Maher’s Religulous goes too far
Grade: C-
Bottom Line: Preaching at the choir.
There’s a fine line between comedy and hate. A lot of comedians seeks to toe that line, to strike a balance between effective, compelling comedy (see: Richard Pryor) and jokes that insult more than illuminate (see: Carlos Mencia).
Bill Maher has been toeing this line his entire career, whether in his stand-up or on his celebrated talk shows (Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and Real Time with Bill Maher). He has often succeeded at this balancing act, turning biting social satire into hilarity. Over the past several years, however, Maher has become increasingly cutting in his commentary, as the Bush administration has continually pushed him over the line.
And this is exactly the problem with Maher’s new movie Religulous. It was clear going into it that Religulous was going to be a movie from which church-going folk would shy away. What wasn’t clear is that it would be harsh enough to make even the converted non-believers feel uneasy.
The movie is framed as Maher’s personal quest to find answers about religion: How can billions of people believe in something with no proof? But there is no quest, because Maher already knows the answers and the outcome.
The movie starts out with Maher, his sister and his mother discussing religion in their family and why they believe what they believe. It seems, at this point, as if Maher is really looking for answers, both regarding religion in his own life and what it says about our society.
And then the interviews start. The bulk of the movie is composed of interviews Maher conducted around the world with people of different faiths. Except they are not there to talk about their faith. They are not even there to talk. They are there to be interrupted and mocked, serving as an irrational counterpoint to a rational Maher. This can be funny — like Maher’s interview of the actor who plays Jesus at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando — but mostly it is just uncomfortable. Some of the people he interviews do seem a bit ridiculous: an ex-Jew for Jesus, an Islamic rapper whose lyrics are about blowing people up, even a group of truckers who have church services out of a trailer at a truck stop. They lend themselves to sarcasm, but to see Maher ridicule people while they relate deeply-held personal beliefs and experiences causes more cringing than laughter. There are times when a movie should make you squirm in your seat. And there are times when people should shut up and listen to what someone else has to say. Religulous is the latter.
Not all religions are created equal in Religulous either. The movie focuses on Christians in America, a subgroup easy enough to ridicule. Mormonism and Scientology make some rather hilarious cameos, as Maher gets kicked off the property of a Mormon church and imitates a crazy person to rant the tenets of Scientology in a public square. Judaism, however, has little mention outside of Maher’s own life and an interview with an anti-Zionist Jew who bears the brunt of Maher’s ridicule. It is Islam, however, which is truly written off. Maher’s sole point of including Islam is to portray it as a crazy and violent religion. His interviews with Muslims are consumed with him attacking them for suicide bombings, murders and death threats. As if other religions somehow do not have a bloody past.
The movie ends with a throbbing apocalypse rendered in video clips with Maher’s condescending narration stating that it is religious fanatics — not God — that will bring about the end of days. And that is ultimately what Religulous is all about. It is not meant to explore or explain, its job is simply to state the facts as Maher sees them and to set up the conclusion that he sees as inevitable. It’s really no different from any other religion.
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Northwestern's chaplain on religious awareness. Or you can return home.
Anytime that anyone makes fun of the joke that scientology is…is a GOOD thing! Bill Maher is cool, don`t doubt that he will gain many fans after dissing $cientology. He just needs to get off the PETA bullshit!
faghag
October 3, 2008 at 7:50 am
anti-religious fanatics need to get off the soapbox and respect other human beings.
Andy
October 3, 2008 at 11:51 am
@Andy
NO U
Asmo
October 3, 2008 at 11:57 am
@ Andy
What Asmo said.
Religious fanatics need to get off their soapbox and respect REALITY and LOGIC.
The main problem with the $cientology cult is not so much the ridiculous beliefs, but it’s rather shocking criminal history (and present).
The cult’s “scripture” actually encourages selfish & unethical behavior in it’s members – especially when it comes to defending their cult.
Freedom of religion and all that, but there’s a problem if any “religion” or organization considers itself to be above the laws of “common man.”
Nate
October 3, 2008 at 2:43 pm
It`s about time the world grew up.
The truth is, all religions are man made.
More people have been killed over religion
than all natural disasters combined.
It`s time people separated religious beliefs
and religious practices.
Religions only get away with abuses and inciting hate
because they pretend they are the same.
Scientology is the most blatant example.
Scientology is the mafia hiding behind religious cloaking.
