Dianetics: The Evolution Of A Science – A Cult Classic

L. Ron Hubbard was a busy boy in the 1950s, creating his cult and winning that bet with Robert Heinlein. Dianetics: The Evolution Of A Science is a thin volume in which he describes just how he came up with some of these wild ideas. By the way, if it’s a science, then why does it have tax-exempt status? I suppose that’s a question for the Internal Revenue Service, and one I’d like them to answer.

At the beginning of the book L. says that if the reader gets confused, it’s because there was a word he or she did not understand. It’s an interesting tactic, a pre-emptive strike of sorts. If this book confuses someone, it’s that person’s fault, not that of the writer. Well, I am certainly at fault then. This book has something to do with hypnotism and insanity and memory and pain, but who really knows? It’s mostly stream-of-consciousness, repetitive gibberish, the kind Scientologists spend their lives pretending to decode.

L. writes: “We knew WHAT Man was doing. He was surviving. Somehow, some way, he occasionally became irrational. Where did hypnotism fit into this?” (p. 26). L. is basically going on about his own journey, the quest to create some kind of religion to sell. He writes: “We look for some demons, one way or another. And we found some! This was a discovery almost as mad as some of the patients on hand. But the thing to do was try to measure and classify demons. Strange work for an engineer and mathematician! But it was found that the demons could be classified” (p. 27). Sure.

Then: “The demons, since none of them consented to present themselves for a proper examination as demons, were, it was concluded, installed in the brain in the same way one would install a new circuit in the optimum brain. But as there was just so much brain, it was obvious that these electronic demons were using parts of the optimum brain and that they were no more competent than the optimum brain inherently was. This was more postulating. All one wanted was a good result. If this hadn’t worked, something else would have been tried” (p. 28). It’s difficult to get demons to step in off of Hollywood Blvd. and subject themselves to Scientology testing. But then L. writes, “There are no demons” (p. 28). So that’s why they wouldn’t come in. Makes sense to me. Maybe anyone who does not present themselves for a proper examination doesn’t actually exist.

Anyway, L. then goes into his usual bit about the aberrated people being miserable, and Scientology being the only helpful tool in getting folks back to their basic, good personalities, their “optimum brain.” “Somehow the exterior world gets interior. The individual becomes possessed of some unknowns which set up circuits against his consent, the individual is aberrated and is less able to survive” (p. 35). “How did the exterior world become an interior aberration?” (p. 36). Throughout the book, L. comes up with insane questions, then describes the insane process through which he came to his insane conclusions. It’s actually interesting. That is, it’s interesting to follow the process of someone inventing bullshit. That’s basically what he’s doing – letting us know how he came up with these notions. It’s like he’s testing out ideas, but including all of the testing in a book rather than just the outcome. And this makes sense too, because he has to have a large number of books to sell to the cult members to keep them interested and to keep the money flowing in.

Here is an example of L. working out this bullshit: “Very well, let’s take the mind itself, the optimum mind. Compare it to itself. When did Man become sentient? It’s not absolutely necessary to the problem or these results to know just when or where Man began to think, but let’s compare him to his fellow mammals. What does he have that the other mammals don’t have? What can he do that they can’t do? What does he have that they have?” (p. 46). Then he adds, “All it takes is the right question.” Of course, and if you fill a book with various ridiculous questions, perhaps one of them will be right. Why not? L. then says that after millions of years of evolution, man’s brain should be incapable of making mistakes. And yet some people join Scientology.

L. admits to some pretty screwed up methods. “So I pinched a few patients and made them pretend they had moved back to the moment of the pinch. And it hurt them again. And one young man, who cared a great deal about science and not much about his physical being, volunteered for a nice, heavy knock-out. And I took him back to it and he recalled it” (p. 41). Doesn’t that make you want to join Scientology? He said he was trying to prove that memories of pain would be the strongest memories. It must have been fun to be a part of these early experiments. (Again, L. is calling it science, not religion. IRS folks, are you paying attention? Taxing the fuck out of Scientology would help put California back on its feet.)

L. certainly had his way with his so-called “patients.” He conducted some experiments to see if man still had the same responses to pain that fish have. He writes: “Drug him with ether and hurt him. Then give him a whiff of ether and he gets nervous. Start to put him out and he begins to fight. Other experiments all gave the same conclusion” (p. 68). Did people volunteer for this? Well, either way, they certainly contributed to the greater good of humanity. After all, where would we be without L.’s enlightening work on the reactive mind and engrams and red-tab banks and all that?

