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TIFF Review: Religulous

Posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

Larry Charles’ Religulous is a film I’ve been looking forward to since the project was first announced. I have a few confessions: I loved Charles’ Borat and I’ve been an avid viewer of Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect over the years. I grew up Catholic, but Maher’s views on world religion pretty much mirrors my current opinions. So it’s sad to report that while I did enjoy Religulous greatly, it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping it would be.

The basic gist involves Bill Maher traveling the world to various locations, meeting with experts and followers of various different religions. These interactions usually end with Maher making jokes at their expense or giving the participants just enough room to hang themselves. The idea is for the participants to look stupid and for Maher to prevail with simple logic.

Religulous is very funny, but its not your typical documentary. Maher takes advantage of manipulative techniques such as using subtitles or superimposed text on screen to contradict or ridicule what the participants are saying to the camera. Don’t get me wrong, by calling the techniques manipulative, doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the resulting footage. The comedic style of documentary allows for such unusual and usually unethical ideas. Also, the editing is top notice, inter-cutting stock footage throughout for further comic effect.

My biggest criticism of Religulous is that it focuses on comedy over content. The only real substance comes in the form of a few monologues that Maher filmed throughout his travels in various different biblical locations. If you’ve seen Maher’s well written rants at the conclusion of his New Rules segment, then you have some idea of what to expect. It is here where we learn the film’s only true informational gem - that another god predates Jesus that was also born on December 25th, walked on water, and was resurrected after death which is slight proof that religion is just the further perpetuation of ageless myths as fact.

At the end of the day I would have rather seen Maher take a more serious view on world religion. Hearing Maher and more specifically Larry Charles, speak on the subject of Religion in the post screening Q&A was incredibly fascinating. I want to see that documentary. It could have been more itneresting to see Maher placed in conflict with academics who can stand their own ground. But from a pure entertainment standard, Religulous succeeds with flying colors.

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Comments

erik

Great review. And to be honest, I was a little worried that this movie was going to be less a comedy and more of a documentary about religion with some comedy dispersed throughout. Although you were expecting this to be a more serious film, I wanted the opposite and thankfully it sounds like that's what we're getting.

Michael

If you are looking to Bill Maher for truth and enlightenment, you are always going to come up short. He's entertaining at times, but a reputation for a concise wit is not deserved. Look to Comedy Central's fake news shows for a contrasting example and you'll see how short Maher's attempts come.

As to "slight proof" that the Jesus myth is based on older traditions (had to reword your writing for greater accuracy), you simply need to reach out to the many books on the subject for greater proof. "Jesus Who?" and "Jesus Mysteries" are two off the top of my head.

Wallâ€¢E Plays Pong

Hey Peter, could you post more info about the particular god that predates Jesus but is very similar? I'm just curious about this nugget of info and was wondering if there was any place I could read more about it online.

Hunter Stephenson

Bummer. I really thought Maher would give 100%. What's the point of releasing this movie in 2008 if it's less potent and relentless than an old Carlin monologue?

MonkeyMafia

Having not seen the film, I can't judge whether or not it is too comical, but I think you were possibly looking for a different film. By being comical a la BORAT, I think the producers and pro-movie audience will be able to counter the protesters who may have felt the movie being too hateful or close minded (I understand the irony of that). Not to say that frank discussions by anti-religion scholars can't be had ("God is Not Great" is a must-read) but I think playfully showing the more absurd aspects of religion has a place too. The hardest part of being an atheist is not succombing to the urge to mock or preach to people who do believe in god; it makes you look like an elitist and a mean spirited person, which will hardly change peoples minds. It's a tough line to walk, no doubt.

Peter Sciretta

WALL-E I wish I had written that information down, but I did not.

Hunter Stephenson

@MM

The hardest part of being an "atheist" is understanding that you're not an "atheist." There is no ridiculously beloved media word/label/grouping for people who do not believe in dragons, witches, werewolves and giant talking clouds, and there should not be one for people who don't believe a man with a beard or his son or any "deity" runs the universe and also created it and <3s you and co-wrote an entertaining book about it. The term "atheist" is an unneeded obstacle in a much needed final public discourse.

The internet will eventually do the job i expected Religulous to contribute to, so it's no big loss if it sneezed.

MonkeyMafia

@ Hunter

I agree with you on the unnecessary existence of the word "atheist" BUT I do think that there is some merit is bringing people of like mind together. When I say atheist, I think of the people openly discussing criticisms of religion (especially pertinent to political discussions nowadays). The term "Anarchist" doesn't really need to exist either but it does give an identitiy about those who classify themselves as such. That being said I'll start refering to those I previously deemed atheists as Religious Anarchists... just cause.

Baron Von Cheddar

@ WALL-E
CBC in Canada aired a doc about the subject this past Easter. I only caught part of it but recalled enough to Google "Jesus" + "Egyptian Origins" to get the name Horus. Hope that stimulates your research bug.

