Germany loves Tom Cruise

by Matt Holmes

two days ago about blocking the crew of Bryan Singer's World War II movie Valkyrie from filming at ministry sites due to Tom Cruise's religion. They are now saying that they welcome Tom Cruise and Valkyrie to film in their country. More from The Hollywood Reporter...

The source of the "Valkyrie" controversy seems to have stemmed from a posting on the Web site of conservative German member of parliament Antje Blumenthal. Blumenthal posted a statement Friday claiming that Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung pledged to her that Cruise would not get permission to shoot because of the purported danger posed by his Scientology. Blumenthal is a cult expert for the conservative CDU/CSU party and a longtime opponent of Scientology.
Does Germany therefore love Tom Cruise? No not really. Scientology isn't recognized as a legitimate religion in Germany and it's indeed seen as a dangerous and brainwashing organisation. Believe it or not, it's even under investigation by the German authorities who see the relegion as a threat to their democracy. What a load of nonsense but it's nice to see Valkyrie shooting in Germany where it should be.

Editor-in-chief
Editor-in-chief

Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.