Again, I have to wonder just how this pseudo-science was granted tax-exempt status. Seriously. Or are we to suppose all religions conduct experiments on people? L. writes, “Someday somebody may cut off a chunk of brain and cry ‘Eureka, this is the reactive mind!’” (p. 84). Yes, you’re probably thinking it’s best not to volunteer for any more of these religious experiments.

L. writes that our memory banks “contain a complete color-video record of a person’s whole life, no matter the demon circuits” (p. 60), and that “There is no inaccuracy in the banks” (p. 61). He then makes one of his wonderful claims (a claim that is impossible to prove or disprove, simply because everything about it has been invented): “But a ‘memory’ in the red-tab bank, when properly approached by Dianetic technique, will vanish out of that bank entirely” (p. 77). L. continues: “For instance, a man who supposes that the whole world was ugly and sordid is guided through therapy. The aberration which made the world seem ugly and sordid folds up when the engram or engrams to that effect deintensify and refile” (p. 78). Oh yes, “Dianetics can break up habits, simply by relieving the engrams which command them” (p. 80).

Watch out! It turns out that “Engrams are contagious” (p. 91) L. explains: “Papa has an engram. He beats mother into anaten. She now has an engram, word for word, from him. The child was anaten, maybe booted aside and knocked out. The child is part of mother’s perceptics for that engram. Mother dramatizes the engram on the child. The child has the engram. He dramatizes it on another child. When adulthood is attained, the engram is dramatized over and over. Contagion” (p. 91). Makes sense? It seems that L. is really into the idea of knocking people out. In scenario after scenario someone is knocked out. In this scenario, it’s the child who was booted aside. Remember, this was the 1950s, and in those days people were knocked out easily with just one punch. You see it all the time in films and television programs that document the period.

You don’t just have engrams to watch out for. There are also locks. L. writes, “A lock is a situation of mental anguish” (p. 93). “I discovered that any patient I had, had thousands upon thousands of locks – enough to keep me busy forever” (p. 94). And that’s why folks aren’t permitted to leave Scientology. L. writes: “Then began the most persistent search possible to find the earliest engram in any patient. This was mad work. Utterly weird” (p. 95). You don’t say? Well, no argument from me, L. He says you have to find the earliest engram, which apparently is usually twenty-four hours after conception. Utterly weird, indeed, and also completely unbelievable. What is also utterly weird is that there are people out there who believe this stuff. Weird and frightening.

They believe that Scientology helps the aberrees. And who, you might ask, is an aberree? L. asks that question: “Who is an aberree?” (p. 99). And, guess what, he provides an answer: “Anybody who has one or more engrams. And since birth itself is an engramatic experience – every human being born has at least one engram!” (p. 99). Uh-oh! I guess we’d all better join Scientology. After all, no one else is out there to help us remove our engrams.

He writes: “Dianetics is easy to apply to the fairly normal individual and can relieve his occlusions and colds and arthritis and other psychosomatic ills. It can be used as well to prevent aberrations from occurring and can even be applied to determine the reactions of others” (p. 103). Oh, I think I can guess the reactions of others. Wait a moment – arthritis is psychosomatic? L., boy, you continue to surprise me.

At the end of the book, there is a sixty-page glossary, defining such complex terms as “by golly”: “a mild exclamation used to emphasize what is being said or to express surprise, wonder, puzzlement or the like” (p. 136). Interestingly, one of the terms L. includes is “cults of Los Angeles,” which he defines as “a reference to the diversity of devotions, crazes and fanaticisms characteristic of the greater Los Angeles area in the time period of this book, ranging from palm reading to drug use, health fads and bodybuilding” (p. 142). Is this a nod to his audience that he’s having them on? The glossary is also clearly a way of padding the book, as he is obviously doing by including this definition twice – once under “cults of Los Angeles,” and then a second time under “Los Angeles, cults of.” If its inclusion is a bit of a joke, L. wanted to make sure his audience had a couple of chances to get it. How thoughtful.

