Review of Dogma (1999) by Matt B — 20 Nov 2009

As Jay will say, "Fucking-A movie!" I am recently addicted to Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, watching his Clerks, Clerks II (love this SO much), Chasing Amy (which is in the syllabus of my screenwriting course), Mallrats... and here's Dogma, which totally threw me off right after the first 20 minutes! I mean, Kevin Smith did dirty comedies, but not black comedies. Dogma is a black comedy with (surprisingly) spices that questioning Smith's own religion: Catholic. I didn't have the idea that Smith actually can reach that far, and also that open to talk about what he believes. Of course the disclaimer at the beginning says that this movie is just for fun, but obviously, there is a voice, an angry, stylish voice to talk about faith. How this cannot be a controversial movie when you say that God is not just a Canadian pop star, but also a crazy woman? However, I cannot see how this must be a wrong interpretation, since didn't they make a movie called "The Gods Must Be Crazy?" Even though the "gods" is not the God, doesn't it tell you that divinity do have the abnormality?

Not that this movie makes me more respect to KS, but knowing that he actually had the courage to join a protest in his hometown makes me want to know this person already! He didn't even feel reluctant to be interviewed by the tv news. When I read his message posted after the protest, I couldn't believe his openness to people. I especially love this from him:

"At the end of the day, we're not that different - we two groups of Catholics. They just have a different set of values from me, and a lot more reverence for the Church itself than for the words of our Lord. They seemed nice enough, though. However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that they didn't have any donuts or coffee out there.".

Actually, I was thinking, if I were him, would I do what he did, and I think the answer is no, because I am not that great as KS is!