Some of us like Bill Maher. The rest of us think he’s kind of a jerk. No matter how you feel about the host of
Real Time and
Politically Incorrect, chances are you feel that particular way because Maher is always, unabashedly himself. He makes no apologies for his own insufferability-or any one else’s for that matter.
In fact, Maher has made a career out of pointing out the plot holes in many a human story. This makes for good comedy and occasionally brilliant social commentary, and frankly, I’m glad Bill’s in the world. I don’t know what we would have done without him. Maher’s unique blend of mischief and razor-sharp political scrutiny have opened our eyes to some very real threats to our freedom in recent years. Praise him.
So, now good ol’ Bill has brought his acerbic hammer down on what he believes to be the biggest threat to the future of mankind. Jesus.
Yep, according to Maher’s new film Religulous, this son-of-a-god is going to get us all killed. In the film, Maher travels to the spookiest, most mystical corners of the globe, from the holiest mosques of Jerusalem, to the heart of the Vatican, to the truck-stop chapel on Interstate 81. His purpose, he tells us, is to expose religion, all faiths and forms, as so much bunkum.
More importantly, we learn, if we continue to believe in “space men and talking snakes” instead of relying on science and looking towards the future of our highly-endangered planet, we’re going to bring about armageddon on our own, without any help from The Big Guy Upstairs. The message is at once terrifying and comforting, especially for those of us who believe the Bible is, let’s face it, just a really, really good story. The movie is engaging and fascinating, and everyone, no matter their faith or lack of it, will find it interesting.
Trouble is, Maher misses the opportunity to help his attentive (if sometimes outraged) audience engage in a productive discussion about religion.
Instead of giving more time to the Vatican’s astronomer, a guy with some outrageously cool things to say about evolution versus creationism, Maher cuts him off and makes a cheap jokes about kosher light switches. Instead of asking those truck-stop chapelgoers about their concept of fate and science, he leaves them by the side of the road and meets his mom at his old church to snicker at how stupid she was for making him attend mass as a child. Really? Is this the best way to stop us all from bringing about our own destruction?
More importantly, and this is a big problem with the film, Maher doesn’t tell us what he’s really up to until the end. Even as a happily-confirmed Doubter, I confess I found it difficult to sit through some of Maher’s anti-faith rants. That is, until I realized what he’s actually trying to do. But the punchline, the thesis, the warning that relying on oversimplified, antiquated doctrine to get us out of some thoroughly modern scrapes will surely be our undoing, doesn’t get articulated until long after we’ve finished our popcorn. By the time Bill really starts talking some serious shit, even the most liberal Episcopalian has tuned him out, and all he’s got left is a sliver of my patience.
I say go see Religulous. We need this movie. But we need more than what it accomplishes, so be sure to write to Bill Maher and tell him to make a sequel. Next time, maybe he’ll forgo the cheesy Mormon jokes and actually get the crowd, all of them, talking.
