“The Master” Upsets Church of Scientology

　　The media has never been shy when it comes to poking fun at The Church of Scientology, and the new flick “The Master” takes the scrutiny to a new level.

　　Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Laura Dern, “The Master” is based on the story of a war veteran who creates a faith based organization along with a group of his disciples.

　　An insider/former Scientologist told press that The Weinstein Company director Paul Thomas Anderson can expect static from Scientology spokespeople.

　　“The Weinsteins may receive a similar letter [to the one sent to Vanity Fair] — but it will no more of a threat than the empty bleatings sent toVanity Fair. The only difference being that they won’t sue Vanity Fair because the story is true, and they won’t sue the Weinsteins because the story is not true — and you cannot defame a dead person.”

　　“The organization is probably troubled by The Master because they tried to stop it and couldn’t. In my estimation — and I have not seen the movie — based on the statements of Paul Thomas Anderson, the church would have been much smarter to take him at his word — that this is a movie ‘inspired by’ events in L. Ron Hubbard’s life and use it as a springboard to promote to people the real story of the life of L. Ron Hubbard,” added the source.

　　Meanwhile, star Rami Malek claimed that Scientology never came up on the set. “Paul never said anything regarding Scientology toward me throughout the film, and I spent a good deal of time with him. It was very surprising. Definitely you can see the links, but for the most part, [that story] really took over in the media.”