Baron Von Cheddar

Oh yeah, similar stories exist in other mythologies including Balder of the Norse and the Hindu Krishna. I'm sure people on either side of the religious debate have and will make fodder of this.

Garth Franklin

Do a search for 'QI Mithras' on youtube, Stephen Fry several years ago explaining the distinct similarities between Jesus and the Roman god Mithras

fabescore

@ WallE: watch the movie Zeitgeist, it breaks down all the "virgin births" and such. and it shows how the story of christ and all the others is really just an astrological occurance that has been personified (personified probably not the right word.) Anthropomorphized? wait, thats mr. hankey. zeigeist, baller!

boomsocker

Parallels between the stories of Jesus and Osiris-Dionysus

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa2.htm

Pentarix

@ Wallâ€¢E

I'm an ex-"born-again" christian, thanks in part to videos like Zeitgeist.
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Jmoney

I loved Politically Incorrect, but I hate Maher's views on religion, he is a pompous ass know it all. I hate how he seems to think its possible to disprove the existence of a higher being by simple logic. does that make sense to anyone, the biggest questions of existence/life being answered by the most simple form of reasoning?

Disproving the myths surrounding Jesus does not mean religion is for suckers. jesus being based on an earlier myth does not disprove the existence of a supreme being, to me it is somewhat proof that there is truth in the story, if every religion has a similar story, maybe its based on something that actually happened

entertainmenttodayandbeyond

With the state of todays political climate combined with the right wing ultra conservative Sarah Palin being so popular among half the country, RELIGULOUS will make for explosive dinner table talk among many people. Personally this film is being released at the right time in America were religious fanatism is running rampent in some circles.
I can't wait to see it!

sean dailey

@Jmoney - the thing is though, christianity often touts itself as the one true religion, new and unique from every other. clearly, it's not.

just because several different cultures have similar legends and stories doesn't make them any more true. it speaks more to the commonalities among the human race than proof of a higher power.

charlie

2 Chorinthians 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Proverbs 24-30
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
But ye have set at anought all my bcounsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Alma 5:30-31
And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?
Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!

Doctrine and Covenats 63:58
For this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in the last days.

Max

I must have missed the post where this was explained: but what does TIFF mean?

Jmoney

Max: it means Toronto International Film Festival

sean dailey: if all Maher was doing was discrediting organized religion then ok, but he's not, he's taking the giant leap. he's insisting that by prooving organized religion is a load of crap then that must mean there is no higher power. that's a stretch and i wish he had the balls to talk to real thealogens (sp?) and metaphysicists, but he doesn't, he just makes stupid people look stupid on camera, whoopty doo!

Wallâ€¢E Plays Pong

Thanks for the all the info everybody, I appreciate it.

By The Gates Of Moria

Maher's apparent duty in life is to destroy Christianity for no reason other than the fact that he is too stupid to actually look at the true facts of it. I've been going to private Christian schools for 12 years of my life and I know a lot about the minute facts of the religion. Maher, from what I've seen of his comments, has apparently not looked into it much. I pity him and hope he can resolve his small mindedness towards The Lord.

By The Gates Of Moria

Also, I forgot to add....There is an excellent book that one of my religion teachers turned me onto that really disputes all the arguments that athiests and nileists bring against the authenticity of Christianity. It's called Case For Christ by Lee Strobel. It is basically the chronicles of Strobel as he goes around asking great Christian scholars very tough questions about Christianity, tougher ones than this heithen Maher asks.

Another thing about Maher, he picks out pretty weak targets to pick on when it comes to asking questions of Christ. If he came to a Lutheran High school like the one i graduated from and even asked some of the students these questions, they could easily answer them.

My total point is this: don't let this film turn you off Christ. Our religion is so infailiable....You really just need to search further for the answers than some idiot like Bill Maher. Trust me. I'm skeptical too. But really, He is the way, the Truth, and the Life.

By The Gates Of Moria

by the way, wall e , It actually explains the "gods" that are supposedly simmilar to Jesus that predated jesus in Lee Strobel's Case For Christ. I actually know a lot about it. The simmilarities are not well founded, and it's really a very old argument that I'm suprised he even brings up, because it has been proven incorrect and flawed as an idea so many times. If you don't believe me, there is probably good info on it on the internet. Can't remember the gods name though ):

caleb

hey, i believe the name of the god maher specifically refers to in the end of the movie is horus. as moria said, there are many ancient gods from egypt, the middle east, rome, india, and so on who, skeptics claim, bear uncanny resemblance to Jesus Christ in terms of character traits, claims, and miraculous deeds. however, as fair-minded religious historians of various theistic and atheistic backgrounds have continued to study these figures, almost all of the uncanny coincidences have vanished. for instance, one of the claims made about horus is that he was born of a virgin, but he was not. in fact, his mother conceived him by having "sex" with the dismembered penis of the dead god Osiris. (also, the fact that he was "born on december 25," doesn't really matter at all, because it never says in the Bible that Christ was born on that day. we've just designated that day to celebrate His birth.) there are many other problems with this and so many other "copycat" theories. i am a Christian, but i have also spent the past 3 years actively questioning my faith and doubting its veracity. i know too well that there are countless things to get hung up on when dealing with Christianity, i just don't believe this is one of them, based on the testimonies of most scholars. i also realize this probably isn't the proper forum for this type of discourse. i just saw a question and wanted to help. you can delete this if you want to, peter. thanks for always bringing quality reviews to the /film masses.

