Religulous

[mizzoumark]

I've never been a big fan of Bill Maher. He's always struck me as condescending and arrogant, and that's to someone who tends to agree with his political views more often than I disagree with them. Granted, I don't watch Real Time all that often, so maybe I'm not getting the full picture. But, after seeing a sneak preview of his new documentary,

Comments

[tko_ak]

He's a condescending prick, but he can be funny.

[mizzoumark]

The movie is quite funny. But a lot of the humor is mean-spirited. I felt a bit dirty about laughing quite a few times.

And yes, "condescending prick" describes him very, very well.

[bdouville]

Thanks for this review. I haven't seen it yet, and I admit that even after reading this, I'm tempted. But I can see that I'd be simultaneously amused, disappointed, and angry.

It reminds me of how I expected a deeper critique of religion when I watched the Dawkins documentary The Root of All Evil (and when I read The God Delusion). But his critique and arguments struck me as insufficient. Still, at least Dawkins is a serious critic (in spite of all of his flaws), while from what you're saying, Bill Maher sounds like the "Michael Moore" of the New Atheism.

-- Bruce

[mizzoumark]

I would encourage people with an interest in religious issues to see it, if only because it will almost certainly be the most discussed religion-themed film of the year (but possibly not the most seen--I could easily see Fireproof, the latest Christian glurgefest starring Kirk Cameron, outgrossing it). People with faith should know going in, however, that they'll be mercilessly insulted and slammed for an hour and forty-five minutes