A five-minute 1990s-era Scientology sing-along video doesn't need a parody to be funny. But that hasn't stopped Saturday Night Live from making one anyways—and the results really don't disappoint.
Everyone's favorite crazy celebrity cult is enjoying (or not) a renewed place in the popular consciousness, thanks to the buzz around the HBO documentary Going Clear. So is everyone's favorite kitschy decade, thanks to BuzzFeed. That means NBC's live sketch comedy show was able to topically spoof the clip, which resurfaced online in 2011.
There's ample opportunity for skewering. The lyrics include excellent couplets like "Religion and science intertwined/aliens live inside of our minds." Pop-up annotations list the sinister fates of faces gleefully bobbing on the screen. Bobby Moynihan shines as L. Ron Hubbard.
Titled "Neurotology Music Video," it's packed with references that will tickle anyone who's been following the scandal around the church—even if the reality is unsettling. (Anyone who hasn't been keeping up can find an excellent, hefty primer in the 2011 article "The Apostate," by Lawrence Wright, who went on to write the book Going Clear, on which the HBO documentary is based.)
It's too bad SNL couldn't also work in an extended parody of Tom Cruise raving about how great it is to be Tom Cruise, the Scientologist. Though in that case, it's hard to imagine anything beating the real deal.
