I just watched the movie Dogma again. For those of you who don't know, dogma is a comedy about religion. The difference about this one is firstly it is the only one that I know of where the screenwriter and the director (and indeed one of the main actors) was raised as a follower of the religion in question (Catholicism), and secondly the ratio of comedy and actual serious religious debate and theological discussion. It also seems to be unique in that it features two nymphomaniac drug dealers as main characters. I don't think that it gets it all right, but what it does quite successfully is provoke thought (if you're willing to have it provoked). In one of the first scenes, someone who is quickly revealed to be an angel has a discussion with a nun in which he convinces her that God does not exist by comparing all religion in an interpretation of the Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" which can be read in its entirety here. From there, interspersed with the sometimes puerile humour and the continuing plot (which manages to hold itself together fairly well), we get moderately continual discussion about the nature of God, the nature of Faith, and the human condition, not bad for a 2 hour comedy.
As a movie, it holds together quite well. The plot is well thought out with enough twists to make it interesting while not making it overly stupid or confusing. The characterisation is well done so that the characters are nothing if not believable. Their reactions (in most cases) are what you would expect from what they have been built to be and as a response to the situation that they find themselves in. Dialogue is also one of the strengths of the movie. Alongside the pop-culture references (which make it both accessible and fun) you have dialogue that fits easily with the characters. The comedy is also well done; I mean who can't laugh at two people discussing which gun they are going to buy based on how much it will scare people, especially when one says "Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity you can engage in, next to soccer. I'll take this one" with a perfectly straight face, then for those for whom this is too subtle, he also puts in a significant amount of drug and sex humour, but even this is done well. The situational humour is quite good as well, most of this is derived from our knowledge of what is happening in the movie or from its twisting of Catholic tradition.
The main strength of the movie however, will be lost on most of the audience. This movie is aimed partly at his cult following and partly at thinking, open-minded Christians, and it is this last group that will get more out of the movie. Much of the movie is intended to push people to thinking about Catholic tradition. Little things like discounting the standard image of Jesus, the Caucasian guy, by saying that he's black and then explaining why this is the case, or plenary indulgence, or the continual Virgin Mary (is it so much of a leap of faith to say that a married couple never had sex? - this was also one of the major controversies surrounding the movie). The problem with this approach is that the reputation of the director (Kevin Smith, known for such movies as 'Zac and Miri make a Porno 'or 'Clerks') almost seems to prohibit Christians from watching it. Also the way in which he did it meant that he took fairly inflammatory traditions and roughly tore them to pieces, something traditionalists don't tend to like. Another thing it does is tries to redefine what a martyr is. Being martyred traditionally means dying for your faith, one of the characters calls it being bludgeoned to death by big rocks. This almost takes the 'pleasure' out of martyrdom.
Final Wrap Up
As a movie it is quite a good bit of entertainment as long as you don't mind a bit of crude humour. All of the people who watched it with me come from fairly different backgrounds and think about different things in different ways and we all enjoyed it. If I had one criticism of this part of it it would be that the quite often the seriousish parts and the comedic sections were removed from each other. As a treatise on Catholic thought and tradition, it is quite good as far as it goes. Being in the format that it is and seeing that it's first intention is to entertain, it does very well with this. People who know a bit about the actual Catholic church (not what you read in the Da Vinci Code) will get a lot out of this movie. I don't recommend it to people who are traditional in their views of religion, or who aren't able to take humour that is pointed at them or a group that they are a part of. The start of the movie features a disclaimer which not only points out that the movie is first and foremost a comedy, but also points this out with its wording.
I'd give this movie 8/10 all things considered.
I'll leave you with one of my favourite parts of the movie. God, played by Alanis Morrisset, has just been asked what the meaning of life is; her answer?
As a movie, it holds together quite well. The plot is well thought out with enough twists to make it interesting while not making it overly stupid or confusing. The characterisation is well done so that the characters are nothing if not believable. Their reactions (in most cases) are what you would expect from what they have been built to be and as a response to the situation that they find themselves in. Dialogue is also one of the strengths of the movie. Alongside the pop-culture references (which make it both accessible and fun) you have dialogue that fits easily with the characters. The comedy is also well done; I mean who can't laugh at two people discussing which gun they are going to buy based on how much it will scare people, especially when one says "Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity you can engage in, next to soccer. I'll take this one" with a perfectly straight face, then for those for whom this is too subtle, he also puts in a significant amount of drug and sex humour, but even this is done well. The situational humour is quite good as well, most of this is derived from our knowledge of what is happening in the movie or from its twisting of Catholic tradition.
The main strength of the movie however, will be lost on most of the audience. This movie is aimed partly at his cult following and partly at thinking, open-minded Christians, and it is this last group that will get more out of the movie. Much of the movie is intended to push people to thinking about Catholic tradition. Little things like discounting the standard image of Jesus, the Caucasian guy, by saying that he's black and then explaining why this is the case, or plenary indulgence, or the continual Virgin Mary (is it so much of a leap of faith to say that a married couple never had sex? - this was also one of the major controversies surrounding the movie). The problem with this approach is that the reputation of the director (Kevin Smith, known for such movies as 'Zac and Miri make a Porno 'or 'Clerks') almost seems to prohibit Christians from watching it. Also the way in which he did it meant that he took fairly inflammatory traditions and roughly tore them to pieces, something traditionalists don't tend to like. Another thing it does is tries to redefine what a martyr is. Being martyred traditionally means dying for your faith, one of the characters calls it being bludgeoned to death by big rocks. This almost takes the 'pleasure' out of martyrdom.
Final Wrap Up
As a movie it is quite a good bit of entertainment as long as you don't mind a bit of crude humour. All of the people who watched it with me come from fairly different backgrounds and think about different things in different ways and we all enjoyed it. If I had one criticism of this part of it it would be that the quite often the seriousish parts and the comedic sections were removed from each other. As a treatise on Catholic thought and tradition, it is quite good as far as it goes. Being in the format that it is and seeing that it's first intention is to entertain, it does very well with this. People who know a bit about the actual Catholic church (not what you read in the Da Vinci Code) will get a lot out of this movie. I don't recommend it to people who are traditional in their views of religion, or who aren't able to take humour that is pointed at them or a group that they are a part of. The start of the movie features a disclaimer which not only points out that the movie is first and foremost a comedy, but also points this out with its wording.
I'd give this movie 8/10 all things considered.
I'll leave you with one of my favourite parts of the movie. God, played by Alanis Morrisset, has just been asked what the meaning of life is; her answer?
God: [pokes the main characters nose] "Nweep."
Metatron (voice of God): "I told you she had a sense of humour"
Metatron (voice of God): "I told you she had a sense of humour"
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