4. Scientology
In The Master, Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd. Dodd is an imposing and magnetic man, an author, a father, a teacher, a Master. There has been little allusion to the fact that Anderson based Lancaster Dodd on L Ron Hubbard, the equally imposing and magnetic science fiction author. Hubbard is more infamously known for developing the religion of Scientology, which is now practiced by millions of people worldwide. In The Master, Dodd is working on The Cause, which seems to be a belief system in life that he has created himself, and is slowly in the process of taking it to a larger scale amongst his followers. Any film that tackles religion is going to be controversial, but when the religion you tackle is an equally controversial one in its own right, this leads to problems. Although Anderson has admitted that Hubbard was the basis for Dodd, he purports he is not making a thinly veiled biography of Hubbard or Scientology, he just found Hubbard to be an interesting character to explore. However, one cannot think of The Master or read a review of it without spotlighting the comparisons in the film to the religion. This has led to people who practice Scientology upset over the film, in particular the consistent theme that Dodd is "making it up as he goes along." Religious allusions aside, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is commanding in the role of Lancaster Dodd and will probably secure a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work. However, when actual Scientologists (and voting members of the acting branch) John Travolta and Tom Cruise among others cast their vote, you have to wonder if their beliefs may come into play in giving Hoffman the gold for his acting choices.