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huangshan -> RE: Bill Maher making movie on Religion (8/22/2008 4:33:09 AM)
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http://www.aintitcool.com/?q=node/37791
quote:
My second film of the day was Bill Maher's sure to be controversial "documentary" "Religulous." This film was directed by Larry Charles ("Borat"), who is also on the board of directors at the Traverse City Film Fest. He came out and introduced the film, saying we were the second audience in the world to see it, after the previous night's showing of the film. Then we immediately got to the flick.
Bill Maher does his best Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock here, as he goes around interviewing various people of faith around the world, pointing out the absurdities of their beliefs. The interviews are interspersed with pop culture clips and Maher's own comments. He spends the first hour or so taking on Christianity, and he starts by examining his own background by interviewing his sister and Jewish mother, who raised him Catholic like his father was. He moves on to interview some easy targets like believers at a truck stop, an African-American "prosperity and riches" preacher who wishes to be addressed as Dr. - even though he has no degree, an ex-gay preacher, the propritor of the Creation Museum, and a Jew for Jesus, among others. After an hour grilling Christians he eventually gets to Mormonism, Scientology, Judiasm, and finally Islam.
I've got to be upfront - I'm an evangelical Christian, and I went in this film expecting to be offended to some extent. I was a fan of Maher's Politically Incorrect show when it was on ABC, and though I disagree with his political views more than I agree, I appreciated the fact that he brought some diverse viewpoints and speakers onto mainstream TV. Maher brings up some goods laughs during this film, I'll admit, mostly due to his comebacks, one-liners, and creative media clips. The biggest laughs come from an interview with Senator Mark Pryor from Arkansas, who admits "there's no IQ test to be senator." I also enjoyed Maher's diatribe in London's Hyde Park, where he "preaches" the Gospel of Scientology, and his interview in Amsterdam with the stoned founder of the "Church of Cannabis."
But overall this film was a big disappointment. Maher is unable to raise the level of discourse on religion any deeper than what most of use probably went through in the dorm during freshman year of college. He dismisses all of Christianity based on the supernatural events in the Bible, which he says couldn't have happened, and complains that it doesn't present itself the way he personally wants it to. Maher also attempts to mock an actor playing Jesus at a Holy Land theme park in Orlando, but the actor comes off as being much more genuine and caring than Bill ever does. When Christians in the film state that something is a Biblical fact, Maher laughs it off and says they can't back it up. But he then dismisses Jesus Christ as being = Horus, an Egyptian God, which he states as being a fact, even though he doesn't back it up himself.
The last half hour of the film, when he veers away from attacking Christianity, seems to drag quite a bit. Maher does interview a few people that seem to carry some intellectual weight, such as Dr. Francis Collins, author of the Human Genome project, but those interviews are extremely brief and heavily edited. Most of the politicians he shows in clips are Republicans (Bush, McCain), though he doesn't mention Obama's faith and the fact that Sen. Pryor, who doubts evolution, is a Democrat.
The kicker is the ending. (MAJOR SPOILER - I guess): After 90 minutes of interviews, Bill states that all religion is evil and must be destroyed for the good of humankind. He comes to this conclusion based on the Koran's and the Bible's predictions of destruction of the world at the "end times" and feels that these religions want the world to be destroyed because God or Allah has ordained it. Bill states, without irony, that the only certainty anyone can have in life is doubt, and that anyone that claims to have certainty over the afterlife is fooling themselves and others. (He states this with some certainty!). While extremely "subtle" images play on the screen (nuclear explosions, war in Iraq, suicide bombers, etc..), Bill continues this long sermon against religion with the passion of a fire and brimstone preacher. I wasn't sure if his venom was intentional or not, but he comes off as being no different from those he mocks in the film. The ending is especially jarring as the build-up necessary for that type of extreme statement never seems to be existant beforehand.
I think this film may play well to the audiences that want to hear it. There are some good chuckles in the first 2/3 of the film, and if you're anti-religion you might enjoy the message. I saw this with a friend who is opposed to religion and she liked the film much more than I did. I think Maher might be looking for controversy to help sell this film, and I hope the Christian community won't take his bait. I'm still surprised at his venom at the end - it seemed rather out of place for a film that previously had a mostly lighter tone.
Director Larry Charles did a Q&A after the film, which I missed, but I sure wish I could have stayed for the potential fireworks. I'd give the film 2 out of 5 stars.
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