Larry Charles: RELIGULOUS

THE CHURCH OF BILL

RELIGULOUS
Written by Bill Maher
Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Bill Maher

Bill Maher: If it’s one thing I hate more than prophesy, its self-fulfilling prophecy.

Comedian, Bill Maher, is not happy. In fact, he’s downright fed up. And if you don’t want to see Bill Maher pissed, well then you don’t want to see his first documentary film, RELIGULOUS. If a little anger doesn’t bother you, then you’re actually in for a pretty funny, fairly assertive and unfortunately, somewhat uneven time. You can’t blame Maher though. He’s just been living in the twilight zone for too long. It just so happens that his particular twilight zone is Earth and he can’t really get away from that, now can he? Maher has been racking his brain for years now, trying to understand how so many intelligent people are still subscribing to organized religion when all he can see is how the entire concept has stumped the progression of the human race, brought about global unrest and promoted hatred and ignorance. Sure it brings a great deal of people intense solace about where their soul will go in the afterlife but he cannot resolve that with the painfully obvious mythological nature of the teachings. He urges people to take an honest look at their beliefs, to face the reality of stories about men living in giant whales for days at a time. All he can do in the meantime though is laugh.

And laugh he does, right in the faces of the people he is interviewing at times. Yes, it must be hard to sit across the table from an “ex-gay” trying to convince him that homosexuality doesn’t truly exist and that prayer can help you find the confidence you need to be a solid heterosexual. Yes, it must be a struggle to keep a straight face when you take a tour through an animatronics park dedicated to teaching children about how both man and dinosaur co-existed in order to justify the creationist theory. And I doubt very much I would be able to sit across from a television evangelist justifying his $2000 suit by claiming Jesus himself wore only the finest linen robes without losing it. Still, restraint is a virtue. I think Jesus might have said that but I’m paraphrasing. Maher has none. So convinced is he in his rational that he can barely contain himself in interviews, which makes him come off somewhat indignant and pompous. Of course, I’m laughing at these people right alongside him but I’m not sitting two feet away from them so it’s totally acceptable. Laughter is abundant in RELIGULOUS but it does occasionally take away from the grander, intelligent debate that is raised from Maher’s questioning.

RELIGULOUS is a perfect example of preaching to the converted. Religious fanatics are definitely not going to line up for tickets to this show. That’s fine; these are not the people Maher is trying to reach. As far as he is concerned, they are far beyond reach at this point in the game. Still, I’m not sure that fans of Maher’s previous work who might come out to catch this and who just might be also religious folks will hear his point. Given the choice between Bill Maher and the God they have been worshipping since birth is not much of a contest. Sorry, Bill. Maher doesn’t seem so concerned with these people either though. Maher is trying to speak to all the people out there who are sitting atop that proverbial fence. The agnostics of the world and those debating the merits of organized religion and whether it does service to the God they know to be out there, these are the people Maher hopes will hear his prayer. And once they do hear it, he wants them to go forth and preach the non-word to anyone who will listen.

I hope this doesn’t sound pessimistic to Maher but I have little faith that his argument will topple centuries of ritualistic worship. This is especially the case when Larry Charles’s directorial decision to cut away to countless other films as supposed comic accents ultimately undermines the case by interrupting the points in progress. Still, Bill Maher is just one man and I commend him for speaking his mind when his opinion is so clearly in the minority. Hopefully, one day, people will be able to see through his somewhat bitter condescension to see that he isn’t merely mocking their beliefs. No, Bill Maher just wants the world to be a better place … y’know, like it was when Jesus was here and the world was still flat.

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The laughter takes away from the intelligent debate--that's the heart of the matter, I'd think. I still have not seen this film, which some have denied should be called a documentary. I am not a fan of Borat and so am suspicious of the involvement of Larry Charles. Others have said laughter is NOT so plentiful, in fact rather meager. Maher seems like a wise guy to me. He's a professional rationalist. His shtick seems to me too easy, his victims too easy. And yet I have to admire his consistency. The trouble is, Christianity is interesting. It has engaged the great minds and the great writers and the great artists of western culture. You can't always make fun of it, however its fundamental beliefs may be absurd when presented in reductive form. One thing though, Maher has balls. And it's interesting to me to learn that by birth he is half Jewish and half Catholic.

Again your review comes at an opportune time since the title has been coming up in the BLINDNESS thread and it now has a thread of its own, like APPALOOSA.

Wow, more infringement on the BLINDNESS thread. I will have to head over there and check it out after this. I laughed plenty during RELIGULOUS. The humour reminds me of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. A number of interviewees during the film felt that they would be taken out of context later so perhaps the Daily Show has finally ruined its own potential for unsuspecting interviewees. This film is nothing like BORAT, which I genuinely loved, except that it exhibits some of the same bravery in crazy scenarios. The humour is only distracting when it interrupts a conversation already in progress. For example, Maher refers to Jesus as a likely awkward teenager with acne and "Jew-fro". Cut to an insert of Jonah Hill from SUPERBAD. It's random, cheap and unnecessary.

Maher's religious background was important to disclose in the film. It is helpful to know where he is coming from if he is going to be on the attack throughout. His father was Jewish and his mother Catholic. The family practiced Catholicism until Maher was about 13.

I can't discuss more till I've seen it, but I favor a more serious approach to religion. If laughter could destroy the Pope, it might be worth the trouble--see what I mean? I prefer a documentary about religion like THE SWORD OF CONSTANTINE, which is very serious, and delivers tons of important information about the Catholic Church, without taking any cheap shots at Jesus. I repeat, I am not a fan of BORAT. To me it sounds like there is a kinship between it and this, despite what you say.

I was raised with no religion and I have no religion. I've observed that many people raised in a Catholic house who lapse feel compelled to go on about Catholicism all the time and make fun of it, to justify their choice. If Maher clears the air at all, that's a plus, but this film has tanked.

How has the film tanked? It is playing reasonably well on limited screens.

You are right--it is making money--but I meant critically.

My concern is that going by reviews, it uses easy targets to make easy fun of religion, whose effect on humanity is no laughing matter.

Bill Maher's documentary skewers religion but chooses laughable targets to make his point.--CSMoniter.

Maher’s journey is not about finding out what makes religious people tick, but about using the tics of mostly fringe religious people to prop up the thesis Maher came in with.--Spout Blog,.

But I can't speak for myself till I see it. Which I may or may not do depending on schedule and availability.

It's pretty clear to me that the only thing that really interests Bill Maher is Bill Maher. Though it's laugh-out-loud funny much of the time, it's also so self-absorbed that it can't really be taken seriously. Maher spends the entire film setting up just about everyone he interviews, just to prove he's smarter than they are (or at least a better debater). Not only does it get wearisome after a while, the point gets lost--until the very end, when Maher turns self-righteously sober to decry religion as the thing that will make the world end.