Screenwriter Apologizes for Battlefield Earth! (J.D. Shapiro)

Screenwriter Apologizes for Battlefield Earth!

JD Shapiro says he ended up getting roped in because he thought he’d meet chicks. But, he got a lot more, like getting pitched the Scientology religion and getting the job to write Battlefield Earth.

He got roped into this mess over a desire to get laid. It is a noble cause. But, getting involved with Scientology is like getting involved with the Visitors from the TV show “V”. That's right he put his career at risk by teaming up with these crazy people over sex.

Read on from the New York Post via Slash Film, ((Willy convinced me to go check it out. Touring the building, I didn’t find any eligible women at first, but I did meet Karen Hollander, president of the center, who said she was a fan of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” We ended up talking for over two hours. She told me why Scientology is so great. I told her that, when it comes to organized religion, anything a person does to reward, threaten and try to control people by using an unknown like the afterlife is dangerous. ))

Trying to pick up women at the Scientology Celebrity Center was probably not a good idea. Have you seen some of the female members? What you'll probably get is some moron trying to get you to try an E-meter. Breaking out the damn E-meter isn't exactly getting to first base.

Well, the writer fooled around with the Space Church for a bit before getting bored.

From the Huffington Post, ((I took a few courses, including the Purification Rundown, or Purif. You go to CC [Celebrity Center] every day, take vitamins and go in and out of a sauna so toxins are released from your body. You're supposed to reach an "End Point." I never did, but I was bored so I told them I had a vision of L. Ron. They said, "What did he say?" "Pull my finger," was my response. They said I was done. ))

Yeah, sitting in Purification Rooms and watching my hands turn purple isn't what I call fun.

Here’s where it gets even better.

((“A few days after I finished the script, a very excited Travolta called, told me he “loved it,” and wanted to have dinner,” Shapiro writes. “At dinner, John said again how much he loved the script and called it “The ‘Schindler’s List’ of sci-fi.”))

“The Schindler’s List of Sci-fi”, wow that just shows you how crazy Travolta is. But, this is the same actor that thought that Look Who's Talking Now was a great idea. From there, it went all down hill as he got notes back from Members of the church. These notes made the movie even more foolish than the source material it seems. (Did John Travolta ask for the cow-shooting scene?)

((In the end, did Scientology get me laid? What do you think? No way do you get any action by boldly going up to a woman and proclaiming, "I wrote Battlefield Earth!" If anything, I'm trying to figure out a way to bottle it and use it as birth control. I'll make a mint!))

It should also be noted that Battlefield Earth kind of destroyed his screenwriting career. He really only has two other credits under his name after BE. Telling someone you wrote Battlefield Earth will probably get you beat up.

I have to give this J.D. Shapiro fellow a lot of credit for coming forward and making the Space Church look like total idiots. Shapiro, be careful, because I'm sure they're thinking of “Fair Game” tactics to get back at you. (Then again they might be busy keeping a lid on the Organic Liaison connection.)

I'm still waiting for Battlefield Earth 2: Electric Xenu-aloo.

Battlefield Earth is the “Freddy Got Fingered” of Sci-fi movies. Oy,

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Barry Pepper: “Damn you, L. Ron Hubbard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”