Going Clear Reflection

Most of Going Clear was told from the perspective of former Scientology members, which made the story structure interesting. As opposed to following one continuous story, the documentary jumped from topic to topic to topic and told that in chronological order. While these concepts weren't necessarily sequential, they followed an arc of explanation.

As the story went on, certain answers asked new questions that moved things forward. There were individual sections with specific focuses. One part focused on L Ron Hubbard's life and how he came to create scientology. Another part focused on his successor and his relationship with Tom Cruise. The end then looked at the impact that Scientology has had on the interviewees and how they escaped.

The Director manages to build credibility with his audience primarily through the sources he uses. By finding actual members from scientology, some of which who were high ranking, to provide information, the audience is more willing to trust that they know how scientology works. There isn't a single outsider that he has speak in the movie, every subject was involved in Scientology for a long time.

The director also allows us to hear the interviewees thoughts on scientology and explain how they got involved and their regrets. This lets us understand they are not crazy and in some ways very normal people like us. As a result we further understand that scientology is a very manipulative dangerous construct and see the subjects as more reliable sources than just anyone in scientology would be.