Check out my reviews of other cult classics:
- Dianetics: The Original Thesis
- Scientology: The Fundamentals Of Thought
- The Way To Happiness

King Lear (1916) Film Review

King Lear (1916) stars Frederick Warde, Lorraine Huling, Hector Dion. This is an early silent film version of King Lear. Interestingly, the film begins with a title card that mentions the play itself: “King Lear was written in 1607, during the time when the immortal dramatist was at the height of his creative power.”

Act I

The film opens with Lear dividing the kingdom, thus skipping the Kent/Gloucester moment. Kent is positioned between Lear and Cordelia when he pleads on behalf of Cordelia. The Fool is at Lear’s feet. This film, because silent, really sets up the relationships with the blocking. When Burgundy and France arrive, Burgundy is closer to Lear, and France is closer to Cordelia. As Lear exits, Cordelia tries to stop him, but he brushes her aside.

Then a title card reads, “At a later period. The elder daughters, having obtained possession of their father’s kingdom, treat him with scant courtesy.” We have a scene without any dialogue cards in which the sisters are cruel, and Lear is left alone with his Fool (so, Act I Scene iv). Then a title card reads, “Regan, second daughter to King Lear, comes, with her escort, to Gloster Castle.” (And yes, “Gloucester” is spelled “Gloster” throughout the film.) A title card tells us, “Edmund, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloster, plans his brother’s downfall.” Another title card informs us, “By a forged letter, Edmund tricks his father into hatred of his younger son.” And we see Edmund give Gloucester (or Gloster) the letter (Act I Scene ii).

Act II

The film then goes right to Act II Scene I, with Edmund and Edgar. Gloucester actually enters while they are still pretending to fight, so he sees this. His men chase Edgar out. We then see Edgar change into his Poor Tom disguise. And then the film takes us back to Act I Scene iv, when Kent, disguised, seeks a place in Lear’s service. Oddly, it then inserts a bit from the end of Act I Scene iii when Goneril tells Oswald, “Put on what weary negligence you please.” Kent then knocks Oswald down, and Lear pays him.

We soon go to Act II Scene ii, with Kent confronting Oswald outside the gate. And Kent is put in the stocks, which leads right to Scene iv, when Lear and the Fool find him thus. In this version, Lear sends his Fool inside to retrieve his daughter. Gloucester and the Fool then come back out to let Lear know the daughter denies him. Gloucester then persuades Regan to come out. Goneril and her people arrive on horseback as Kent is removed from the stocks. We see a lightning bolt, which leads to everyone withdrawing inside. The doors are shut on Lear, and he, Kent and the Fool are left outside.

Act III

The shots of Lear in the downpour are great, and a title card gives us the line, “I am a man more sinn’d against than sinning.” Kent then brings him to Edgar’s hiding place. Meanwhile Gloucester decides to seek out the king to aid him, and unfortunately tells Edmund. When Edmund is told he’ll be made Earl of Gloucester, there is a shot of Goneril and Regan looking at each other, hinting at their jealousy and rivalry.

Before even one of Gloucester’s eyes is out, the servant comes in to stop it, the title card saying, “Hold your hand, my lord; I have served you ever since I was a child – But now I bid you hold.” And we have the fight scene, in which Cornwall is killed and Regan stabs the servant from behind. Apparently while this has been going on, other men have plucked out Gloucester’s eyes, for he now returns with a bandage around his head. Regan then embraces Edmund.

Act IV

Edgar meets Gloucester, though Gloucester is on his own, not led by an old man, as in the play. Gloucester puts his hands on Edgar’s face, and a title card says, “My son!” So this version dispenses with basically the entire Poor Tom/Gloucester plot, which is a shame. Edgar leads Gloucester to Dover.

We have a scene with Cordelia at the French court, and then return to Lear, who is mad in Dover. Oddly, in this version the Fool is still at his side. And Lear says his, “Ay, every inch a king” to him rather than to Gloucester.

Cordelia is there as Lear is brought into the tent, and so he is standing for their scene, at least at first. After Cordelia tells him not to kneel, she herself kneels at his feet.

Act V

There is a shot of Goneril’s letter. There are also shots of the battle cut with sots of Cordelia watching, and of Goneril and Regan watching. Then we get a shot of Goneril poisoning Regan, before seeing Cordelia and Lear captured. We also get a shot of Goneril stabbing herself.

When Kent arrives, Edmund has not yet told of his order for Lear and Cordelia to be killed. So he says it then (thus cutting the bit where Albany completely forgets about them). We then see men grab and kill Cordelia, and Lear rises to fight them off, something that is mentioned but not shown in the play. Lear then carries Cordelia out. Lear dies after saying he knows Cordelia is dead. And the film ends there.

