Review of Religulous (2008) by Kashiki H — 08 Dec 2010

Sorry Billy...

I like Bill Maher a lot. I consider him an insightful, humorous and intelligent man. I watch his show regularily and remember how intrigued I was when I heard that this movie was being made.

I've always given Maher a lot of credit and respect for being a "better than average" conversationalist... certainly he has an agenda but like most veteran "performers" with a political bent, Maher usually prepares extensively for his interviews and appearances. He plans his arguments and statements and formulates his position on any given subject, well enough to face down the most credible and intelligent foes.

...and that's why RELIGULOUS kinda leaves me a bit cold.

In RELIGULOUS, Bill travels the world... trying more to convince others that their religion and the belief of "god" is a foolish endeavour, than to try to get any answers for himself. To his credit, Maher tackles pretty much every denomination and religion with the same amount of contempt.

I understand that Bill is PERSONALLY satisfied with the answers he already has in his own life... and I certainly don't need or expect some kind of guidance from Maher as I happen to be pretty straight on my own beliefs already. But please Bill... at least TRY to challenge my intellect as a viewer of your product.

My biggest issue with RELIGULOUS is that a smart, prepared, logical and highly critical Maher spends the entire film humiliating and ridiculing people that don't even BEGIN to reach the same intellectual level he possesses.

Maher spends Religulous intellectually bullying people that are completely incapable of presenting anything that even approaches a well measured, intelligent challenge to him.

He takes the easiest way possible... attacks the easiest targets available... to prove his point and I expect much, much more from him.

Religulous is like watching AMERICAN IDOL contestants who show up on stage and belt their little hearts out because they think they can sing, only to have Simon Cowell crush them when they're done.

It was fun for the first season.

Then it got tedious.

Segment after segment, Maher drags out some of the (seemingly) simplest people he can find, to argue his points against and it very, very quickly gets B-O-R-I-N-G.

Even when he manages to get someone of intellect (British author, David Icke) up on the screen... he squanders any opportunity to add a modicum of gravitas to the film by mercilessly editing the shit out of the conversation in his favour...

Icke would have lost the argument, ultimately... but those unfamiliar with Icke will watch him in this film and think him a COMPLETE buffoon thanks to Maher's shoddy editing, as opposed to hearing him out and deciding for themselves.

SOME of Ickes' theories make quite a bit of sense and he's a highly intelligent guy, but admittedly... some of the stuff he says is really whacky. The point is that Maher does a real hatchet job on Icke by presenting ONLY the stranger, more "out-there" concepts in Icke's bag of tricks. You know, the stuff that's easily dismissable.

RELIGULOUS ends up just making me feel bad when it's done. I feel slightly annoyed that I've spent almost 2hrs laughing at the simple souls that Maher dragged out onto the screen to belittle and mock. I feel guilty because it's like I pulled up a lawn chair at the local playground with a bowl of popcorn to watch some grade 8 kid verbally abuse a bunch of grade 1's and I did nothing about it but giggle.

I know he wasn't about to get an interview with the Dali Lama or the Pope... but arguing against the guy who plays "Jesus" at a Biblical-Themed amusement Park or a bunch of "Born-Again Truck Drivers" who congregate at a make-shift tractor-trailer church... at a roadside truck-stop?

Fail.