Dr_Gonzo

Good review. One thing I would say is that it's pointless to take a more serious view on debunking religion because it really doesn't matter what is said anymore, religious people need that blanket of security that religion provides. You can be as serious about the details as you like but it won't matter.

Much of Richard Dawkins work breaks down religious belief one stage at a time so that his view from a scientific point of view is irrefutable. Then with propaganda films like Zeitgeist which was interesting but somewhat factually incorrect you can see a suggestion of collusion within religious circles and a deconstruction of all faiths in nice manageable chunks.

Ultimately though, those who are religious are unreachable now and no serious or scientific or even fear-led breakdown of the nonsense that is organised religion will ever break their resolve -because they have been brainwashed or indoctrinated.

So why not have a comedic approach. Similar to the way Borat underlines stupidity and racism, so through Bill Maher and others lets laugh at those who are backward enough to believe in an invisible man or deny the existence of human life longer than 6000 years ago. Let's out them for the village idiots they are.

Love n kisses
Gonzo

BA

Parallels to Mithraism have been factually dismembered
1,000 times over

Parallels to Horus have been factually dismembered 1,000
times over

Zeitgeist has been factually dismemebered 1,000 times
over. It's probably the worst, as it doesn't simply get the
facts wrong, it flat out misquotes the Bible and lies
about mythological comparisons that don't exist.
ie: Horus born from a virgin. He was not.

Read and compare facts instead of reading the postulations
from hack writers and anyone who has access to a computer
and a modem.

boomsocker

Just one more that gives more detail concerning this subject.

The God Who Wasn't There - 10 minute clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKs9cYegSt4

Roberto

"Read and compare facts instead of reading the postulations
from hack writers and anyone who has access to a computer
and a modem."

See, I can sit here all day and tell you that I have, and that none of that makes a damn bit of difference toward proving that the Christian Bible's account of our existence is the one and only Truth, and it would never ever matter in a million years anyway because your mind is made up. You lack a capacity to tolerate ambiguity, I don't. Our brains simply operate differently and you need to believe those things, I don't. So I just have to laugh and shake my head when I read this statement. You're staring at the finger pointing at the moon.

Just for fun, I'll tell you my definition of the thing you refer to as God. If all of existence were a board game, "God" would be the sum of the pieces, the board, and the rules. None of which presupposes a conscious entity separate from and operating independantly of the game. And certainly not one prone to petty demands of worship beyond a healthy sense of awe at the scope and scale of the complexity of it all which any thinkng person should possess. Jesus, while undoubtedly a cool guy, is no magical ticket to a land in the sky called Heaven. There are no miracles and there is no magic. Call it what you like, it is what it is no matter what name you give to it.

And if you really want my opinion on Religion (I know, everyone's got one) the Hindus and subsequently the Buddhists have come the closest by far to accurately describing the nature of the universe and reality than any of the other major religions combined.

BA

fighting a comment about postulations by submitting postulations ... nice.

Roberto

LOL! No real respone. It's okay, I understand. Nice evasion though.

Roberto

Out of curiosity, please tell me where one finds these indisputable facts of which you speak and have studied. And which is the proper language in which to study them? Being that languages do not possess a 1:1 word to word ratio, but vaguely similar meanings and concepts that do not always correlate directily in translation. For my own personal edification. I appreciate it.

jerry seinfeld

it's just a movie, folks.

maher will no doubt get pats on the back and a few 'that-a-boy's from his liberal friends the next time he's at the playboy mansion...

it will be forgotten a week after it's released.

JS

Mick

Here's me just venting. Lemme know if any of it works.

I used to be a christian and at some point I started having doubts about the validity of what I was saying I believed in, questioning the very existence of "god", Christian or otherwise. I prayed about it, asking for revelation; studied the bible more, searching for deeper understanding of the supposed truths therein; fasted about it, you know, everything I could think of to do, including just trying to be obedient follower of christ. (I'm sure someone will look at that list and say, "ooh, you forgot to, um, turn around three times and masturbate into a pickle jar," or something, but yeah, I did that too but just forgot to mention it)

anyway, all of that and I could still hear a still small voice saying, "this is all b-shit," which, when I finally listened to it, brought me into a new understanding and peace that has truly passed understanding to a time where I feel as if I've been finally born again into a life without the anguish, stress and strife caused by religion.

I heard a pastor recently say something to the effect of seeing from an early age the devastation that a life without Jesus can bring. That brought to the forefront all the guilt (not for anything I'd done, but for some original sin thing that ended up crucifying Christ), sleepless, tear filled nights of anguish, trying to connect with an unreachable, unmovable god... Talk about devastation.

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