Time: 63 minutes.

The Way To Happiness: A Minor Cult Classic

The Way To Happiness: A Common Sense Guide To Better Living is a small volume attributed to L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology. Who knows how many of these books were actually written by L. and how many were generated by his eager accountants?

Anyway, I have my friend Ryan to thank for contributing this little cult gem. Apparently I’m important for his survival, for on the first page, L. writes: “Choose someone whose actions, however remotely, may influence your own survival. Write the person’s name on the top line of the front cover of this book. Write or stamp your own name, as an individual, on the second line.” And that’s precisely what Ryan has done. L. also instructs: “Give the person several additional copies of this book but do not write your name on them: let the other person write his or hers. Have the person present these copies to others that are involved in his or her life.” Ryan neglected to do that. I have just the one copy. So, sorry folks, you won’t be receiving copies of this one from me. Instead, I present you with this review. I hope it will be enough to “greatly enhance your own survival potential” (p. 1).

Though this book is small, it contains much wisdom. For example, regarding happiness, L. writes, “If one does not survive, no joy and no happiness are obtainable” (p. 5). I hadn’t thought about it before, but this is true. Dead people are so bloody joyless. And for those with a limited vocabulary, L. is kind enough to define difficult words such as “happiness,” which he says is “a condition or state of well-being, contentment, pleasure; joyful, cheerful, untroubled existence; the reaction to having nice things happen to one” (p. 5).

L. includes a short chapter titled “Take Care Of Yourself.” In this chapter he writes: “When they are ill, even with communicable diseases, people often do not isolate themselves or seek proper treatment. This, as you can easily see, tends to put you at risk” (p. 7). Before reading this book, whenever I thought of sick people, I always hoped they’d feel better. But now I realize that their sickness is really an attack on me. Their illness is an attempt to put me at risk. L. is right: we need to isolate the sick and diseased, and keep them well away from me. L. also says, “You are well within your rights to insist that people bathe regularly and wash their hands” (p. 7). I agree, but some people at the library and on the subway got angry when I insisted they go take a bath. So obviously, in addition to the sick and diseased, we need to isolate the filthy and the stinky. Perhaps we should put them all in Salt Lake City. Or somewhere in Florida. Remind smelly people that “While clothes can be expensive, soap and other tools of self-care are not that hard to obtain” (p. 33). It’s better to be a clean, naked person than a fully dressed stinker.

Regarding sex, L. writes, “A ‘feeling of guilt’ is nowhere near as sharp as a knife in the back or ground glass in the soup” (p. 11). This might seem obvious, but I’ve never heard it expressed in so clear a manner before. Also, I think I’m going to avoid soup from now on. Especially if I’m ever invited to the Scientology Celebrity Center again.

Sometimes sex can lead to children. L. is there to help us tackle this problem as well. He writes, “Bringing a child into the world today is a little bit like dropping one into a tiger’s cage” (p. 13). This is true: both are briefly amusing and entertaining, but then require some serious clean-up and explanations. It’s best to avoid having children. But if you do have one, remember: “A child is a little like a blank slate. If you write the wrong things on it, it will say the wrong things” (p. 14). So be careful when scribbling on your child.

It’s a tough world out there, as L. well knows. He warns us: “The stupid, the evil and the insane seek to solve their real or imagined problems with murder. And they have been known to do it for no reason at all” (p. 23). That’s the really frightening aspect of it – when stupid people murder others without any good reason. Of course, it may simply be that the stupid people are unaware of the definition of murder. Fortunately for them, L. provides this definition: “the unlawful killing of one (or more) human being by another, especially with malice aforethought (intending to do so before the act)” (p. 23). So come on, stupid people, remember: If you’re going to murder, you need to have “malice aforethought.” That is, you need a reason. We’ll all be a lot safer when the stupid, the evil and the insane have reasons for the murders they commit. So be sure to pass on a copy of the book (or a link to this review) to them.

L. provides some sound legal information in this book as well. He writes: “An ‘illegal act’ is not disobedience to some casual order like ‘go to bed.’ It is an action, which if done, can result in punishment by the courts and state – being pilloried by the stage propaganda machine, fines and even imprisonment” (p. 25). It’s best to obey all laws. After all, no one wants to be pilloried by the state propaganda machine. I didn’t even know that pillories were still erected. It’s a good thing I read this book. And children, remember: if you get some casual order like “go to bed,” you can totally ignore it without fear of the pillory.

