RELIGULOUS
2008
Written by Bill Maher
Directed by Larry Charles
It is possible to view Religulous impartially, leaving your bias at the door, but it certainly wouldn't be as fun. For you see, Religulous is a scathing anti-religion documentary starring the happily controversial Bill Maher and directed by Borat provocateur Larry Charles, and it sets out to offend just about anyone with even an inkling of religious fervor. Consider it the anti-Passion.
Your opinion of the movie is likely to be shaped by your viewpoints on two different subjects, both of which seem very much at odds. First: The man himself, Bill Maher. Maher is the well-known stand-up comedian and political satirist, formerly of Politically Incorrect (which was canceled after Maher's infamous defense of the 9/11 hijackers' bravery), and who can currently be seen every Friday night on his live HBO debate show Real Time with Bill Maher. Maher is a divisive personality; you either agree with his stances and--more importantly--the dry, often harsh way in which he expresses them, or you think he's the annoying epitome of the media's aggressively left-wing bent. I fall in the former camp. While I don't always agree with what he says (you can't ask that of anybody), I generally see eye to eye with him, and like I said, it's more important that he makes me laugh. Maher takes bullshit from no one, and after the passing of George Carlin this past June, we need someone like him on our TV sets.
The second subject may be more important on a cosmic scale, but is equally as important as Maher in the movie, and that is religion. If you hate religion and are as devoutly against it as Maher is, then seeing Religulous will be like you're the choir and he's the preacher...er, speaker. No preacher. If you are a God-fearing Bible-thumper of the Sarah Palin mold, this is not the movie for you. You may approach the movie with an open mind, but Religulous is not the kind of movie that is going to sway you, even if you somehow find it funny or entertaining. In fact, the only kind of person I can see this movie having that kind of an effect on is one who really doesn't know what to think.
Which is how Maher himself expresses his beliefs at the beginning of the movie and throughout, "I don't know." And though I'm fairly certain that that's more of an impetus to get his subjects to talk, the most refreshing aspect of the film, as well as the one that elevates it from merely being a big screen version of those on-the-street videos from Real Time, is that Maher approaches every interview and every topic of discussion with genuine curiosity. Yes, there are times when he goes in swinging, obviously looking to tear down those he approaches. He talks to the owner of a Christian store, and ridicules the man so deliberately it doesn't seem fair for even half-a-second. But then there are other times, such as when he speaks to a group of Christian truckers, where he goes in hot and heavy...yet ends up empathizing with them. He disagrees with everything that comes out of their mouths, but laughs along amiably as they all gather together to pray for him.
There are other moments, though, when Maher takes a look at zealots whose logic is so far removed from our Earth logic as to be terrifying. Regardless of whether or not you're a person of faith, these people are absolute nutzoids. Witness, for example, José Luis de Jesús Miranda, who dresses in expensive suits and considers himself the first true Christian. Why is that? Because, silly, he's Christ reincarnated! Everybody else just follows around some old Jew, but José's the real deal, friends and neighbors. He claims that his blood is descended from Christ's, passed down through other major holy figures, and when Maher points out that that doesn't make you a Christ incarnate but rather just a blood relative, Miranda pushes that aside with a wave of his hand. You can't argue with air-tight logic like that! (He has thousands of followers.) In dealing with people like this, Religulous is at its best. Sure, its targets and subsequent conclusions are blindingly obvious, but seeing it play out in a real live setting with real live people is frequently hilarious and consistently disturbing.
Other subjects include an Israeli manufacturer who builds ridiculously elaborate machines to perform activities banned on the Sabbath; a man who plays Jesus at a theme park, where the audience routinely bursts into applause as he is whipped and beaten during a re-enactment of the Passion; the owner of the Creation Museum, which houses sad little animatronic displays that show humans and dinosaurs living together; and many more. Director Charles handles some of these interviews too facetiously for their own good, and there were times at which I wished he would stop fast-cutting to (admittedly hilarious) punchlines, and that Maher would tone down his outrage to have serious discussions. But despite these misgivings, which might seem rather large, I found myself laughing uncontrollably throughout the entire film, and chilled to the bone by the prophetic, tour de force final monologue, which is one of the best onscreen moments of the year. I can overlook the movie's problems in large part because of my own personal beliefs on that confusing topic of religion.
And what are my beliefs? Mostly the same as Maher's, if perhaps not as aggressive. Religion can be evil. It is, in most cases, anathema to the concept of a God. And, it should be noted, Maher believes in a God. Perhaps not the usual American concept of God, but a higher power. The most enlightening interviewees in Religulous are two Vatican priests who cheerfully dismiss many long-held religious beliefs as being nonsensical security blankets for people who aren't ready to think about spirituality in an honest way. And yet that way is the more simplistic one, freed from the shackles of religious dogma and years of hate and holy war: The simple idea that there is something out there greater than all of us, and that He loves us. So I can't tell you that Religulous is going to prompt in anyone a spiritual reawakening, or that I left it much more enlightened than I was beforehand. What I can tell you is that it is an essential document of our times, showing with extraordinary frankness exactly how our cancerous fixation with these outmoded concepts of religion are eating away at civilization. As Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Satan invented religion to prevent us from seeing God." Bill Maher delights in taking off our blinders.
- Arlo J. Wiley
October 17, 2008
Review Archive
Back Home
