Tom Cruise Not Allowed At German Military Sites

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MrsSpringsteen

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Regardless of what they think of Scientology that is blatant discrimination and just wrong. Especially since Scientology has nothing to do with the movie.


BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- Germany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler from filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Cruise, also one of the film's producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German government does not recognize as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.

The decision drew a sharp response from Cruise's film producing partner, Paula Wagner, chief executive of United Artists Entertainment, who said Cruise's "personal beliefs have absolutely no bearing on the movie's plot, themes or content."

The U.S. actor will portray Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, leader of the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Nazi dictator in July 1944 with a bomb hidden in a briefcase.

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.

Stauffenberg had been deeply opposed to the Nazis' treatment of the Jews and planted a briefcase bomb under a table near Hitler in his "Wolf's Lair" headquarters on July 20, 1944. The bomb went off but only wounded the Fuehrer.

The film, slated for a 2008 release, will be directed by Bryan Singer and co-star Kenneth Branagh. It is called "Valkyrie" after Operation Valkyrie, the plot's codename.

In a statement, Wagner said von Stauffenberg is characterized as a "heroic and principled figure."

"We believe it (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 said.

The main site of interest would be the "Bendlerblock" memorial inside the Defense Ministry complex in Berlin, where Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators hatched the plot and where he and his closest comrades were executed when it failed.

Kammerbauer said the ministry had not yet received official filming requests from the producers of "Valkyrie."

While Wagner did not cite requests for specific locations, she did add: "We believe Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice."
 
Audit THAT, bitch!
cookiemonsterrf2.gif
 
That's ridiculous. I'm in agreement about it being an extortionist/brain-washing cult for rich people (it was Cruise's wife before Nicole Kidman that brought him to it) which is unfortunate, but that doesn't change Cruise's talent as an actor.
 
Well how exactly would he be spreading Scientology by filming that role there? It's not as if it's Battlefield Earth..

They don't think it's a religion but those are his beliefs, people shouldn't have their work adversely affected by their religious beliefs.
 
Even though I don't agree with Scientology I think it is discrimmination. Why can we make films about Christ but he can't make a film about his beliefs?? The German Government said that Scientology is not a "real religion, but only a business to collect money." Geee isn't Christianity, Judaism and Islam the same?? It's a business but with God in it, so they get tax exemptions.
 
I have a hard time being outraged about this on the grounds of religious discrimination (as some have argued), because I have a hard time seeing Scientology as an actual religion.
 
I don't think it is recognised in the UK here either, due to having to pay to up your levels in the religion, plus all the cultish aspects of it ie getting cut off from your family for leaving etc.

Apparently there are more Jedis in the UK than scientologists:wink:
 
I'm not outraged at it as discrimination(as I've said it's said the brainwashing that goes on) but as Mrs. Springsteen said the movie isn't about Scientology, it's about hunting down Hitler, give me a break.
 
I'm certainly no fan at all of some of the things Tom has said and done in the name of his beliefs (ie Brooke Shields etc.) and I have real doubts about Scientology and its' methods, but I just think this is fundamentally unfair.

I am not into judging whether it is a religion or not, I respect anyone's beliefs and just ask them to respect mine. But of course I might disagree with how they use those beliefs. We all know what happened in German history when an evil man hated a whole group of people because of their religion. Just to make it perfectly clear that I'm not in any way comparing the two, but it's a small touch of irony. Anyone can say anyone's beliefs are not a religion and use it against them accordingly.
 
Just read about what Scientology really is. I had no idea. But this is ridiculous, what does it have to do with filming a movie about Hitler? :huh:
 
Where to start...

Justin24 said:
Even though I don't agree with Scientology I think it is discrimmination. Why can we make films about Christ but he can't make a film about his beliefs?? The German Government said that Scientology is not a "real religion, but only a business to collect money." Geee isn't Christianity, Judaism and Islam the same?? It's a business but with God in it, so they get tax exemptions.

Um. Yeah. Technically, this is not a film about his beliefs. Secondly, Scientology is clearly a bunch of completely fabricated bullshit (Alien overlords, spaceships that look like DC-3s, thetan levels...) spewed from the mind of a nasty, petty, greedy con-artist extraordinaire and perpetuated by his nasty, petty, greedy (and in some cases homicidal) minions ever since.

http://www.xenu.net/

I should expect a lawsuit any day now. :wink:

That said, the German government is definitely overreacting, but given Scientology's penchant for corruption, blackmailing and bullying, I don't blame em for keeping their distance.
 
Re: Where to start...

