FORUM
Acclaimed director sets sights on Scientology
By Andrew Stewart
Staff Writer
Scientology's lawyers and the late
Isaac Hayes' devotion to Xenu led
to the early departure of the iconic
character "Chef" from the television
show "South Park" in a gnarly and
gruesome death at the hands of a bear
and mountain lion.
Finally, a film director not affiliated
with the belief system will take
a satirical crack at a thinly veiled
Scientology, exploring the extremely
odd stuff they believe.
The acclaimed director of instant
classics such as "Boogie Nights" and
"There Will Be Blood," Paul Thomas
Anderson, finally has the funds to
tackle the elephant on Hollywood's
back — Scientology.
Anderson's film, tentatively titled
"The Master," has received from
a private benefactor the necessary
$35 million — a price that Universal
Pictures "balked at," according to
NYMag.com
Since Scientology has played
such a crucial role in the success of
many-actors, actresses and directors
in Hollywood, very few people
that make their living in the movies
have been willing to set their sights
on exposing the weirdness that is
Scientology.
There are troubling accounts of
Scientology "essentially conscripting
members into slave labor to build
Tom Cruise an airport hangar, a
luxury SUV, and a trailer-style bus
where Katie Homes could undergo
purification rituals — all 'for the
betterment of mankind,"' according
to AVClub.com, an online pop-culture
magazine.
However, Scientologists have the
right to fight how their beliefs are
represented in the public eye, but
other, actual mainstream religions,
such as Judaism and Islam, have not
had much luck either.
Jewish people did not appreciate
their portrayal in "The Passion of
the Christ" by director Mel Gibson,
whose racist, misogynistic rants are
best never heard in the first place.
"South Park" also courted
controversy when the show featured
the Prophet Mohammed in an
incredibly censored episode that,
nonetheless, led radical Islamists to
post pictures and the address of the
mansion "South Park" creators Matt
Stone and Trey Parker share.
Scientologists rallying against
the show probably led to the many
episodes "South Park" aired making
fun of the cult. And yes, Scientology
is a cult. The public-at-large did not
know of the truly insane and cultish
views of Scientology hold until they
were aired on the Comedy Central
show.
A recent article in The New Yorker
about Oscar-winning director and
producer of "The Facts of Life" Paul
Haggis maintains that he did not
know about lizard god Xenu and the
other things in the religion that really
show Scientology was created by a
science fiction writer when he entered
it.
Haggis just thought that
Scientology was a cool outsider
philosophy for a better life that would
also help Mm move up in Hollywood
circles.
Then Haggis moved up the "levels
of study" to Operating Thetan III,
which is when they unleash in a
flurry the odd beliefs that Scientology
creator L. Ron Hubbard dreamed up
when he was in the Navy.
Haggis defected because he could
no longer take Scientology's toxic
stance on homosexuality. There
are rumors that a major purpose of
Scientology for John Travolta and
Tom Cruise, especially, is to cover up
their homosexuality. It seems their
careers would be fine if they came out
of the closet, though.
It was stated best on AVClub.com
when they jokingly claimed that,
"revelations of the various facets of
Scientology's far-reaching plan to
install Suri Cruise as our future-and-
eternal despot have already forced its
leaders to fight back."
Scientologists' many efforts to
dissuade anyone from discussing the
religion have made it a more enticing
target for satire. Scientology's
disturbing practices involving alleged
slave labor and the high monetary
price to move up the ranks make
it hard to believe Scientology is
anything but a cult that warrants
investigation to ensure no one drinks
the Kool-Aid to meet Xenu sooner.
Planned Parenthood fights for funding
By Julia Solheim
Staff Writer
Thanks to a recently passed amendment, the House of
Representatives has their hands in our reproductive organs.
On Feb. 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an
amendment to remove funding to Plaimed Parenthood and
the government-run Utle X program, both of which provide
reproductive health care services to low-income people.
According to ABC News, the measure, if passed by the
Senate, would eradicate close to $330 million from Planned
Parenthod and Title X funding by the end of September.
This money would normally go to Planned Parenthood
and Title X to provide family planning, birth control, and
medical services such as cancer screenings and HIV testing.
Rep. Jackie Speier from California responded to com
ments made during the debate against abortion fund-
ing by declaring, that procedure that you just talked
about was a procedure that I endured. I lost a baby."
"There is a vendetta against Planned Parenthood," Speier
said. "For you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you
have,thatsomehowthisisaprocedurethatiseitherwelcomed
or done cavalierly or done without any thought is prepos
terous ... Planned Parenthood has a right to offer abortions.
Last time I checked, abortions were legal in this country."
So what does this amendment mean for
those who rely on these crucial services?
