Rating: 3.5 out of 5
First off, whenever anyone asks me what I thought of Religulous, I have to explain one thing. I saw the film as Bill Maher expressing great concern with the end of the world being caused by a ‘Holy War’ he focuses on this at the beginning then proceeds to interview fundamentalists about their views on the world. This did not feel, to me, as an attack on religion in general but of fundamentalists who promote violence, bigotry, or seem to have a larger investment in profit then in practicing what they preach.
I enjoyed the film as a vehicle to ask some big questions and to make some interesting points. Maher was incredibly prepared for every interview with quotes either from a religious text, of the individual or from history related to that group. I felt he was not in this to shock and awe the viewers; he genuinely felt lost in the shuffle of all these religions and didn’t understand why more people did not see religion as the vessel for the earth’s destruction and personal monetary gain as he did.
Though I may not agree with all the questions asked or feel the same way Maher does; I felt this film did what more of us should be doing; it asked questions. The interviews were performed in a way that felt comfortable, Bill Maher was speaking to his interviewees as equal individuals; he asked some tough questions and tried to cut interviews short when they started to feel unfair or uncomfortable. The juxtaposition through subtitles, archived video and music was brilliantly done. I would recommend seeing this film not to find any new answers or to learn a great deal about any one religion but to encourage you to ask more questions and hopefully have some really great discussion after the film.
