One is a cult-like organization which bilks its (often celebrity) followers out of huge amounts of money, while intimidating people who dare to speak out against its dangers. The other is Scientology.

Or at least that’s the parallel drawn by Oscar-winning documentary director Alex Gibney, who claimed to see similarities between Apple and the L. Ron Hubbard-founded religion during a recent screening of his Steve Jobs documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine.

Gibney was participating in a Q&A following a press screening of his documentary, which debuted earlier this year at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin. Having also made a documentary called Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Gibney was asked if he saw any parallels between the two subjects.

“I do, I do!” he answered. Gibney also likened Jobs to another figure he has directed a film about: the singer James Brown.

“They were both awesome performers; they were brilliant in terms of understanding how important the band was to their success,” he said. “Steve Jobs surrounded himself with really talented people. But they were also ruthless, hugely ambitious, and took full credit for the work that others did.”

Finally, Gibney suggested that Jobs had an almost Ayn Randian view of the world when it came to philanthropy. “Jobs’ view, I think, was that you should do one thing and one thing well, and that’s all you should do. Anything else is bullshit,” Gibney said.

Early reviews of The Man in the Machine called Gibney’s Jobs documentary, “a coolly absorbing, deeply unflattering portrait of the late Silicon Valley entrepreneur.”

Although Apple normally doesn’t publicly comment on third-party criticism, the film seemed to raise the ire of Eddy Cue who took to Twitter to blast it as an, “inaccurate and mean-spirited view of my friend. It’s not a reflection of the Steve I knew.”

Gibney, however, doesn’t think Cue even watched the documentary before criticizing it. “I’m not sure Eddy Cue actually saw the film,” he said at the recent screening. “There is definitely a cult of Apple that doesn’t want to hear anything bad about Steve Jobs.”

All of which raises the question, what is the thetan count of the next-generation iPhone going to be?

Source: International Business Times