the.blog @scwleung

So after a few weeks of failing to watch Religilous, I finally got off by ass down the street to the theatre to indulge it. My thoughts? Hmm…mixed.

I’ve always had a minor bone to pick with Bill Maher. He’s had an extreme view about religion; one that I mostly agree with. Religion is Ridiculous [thus the name of the movie]. I guess my problem is how he reacts to it – that he simply treats all of them as idiotic mindless drones. I.e. Complete lack of disrespect.

I both respect him and revile him for this behaviour.

I respect him for being so upfront and honest about this. We definitely don’t see that often enough. Yet, I still think that this lack of respect is inherently vulgar. I feel he goes a bit too far sometimes with his stance – not unlike Michael Moore. In that light, Religulous feels very similar to some of Moore’s recent films. Entertaining, mostly factual, undoubtedly extreme.

Maher does a good job of instilling doubt over Religious issues in those who already had doubts. However, he also tries to paint all those with Faith with the same brush. Now I know my fair share of religious induviduals and I can say that there is an expansive range of ways these people express and follow their respective faiths. It is impossible to equate all this as a singular phenomenon. I find Maher’s approah in this regard to be stubborn and fundamentally flawed.

Still, the film was very entertaining and despite Maher’s strong approach, it was definitely worth a watch. It certainly isn’t for everyone, but those who are ‘privileged’ [paraphrased from the film] enough to be without religion will enjoy it.

I give the film 3.5/5. Whatever that means…