Diemen said:


Um. Yeah. Technically, this is not a film about his beliefs. Secondly, Scientology is clearly a bunch of completely fabricated bullshit (Alien overlords, spaceships that look like DC-3s, thetan levels...) spewed from the mind of a nasty, petty, greedy con-artist extraordinaire and perpetuated by his nasty, petty, greedy (and in some cases homicidal) minions ever since.

http://www.xenu.net/

I should expect a lawsuit any day now. :wink:

That said, the German government is definitely overreacting, but given Scientology's penchant for corruption, blackmailing and bullying, I don't blame em for keeping their distance.

I know it's not a film about beliefs. But seriously don't all religions deal with greedy men? I mean the pope tells his flock what is right and wrong cause he is god's voice on earth.

and yes Scientology is not for me, but I would not discriminate against some one else's belief.
 
Time Magazine article with more information about Germany and Scientology. I didn't know they have those types of laws in Germany and other European countries.

Tuesday, Jun. 26, 2007
Why Germany Hates Tom Cruise
By Andrew Purvis/Berlin

Tom Cruise may suit up nicely as an American flying ace or an acrobatic crime buster, but when it comes to portraying Germany's most beloved anti-Nazi, Germans would prefer a different actor, bitte. Cruise is due to play German officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, celebrated for trying to kill Hitler in 1944, but the German Defense Ministry has warned that if Cruise gets the role, Ministry sites will be off-limits to the filmmakers. The reason? Because Cruise, as the Defense Ministry puts it, "has publically professed to being a member of the Scientology cult."

"Stauffenberg played an imporant role in the military resistance against the Nazi regime," a Ministry of Defense spokesman explained Wednesday , adding that "a sincere and respectful depiction of the events of July 20 [the failed plot to assassinate Hitler] is therefore very much in our interest. Tom Cruise, with his Scientology background, is not the right person for this." Ursula Cabreta, director of a government-sponsored group that monitors Scientologist activities in Germany was more blunt. She called the selection of Cruise to play the role of von Stauffenberg a "scandal."

The furor says more about Germany's struggle with Scientology than it does about the actor, who does, it's worth noting, bear a passing resemblance to the square-jawed German national hero. The German authorities have had a long history of run-ins with the Church of Scientology, which they accuse of masquerading as a church in order to make money — a charge the group vehemently rejects. Germany, along with several other European countries, has aggressive laws targeting groups that they deem to be cults. Their hostility to Scientology is also based, Cabreta told TIME, on a perception that the writings of the church's founder , L. Ron Hubbard, split the world into "social " and "anti social" personalities, and also that the group "propagates the idea that Germany is controlled by Nazis."

The German government recently tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the Church of Scientology from opening a new 43,000-square-foot headquarters in the upscale Berlin district of Charlottenburg. The facility opened in January, and Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes, dropped by earlier this month during a visit that also took in the Von Stauffenberg memorial.

The memory of von Stauffenberg is close to German hearts. His plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944, while unsuccessful, has come to symbolize German resistance to the Nazis. Repelled by Hitler's racist policies and military bungling, Von Stauffenberg tried to blow him up with a suitcase bomb at the field headquarters known as Wolf's Lair, but the blast was partially obstructed and failed to find its target. Von Stauffenberg was executed in a purge shortly afterwards.

Casting Cruise in the role has drawn fire from a range of sources. "He should keep his hands off my father," Von Stauffenberg's son Berthold told the Suddeutsche Zeitung. "He should go climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don't care as long as he stays out of this." Von Stauffenberg said that he was not commenting on Cruise's acting prowess, though based on the star's oeuvre, he feared the result would be "terrible kitsch." Thomas Kretschmann, a German actor (King Kong, The Downfall) who says the part was originally written for him, called Cruise's selection "an absolute catastrophe, a real blow." He told the Welt am Sonntag that even the idea of this "epitome of modern American action cinema" putting on a German uniform with an eye patch is "quite ridiculous."

It's not clear what impact the furor will have on the movie, if any. Entitled Valkyrie and directed by Bryan Singer (Superman Returns), it is still scheduled for release in 2008. The Defense Ministry refusal to allow access to its buildings will bar cameras from the original cluster of rooms, including von Stauffenberg's office, where the plot was hatched, though presumably the setting can be replicated at studios outside Berlin. The German government action seems unlikely to cost Cruise his role. The publicity, if anything, will probably boost ticket sales, even as Germans find comfort in having spoken out: "I am very glad that the filming permission for such a high-ranking Scientology member could have been prevented," a senior official in the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, Antje Blumenthal said. "This would have equalled an acceptance of Scientology." As the world now knows, Germany is having none of that.
 
It's really kind of gutsy of them to take a stand against Scientology as not a religion but a brainwashing moneymaker disguised as one. No one in America would be able to say that!:censored:

Can't those rich idoits who fall for it see it was invented by a SCI FI writer, and it involves ALIENS :hmm: get a clue..
 
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corianderstem said:
I hear people in America saying that about Scientology all the time. :shrug:

I say it every time someone mentions Tom Cruise or John Travolta. :up:
 
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