Religulous? For starters, it rhymes with incredulous. As in “Bill Maher can’t help being incredulous in the face of anything he deems supernatural,” or “Bill Maher is incredulous that anyone could think differently than he does” - you get the idea. On the surface, the 100 plus minute mockumentary is a humorous exposé of the the irrationality and inconsistency of people’s religious beliefs. On another level, the movie probes Maher’s own religious experiences. And on some metaphysical level, the movie is a universe in which Maher gets to play God. Think about it - the planning, scripting, and especially editing of a project like this is a pretty God-like experience - you ‘speak’ the thing into existence (And God said, “Let there be comedy!” An, lo, there was comedy.) If you can’t create a universe, I guess a movie is the next best thing.
If you noticed that Larry Charles of Borat fame is the director, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this film. The main dish is a series of interviews with sincere if unprepared Christians, Muslims, ex-Mormons and Jews, the guy who plays Jesus at the Holy Land Experience in Florida, a guy who thinks he is Jesus. . . And there are plenty of side dishes too - cuts of campy Jesus movies, spliced in commentary of Maher in his car, subtitles poking fun at his interview subjects, and short clips of everything from “Scarface” to “The Flintstones.”
It seems that Maher hasn’t ever gotten over his disappointment over finding that Santa Clause is not real (sorry kids). Seriously - Santa comes up in a couple of the interviews - once with his mom and sister, and once with a formerly Jewish Christian who appears to be running a kitchy Catholic gift shop. The attempt to probe his own formative experiences is admirable, but the film can’t maintain that level of seriousness for long.
While the finished product showcases Maher’s wit and ability to prod his subjects into absurd self-contradictions, it tends more toward the quick laugh than the real substance the subject would suggest. This makes the self-righteous tone he takes at the end all the more surprising. Returning to Megiddo, a desolate, rocky, apocalyptic-looking hill that he has told us earlier is the supposed site of Jesus’ second coming, and with dramatic music building in the background, Maher focuses on the decidedly non-funny topic of the violence and wars he holds religion responsible for. With no hint of a wink or a grin, he confidently, almost religiously, sums up religion as a “neurological disorder” and encourages his audience to “grow up or die.” No punch line - that’s it.
Maher does have a couple of good challenges for those of us not quite ready to create our own (alternate) universes. First, he proposes that doubt take the place of arrogance, and if this was applied to the discussion and spread of religious ideas, the (real) world would probably be a better place. Secondly, his statement that “faith makes a virtue of not thinking’ is a challenge to examine our beliefs. If more people asked themselves “Why do I think that?” or “Is this truth or just a superstitious tradition?”, Bill Maher would have one less subject for his comedy.
He’s funny enough to find another way to make us laugh.
And Mr. Maher? Like the drivers in the truckers’ chapel, we’ll be praying for you.
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Written by: Ray on Fri, Oct 3, 2008