Looking forward to seeing Bill`s film.
randomx
October 3, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Well I literally just got back from the movie and…
I will be honest and say I cringed a few times at the insults he was throwing at people. Some just crossed that line of respect and it is a serious flaw in the movie. But so what? Just don’t like Bill Maher or his point of view on it then. Think for yourself and question things. Following anything blindly is scary and ridiculous, and also very dangerous.
I thought this movie was incredible. He brought up very good subjects to the mass public (like it or not), and asked many of the questions I myself have been asking for years. Unfortunately (or fortunately in the comedic sense!) he interviewed some real crack-jobs. Wow some of those people were downright odd.
The ending was a little bit of a downer, and (@ Nate) “Freedom of religion and all that, but there’s a problem if any religion or organization considers itself to be above the laws of common man.” Well put. That is the most frightening part to think about. The lengths people will go to for their “god’s will” is even scarier than someone doing it of their own will imo.
The balance of Christianity vs $cientology and Mormonism in the movie is evened out because most people already know they’re crazy, no use in focusing too long on something most people already realize lol. Although it would have been hysterical…
It’s reality people. Try it. :)
kc
October 3, 2008 at 9:33 pm
This is an excellent and informative movie. It is truly time for the world to wisen up and shake off the 2000 year old shackles.
Not facts? I think he introduced some good facts about how christianity borrows so much of its facts and figures from previous pagan rituals. The jokes just make it bearable.
Finally, a good movie from a great guy.
David
October 3, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Good. About time someone shows the world how fucked up the jesus freaks are. Fairy tales are for children and not for adults. There are people in the world who use logic and common sense in there ever day life. Then there is religous freaks who need to keep there tall tales to them selves. LOGIC–common sense—-
dfenn
October 3, 2008 at 11:06 pm
God is dead. Science is alive.
dfenn
October 3, 2008 at 11:07 pm
It’s a shame they didn’t get an intellectually honest person to review this film. (I saw it today, and it’s quite good.)
Pluto Animus
October 4, 2008 at 12:27 am
You seem to have forgotten that it is a COMEDY. You’re not supposed to take his initial “premise” that he is out to find out why people believe in things with no proof. Get over yourself.
James
October 4, 2008 at 8:24 am
There are many people outside of religion who believe in things without proof. One rather large unified group is called scientists. They believe in the big bang,antimatter, dark matter,parallel universes and the string theory. There is absolutely no proof for any of these things. This is not an argument for or against religion. It is very silly to think that every belief one has must be backed up by absolute, unarguable proof.
Paul D.
October 4, 2008 at 9:16 am
The big bang has no proof? How about the COBE project?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBE
Just because YOU don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not proof.
Christopher Columbus
October 4, 2008 at 10:50 am
I doubt it “goes to far”. Religious types like to say this whenever anyone “goes there” at all. They cannot stand even the mildest of criticisms, and I will definitely pay to see this film.
Also:
“There are many people outside of religion who believe in things without proof. One rather large unified group is called scientists. They believe in the big bang,antimatter, dark matter,parallel universes and the string theory. There is absolutely no proof for any of these things.”
Wrong. “Scientists” have varying degrees of provisional belief based upon available empirical evidence. The degree of certainty they apply is based upon the strength of that evidence. Of the things you mention, only one – the big bang model – has any amount of certainty attached to it. Of course, as a religious person, you can’t imagine someone provisionally believing anything. Everything for the faithful must be a certain, unalterable truth rather than the best interpretation of evidence.
“It is very silly to think that every belief one has must be backed up by absolute, unarguable proof.”
It is not too much though to ask that (before being certain of a belief and basing your entire worldview around it) that you might want SOME evidence.
aegis
October 4, 2008 at 8:44 pm
“anti-religious fanatics need to get off the soapbox and respect other human beings.”
Ah yes – please, please respect us! Even though we aren’t saying anything worthy of it, please respect us anyway, since otherwise we’re *sad clown*. Ugggh.
BTW, as far as someone stepping off the soapbox – when was the last time you saw an atheist group picket the religious funerals of dead soldiers? Oh yeah – we don’t do that, because we’re thinking, caring people by REASON rather than by COMMANDMENT..
aegis
October 4, 2008 at 8:48 pm
“They lend themselves to sarcasm, but to see Maher ridicule people while they relate deeply-held personal beliefs and experiences causes more cringing than laughter.”
