In this weeks episode, we tackle the topic of cults. In this case, the church of Scientology.
At the beginning of the episode, the boys are discussing what to do for the weekend. Stan wants to do something that’s not too expensive so he can save up for a bicycle, but his friends want to go play laser tag. Which is something he can’t afford to do so he goes home. While walking home he walks by the local Scientology chapter and is offered to take a personality test. At the end of the test, the recruiters tell him that he’s depressed and unhappy, and the only way of curing his depression is through the means of the church. Stan later goes home and starts questioning himself and talks to his parents about this. Offering him support but his father states that Stan has to make his own financial decisions. If he wants to pay the the $240 fee to join the church.
Stan ends up using his savings from his birthday money and uses it to take a “E-meter” audit test. Turn’s out his score’s are off the charts, only matching the same score as Scientology’s founder; L. Ron Hubbard. Stan’s recruiters fax this information to Scientology’s headquarters in Los Angeles and they make their way into South Park to confront Stan about this and how he’s supposedly ” the reincarnation” of their churches founder.
Next thing we know dozens of Scientologists including famous celebrities such as John Travolta gather outside Stan’s house. Praising him and cheering him on as they believe him to be the 2nd coming of their messiah and are awaiting for him to write the next chapter of their sacred doctrine. The churches president and other high ranking members within the church come inside Stan’s house talking to him and his parents about how they want Stan to lead their church. Tom Cruise ends up sneaking into Stan’s room confronting him believing him to be L. Ron Hubbard himself. Asking him if he liked his acting and Stan tells him that he’s “okay” but not as good as other’s like the actor who played Napoleon Dynamite. Tom Cruise takes this as an insult and gets upset, and locks himself in Stan’s closet, refusing to come out. Stan tells his dad Randy and he tells Tom Cruise to “come out of the closet”.
The thing is about this part of the script, it’s kind of a play-on word about the ongoing joke that Tom Cruise is secretly gay. I’m not sure if he is but apparently that was a rumor at the time and he told Paramount executives that he will sue anyone that calls him gay. So to work around this but still add in the joke. They literally made Tom Cruise’s character lock himself in Stan’s closet and he refuses to come out. Essentially, he hasn’t come out of the closet, meaning he’s secretly gay. When the media gets hold of this. The keep telling everyone “Tom Cruise Still refuses to Come out of the closet” Which made the real Tom Cruise furious and attempted to sue South Park, but failed because they didn’t exactly say he was gay. They just trapped him in the closet, implying he was secretly gay without actually saying the word itself.
While Tom Cruise’s character still remains locked in Stan’s closet. The churches president tells Stan the secret behind the church, which only the higher levels know. When they do this in the show. Matt Stone and Trey Parker put a disclaimer on screen that says “This is what Scientologist actually believe”. They spill the whole beans on the church’s secrets and even later expose their founder L. Ron Hubbard to actually be just a Science Fiction writer with a very controversial history.
As Stan agrees to become the church’s leader. He decides to make a few changes to the next chapter. The President of the church really likes it until he learns that Stan plans on making it free to join to actually help people and not scam people out of their hard earned money. The President later tells Stan that yes Scientology is indeed one big global scam worth millions of dollars for them to benefit from. Stan is intrigued by the amount of money but decides to follow through on insisting to make Scientology free as he addresses the crowd.
This makes their churches higher-ups furious and the president threatens to sue Stan for claiming that the church is one big scam, which many people who are against the church in real life believe. Later Tom Cruise comes out of Stan’s closet and threatens to sue Stan for “making him look stupid” and plans on suing him in England.
Trey Parker knew this episode was going to get the church to react because he used his show to spill the beans on the church. He gets creative with the writing at the end of the episode making Stan say
“Go on sue me, i’m not afraid of you. Sue Me!” as the credits role with no actually people that worked on the show, all the credits just say “John Smith/Jane Smith” as a way funny way to cover their trails so the church doesn’t actually know who to sue. Which they attempt to do but fail.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone for this episode alone are without a doubt one of the bravest screenwriters to take on the church and their controversial history.
Introduction;
Stan is conflicted about doing things with his friends because he wants to save his birthday money up for a bicycle, but he ends up spending it on joining the church of Scientology.
Establishing Fantasy Tropes:
The church believes that Stan is the reincarnation of L.Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. Which digs into the idea of being in a story of being “The Chosen One” like what you see in movies and other forms of television entertainment.
Character Archetypes:
Stan; the main protagonist gets caught up in essentially becoming a leader of a cult but is later shunned by the cult as he starts speaking out against how they’re only in it for money.
The President of the church; Definitely the villain in this episode. Trying to manipulate Stan into helping him scam their members out of money.
Tom Cruise; A well renounced member of the church of Scientology, probably the most well known member as of today. Who Matt Stone and Trey Parker personally like to make fun of for his social life of well known insecurities.
Subversion of Tropes:
When they make Tom Cruise lock himself in Stan’s closet and he refuses to come out of it. Taking a jab of the rumor that Tom Cruise is secretly gay and indirectly addressed the rumors about his private life. Adding a layer of humor and satire to the narrative while highlighting the show’s willingness to push the limits and challenge traditional storytelling elements. Once again not exactly mentioning words that shouldn’t be said on television, be still spreads the same message.
Themes and Messages:
This episode addresses the themes of power and corruption within religious organizations, using fantasy elements to spread light on the secretive teachings of the church and how shady their ties to Hollywood are with alot of controversial history.
Social Commentary:
Bringing light to the churches history and their corrupted practices of scamming people and using celebrities for recruitment in exchange for large sums of money. This is similar to politics to how their two different types of class for each party. The rich and the working/middle/poor class. the experience is different depending on how rich you are. Which is often the reality for many different situations; different chances, different opportunities. Which upsets me because I have to work while some rich elitist kid with parents that know people and are besties with high end elected officials in Minneapolis pretty much gets everything handed to him without a second guess.
Cultural References:
Celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta who belong to the church and have helped with recruitment simply by being a member.
Humor/Satire:
The play-on words to the phrase “coming out of the closet” meaning coming out as gay. Addressing rumors about Tom Cruise’s sexuality and insecurity about the rumors that surround him.
Conclusion:
This episode doesn’t just challenge the teachings of Scientology, but all known afflicted cults. I remember one time when I talked to some missionaries when I was younger and they just said similar things the Scientology Recruiters told Stan, and because of this episode I actually checked out their headquarters when I was in Los Angeles and had a similar experience. Luckily nothing went south, but the anxiety was there. I should’ve known better. Like many others, I was just curious about things and I needed answers. But I knew better and didn’t give them any money nor my contact information.