Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | Reason : In the News | print version

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Germany imposes ban on Tom Cruise

by BBC News

Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6240312.stm
Stauffenberg's son has objected to Cruise playing his father

Germany has banned the makers of Tom Cruise's new movie from filming at military sites in the country because the actor is a Scientologist.

The German defence ministry said Cruise has "publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

Scientology masquerades as a religion to make money, Germany said, but leaders of the church reject this.

Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner said the star's own convictions had no relation to the film's content.

"Personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot or themes," she said.

'Heroic and principled'

Scientology has been monitored in Germany in the belief that its activities are "directed against the free democratic order" in the country.

Its status there as a commercial enterprise has prompted repeated protests from the organisation.
[Cruise's] personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes or content. Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's co-producer

[Cruise's] personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes or content. Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's co-producer

Cruise will play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie, leader of the 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler using a bomb hidden in a briefcase, scheduled for release next year.

German defence ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said that Germany's military "has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person".

Wagner said Cruise's portrayal in the film would be as a "heroic and principled figure", while "Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice".

"We believe the film will go a long way toward reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military, there was real resistance to the Nazi regime," she added.

Stauffenberg's son Berthold told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper earlier this week that he objected to Cruise taking the role because of his involvement with Scientology.

"He should keep his hands off my father," Mr von Stauffenberg said.

Mr Kammerbauer, meanwhile, said that official requests for filming in the country had yet to be received.

Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | Permalink

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1. Comment #52077 by stephenray on June 26, 2007 at 5:23 am

Unless and until Cruise starts proselytising, the German authorities should leave him alone. Goodness knows scientology is complete and utter rubbish, but then, Catholics aren't prevented from filming in Germany and they believe in six impossible things before breakfast.

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2. Comment #52078 by bitbutter on June 26, 2007 at 5:28 am

It seems very odd to penalise a production company for the beliefs--no matter how absurd--of one of their actors, who as far as i know, isn't even aggressively promoting this aspect of his world view. This 'stand' sounds muddle-headed.

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3. Comment #52079 by BillySands on June 26, 2007 at 5:34 am

Nice to see the German's are not letting the religious tell them what to do (thats sarcasm by the way).
Apparently the chancellor wants an acknowledgement of Europe's Christian identity written into the constitution. Let's start with acknowledging Hitler's use of Christianity

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4. Comment #52083 by Crazymalc on June 26, 2007 at 5:50 am

They have no banned it because of Tom Cruise's beliefs.

They have banned it because of the film's content.

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5. Comment #52086 by alfonso on June 26, 2007 at 5:57 am

"We believe the film will go a long way toward reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military, there was real resistance to the Nazi regime," she added.

But Nazis had the Vatican's support, which should mean god was on their side, thus the failure to kill the bad guy.

Gonna be a sad movie if we already know the ending!

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6. Comment #52088 by mattpenfold on June 26, 2007 at 6:00 am

It would have been better if the authorities has just recommended no one see the film because Cruise is a crap actor.

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7. Comment #52089 by Logicel on June 26, 2007 at 6:02 am

Germany has banned the makers of Tom Cruise's new movie from filming at military sites in the country because the actor is a Scientologist.
_______

Perhaps someone who lives in Germany can respond to this article?

Apparently, the film crew has not even as of yet asked for permission to film in Germany, and the German Defence Ministry is jumping the gun and ensuring that any possible filming will not be done at military sites? The German Defence Ministry can decide as any other owner of property can, regarding in allowing filming done on said property. And no reason is necessary to be given, and yet the German Defence Ministry is clearly giving the reason. Very interesting.

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8. Comment #52092 by toomanytribbles on June 26, 2007 at 6:08 am

i think they've banned filming on military sites

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL253889920070625?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true

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9. Comment #52093 by Dr Benway on June 26, 2007 at 6:10 am

"He should keep his hands off my father," Mr von Stauffenberg said.

My guess is this is the reason for the fuss.

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10. Comment #52095 by Robert Maynard on June 26, 2007 at 6:20 am

This isn't six degrees of separation folks, the article is really only related to Scientology and Nazis.

On that note, bitbutter, Tom Cruise is the most aggressively scientologist celebrity around. He has essentially been dubbed Scientology's 'head prophet' by senior leaders in the organisation. He'll denounce psychiatry whenever someone is willing to let him drift off topic, and claim that things like drug addiction are solely caused by body thetans, which can be teased out through 'expert' auditing. The man is a menacing clown, which (I think we can all agree) is the worst kind. :P

As the article states, Germany is one the European countries openly opposed to Scientology, basically by describing it as a criminal organisation of frauds. They can really do whatever they want with their military sites, to be honest.