Not for me. I can’t wait.
aegis
October 4, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Critobal Columbo, the COBE project is not “proof” of a big bang, it’s just part of a possible explanation. I don’t even think Smoot or Mather would call it “proof”. While scientists are trying to come up with some sort of data which will definitively prove the Big Bang or some other universe origin there is no such thing at this point.
Bill Maher hasn’t been funny for some time now. This movie is more of a “Borat does religion” than any kind of serious attempt to analyze any belief system. It’s more difficult to be funny when you are so busy being condescending and pretentious. I imagine some arrogant angry atheists will enjoy the inside jokes, but even for your average agnostic it’s just a lame movie.
Old Dude
October 4, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Bill Maher is a douchebag.
nick
October 4, 2008 at 11:16 pm
This movie is brilliant. Does it disrespect people? Yes. But do an enormous number of religious people disrespect others all the time? Most certainly. Do they try (from their lofty positions in government, etc) to dictate the rights of others using their religious notions as a basis? Yes. Is organized religion a cash-cow that has swindled billions of people throughout history? Certainly.
As Maher says, notion such as the world being flat, Helio-Centrism, illnesses being evil spirits, and sea dragons were all contemporaries of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. Why is religion the only one people still buy?
To people who think this movie crosses the line, grow up.
Religion was conceived 2000 years ago when the known world consisted of Europe and Asia. Don’t you think it’s time we exposed it as just a little bit ridiculous?
Sean C.
October 6, 2008 at 2:08 am
oh, and aegis: right on!
Religious types like to say this whenever anyone “goes there” at all.
yeah. see below
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5573/addiscartoonpp4.jpg
http://www.freethunk.net/videos/jesus-meets-the-terminator.gif
Sean C.
October 6, 2008 at 2:15 am
Wow. Honestly, what do so many of you have against religious believers? Many of you seem very angry at the radical evangelical community, but you seem to forget that the vast majority of American Christians believe those people to be crazy as well. I’m a Christian, but I believe in evolution, the big bang, etc. as part of God’s natural plan for the universe. Science and Faith don’t necessarily conflict with each other, only ignorant goobers subscribe to that sort of fanaticism.
Anyway, yeah, I knew this movie was a sham from seeing the preview. This is basically Maher nursing his ego at the expense of others for about 2 hours. Honestly, if he had actually talked to a serious religious scholar he would have looked like a child. He brings up points that have been debated to death or made moot hundred of years ago already.
Carlton
October 7, 2008 at 11:52 am
Look, regardless of whether he is nursing his ego, regardless of whether he is a douchebag, he’s kind of right, people. Organized religion is a disease in the brains of men that makes them irrational. I know that there is some kind of higher being, but organizations like the Catholic Church have throughout history appropriated him/her/it for their own ends. Ditto for megachurches and terrorist organizations today. The only real differences between Muslim extremists and Christian extremists are the book they read and the place they live.
The Man in the Yellow Hat
October 7, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Sorry, really should have qualified that most of that previous comment was opinion. And that’s another thing: organized religion is inherently warlike because it purports to make a definitive statement about the nature of the universe, about which their can be only one true outlook. So, either one of us is right, or none of us are. Either way, it breeds conflict.
The Man in the Yellow Hat
October 7, 2008 at 12:42 pm
okay, sorry. what i meant to say was “…other human being’s beliefs, though possibly erroneous.”
converting believers to atheists does nothing for our world, besides create more people like bill maher, out on a mission to “indoctrinate.” not all religious people are scientologists, and not all religious people are murderous crusaders.
goodnight.
Andy
October 7, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Yeah, true that, but the ones who DO wish to murder (and usually indoctrinate) and/or destroy are growing in power and influence. This is srs bzness. I find the irony staggering that atheists are being accused of “indoctrination”.
The Man in the Yellow Hat
October 7, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Bible thumpers are not people I shall strike them down so says your god Zeus
God
October 7, 2008 at 8:09 pm
the ending of this movie was the only good part and it makes total sense. Most people who don’t believe in religion are reluctant to say so and all Bill Maher is saying is that we shouldn’t have to keep our feelings hidden just because some religious people might get a little mad
mitchell gallant
October 13, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I thought this was a very good movie…
It’s true that most of the people Maher talked to in this were what should be considered as “extreme” Many of them, you’ll also notice, said things like, “What kind of documentary are you making?” (which may bias some people to think that the manner in which this film was made was unfair, and one-sided)
**HOWEVER**
In my personal experience, there are actually very few Christians whom will actually sit down with you and have an INTELLIGENT conversation about Christianity, if they know that you have legitimate doubts to be addressed. In fact, when a valid point is brought up…it’s soooooo easy for them to say something like, “well that’s where FAITH comes in!”
