There exists a parasitic relationship between the media and celebrities. Celebrities, especially movie stars need the media to either stay in the limelight or promote their new movies. Coverage of celebrity stories and scandals increase circulation and an increased number of visits to the website. When a famous movie star is involved with a controversial cult and gets divorced, speculation is rife about the influence of the cult in the divorce and this was what happened in the case of Tom Cruise’s divorce from Katie Holmes. Given media’s predilection to cover scandals especially on controversial religious sects and cults, the Tom Cruise divorce saga in the media focused more on the influence of Scientology over the breakup of their marriage over any other issues they might have had. A review of five articles from newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Times and broadcast sources such as CNN and abc News shows that coverage about the divorce focused more on Cruise’s affiliation with the church of Scientology than the divorce itself. The media mostly adopts a biased view on social movements or new religious movements that threaten the mainstream belief. This has been proved in the case of Tom Cruise’s divorce and his affiliation with Scientology.
Any new religion or a cult is viewed with suspicion and mistrust at the beginning; Catholics saw Protestantism not only as a threat but viewed it with suspicion. There are numerous instances of cults and new religious being portrayed as sinister and as being out of the ordinary or normal. Media plays an important role in disseminating information, both positive and negative about these cults and new religions and most of it is not necessarily positive. When talking about media bias about new religions and cults Van Driel and Richardson write that “ the major media have been criticized for failing to reach a “structure of balance” . Instead, they have been found to embrace a status quo, hegemonic approach to issues espousing only the dominant values and norms of mainstream society and functioning as an institution of social control that marginalizes and discredits oppositional movements (Van Driel and Richardson 37). Wright talks about the growing number of scholars who “have expressed concern about the role of the media in constructing narratives that accentuate a particularly sinister picture of new religious groups, as if these innovations are intrinsically pathological or harmful to both their own members and society.” The amount of truth in many media reports about cults, religious sects and new religions is questionable and they seem to focus more on these organizations only when a scandal erupts. Once the scandal is covered the whole hullabaloo about the cults and new religions die down with mostly no follow-up reports, what Wright calls Front-end/Back-end disproportionality (Wright 107).
In the case of Tom Cruise’s divorce with Katie Holmes there was a huge coverage on the Church of Scientology and the role it played in Tom Cruise’s divorce. Not limiting to the divorce itself, the media went ahead and wrote volumes about Scientology, the religion/cult that Cruise is part of. The New York Times article, “ For Scientologists divorce is no simple matter” covering Cruise’s divorce uses his divorce as a starting point but talks more about the painful process Scientology members are put through before they can get divorced. The article is more about the Church of Scientology’s take on divorce and the scary and shrouded process it involves rather than the nature of divorce between Cruise and Holmes (Solie, 2012). The article is filled with anecdotes from former Scientology members recounting in harrowing detail their problems with the church about divorce. Although there are quotes from church officials on their position on divorce, the overall effect of the article is one that paints a negative picture of the Church. The CNN blog, “Tom Cruise divorce raises question: What is Scientology, anyway” also focuses on the church and the religion. Although there is no inherent bias against the church (the article reads like a Wikipedia entry), it is interesting to note that the agency found it more important to let its readers know about Scientology than the divorce (Gilgoff 2012). Celebrity power here is used to draw readers’ attention to the article about Scientology. The abc news article and the video clip that accompanies it is also similar to the New York Times article focusing on the statements given by ex-scientologists and how the church excommunicates anyone who displeases it and goes against its rules. There are also interviews that mention the abuse suffered by ex-members of the Church (Goldman 2012). Wright says that the tenor the media takes about a religious Organizations is affected largely by the acculturation of the religious group (Wright 105). This seems to be true in the case of Scientology as it is a new religion founded 60 years ago and still has not been accepted as a religion by many. It is a religion that is at the periphery and not at the center. Negative media reports about the church’s practices and treatment of its members surface every time a member gets out or a celebrity associated with it gets in the news. The amount of negative information currently available about Scientology is inversely proportional to positive reviews about it.
Van Driel and Richardson in their 1988 article mention that news about new religions are by outsiders for outsiders and that there was a certain lack of human element or story in them (Van Driel and Richardson 37). The situation has changed three decades later with more human elements to the story, with even quotes from the problematic religion or cult. But what hasn't changed is the negative bias that still exists. The Washington Post article, “Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes divorce fuels speculation about Scientology”, also focuses on the divorce practices of the Church and how people are encouraged to resolve it first as divorces would lead to one member leaving the Church. There are interviews from former and current members on how the Church has affected their marriage and the reader cannot but help feeling pity for the defectors (Judkis 2012). Towards the end, Katie Holmes is also painted as a victim both of Cruise’s fame and his beliefs. The LA times blog merely mentions that Scientology could have been a factor (Winton 2012). The Huffington post article, “Tom Cruise Admits Katie Holmes Divorced Him To Protect Suri From Scientology” digs a little deeper and asserts that the Church not only ‘disconnects’ people who have left the faith from their partners but also labels them a ‘Suppressive Person’. The Church does not deny this. The article also talks about partial treatment to celebrity members (Marcus 2013).
The tone of most of the news articles and coverage by broadcast stations seem to blame Scientology for the breakup of Cruise’s marriage. The impression that the readers get from these articles is that of a religion/cult that is suppressive and vindictive. Cruise’s celebrity status also gives the media more reason to dwell on his religious belief. A personal problem of the star has been used by the media in this instance to probe deeper into a religion that does not conform to the beliefs of the majority. Thus an analysis of the media coverage of Cruise’s divorce shows that the media is not only biased when it comes to reporting about a new religion but that it also serves an important role in what kind of information is disseminated. Of all the articles analyzed only CNN has used a special religious editor to report on scientology even though it is purely informative and not an analysis. Wright, Van Driel and Richardson are thus right in theorizing that there exists a bias in news coverage about new religions and cults. There is also the lack of follow-up once a scandal dies down with the reader no wiser of what happened later on.
Works Cited
Stacey, Solie. “For Scientologists, Divorce Is No Simple Matter.” nytimes.com. 6 July. 2012. Web. 28 April 2015.
Gilgoff, Dan. “Tom Cruise Divorce Raises Questions: What is Scientology Anyway?”religion.blogs.cnn.com. 3 July. 2012. Web. 28 April 2015.
Goldman, Russell. “Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Split Spotlights Scientology Divorce Rituals.”abcnews.go.com. 29 June 2012. Web. 28 April 2015.
Judkis, Maura. “Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes divorce fuels speculation about Scientology.” washingtonpost.com. 2 July 2012. Web. 28 April 2015.
“Scientology in the Middle of Tomkat Divorce”. latimesblogs.latimes.com. 3 July 2012. web. 28 April 2015.
Marcus, Stephanie. “Tom Cruise Admits Katie Holmes Divorced Him To Protect Suri From Scientology.”huffingtonpost.com. 8 Nov.2013. Web. 28 April 2015.
