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September 05, 2012 Slideshows » News

Inside the Strange World of Scientology with Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master 

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Moviegoers will gain insight into an L. Ron Hubbard-like cult leader in director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, but the wild beliefs taught by the real Hubbard go beyond any fictional version.

Hubbard's Scientology is based on revelations by the science-fiction author that can't be made odder by embellishment. Read the full story, "L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology Is Beyond Fiction," by Ray Stern.

Read more about Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology research for his new film The Master.
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Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
by Jurgen Fauth via Wikimedia 2007
Paul Thomas Anderson.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Courtesy photo
A still photo from Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Michael Ratcliff
The Phoenix house where L. Ron Hubbard dreamed up Scientology.
Eric Tsetsi
The Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Eric Tsetsi
Photos of L. Ron Hubbard and biographical information hang on the walls inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Eric Tsetsi
An office space dedicated to L. Ron Hubbard inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Eric Tsetsi
An office space dedicated to L. Ron Hubbard inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Eric Tsetsi
Inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Eric Tsetsi
Inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.
Photo couresty of Wikimedia
L. Ron Hubbard conducting a Dianetics seminar in Los Angeles in 1950.
Courtesy photo
L. Ron Hubbard in his early years.
L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
The Phoenix-based Scientology-themed newsletter The Aberree was used by Anderson in his research before making The Master.
The Phoenix-based Scientology-themed newsletter The Aberree was used by Anderson in his research before making The Master.
More slideshows
Christopher Victorio78 images
Skyler Quammen41 images
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Eric Tsetsi
Inside the Church of Scientology in Phoenix.

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