. I'm inclined to not even believe the Fox clip is real, it's so hyperbolic. Who can tell the difference between a subtle parody of attempts to induce hysteria, and actual attempts these days? This clip would fit perfectly on The Colbert Report. Here it is:
Then here is where it gets kind of cool-fun. The group Anonymous, which has apparently been around for quite a while, released a declaration of war on Scientology. See their call to arms clip below.
The theatrics of the clip are delicious, but it could easily have been lost in the quagmire of net vids. Or maybe not. They also seem to actually be organised, having set up various wikis to co-ordinate people in their attack. I wonder how many of their brethren died in order for them to obtain the secret plans to the Scientology Star? In the last day, coordinated on the net by Anonymous, hundreds of people have protested outside Scientology centres, including in Sydney, London and LA. The day was chosen because the 10 of February marks the death of Lisa McPherson who died in the care of the Church of Scientology in 1995. All this has obviously garnered some media attention, one of the better articles being this one at Newsweek. Check out the coverage here and here too. There is also an interesting take on the situation at Spiked which I will respond to later. The Spiked article almost seems to sum up a particular attitude in the media that sparked the following response vid from Anonymous.
So there you have it. I won't get into the Anonymous vs Scientology debate just yet, although I'm sure you can guess I have an opinion. Rather I'll just wallow in how terribly interesting the whole situation is, waiting to see what unfolds next with bated breath. The melodrama on both sides is so distinctively Hollywood, only far more entertaining then anything they've actually intended to produce in ages. I've been blabbing-on recently about Hollywood marketing and telling a story across multiple media, and well, what if we are witnessing just that? What if the whole existence of Scientology is just the mother-of-all marketing campaigns, building up a multi-layer story across print and screen for years, so that everyone on earth turns up for the opening of a shaky, hand-held 'documentary' of Xenu invading earth to destroy all the Anonymous followers. I really would worship Scientology if that were true!
Then here is where it gets kind of cool-fun. The group Anonymous, which has apparently been around for quite a while, released a declaration of war on Scientology. See their call to arms clip below.
The theatrics of the clip are delicious, but it could easily have been lost in the quagmire of net vids. Or maybe not. They also seem to actually be organised, having set up various wikis to co-ordinate people in their attack. I wonder how many of their brethren died in order for them to obtain the secret plans to the Scientology Star? In the last day, coordinated on the net by Anonymous, hundreds of people have protested outside Scientology centres, including in Sydney, London and LA. The day was chosen because the 10 of February marks the death of Lisa McPherson who died in the care of the Church of Scientology in 1995. All this has obviously garnered some media attention, one of the better articles being this one at Newsweek. Check out the coverage here and here too. There is also an interesting take on the situation at Spiked which I will respond to later. The Spiked article almost seems to sum up a particular attitude in the media that sparked the following response vid from Anonymous.
So there you have it. I won't get into the Anonymous vs Scientology debate just yet, although I'm sure you can guess I have an opinion. Rather I'll just wallow in how terribly interesting the whole situation is, waiting to see what unfolds next with bated breath. The melodrama on both sides is so distinctively Hollywood, only far more entertaining then anything they've actually intended to produce in ages. I've been blabbing-on recently about Hollywood marketing and telling a story across multiple media, and well, what if we are witnessing just that? What if the whole existence of Scientology is just the mother-of-all marketing campaigns, building up a multi-layer story across print and screen for years, so that everyone on earth turns up for the opening of a shaky, hand-held 'documentary' of Xenu invading earth to destroy all the Anonymous followers. I really would worship Scientology if that were true!
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