Yeah, interesting stuff, Alice. I might mention that I have never been in the least attracted to Scientology. It's always seemed like a creepy and very strange outfit to me, ever since I first saw them around in the early 70s in Toronto. I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw an iron anvil.

However, I don't instantly judge any individual just on the basis of whether or not they are involved in Scientology...or were involved in it at one time. Leonard Cohen was into it for a few years in the 70s, but later disassociated himself from the Scientology movement.

In any case, I did not start this thread in order to provoke a deep and serious discussion of the merits or evils of Scientology. I started it as a bit of whimsical humour about fame and about why people sometimes hate famous people, nothing more than that.

I doubt that my friend is down on Tom Cruise because he (my friend) wants to save the world from the perils of Scientology! ;-) No, it's nothing idealistic like that at all. You'd have to know this friend of mine better. He's in his 70s, is a veteran of the folk music years, and he knew everyone in the scene back then...and he simply LOVES telling stories which spread dirt and malicious gossip about people, regardless of whether they are Tom Cruise or anyone else. He enjoys the opportunity to assassinate characters whenever he can. Tom Cruise is merely coincidental in a much larger pattern of behaviour which involves character assassination, lurid tales of moral turpitude, and various other forms of delicious and salacious gossip. If I'd been famous back then, he'd probably be telling some dreadful stories about me! ;-D

At the same time, though, he's a very interesting man, quite charming, very knowledgable, and he has a lof of fascinating firsthand info about stuff that happened back "in the day", although I'm not sure which stories to believe and which to take with a grain of salt.

This is just his way of having fun, you see. Tom Cruise is just one more convenient way for him to have fun doing what he loves doing...spreading the dirt on people. The fact that Tom Cruise is famous makes the dirt really WORTH spreading! It has little or nothing to do with him being a Scientologist. (Note the behaviour of the movie magazines. They follow the same procedure. If you are famous (or briefly notorious for some reason), you are in their crosshairs and can expect to receive plenty of fire.)