I'm not much for reviewing movies, but I think that this one deserves a mention. I doubt anyone reading this hasn't already been over the well-trodden philosophical ground Maher covers--if you haven't then this movie isn't nearly enough to help you--and it is full of cheap shots at ignorant fundamentalists, messianic nutjobs and wishy-washy moderates, but as far as entertainment goes it's pretty good. I also appreciate that it avoids the typical liberal approach of tip-toeing around Islam. If you're going to call bullshit on one, you've got to call it on all.
If you're looking for something beyond laughing at the idiocy of people who think they know the absolute truth then read Daniel C. Dennett and Sam Harris. If you just want more shits and grins try Dawkins and Hitchens.
6 comments:
It's a comedy. And a Bill Maher ego trip, but still a comedy.
I still need to see this.
And don't forget your daily dose of cranky athiesm from PZ Myers Pharyngula.
I gave it three stars when I rated it on netflix. It was funny, but flawed.
He does a good job of showing how crazy nutjobs in the obscure corners of religion are dangerous and strange. He does a less compelling job of connecting those nutjobs to the mainstream of religion. He (and Richard Dawkins) has done a better job of that in other media and interviews I've seen. To some extent, he skipped past the foundation needed to build the argument. I filled in the blanks because I'd seen his other arguments elsewhere, but the people who need to hear this message would be unconvinced by what that film presented.
For that matter, I feel that either the "religion will kill us all" theme should have been stated as a thesis from the very beginning, or it should have been left out.
I think it's an important message, and his last five minutes made the point pretty well. However, prefacing them with more than an hour of insults and cheap shots doesn't help sell that. By the time he gets to his thesis, the people who need to hear it have already turned off the TV or left the theatre.
It doesn't work as a "surprise" ending. Nor does it summarize his encounters during the film, most of which were with pretty calm and friendly folks who don't come off as dangerous just silly or stupid.
The only folks who'll get that message are ones who sat through the rest of the film. Most of whom are watching it for the humor value at that point. Few comedies end with such absolute downer endings... Brazil is the only one that comes to mind immediately, and it's not really a comedy.
Overall, I think it's a shame that he didn't do a better job connecting the dots and actually interviewing intelligent people instead of total cranks. It could have been more powerful. Feels like he's squandered an opportunity, and made things more difficult for other directors who might attempt something similar down the road.
I slightly disagree. Kind of.
I'm actually a lot less inclined to see this (I'd rather spend my time watching something like Dawkins' Enemies of Reason series) since I learned that Maher is, on several other fronts, an anti-science wacko. In particular, he believes the thoroughly disproven vaccines-cause-autism myth and apparently does not believe in the GERM theory of disease.
All this has crossed my transom since Maher won the Dawkins award because of the film you've written about.
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