Dead Space 2 Creative Director Denies Mocking Scientology

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

With no hint that unitology requires financial payments to get involved it can't be a direct reference to Scientology. It would have been wet your pants hysterical if Altman was modelled after Tom Cruise though!

Actually, there is. In Dead Space 2 while you are running around the Unitology Headquarters you can find a textlog detailing a "prospective member" where the final note about the person is that he is too independent and too critical minded to be a potential member and that he probably won't stick around once he is told about the admission fee to become a full member of the Unitologists.

 

[Zenode]

wait a second, so in my mind i was certain that Dead Space 2 was taking a jab at scientology (including paying to get in) and i was WRONG!

 

[Waaghpowa]

Scientology =/= religion. Anything that requires you to spend vast sums of money to move up and learn more is nothing more than a scam.

Have you heard of graduate school D:

HAHAHAHA

For those claiming Scientology isn't a religion, by definition it is. It may seem stupid, but I think Christianity is too.
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

There are more definitions, but I didn't want to make a massive post.

 

[LiudvikasT]

Scientology = unitology, no doubt about it. Creators just don't want to get sued, but we all know that this is exactly what they intended. Wussy move though, they should stand by what they believe - scientology is a giant scam.

 

[Dectilon]

"that people make they encounter"

OP typo.

Of all religions of similar or larger size scientology is probably one of the more harmless ones. Sure, they swindle people out of their money, but they don't seem prone to violence unlike some other, larger cults. Also I'm sure it's a really useful organization for rich people since donations aren't taxed, and they can use the church as a bank of sorts.

Sure, their believes are silly, but let's say scientology survives a few hundred years (maybe less). Once the book is old enough all the silly bits will be reinterpreted as 'imagery, meant to be interpreted' and questioning the actual content of the book will be met with ridicule. Similar to for example the bible today.

Still, if being religious helps relieve stress brought on by insecurities I don't really mind. No reason to be terribly unhappy if it can be avoided that easily.

 

[jpoon]

Scientology is such an obvious bag of bullshit, it's hilarious. Makes me wonder what the fuck is wrong with all of it's cult followers...morons.

 

[vivster]

lol
until there are the first suicide bomb attacks by scientologist and then everybody will think twice about offending them
you know like this other religion

i personally have absolutely nothing against scientology
people can do what they want in their free time(and it's not like they are the only people wasting their money on shit)
scientology is no more or less moronic than any other religion

atheism hooooooooooo

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Scientology is all about preserving it's good name to it's own people only, which is why low ranking members of the church are only allowed limited internet access in their daily lives (yes, Scientology integrates itself very heavily in their follower's lives). Because Scientology is so driven by the money it scams from people and celebrities in order to become high ranking members, the church has access to some of the best damn lawyers you've ever seen in a court to be unleashed as they see fit. There have been far too many cases over the years in which journalists have lost everything for their outcries of injustice and fraud. They do it so quick and efficiently it stays under the radar like fucking litigation assassination.

I don't blame Bagwell for denying the obvious parody of Scientology they created in Dead Space 2 when you have the lawyers from hell on your heels.

 

[Firehound]

You guys forgot having to pay to get the truth.

Dead space, search your feelings, you know it to be true.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Scientology =/= religion. Anything that requires you to spend vast sums of money to move up and learn more is nothing more than a scam.

Have you heard of Mormonism? Just checking.

[cough] catholicism [cough]

We can probably all just agree that 99% of involvement in any religion entails getting suckered out of your money.

You're heavily misinformed.

Scientology requires you to pay what is to be thousands upon thousands of dollars in order to attain higher ranks and progress in their church. You're also leaving out the restricted access to any media (internet, news) in the outside world with their replacement of constant church-approved propaganda.

No other religion does that. When people hear these descriptions, anyone would scream cult. Scientology isn't a religion.

 

[Fearzone]

This is one more thing that makes me want to play Dead Space 2. More and more it is sounding like the Bioshock of 2011. From the demo, definitately it is subtler than Rapture, but at the same time, the gameplay is a lot better. Hopefully it isn't too short.

 

[Harkwell]

"...has denied claims that Unitology is a parody of Scientology. Despite certain similarities.."

Why not make fun of it? Fallout 2 had a major point in the game that completely ripped on it.

 

[Flamespeak]

Unitologists don't believe in aliens. They believe in ascending into another life form after their death. Unitologists don't mention theta or spiritual measurment or anything of the sort. They do have documents suggesting which people would be better manipulated mentally into becoming highly devout members of their church. It is little more than a massive ass cult.

I liked that the gave props to HP Lovecraft in DS2 though.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Dude... Scientology isn't really a religion anyway. Hell, Unitology sounds more believable then Scientology!!!

Though I have to give them props. Unitology does kinda creep me out much like the rest of the game.

 

[Xanadu84]

I believe them when they say that they were looking more broadly at religion and peoples beliefs then dissing Scientology specifically. It's hardly far-fetched, evil cults ruining everything by dealing with forces they shouldn't has been a horror staple since the dawn of time. Sure, Unitology does remind you of Scientology in general feel, but the blame for that lies firmly on Scientology. If you make something crazy, written by a science fiction author, then you are going to seem similar to other crazy science fiction.

I don't blame the developers for distancing themselves from Scientology criticism. They are busy people. They have things to do besides criticize Scientology. Just because we like seeing people stick it to Scientologists doesn't mean they have to drop everything to criticize them too.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

With no hint that unitology requires financial payments to get involved it can't be a direct reference to Scientology. It would have been wet your pants hysterical if Altman was modelled after Tom Cruise though!

It's been done!

Juan Cruz in Fallout 2:

 

[Callate]

It would be an easier pill to swallow if someone hadn't goofed up and put "Scientology" in the place of "unitology" in one part of the graphic novel that offered a prequel to DS1. Bit of a Freudian slip, there.

And, yes, the Scientologists have a bad reputation for doing their level best to put anyone who offers criticism of the organization through hell, so no, I can't blame them for trying to sidestep.

 

[Herr Wozzeck]

It would have been wet your pants hysterical if Altman was modelled after Tom Cruise though!

Actually, one of the tie-in materials for Dead Space (Martyr) takes everything that the Church of Unitology thinks is true about Michael Altman and brutally tears it to pieces. So... Altman being modelled after Tom Cruise is actually extremely unlikely. Details are in the spoiler tags.

Spoiler

According to the Dead Space Wiki, Michael Altman didn't actually found the Church of Unitology. He was just placed as the figurehead as a part of a cover-up by his superior on the government project that was working on deciphering the Black Marker. A cult formed during his lifetime after the discovery of the Black Marker, though, and the superior took advantage of that when he founded Unitology. Altman himself was kind of skeptical about the cult, actually, and he freaked out when he found out that he was apparently their prophet. (It ended up working to his advantage as he tried to find out more about the Black Marker, though.) And he actually knew the Marker was a threat, and actually tried to destroy it and an underwater facility full of Necromorphs. He ended up getting executed by his superior.

So yeah, it turns out that Unitology is a massive cover-up of its own origins. And it started under the mistaken assumption that a) the Marker started all evolution on Earth, and b) it grants eternal life.

I probably put it a bit confusingly. You can check this link for more:

http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Space:_Martyr

I seriously doubt L. Ron Hubbard had quite this much turmoil to deal with when he wrote Dianetrics of his own free will.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

I thought Scientology was a fraud, how is it religion now?

 

[fulano]

There's a very short saying: "If the coat fits..."

That's pretty much it.