SNL’s Scientology Sketch Is Hauntingly Accurate

URL copied to clipboard.
Screen_Shot_2015-04-06_at_1.00.14_PM
  • This weekend SNL posted probably the most scathing satire of Scientology that I’ve ever seen. Its contemptuous, but also terrifyingly accurate music video of devout “Neurotologists” singing a spiritual song about their religion is riddled with references to HBO’s Going Clear documentary.

    There are laughs every time the “updates” to the video are shown with titles over the images signifying the fate of the people in the hilariously “period” video, but almost every callout to a “fact” is something that actually happened to a real person in Scientology, according to the Going Clear documentary. It’s pretty great.

    Also, it’s nice to see Colin Jost, host of Weekend Update, in a sketch outside of Update.

    Here are some truths behind the jokes.

  • Scientologists who work at their multi-million dollar facilities are volunteers paid a stipend which amounts to about 50 cents an hour.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 12.59.31 pm
  • When people are deemed as “Suppressive People” they are forced to be disassociated from their families by the “church”. Also L. Ron Hubbard used to literally throw people off boats for insubordination.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 12.59.03 pm
  • Every person providing evidence in the Going Clear documentary was a former Scientologist, often introduced as such.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 12.57.27 pm
  • L. Ron Hubbard, hailed as a God by his followers, and allowed to commit multiple acts of abuse, died of a stroke which, frankly, is kind of anticlimactic.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 12.58.32 pm
  • Every former Scientologist goes through so much that they become outspoken public figures against the religion.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 12.57.54 pm
  • The Going Clear doc features a video where David Miscavige is singing in an old recruitment video, which is where SNL probably got the idea for the parody. He looks pretty evil in the thing.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 1.27.57 pm
  • Some of the people who find Scientology are so otherwise lost, that they know very little about it going in and are easily manipulated.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 1.01.35 pm
  • Scientology has a small prison where people are malnourished and punished. A group of women speaking for the church once went from the prison, to a television appearance, then back to the prison immediately afterward.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 1.00.33 pm
  • And then this John Travolta joke. Poor John Travolta.

    Screen shot 2015 04 06 at 1.00.14 pm
  • Did you catch any truths I missed in this video? Comment on the Trending Now video or below!

    Also, this is by no means a condemnation of The Church of Scientology, its practices, or an alleging that the testimonies in Going Clear are accurate. It’s a comparison of the popular documentary vs. a viral sketch. Please don’t hurt me, Scientology.

More headlines