"Your vote was not only against those who seek care at
Planned Parenthood health centers," reads "An Open Letter
to Congress" posted on the Planned Parenthood website;
"but against every one of us who has ever sought care there,
and against every one of us who knows that when we are
healthy, when we are in charge of our lives, we thrive."
The consequences of eliminating funding for both Title
X and Planned Parenthood services — which according
to The Washington Post provides health care to a com
bined 8 million women each year — could be devastat
ing. Just how devastating was document in a survey
conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, in which six
in 10 clients view family planning services — such as
Planned Parenthood — as their main source of health care."
With the advancement of this amendment to the Senate,
those who cannot otherwise afford these vital heath ser
vices are one step closer to being left in the dark. An
unplanned pregnancy can devastate educational and
professional opportunities, especially for young women.
They may never be able to live the life they long for.
As with many diseases, the survival rate for can
cer patients is much higher the earlier it is detect
ed. Women deprived of screening services may
not know of a malignant tumor until it is too late.
Without Planned Parenthood's care, more peo
ple will undoubtedly contract an STD. Many STDs,
when left untreated, can lead to sterility and life-
threatening situations. And if people are unaware of
an infection, there is a greater risk of spreading it to
others. We all know the outcome of the HIV virus.
Cutting funding to Planned Parenthood and Ttle X
could lead to an epidemic. It could lead to broken dreams,
slammed doors. It probably will lead to chaos. Call me
melodramatic, but this amendment is truly a matter
of life and death, and it is unbelievable that Congress
should even consider putting their citizens at such risk.
March 18, 2011
Hands and belly dancing
With strong feet ,,
rooted on the floor,
her soft belly moves
to music. Elegant
arms frame the look
of regal confidence on
her face. She demands
your attention and
respect. She is young, i/'
mature, black, brown,
white, voluptuous
and svelte.
As I sat at the Carolina Theatre on February 5, I saw
these images. The show "Get Your Shimmy On" by Troupe
Bellysima, a'belly dancing troupe headed by Daliana Diane
Carter-Simons, performed on stage.
The troupe's dance roots lie in the Turkish cabaret style
of belly dancing but they incorporated other types of dance
into their performance.
This show demonstrates a new stage in Carter-Simons'
career as a dancer and teacher. She recently opened her own
dance studio, Daliana Dance, on Guilford College Rd.
Instead of teaching at different gym locations, the studio
brought all Carter-Simons' followers to one location and
incorporated other forms of dance, including African, hip-
hop, ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and cheerleading.
Carter-Simons, five months pregnant herself, also offers
pre-natal belly dancing. The doula-trained teachers under
stand the special needs of a pregnant woman. This type of
i dance helps a woman in ail stages of her pregnancy.
Carter-Simons began as a ballet dancer at age three and
started belly dancing at age 11. Seven years ago, after many
years of performing professionally, Carter-Si mons's teach
ing career started at the Ragsdale YMCA and other gyms
followed.
Carter-Simons thought belly dancing was a spectator
sport and not something people actually wanted to learn.
She admits how wrong she was. When the minimum
requirement to teach a class at the YMCA was five people,
Carter-Simons had 40 women show up.
"Dancers go through phases where they want to be the
actual performer, and for a long time, that's what 1 thought 1
wanted to do," said Carter-Simons. "My focus now is on cre
ating dynamite dancers. The goal is to create dancers better
than I am and for people to say, 'Wow, who's your teacher?"'
Besides improving dancers' skills, these belly dancing
classes help form a great connection with your body and the
glorious movements that it can create.
"As you start to look at your body and at your skin, that
starts the passion in the dance," said Carter-Simons. "The
passion is in you, which comes out in the dance. So early on
I teach that connection."
In the beginners' belly dancing class for all ages, Carter-
Simons has you look at your hands and see how they move.
This leads you to look at other body parts and develop an
appreciation for them.
I remember watching my nieces in their beginners' belly
dance class. She had the class sit in a circle and do this exer
cise of looking at their hands. She wanted them to see how
beautiful and unique they were and to look at how they
moved.
"My focus is on girls developing a comfort with their
bodies and appreciation for their bodies," said Carter-
Simons. That's a beautiful thing no matter what shape,
size, or color."
I am amazed by the diversity of color, background, age,
and shape that flock to Daliana Dance studio. You will
see beautiful ebony to alabaster skin and every shade in
between. There is no age limit, dance level, or shape require
ment.
"It's about developing a comfort level no matter how
'juicy' you are, no matter how many rolls you have," said
Carter-Simons. "And if you got those extra rolls? What can
you do with them that that 'skinny minny' can't? It's appre
ciating the looks of every body."