And, honestly, there’s no REASONING with someone when it gets to that point. This movie isn’t going to make Christians, Muslims, Mormons, or Catholics just up and change their views…start questioning…go on a mission to stop religion, etc But will ANYTHING???
No. Nothing will…because even if someone goes out and KILLS ANOTHER PERSON, all they have to do is say “the devil got to me” and go on about their everyday business, because God will forgive them if they’re saaaaaaved!!!
True, there are things in the Bible that are good. Good qualities to have, good ways to live, sharing, thinking of others before yourself, etc… However, (like Maher said) THESE ARE COMMON SENSE!!!
In my opinion, the Bible was made to try to keep people in line during their lives, and that’s it. The fear that they’ll burn for eternity will keep believers from going all ape$hit. People don’t make decisions for themselves, because “it’s in God’s hands…He’ll tell me what to do.” Now, God’s become so much of a cop-out, it’s ridiculous!
Let’s just have a damn televised Religious Debate, and get this over with. Only people with common sense are allowed to vote.
I’m finished ranting…go see the movie. I give it a 5-Star rating
Geoff
October 17, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Religion enslaves the mind.
Anita Hanjab
December 27, 2008 at 11:08 pm
“Maher’s Religulous goes too far”? Please. If anything, it doesn’t go far enough. “…a fine line between comedy and hate”? Gimme a break. Maher’s quips hardly equate with hate. His concerns about the ease with which religion makes otherwise rational people irrational, to sometimes violent and murderous extremes, is WELL founded and more than valid. What Maher says in this docu-comedy bears being said—much more than people are currently saying it. He makes the point in the film that (according to one study) 16% of Americans have no religious affiliation. Maher considers this a great untapped resource. Unfortunately, as the camera person in the car with Maher suggests, many people, though they feel the same as Maher, are afraid to speak out. In western society, which has been largely informed by Christianity and Christian practice over the centuries, everyone has been indoctrinated to believe that ANY time ANYone says ANYthing negative about Christianity or else publicly questions the tenets of Christianity, s/he is persecuting Christians. This is, of course, grade A 100% bullshit.
The writer of this review, Sarah Collins, says about the interviewees in this film, “…they are not there to talk about their faith. They are not even there to talk. They are there to be interrupted and mocked, serving as an irrational counterpoint to a rational Maher.” The mistake Collins makes is in thinking that the film SHOULD have been about the interviewees talking about their faith. Why beat a dead horse? Thinking that mocking and ridicule are somehow inappropriate is nothing more than western society’s indoctrination rearing its ugly head. Ridicule is a powerful tool in the fight against the mind virus, or meme, of Christianity and other harmful religions. When an otherwise rational person becomes a believer, they sink into a miasma of self delusion that, many times, can only be pierced by the reactionary anger that results from being ridiculed. Ridicule is a powerful tool, and Maher’s use of this tool is quite valid in the film in question. It makes no sense to fault Maher for not making the film he might have made—a film that was actually about interviewees talking about their faith. The film should be judged based on what it actually is—a film in which the tool of ridicule is used to pierce the wall of self delusion that believers erect around themselves. Must this wall of self delusion be pierced if believers simply practice their faith behind closed doors and in the privacy of their own homes and churches? Of course not. However, in modern western society these believers are engaged, to varying degrees, in attempts to force their beliefs upon all Americans by attempting to inject those beliefs into the laws which govern us all. The U.S. Constitution not only establishes majority rule in SOME cases, but establishes protection of the individual AGAINST majority rule in many others. Christendom the political power (as opposed to Christendom the religion) is attempting to subvert constititional democracy by making unproved religious ideas the basis of laws which govern all Americans. This is unacceptable. When Christianity leaves the privacy of Christians’ homes and churches and attempts to force its poisonous beliefs on us all, it becomes open season on Christianity. It’s as simple as that. The war must be waged on many fronts and with many weapons. Ridicule is but one weapon and mockumentaries but one front. Maher did absolutely NOTHING wrong here.