L. is concerned for our safety. He writes: “Movie stuntmen who don’t practice first get hurt. So do housewives” (p. 53). Yes, it is best to practice setting aside all personal goals and aspirations before going ahead and doing your husband’s laundry. Otherwise, you’re likely to get hurt.

At the end of this short book, L. writes: “All you have to do is keep The Way to Happiness flowing in the society. Like gentle oil spread upon the raging sea, the calm will flow outward and outward” (p. 74). It's an interesting analogy, and I'm surprised that L. likens Scientology to an oil spill on the ocean, which damages the habitat and all life forms with which it comes in contact.

Thanks, Ryan. I hope that my writing this review has enhanced your survival potential.

Check out my reviews of other cult classics:
- Dianetics: The Original Thesis
- Scientology: The Fundamentals Of Thought

Were The World Mine (A Look At How Shakespeare Is Used In This Film)

Were The World Mine  (2008) stars Tanner Cohen, Wendy Robie, Judy McLane, Zelda Williams, Ricky Goldman, and Nathaniel David Becker. It was directed by Tom Gustafson. This delightful film has as its focus an all-male school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But there are also other Shakespeare references throughout the movie, including references to As You Like It, Romeo And Juliet and, surprisingly, The First Part Of King Henry The Sixth. The film’s title comes from Helena’s line to Hermia in Act I Scene i of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

After a dodge ball game, the boys are in the locker room. One of the boys teases, “Hey, you’re gonna be late for the Shakes-queer crap.” Another adds, “That crap’s like four hundred years old. It doesn’t make sense.” But another boy retorts, “It does to anyone with a brain.” In the classroom, several Shakespeare quotes are on the blackboard, including, “The course of true love never did run smooth” and “I have a device to make all well,” both of which are from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There is also a bust of William Shakespeare. The teacher, Ms. Tebbit (Wendy Robie) challenges her students to write their feelings in verse, remembering William Shakespeare. She then quotes, “What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” And the students repeat it. She then quotes, “I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again.” The students echo her. Both of those lines are ones Titania speaks when she meets Bottom. Ms. Tebbit then quotes Helena from Act I Scene i, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.” The students repeat the line. She then continues with Helena’s next line: “And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” The students repeat the line, without much enthusiasm. At the end of class the teacher hands Timothy (Tanner Cohen) a flier about the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The flyer states, “All seniors required to participate.” She tells him auditions are Friday. Timothy says, “I’m not an actor,” to which Ms. Tebbit responds, “All the world’s a stage,” quoting Jaques from As You Like It. She then tells him, “Awaken and empower what’s within.”

We see a bit of the auditions. One boy reads Bottom’s part: “I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of me, to fright me.” He then asks the teacher, “Is this a girl’s part?” Timothy shows up and reads Puck’s part from Act III: “And the youth, mistook by me,/Pleading for a lover’s fee.” He stops and says, “I don’t even know what I’m saying.” He then continues: “Shall we their fond pageant see?/Lord, what fools these mortals be!” The production is to be at least partially a musical version, as she then has him sing some of Puck’s lines from Act V: “We fairies that do run from the presence of the sun/We follow darkness like a dream” (a variation on the play’s lines: “And we fairies, that do run/By the triple Hecate’s team/From the presence of the sun,/Following darkness like a dream”). Ms. Tebbit holds out a copy of the play for Timothy. On the cover it says, “Foreword by Max Reinhardt.” That’s an edition from 1935.

There is a shot of the boys looking at the cast list. Timothy is cast as Puck, who interestingly is listed at the top of the sheet. One of the boys, looking at the sheet, asks: “What is Thisby? Is that a chick?” But of course Thisby is not listed on the sheet. The character is listed just as he should be – as Francis Flute. So that character’s question is a minor error in the film.

The physical education instructor is upset with the cast list, saying his athletes don’t have time for the play. Ms. Tebbit responds by quoting from the second act of The First Part Of King Henry The Sixth, “I will note you in my book of memory.” Timothy’s mom at first seems upset that Timothy is playing a fairy.

