In the weird and wacky world of celebrity gossip (where Paris Hilton going to jail is somehow extremely serious), no story is weirder or wackier than the trials and tribulations of Mrs. Tom Cruise.
Story after story has come out in the tabloids of Holmes “feeling like a prisoner,” being watched by “handlers” of all sorts, and contemplating divorce. Holmes was apparently looking for a respite on the set of her new film, only to find that Cruise would be tagging along with his Mom and others.
As much as this sounds like a tale of the new bride who finds her in-laws stifling, the other aspect is the one everyone is saying “we told you so” about—Cruise’s devotion to Scientology.
Yes, despite everyone’s best efforts otherwise, especially Tom’s, the question of whether Scientology is really a religion and not a cult is nowhere near settled. While its self-directed aspects—the notion that its within ourselves to deal with our own problems—are promising, the reliance on expensive “courses” and reflexive explanations suggest a plan that doesn’t necessarily hold up under scrutiny. Investigations of the Church of Scientology have revealed numerous issues, and the web has served as a clearinghouse of information that Scientology would rather not have revealed—ranging from the way members can just “disappear” to secrets of L. Ron Hubbard’s philosophy. (Like the fact that Hubbard’s theories about Xenu, the alien responsible for destroying Thetans, whose bad energy is supposed to live within us—requiring those expensive treatments to “clear” us.)
One can reasonably wonder why Holmes seems to have been so unaware of the issues that surround Scientology. But then again, one of Scientology’s standard methods is to attract younger, more naive members who may not know the whole story. Which explains Scientology’s recruitment efforts with younger actors in Hollywood, as well as its presence on a variety of college campuses, as with their recent arrival on the campus of Virginia Tech. Cruise’s efforts to recruit high-profile wealthy folks as new members—from Australian industrialist Kerry Packer’s son James to Katie’s current BFF Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham—are also in this vein.
What’s frustrating to Holmes’ fans (left over from the innocent days of Dawson’s Creek) is that she seemed smarter than this. It may be, sadly, that the price for her freedom means that Katie Holmes will, like Nicole Kidman, have to resign herself to giving up her child to a life in Scientology. (The Church has its own school program, which Kidman and Cruise’s adopted kids are home schooled in).
There’s a whole “told-you-so” quality to the Holmes overage. It’s not entirely fair, though, to blame Holmes for a situation where most of her current options seem pretty bad or sad. So perhaps all we can do is hope that this cautionary tale will help others who would date and marry prominent Scientologists to look before they leap… are you paying attention, Ryan Cabrera?
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Photos: Thebosh.com / People.com