To boot, it’s damn good and damn funny, and more than achieved its aim. Hale, Bill Maher!
Danny McNeal
January 1, 2009 at 3:07 pm
It’s a great film, entertaining with an important message. It’s madness that there are people who wish and dream for world wide destruction because they think they will be saved because they are part of a special club and they are better than the others… and they are not 5 years old… well, not biologically anyway. It’s irresponsible as a rational human being to sit by whilst there are human beings with influence, because they are deemed adults because of their age, that think like that.
Jason Hardy
May 30, 2009 at 6:03 am
Danny McNeal: “Ridicule is a powerful tool…”
It is indeed a powerful tool, one that, ironically, is widely employed by those whose desire to simply make their opponents appear wrong outstrips whatever grasp they have of *why* their opponents arguments are false or inconsistent. Or, to put it more simply, ridicule is a method of attack that those who are less concerned with raw, unfettered truth, religious or otherwise, take up very often and with (unfortunately) relative ease due to its simplistic nature.
With respect to “Religulous” the movie, I too found myself cringing at some of the interviews, much as many other viewers have expressed. I really have no experience with Maher in any form, but I have to say that many of the things he – and a few of the things his interviewees – said caused me to laugh quite heartily. The faults of ridicule as a tool, and Maher’s narcissistic/asinine behavior, aside, poking fun at the woeful beliefs of the people in the film was very entertaining.
With respect to the original review, the author states at the end: “It is not meant to explore or explain, its job is simply to state the facts as Maher sees them and to set up the conclusion that he sees as inevitable. It’s really no different from any other religion.”
Yes, I can clearly see Maher has made up his mind and that he has little interest in truly listening to what others in the movie have to say except as they provide targets for his scathing comedic assaults. On the other, even if we were to completely ignore the “facts” which he occasionally peppers throughout the movie and which may or may not be entirely correct, what many of the people say ON CAMERA is quite frightening. It is easy to dismiss a lot of it as diverging from the norm of Christianity but I can assure anyone that such truly ridiculous thinking is far more common than many of us *on either side of the debate* would care to admit. The woman claiming that she will return “on a white horse” is, in its basic essence as a type of delusional thinking, actually somewhat common, especially here in the midwest where I live.
Whatever one may believe about the validity of Maher’s conclusions concerning religious people or where we as a global society are headed, the movie (and Maher) is mostly right about one thing: doubt. It is a handicap of the human race that in times of uncertainty or excessive stress we often find quick answers and a stifling of divergent thought to be desirable. As Maher states, quite accurately I might add, religion, rather than deeply inquiring for answers, creates them with ease and with unparalleled and unwarranted certainty.
It is hard at times to laugh at “Religulous” in part because I can see very clearly Maher is not afraid to be an ass, but also because I know that more than a few depictions of the religious persons in the film are, at the very least, not a lie. That said, it was still a blast. I recommend it, with a few warnings, to anyone who is not easily offended nor easily impressed. Take it for what is, and with a grain of salt at that.
James E
June 16, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I mean, we might not agree with all his views, nor his methods, but come on… he’s a comedian. He’s going to push buttons. I’m a 20 yr old college senior. I know I don’t have much life experience, but I watched the film and I felt that all Maher did was say what many people think, but choose not to say. No matter how irrational, sexist, hypocrytical, or selfish any person, thing or concept is, as long as it’s written in the holy books it shouldn’t be questioned??? SMH We’ve got to do better as PEOPLE. Sarah Collins, as HUMAN BEINGS we must do better than this. It’s just sad and ironic how people can hold the idea of “religion” so high and above criticism. If Bill Maher was a devout Christian, Jew, or Muslim, and he had made the film geared towards satiring non-believers, I guarantee your reaction would not have been the same. Your title is biased nonsense. As, one of the responses above reflected, this film didn’t go far enough, if anything. As a society we need to limit this idea of relativism and just see things as the way they are. I have to agree with Pluto Animus (a few comments above). It really takes an intellectually honest person to review this movie. lol I personally believe there is a higher power, but I don’t associate myself with any particular religion… because no historical text, nor any person today can truely know what our absolute beginning was. We have our minds and our abilities of thinking and reasoning for a reason. It’s just sad that, in this day and age, something like religion can limit our intellectual growth. It’s really a shame.
RA
June 30, 2009 at 11:05 pm