Oz:
There's one thing about James Packer that intrigues me. Is he a Scientologist, and if so, why?
I really try to be very tolerant of people's religious beliefs, but I don't understand how people who appear "normal" can believe in Scientology's teachings and keep a straight face. Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley etc - all appear quite mentally together and rational when interviewed, and their allegiance to this belief system baffles me enough... but James Packer - could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that!
I understand where you are coming from. I think....maybe I have had this expectation of the Packers, Kerry and James...the whole image of them as business/wealth creator people and I have tended to overlook the most important thing of which is that they are human.
No more, no less than flesh and blood, prone to cardiac health problems, health problems full stop, getting by in life with the emotional/mental skills they have, perhaps expecting them to be a little more superhuman than others, but they are human with the complete foibles that we can manifest in our own lives.
I actually watched the show and felt a huge twinge of sadness that (parts of) their lives were being hung out on national media and I was interested and curious to watch it intently.
Maybe James hit a spot in his life where
if he wasn't who he was ....may have turned to other stuff than a friend in Tom Cruise and Scientology. I think he had just been through the onetel thing, was barely through that and their marriage was over...that's pretty tough going for anyone, let alone for it to be played out through the media...
DANIEL PETRE: I think the press enjoyed going after James and he was pretty much left alone too. His father didn't back him. A number of his supposed friends stepped away from him and he was left, left alone to live with the personal failure and then the public humiliation
.
PAUL BARRY: And how hard did he take that?
DANIEL PETRE: Very hard, it took it very, very hard. It was, it was something that I think he wasn't prepared for. I don't think he'd ever had that degree of public humiliation. I don't think anyone's had.
In that sense was he was trying to build himself and build a business portfolio, and for your first major investment to go badly, it was incredibly hard on him. He was very, very damaged by that.
PAUL BARRY: James's marriage to Jodhi Meares broke up. He came close to a breakdown and sought solace in Scientology, a strange space age religion which judges down the years have condemned as a cult.
His friend Tom Cruise introduced him. And when Cruise received Scientology's top award in 2004, James was there applauding.
DANIEL PETRE: Scientology helped James. There's no question it helped him find a sense of strength and a sense of understanding that helped him.
PAUL BARRY: It's fairly crazy ah...
DANIEL PETRE: Yeah, it's written by a science fiction writer who believes a bunch of weird things. But if you take those away, ah yeah. There's some things about, you know, do the right thing by others, and there are a few basic fundamental humanist kind of constructs in it that seem quite reasonable if you can forget the bit about the spaceships arriving and that stuff.
PAUL BARRY: Do you think he's still ah involved in that? I mean do you.
DANIEL PETRE: I don't think as strongly as he was, no.
If you are perceived or perceiving yourself as a failure or failing at stuff, this is all being played out in media, your personal life is going through upheavel...that's pretty challenging, even with balls of steel. Or rubber or whatever they may be.
I think perhaps Tom Cruise was just trying to help a friend that just needed some support and probably (who knows?) Scientology had been a support to Tom and others at stages in their lives?? warts and all that any particular group? organisation, or spiritual group can offer. Sort of.
We can make our millions and billions and ride the ups and downs but bottom line is there is a good chance it will be played and aired through media (ask the actors and musicians!)...but we are very much human. Complex and prone to predictable unpredictability.