Brainwashing for box-office - Cruise remaking MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE next?

[John Winters]

Wow Eddie Deezen is a scientologist, this is some groovy trip!

[James Erickke]

He's on every station!

Tom Cruise spars with 'Today' show host
Saturday, June 25 2005, 02:59 BST -- by James Welsh


An interview with Tom Cruise on NBC breakfast news show Today turned sour when the subject of psychiatry came up.

The interview was supposed to cover a wide range of topics including the new War of the Worlds movie, but when Today show anchor Matt Lauer discussed Cruise's recent criticism of Brooke Shields - who said that she went to therapy and took anti-depressant medicine while suffering from post-partum depression - it was clear that a nerve had been touched.

"I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever," declared Cruise. "Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry. And when I started studying the history of psychiatry, I understood more and more why I didn't believe in psychology. And as far as the Brooke Shields thing, look, you got to understand, I really care about Brooke Shields. I think, here's a wonderful and talented woman. And I want to see her do well. And I know that psychiatry is a pseudo science."

When Lauer pursued the matter, noting that anti-depressants and psychiatric counselling have at the very least seemed to help people, Cruise went on the attack, as demonstrated by the following transcript.

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LAUER: Aren't there examples, and might not Brooke Shields be an example, of someone who benefited from one of those drugs?

CRUISE: All it does is mask the problem, Matt. And if you understand the history of it, it masks the problem. That's what it does. That's all it does. You're not getting to the reason why. There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.

LAUER: So, postpartum depression to you is kind of a little psychological gobbledygook —

CRUISE: No. I did not say that.

LAUER: I'm just asking what you, what would you call it?

CRUISE: No. No. Abso— Matt, now you're talking about two different things.

LAUER: But that's what she went on the antidepressant for.

CRUISE: But what happens, the antidepressant, all it does is mask the problem. There's ways, [with] vitamins and through exercise and various things... I'm not saying that that isn't real. That's not what I'm saying. That's an alteration of what I'm saying. I'm saying that drugs aren't the answer, these drugs are very dangerous. They're mind-altering, antipsychotic drugs. And there are ways of doing it without that so that we don't end up in a brave new world. The thing that I'm saying about Brooke is that there's misinformation, okay. And she doesn't understand the history of psychiatry. She doesn't understand in the same way that you don't understand it, Matt.
---

The exchange continued for the rest of the interview, with Cruise at one point calling Lauer "glib." When Lauer pressed the point, stating that he knew people who had had positive experiences with psychiatric treatment, Cruise accused Lauer of "advocating" the use of anti-depressants - a charge that Lauer vigorously denied, noting that he was merely telling Cruise that "in their case, in their individual case, it worked."

A full transcript with video is available on MSNBC.com.

The Today show appearance was just the latest in a round of media interviews by the film star; on Thursday night, Cruise appeared on CBS' late night talker with Dave Letterman. Interest in Cruise-related matters has spiked in the US media of late, with coverage being given both to his romance with Katie Holmes and to his faith in Scientology.

[Scott W. Davis]

Eddie Deezen?!? Say It 'aint So! :d