Reviews of Dogma
Displaying all 2 reviews
Davin Fabian Devara
30Apr10
If you’re a fan of conspiracy theory, esp. religion connected conspiracy, Dogma is definitely a must-watch. If you’re a loyal servant of God, do not waste your time watching this movie, you’d likely be offended and you could stop reading right now.
If you ever played an RPG game, you know how the formula goes. A hero, one chosen by a sort of key character for one objective, usually be, saving the world. Hero’s companions, will join some time along the way. The villain, who’s meant to be killed by the hero & his companion. The guy behind the villain, who turns out to be the one who has to be killed by the hero & his companion. That’s an RPG game. Add religion into the mix, some spices, then twist it up a bit, you’ll get Dogma.
If Dogma is a guy, he’ll be agnostic. He’ll say, “I do believe in God, man. But religion is just plain bullshit.”, then he’ll take his 14th shot of rum. “Religion only creates problem to the mankind. We’re divided by it. We could kill because of it. Fucked up, man.”, and shot number 15th. “There also no such thing as angels. If there are, we take catholicism as an example, they will be really pissed by us. I mean, seriously, all they do is watching over us 24/7. Even when we get laid. It must be really suck being them, man. Fucking unfair. God’s not unfair. Religion makes him look unfair.”, the 16th shot down. “I’m gonna go fuck my girlfriend now. Get the fuck out of the way. God bless.”, 17th 18th 20th shots, straight.
Yea, that’s Dogma, twisted crazy son of a bitch. It will oppose almost everything religion ever taught you. It will bend the history for entertainment purpose. Put your guard down, take it lightly, I’m sure you’ll be highly entertained by its satirical idea-twisting jokes. Go on, watch it. No, no, you don’t watch it, loyal servant of God. I don’t want you to end up making a scene, o hey, didn’t I tell you to stop reading?
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Rufus Putnam
16Mar10
Dogma is a film that left me sort of bored by the end. It is very specifically Catholic. Director Kevin Smith describes it as a celebration of dogma, but this is difficult to ascertain from watching the film. To try to take it as a corrective statement on misconceptions with the church seems pointless, because so many issues are referred to either directly or indirectly. Some of the issues touched on were:
- The main heroine is a Catholic who works at an abortion clinic. Abortion is viewed as a sin by the Catholic church.
- God is presented as a woman (a very distracting Alanis Morisette, to be specific). Traditional theology does not assign God a gender, but masculine imagery of God is used exclusively in the Bible.
- Angels are seen as being jealous of humans. The two main angels rebel because they are jealous of humans and their free will (and their ability to have sex).
- A black disciple claims he was left out because he was black. He also maintains that Jesus was black. Being from the Middle East, in all likelihood Jesus was ‘brown’.
- A trendy Catholic church provides an opportunity for the forgiveness of all sins simply by walking through the church’s doors. The forgiveness of the two fallen angels would wipe the existence of the universe. This seems to be pointing out the ridiculousness of giving the church the authority to forgive sins. But the framework of the story only works if the Catholic church ACTUALLY has that authority.
- The two fallen angels exercise their former authority as bringers of justice and randomly kill people who have committed adultery. One group of men run an organization that bears a striking resemblance to the Disney Corporation. They killed for idolatry and for their sexual perversion/intolerance.
- The 13th apostle, Rufus, continually states that beliefs are what cause problems. It is best to only have ideas/opinions, thus challenging the notion of creeds.
- The main heroine is identified as a relative of Jesus, stating that he had brothers and sisters. This goes against the Catholic teaching the Jesus was an only child.
These are just some of the issues touched on, but not really explored. Maybe I was just tired, but it felt very tedious and preachy. Not very humorous either (and I love South Park type comedy). Also, fundamentalist attitude with which the ideas are presented began to feel just as ugly as the fundamentalist tone taken on by some Christians.
I appreciate the attempt at correcting or challenging misconceived notions, but this movie was a mess. It made me realize that movies work best as stories, not as platforms for ideas.
- Currently 2.0/5 Stars.