It’s been one week since Going Clear, the harrowing HBO documentary about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, premiered. In that time, it’s set off a firestorm of criticism directed at the religion, and in particular, two of its most prominent faces: Tom Cruise and Church of Scientology leader David Miscaviage.
To their credit, last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live did not fail to acknowledge this watershed cultural moment. The program aired a flawlessly executed three-minute parody video called “Always Believe,” a song performed in 1990 by the members of the Church of Neurotology:
You can tie almost everything in “Always Believe” back to this 1990 video for “We Stand Tall,” shot by and for the Church of Scientology and prominently featured in Going Clear:
Watching both in succession, the brilliance of SNL’s parody becomes even clearer. It’s all there: Acolytes entering Dianetics/Diametrics seminars, stock footage that misappropriates patriotism, dolly shots focused on overly zealous parishoners, e-meters/brain machines, and even some tres creepy black-and-white footage of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard/Neurotology founder Bobby Moynihan. Also, Taran Killam is quite clearly portraying the maniacal Miscaviage, who also appears in the “We Stand Tall” video. All hail Meepthorp!
(One interesting aside: Host Michael Keaton, for whatever reason, did not appear in this digital short. He’s never been publicly acknowledged as a Scientologist, nor do we believe he is one, but his omission from this short is certainly noteworthy.)
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