Golden Globes

There's a new sci-fi flick currently haunting the multiplexes called 'After Earth', starring everyone's favorite Man in Black, Will Smith. Surprisingly, considering the star power of Mr. Smith, it isn't doing very well at the box office. There's some speculation that the story is less than compelling because there's too much Scientology subtext coursing through its run-time. Some reviewers are even comparing its tone to a previous box-office bomb called 'Battlefield Earth', which itself was based off a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the progenitor of Scientology.

Using the movies to project religious dogma isn't new as the Bible has been harvested time and again for storylines, but Scientology is a whole different kettle of Xenus. Trying to weave its peculiar message into a standard science fiction film may simply be baffling to the uninitiated. Or even the initiated, for that matter.

But, in my opinion, there are two big, bouncing, pendulous reasons why this film, like 'Battlefield Earth' before it, will be a flop...

Boobs.

Yes, audiences for fantasy of this sort need 9-foot naked, blue cat women. They need plucky little princesses in metal bikinis. They need ladies willing to be sketched nude "like French girls." 'Battlefield Earth' lacked a love story and so, apparently, does 'After Earth' but Scientology has a nasty little misogynistic streak so strong female role models were out of the question.

The Scientology angle is still just conjecture as no one has officially owned up to its intent. Until then, there's always Sarah Connor or Ellen Ripley to remind us what sci-fi's really all about.

=Lefty=