Tome Thursday: Troublemaker

 

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you're having an amazing week so far. I'm over here trying to figure out exactly why I suddenly had a nightmare about waking up late for school, when I haven't been to school in YEARS.

 

No, seriously, the years bit isn't a joke! LOL

 

But anyway, after picking and choosing books for Booktober, I figured that a simple Thursday post would work best really, and that was how I picked tonight's topic.

 

This was the last book I read prior to the beginning of October and my book extravaganza and I kind of wanted to do a blog post on the theme to begin with though never got so far at the time. Now though, nothing's stopping me as I'm well and truly back to the old ways!

 

Weird dreams aside, I'm pretty sure this book is one of the best things to come out of Hollywood in a long, long time, and again this is no joke.

 

Hollywood used to be this glitzy, glamorous place everyone wanted to be, but the more we learn about it in recent years, the less we ACTUALLY want that.

 

Reading Leah Remini's Troublemaker: How I survived Hollywood and Scientology book gives you one more reason to tip the scale.

 

I first saw Leah when she competed on Dancing with the Stars back in that one season, and I'll admit I initially thought she was one annoying lady. She was loud, she was obnoxiously rude sometimes, but she could dance well and I was actually rooting for her, all things considered.

 

But then, I don't know, she grew on me somehow.

 

Sometimes that's how it happens with people!

 

You think initially that it's just not going to work, but then by the end of it all you're literally best friends. 

 

So Leah Remini became one of those actresses who flew under my radar for the longest time, then I clocked in to her presence and since then have been sort of keeping half an eye on what she's up to.

 

Including noticing that she would be publishing a book.

 

As I'm a sucker for books published by celebrities - and because this one dealt with Scientology, the weird mostly Hollywood religion I knew Tom Cruise to be a part of - I was really interested in grabbing a copy for myself.

 

But then life intervened and time just wasn't on my side, so it was only recently that I ACTUALLY managed to read the thing, though I think that might have been for the best.

 

You see things differently when you're 30.

 

As this isn't a fictional book I'm not going to give you a report from A to Z, but I'll give you the rundown: it's a REALLY good biography. And it's got ALL about Scientology in there as well, at least, what Leah wanted to write in.

 

I smiled imagining her as a kid on the corner of the block with her friends, thinking just how things DON'T happen like that nowadays, or at least they've changed where I live, because that just isn't safe anymore. Not sure how it is in New York, but I'd assume it's similar, in some way or another? Who knows.

 

Leah's mother was basically conned into joining Scientology by her then-boyfriend, who didn't even bother going with them but dumped her and found himself another woman. But for Leah and her sister, Scientology then became the focal point and what their lives revolved around.

 

Which is scary to think about, really, because even Christianity, while encouraging its believers to a certain righteous path, also encourages other things, but for Scientology, it's all about saving the world with the choices you make, and the focus you give to the church.

 

Disclaimer: everyone can believe in whoever/whatever they want. It's their right and I can't judge!

 

Kind of like a jealous lover, really.

 

I was fascinated reading about how she met and married her husband and had a child, and how many people she met along the way - but more so I was intrigued with all the negatives sides of the religion, which I had been expecting given the title.

 

And boy, let me tell you ... THAT is a doozy!

 

Now of course, the Church of Scientology probably denies the claims in the book with all it's got, but guess what: considering what we know of Leah Remini, her coming up with an elaborate story just to make it sell doesn't mesh with her character. So I'm inclined to believe her.

 

The things in the book about 'corrections' and 'setting people on the right path' and 'making sure you do the right thing' are ... quite honestly terrifying.

 

Why would anyone encourage spying on another individual, a friend, a family member, just to advance yourself? The whole set-up actually reminds me of Nazi Germany during WWII, when neighbour couldn't trust neighbour anymore!

 

And then there's the search for missing persons, who hadn't been seen in years, apparently in some sort of 'rehabilitation' facility where they ensure they literally brainwash them into thinking Scientology is the best.

 

Throw in some oversized manchild Tom Cruise and you've got yourself a baller deal.

 

Honestly, I didn't know what to think about that - but then again, in a way, it makes sense. The only thing that doesn't make sense is how he got to the position within the religion as he has, because given what's in this book and what the public has heard from time to time (because keeping a lid on this is MUCH more difficult than Scientology would like to believe), Cruise is beyond just a handful, but he's an egocentric narcissist who can't deal with anything less than everybody bowing and cow-towing to him in the blink of an eye.

 

The paragraph which broke my heart was Leah's interaction with his two children by Nicole Kidman, and it just goes to show how purely WRONG some things are in this world.

 

Seriously, if you want a read that'll make you really think and look at Hollywood, into the nets of which Scientology seems to be so tightly woven, pick up Leah Remini's Troublemaker book.

 

Thank you, Leah. There's so much more in there than I could ever describe.

 

And no one can be disappointed.

 

xx

*image not mine