Skyward Fire

So after weeks and weeks of waiting, I was finally able to watch Bill Maher’s Religulous, the controversial documentary directed by Larry Charles of the Borat fame. I had previously stumbled across feedback about the documentary from those who had seen it over various online discussion groups, and the composition of hate and admiration for the same made the whole waiting process even more frustrating. Adding to that, the corrupt mainstream Indian mentality of the distributors and the Censor Board here that basically just focuses on profit maximization instead of showing people what they really need to see, made sure that this strong message was better off the Indian crowd. So, the movie never had an official release venture in the country. But then again, even if a movie such as this one was to come here, the extremist termites from various socio-politico-religious groups would have dared to pop out of their lonely shells again only to cause a little more chaos that exists in India already. You can watch the trailer here.

Through Religulous, the much-hated amongst extremist corridors all across the world, Bill Maher, tries to question the authority. Throughout the story, he challenges the authorities to clear his doubts and questions that he raised to the self-conscious followers of God. He also adds a flavor of the sense of humor he’s known for on the stand-up that he does and his show, Real Time with Bill Maher. I wouldn’t be wrong to call him an anarchist, since he has been after the various politicians in the States, and many abroad, for their belief in God and the religious faith. Anyway, so that’s pretty much everything about Bill Maher. Time to shift focus to the documentary.

Technically, the word Religulous does not exist. But as far as the this particular title goes, it is supposed to signify how ridiculous religion actually is. Throughout the stretch of time, Bill pokes fun at Islam, Christianity, the Jews, the Mormons, Scientology, Hinduism, and basically any other religion that comes to one’s mind. He discusses with forefront activists from all these religions on their own working grounds, and brings up issues that come attached to the whole deal with religion. The kind of character sketch of Bill Maher that one can build from watching this particular documentary is the fact that the man has taken a very clear, and stern stance against religion, and you cannot reason him out no matter how convincing stuff it is that you’re saying. But for a major part of the documentary, when the interviewees felt cornered, they basically just stated faith and belief countering Maher’s attacks. This is exactly what he wants, and apparently, that’s what he gets.

I must admit though, that personally, in spite of agreeing with most of Bill Maher’s views, I’m not much big a fan of the kind of comedy he individually presents. There are various instances where it felt like he got caught in his own web, and then desperately threw sarcastic tantrums at the folks he was interviewing. But then, that’s just for a short while, and pretty inconsistent. All in all, he did indeed succeed in putting forward what he’s trying to say. Heck, many atheists who’ve seen this movie felt slightly offended. The whole thing about whether religion makes sense or doesn’t is a deep discussion in itself, and so are various opinions by various people on various related topics, so I will refrain myself from going into all that. Though as I said before, a very strong statement goes out through this movie. Bill Maher makes it clear that religion needs to end for man kind to live. Obviously, many people don’t agree, including the guy in the red tee at the Truckers’ Chapel in Raleigh, NC. That particular guy was immediately offended when Maher started shooting questions. That is basically the stereotype this documentary wishes to target. People put forth arguments based on just blind faith, slight belief and sheer coincidence, and they seemed to fail at every Bill bullet that came at them. We also have a clear cut example of how religious extremism is plaguing peace all across the world. Religious phonetics from a particular group in the middle-east and south-east Asia are completely dedicated to ensure that stability doesn’t exist and there’s chaos, fear and anarchy all around. And they’re succeeding, because of the indirect support these bunch of people get from the outside world, who’s not exactly physically involved in enforcing their thoughts and beliefs over the common mass.

The use of reference in the form of various archival footage, movie clips, and all of that was well set, and well coordinated with the theme the movie wants to shed light on. He also focuses on how exactly some phonetics and selfish extremists use this blind faith as a tool for extract financial benefit and personal gain, no matter how deep they have to get inside the innocent people’s minds. The documentary also targets the irony amongst every representative figure who appear in the video trying to stand for some certain scenario, but eventually coming off as a figurative approach for something absolutely opposite, giving Bill Maher just another opportunity to mock them even more. Another hilarious moment was when Bill was interviewing Mohamed Junas Gaffar, from the Taibah Mosque in Amsterdam and his cell phone started ringing. His cell phone ring tone was a Led Zeppelin song, Kashmir, and everyone knows what that particular band stands for. Most of the people from that particular religion interviewed by Maher were in absolute denial when he stated facts and asked them for reasoning. And it wasn’t just them. Most of those when questioned about the motives behind what they do in the name of religion, flipped completely.

To sum up, Bill Maher notably did a good job. He succeeded in his motives, and came up with something that is very assertive. Mockery is the only way you can possibly deal with a creationist. Religulous is a must-watch for anyone who’s in two minds about whether religion has to do with all the problems in the world, or not. Even if you’re someone who thinks it’s sad on Maher’s part to think the way he does, you’ll still love the way for the way he presents it, only until you start taking everything he says on a personal level.

Skyward Rating – 8.3 / 10