So what happens when you give God the finger? That depends on whether you're a character in Dogma or the filmmaker.
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So what happens when you give God the finger?
That depends on whether you're a character in "Dogma" or the filmmaker.
Loki (Matt Damon) the destroying angel decides that even smiting people in God's name is still morally reprehensible and decides to rebel. And so he and the angel who talked him into it, Bartleby (as in Herman Melville's "I prefer not to" Bartleby, played by Ben Affleck), are sentenced to spend the rest of eternity in (no, not that!) . . . Wisconsin.
Writer-director Kevin Smith, meanwhile, whose film is one giant middle digit (extended more toward organized religion than God), was forced to write a disclaimer to run at the beginning of this film--a yadda-yadda-yadda pre-emptive apology to keep religious fanatics from doing anyone harm. And of course he couldn't play that one straight either, making jokes about God's sense of humor and anyone so uptight as to confuse comedy with a religious treatise.
I guess that all depends on your perspective. Though Smith tries to blow this off as nothing but yuks, "Dogma" still has quite a few things to say about the rules that shape today's religions--Roman Catholicism in particular. Anyone who attends a church where the worship services have been "modernized" (whether by guitars, ministers in Hawaiian shirts, chatty sermons, or suspensions of ritual) will know exactly what Smith is suggesting when a Cardinal (George Carlin) unveils a less depressing icon in the Buddy Christ, a rendition that replaces the crucified Christ with one who points, winks, and flashes a thumbs-up sign--one who looks as if he'd be more comfortable wearing a silk shirt and gold chains around his neck than a shepherd's robe. This Cardinal is rededicating a New Jersey church by making parishioners and new converts an offer they can't refuse: anyone who passes through the doors of this church will be allowed to enter directly into heaven. But this modern-day seller of indulgences opens the door for our two fallen angels to finagle their way back into heaven. Or, as they put it, "A LOOPHOLE!"
The problem goes deeper than two screw-ups reentering the Kingdom of God. As the angel Melatron (Alan Rickman) explains to an abortion worker who's been chosen to stop these two (Linda Florentino, as Bethany), the whole system is predicated on God's infallibility. If these two beat the system, why, everything crumbles: the world, the afterlife, everybody's cookies.
Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) make an appearance as unwitting prophets who are only interested in getting into Bethany's pants, and their antics are a whole lot more fun to watch than they were in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Smith crony Jason Lee makes an appearance as Azrael (as in that dog from "The Smurfs"?), a Hellboy-looking devil plotting his own angle and using three in-line hockey skate punks as his minions. Salma Hayek doesn't have nearly enough to do as the Muse, but Chris Rock rocks the boat with his irreverent portrayal of Rufus, the 13th Apostle who was best buds with Christ but was written out of the Scriptures by a bunch of prejudiced white men.
But the nature of God and the Apostles is not as important to Smith as the sometimes arbitrary rules and regulations-the dogmatic principles-that make believers of all faiths jump through different hoops. It's organized religion that Smith skewers, and with all the satisfaction of someone who'd been rapped on the knuckles one too many times by a sour-pussed nun.
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[release]23252[/release]