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11. Comment #52096 by BMMcArdle on June 26, 2007 at 6:30 am

In a way, I am glad scientology is around. Whatever indictments are made about scientology can easily be applied to any other religion. That's why you don't see them throwing rocks at it, living in glass houses themselves.

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12. Comment #52098 by Robert Maynard on June 26, 2007 at 6:35 am

I knew someone would say that, but it isn't necessarily so. Scientology is structured around private counseling sessions rather than groups or communities, and while many religions do encourage tithing and other such donations, these are explicitly voluntary within the practicing of religion and mainly carried on by peer pressure (or should I say.. pew pressure? ..no? okay). Meanwhile the session-driven and "progress" oriented nature of Scientology can become ..quite expensive. While the practices are informed by nonsense metaphysical (and historical) claims, they're not nearly as critical, and the structure and delivery of the teachings is.. really very different. It's like some kind of 'stealth' religion. I guess you could compare it to one of those ancient "mystery" cults. *shrug*

So national governments are quite happy to throw rocks at them - the reason not many beneath that level do is because of how viciously litigious and intimidating the group is to critics.

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13. Comment #52107 by bitbutter on June 26, 2007 at 7:27 am

Robert maynard:

On that note, bitbutter, Tom Cruise is the most aggressively scientologist celebrity around. He has essentially been dubbed Scientology's 'head prophet' by senior leaders in the organisation. He'll denounce psychiatry whenever someone is willing to let him drift off topic, and claim that things like drug addiction are solely caused by body thetans, which can be teased out through 'expert' auditing. The man is a menacing clown, which (I think we can all agree) is the worst kind. :P

I stand corrected.

From reuters:

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said the film makers "will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult".

"In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person," Kammerbauer said.

Perhaps i'm being naive here but--questions about Cruise's skill as an actor aside--i'm confused about why his being a scientologist would have any bearing on whether or not he will give a 'serious and authentic' portrayal of Count Stauffenberg.

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14. Comment #52114 by Skeptic Jim on June 26, 2007 at 7:41 am

Doesn't Germany have a church tax? So they're actively complicit in helping the roman catholic cult make money.

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15. Comment #52115 by CJ22 on June 26, 2007 at 7:42 am

"publicly professed"

I like that phrasing. It sounds seedy, as it should.

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16. Comment #52117 by Feuerbach on June 26, 2007 at 7:43 am

Don't you people know that Tom Cruise has studied everything there is to know about psychology?

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17. Comment #52133 by an_ant_under_a_penny on June 26, 2007 at 9:00 am

Perhaps i'm being naive here but--questions about Cruise's skill as an actor aside--i'm confused about why his being a scientologist would have any bearing on whether or not he will give a 'serious and authentic' portrayal of Count Stauffenberg.

I've googled around for a bit and I think I've found the answer:

Their argument is that scientology uses the same inhumane methods to keep its members under control that the Nazis employed, and that bits of the scientologists' warped ideology follow in the tradition of Nazism.

The whole row was started by a conservative MP, it appears, one Antje Blumenthal who acts as the Christian Democratic Party's "expert for religious sects." It appears that she 'alerted' the minister of defence, who hadn't heard about the film until then but is quoted as saying: "That's completely out of the question."

Another MP, Klaus-Uwe Benneter from the "Social Democrats" (never heard of him either ;)) has also criticized the project, saying it was inappropriate for Stauffenberg to be portrayed by the most well-known representative of a "sect that uses dubious methods to lure people in and then exert pressure on them so that they remain loyal at all cost." (my translation)

Source (German): http://www.tagesspiegel.de/weltspiegel/;art1117,2326806

Other Comments by an_ant_under_a_penny

18. Comment #52134 by BMMcArdle on June 26, 2007 at 9:01 am

Robert Maynard, did you miss the point I was making about other religions joining a critique of scientology? I said nothing about national governments.

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19. Comment #52135 by reason-first on June 26, 2007 at 9:02 am

Also, Germany has had 60 years to make a movie about the von Stauffenberg story. I wonder if they're feeling a little sheepish about having to wait for Hollywood to step in.