We then see Timothy working on his lines from Act II Scene i: “I jest to Oberon, and make him smile…” Then at rehearsal, the cast works on that same scene, beginning with the Fairy’s first line. At home, Timothy’s friend Max (Ricky Goldman) helps him with his lines. Max says, “Demetrius says, ‘Yea, art thou there?’” Timothy responds with Puck’s line, “Follow my voice. We’ll try no manhood here.” At school, they rehearse the scene where Oberon tells Puck about the flower. When Timothy tells the teacher he still doesn’t understand half the text, she says: “Unite rhythm with words, and they will unlock to empower you. Like a midsummer night’s dream come true. Take pains; be perfect. Adieu” (the last lines being Bottom’s from Act I Scene ii).

That evening Timothy works on the verse of the speech, trying out the line, “I’ll put a girdle round about the earth/In forty minutes.” He then tries to create his own love juice, and sings some of Bottom’s lines (those about not being afraid, and this after having been taunted in school for being gay). He sings other lines from the play, such as Hermia’s “I know not by what power I am made bold,” Helena’s “But still you flout my insufficiency” (a variation on her “But you must flout my insufficiency?”), and “My tongue, your tongue, were the world mine” (from Helena’s lines, “My tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody/Were the world mine”). It becomes a musical dream-like sequence, incorporating several other lines from the play. At the end of the sequence his white flower is now purple. And when Max enters his room, some of the flower’s juice squirts into his eyes, causing him to fall instantly in love with Timothy. Timothy tells Max to leave, and Max quotes Romeo And Juliet: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Timothy takes the purple flower to school for rehearsal. When they rehearse the scene where Hermia and Lysander are going to sleep, Timothy enters as Puck with the flower and anoints Lysander’s eyes. He then squirts the boy playing Hermia too, and then several other boys, leading to a whole lot of kissing. It’s silly and delightful, and Ms. Tebbit seems pleased, or at least amused. Jonathon (the boy Timothy is actually interested in) falls in love with Timothy, and when his girlfriend shows up, asking if this is a joke, Jonathon tells her: “Don’t mock my love. Who would not change a raven for a dove?” (using Lysander’s line to Helena).

Max and Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker) both swear their love for Timothy because of the flower’s effects, just as Demetrius and Lysander do for Helena, leading to a fight. Jonathon tells Max, “Follow if you dare” (as Lysander tells Demetrius, “Now follow, if thou dar’st”). But Puck is not there to lead them astray and keep them from fighting. So in this film, Max and Jonathon actually do fight.

The flower has affected a large portion of the town’s population, and the physical education instructor, now in love with the principal, sings, “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Lysander’s line to Hermia in Act I). And we see several characters in various places sing that line (sort of like in Magnolia when all the characters sing that Aimee Mann song). Soon nearly the whole town is gay. And that leads to an emergency meeting at the school, where one concerned parents says, “Shakespeare was queer too.” Ms. Tebbit arrives and says Shakespeare has “never been proven to be a homosexual. Bisexual, perhaps.” She tells everyone that if they return that night for the play, they will make amends.

As Timothy’s mother and teacher go looking for Timothy, we hear voices singing the Fairy’s lines from Act II Scene i: “Over hill, over dale…” Ms. Tebbit finds Timothy and Jonathon cuddled together by a tree. She sings, “What have we done? We have mistaken quite and laid the love juice on some true love’s sight” (using Oberon’s words to Puck in Act III: “What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite/And laid the love-juice on some true-love’s sight.” She then continues singing, “Thieves of love, we’ve come by night, and stolen lovers’ hearts away in spite” (using Hermia’s lines to Helena from Act III: “You thief of love! What, have you come by night/And stol’n my love’s heart from him?”). That leads to the company singing Oberon’s lines to Titania from Act IV: “Be as thou wast wont to be;/See as thou wast wont to see.”

And then we see some of the play’s production, starting with Puck’s “Follow my voice. We’ll try no manhood here.” Puck sings the lines, “On the ground/Sleep sound…” And he applies the remedy to all. Though it’s an all-boys school, Timothy’s female friend sings and plays guitar near the end. She sings the Prologue from the Mechanicals’ play: “Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show…” The song replaces the entire play. And it leads right to Puck’s famous final lines. And after the play, Jonathon is still in love with Timothy.

Time: 95 minutes

(The DVD includes a commentary track and the film’s trailer.)