Review: Religulous
Religion is known as the last taboo topic. We are taught from a young age not to question the doctrine in which we are raised in and to be suspicion of “others”. (Although my mom has told me from a small child that anyone who is a Christian but not Catholic is a nutter). Bill Maher tackles these issues, the issue of faith, logic, and its influence on the modern world in his new documentary “Religulous”.
Bill Maher, if you do not know, is a comedian and social/political commentator. He is also known for his strong views against religion; he has equated religion to “having a neurological disorder that justifies the crazies and stops people from thinking”. This is not to say he’s against God, he has described himself as agnostic, atheist, and deist. He was raised Catholic but his father, sister and he stopped going to church during his teens (this was attributed to his parents using birth control, which the Church is against). His mother is Jewish, but they never talked about it until he was older (both his mother and sister are featured during the movie). Over the years, he has often criticized the Catholic Church, which has gotten him in to trouble (most recently, he called the current Pope a Nazi).
In Religulous, Maher travels the world (across the US, London, Amsterdam and Jerusalem, just to name a few stops) asking common people, priests, rabbis, imams, rappers, politicians and scientists all about why they believe and if they think it’s logical. Some of his most commonly asked questions are: “Do you really believe a man [Moses] could live to be 900 years old?”, “Do you really think snakes can talk?” and “Why doesn’t Jesus get rid of Satan?”
In the film, Maher covers Christianity (half of the time), Judaism (quarter of the time), and Islam (quarter of the time). Yes, this movie is a comedy more than a documentary. The opening visit Maher makes is to a Trucker Church, where one man stated “When you start messing with my God, you mess you me.” Maher was forced to leave the Church. Maher also talks to Senator Pyror of Arkansas who said “You don’t have to pass an IQ test to get into the Senate.” After this statement, you could see he realized what he had really said by the dread on his face. I really enjoyed Father Reginald Foster, who Maher spoke to in front of the Vatican, he talked about how nothing really matters here on earth. Short clips of movies are played in between interviews, which serve to induce laughter. Such as when Maher is interviewing the guy that was gay but became straight because of Jesus, him and Maher are shown laughing for a good amount of time just before a clip showing two men in an erotic position laughing is slipped in.
So as you read this, you’re probably wondering, “Blaire, what’s the whole meaning to this movie?” “Is it just Bill being an ass or does he have greater aspirations?” At the end of the film, Bill warns that he believes religion will ultimately destroy the earth. He warns that using an “us” and “them” mentality (sort of what the Bush administration has tried to push on this country) will lead to a nuclear war. Religion is the source of evil for Maher. Religion is man.
I first heard about this movie while watching The View. I’ve always loved Bill Maher so I was pretty excited that he made a movie. But, when I looked up movie theaters that were showing it, only one theater nearby had it playing. Said theater also happened to be located in a not so nice area. Well, I, being a young female, decided to bring along a guy I used to date to accompany me (with him having no idea on what we were seeing). The theater had a lot more people than I expected, probably 25 people. Most of them fell between 20-35, liberal-looking and sounding types (the guy behind me calls people in support of Obama).
I laughed during the whole movie. I almost peed my pants a few times (though that might have been from the Venti Carmel Macchiato with Soy I had before the movie). I really related to what Maher had gone through and was saying, we both have experienced “deal” making with God , Maher told God if he helped him stop smoking he would be a believer, I used to pray to God for milk and cookies in exchange for being a “good” little girl. Maher has also never heard God speak to him, as I have never had God spoken to me. He really made me not feel so bad about not being a believer, like it was just a normal thing. Unfortunately, the guy I went with was not so happy. He was raised in a super religious household and was not happy with how his beliefs were shown (though he did think it was amusing when Maher mocked Muslims, since he is against them).
I’m rating it a 9/10 (mostly due to my shallow “hot guys ratio” rating scale). But, I truly believe, if you have an open mind and a good sense of humor, you’ll love this movie. I know I did.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
-
trevorsmiley
-
Blaire Jack