Just for the record: There have been a number of production about the "Stauffenberg story". Some movie-type films and countless documentaries.

We Germans are under no obligation to feel sheepish about the topic.

Films: Der 20. Juli (1955), Stauffenberg, Offiziere gegen Hitler, Sie wollten Hitler t�ten, Stunde der Offiziere, and many others.

For a more extensive list go here:
http://www.zeitgeschichte-online.de/portal/alias__rainbow/lang__de/tabID__40208252/DesktopDefault.aspx

Apart from that there is a plethora of books and newspaper articles on the subject.

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20. Comment #52144 by bitbutter on June 26, 2007 at 10:17 am

@an_ant_under_a_penny thanks for your post.

Their argument is that scientology uses the same inhumane methods to keep its members under control that the Nazis employed, and that bits of the scientologists' warped ideology follow in the tradition of Nazism.

So perhaps the real objection is that it's just in bad taste for Cruise to be cast in the role, and not that the casting is incompatible with "the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg's person" (?)...

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21. Comment #52149 by Squirrel on June 26, 2007 at 10:55 am

Doesn't Germany have a church tax? So they're actively complicit in helping the roman catholic cult make money.

Only for people who are members of a church.

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22. Comment #52151 by konquererz on June 26, 2007 at 11:02 am

This is silly. If you believe that Scientology is a religion, then its really unfair to ban some movie production company because your star actor subscribes to it.

If you believe that Scientology is a fraud based "belief" created by a science fiction writer to see if he could make money off of it, then its fair to ban them. Its not okay to endorse and allow what you feel is complete fraud on the human race. Scientology provides no benefit and WAS created by a science fiction writer to see if he could get people to pay him money! Its a scheme that should be treated as such.

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23. Comment #52153 by MIND_REBEL on June 26, 2007 at 11:11 am

Good, scientology is an intellectual cancer that shouldn't be tolerated in any form.

If any of you knew how destructive scientology was-you wouldn't question Germany's resolve to fight irrational thinking.

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24. Comment #52158 by The author on June 26, 2007 at 11:32 am

"Only for people who are members of a church."

The normal income taxes are used to finance Bishop salaries and more that should be financed by the church:

http://www.ibka.org

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25. Comment #52219 by Pallinn on June 26, 2007 at 1:52 pm

Now I'm not at all sure this is fair... but I just love it so much I'm going to go with it anyway. I may be a hypocrite, but I'm a happy hypocrite!

Messing with Tom Cruise and scientology is always a cause for celebration. WooJay!

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26. Comment #52264 by 82abhilash on June 26, 2007 at 3:34 pm

Can you really blame the Germans for being too careful? They already have experienced a cult that destroyed their country and killed millions of their people. Scientology is not a religion, in the sense there is no form of worship, but like all other religions, they supress free thought and discourage critical thinking, plus they file law suits like crazy.

There is a book 'A Piece of Blue Sky' that tells more on Scientology. I have the link below.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/

Now you don't have to believe everything you read, but you must read before you can decide whether to believe it or not.

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27. Comment #52271 by Shuggy on June 26, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Feuerbach:

Don't you people know that Tom Cruise has studied everything there is to know about psychology?

Flag as: [troll] [spam] [offensive]

I can't make up my mind which to flag it as.

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28. Comment #52292 by nancy2001 on June 26, 2007 at 4:23 pm

Germany has banned Tom Cruise -- I think that's great.

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29. Comment #52510 by chapstick08 on June 27, 2007 at 6:44 am

Another brilliant episode in Germany's half-measured protection of civil rights. Now we can add state-sponsored religious persecution to the their gross infringement of the people's rights to speak their own mind. Pitiful!

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30. Comment #52546 by Fanusi Khiyal on June 27, 2007 at 8:44 am

Personally, I'd prefer them to ban the practice of Islam (or at least police it - giving the bum rush to anyone in favour of jihad or Shariah).

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31. Comment #52917 by brue68 on June 28, 2007 at 1:50 pm

Shuggy:

Feuerbach:

Don't you people know that Tom Cruise has studied everything there is to know about psychology?

Flag as: [troll] [spam] [offensive]

I can't make up my mind which to flag it as.

I think that was sarcasm

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32. Comment #53122 by Eric Blair on June 29, 2007 at 1:57 pm

Voltaire (reputedly) said it best. This is about freedom of speech and religion, despite our scorn of Scientology. Let's be careful what we wish for, in Germany or anywhere else.

EB

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