Tomorrow Museum - Latest Comments in Oliver Stone’s Prescient SFnal Scientology Critique

Re: Oliver Stone’s Prescient SFnal Scientology Critique

Mister Fox — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:06:26 -0000

I saw the show when it was on TV and I was 13 years old. Maybe it was just because I was so young, but the whole thing was so exotically weird it blew my mind.

Having just re-watched it, a lot of that exotic weirdness has become merely interesting and the acting isn't great. But I still thought it was a brilliant show. More than just a critique of Scientology, it's a critique of the media and the way we so willingly hand power over to them. It's a critique of technology and the self-aggrandising cliques that power creates.

I liked Gibson's cameo.
"William Gibson, the man who invented the word cyberspace."
"And they never let me forget it."
It's a conscious nod to the fact they're borrowing a lot of his ideas and building on them, with a dash of Ray Bradbury and Stone himself.

It didn't disappoint me on re-watching, certainly. Maybe that's because I saw it when I was still young enough to be awed by it, and that's saving me from the trendy cynicism I would otherwise watch it with.

Re: Oliver Stone’s Prescient SFnal Scientology Critique

Joanne McNeil — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:54:14 -0000

Yeah, it's mostly unintentionally funny and it's about as "cyberpunk" as Hackers, but I think most viewers today can look past its TV miniseries-ness and marvel that so many people could come together, find funding and a major network to air it, while so blatantly tearing L. Ron Hubbard apart

Re: Oliver Stone’s Prescient SFnal Scientology Critique

Jesse Walker — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:22:47 -0000

I liked Bigelow's episode (by my recollection, she only directed one), but otherwise I considered the series a failure. Watching it when it came out, the whole thing felt like someone in Hollywood felt the need to "do" cyberpunk but wasn't quite sure what that would entail. There were all these vague references to a place called the "Wilderzone" (or something like that) -- sort of an ungovernable autonomous area. Except when they finally showed it, it was basically a nightclub.

William Gibson's cameo was enjoyable, but not in the way the producers intended. He was there basically to bestow a little hip credibility on the project. But most viewers would have no idea who William Gibson was, so his appearance essentially consisted of this small piece of dialogue (quoted from memory):

GIBSON: Hi, I'm William Gibson.

OTHER PERSON: Oh, right -- *Neuromancer*.

At first I felt a little sorry for William Gibson: There it was, the year 2007, and he was still best known for something he had written in the early '80s. On further reflection, though, I decided he had it pretty good: There it was, the year 2007, and he hadn't aged a year since 1993.