Livin' On a Prayer

A review of Religulous.

Bill Maher’s Religulous, directed by Larry Charles (Borat, Curb Your Enthusiasm), is smart, incisive and engaging. To be familiar with Bill Maher and his brand of intelligent, biting, envelope-pushing humor is to similarly be aware of his utter disdain for organized religion of any kind. At least that is the persona he chooses to present to the public. Notably, however, when one watches his big screen endeavor intended to deflate and challenge the premise and plausibility of organized religion, Religulous, it becomes apparent that Mr. Maher is not devoid of faith, but rather seems to be suffering an ongoing crisis of faith precipitated during his teenage years by his parents’ departure from the church (he was raised Catholic though his mother was Jewish) so that they could utilize birth control. That seems to me to explain a great deal, not only about the genesis of Mr. Maher’s search for logic in religion, but also with regard to his highly sexualized public persona. Instead of making a film to demonstrate that religion is silly, Religulous seems to chronicle a quest for proof that there might be some form of organized religion that isn’t a farce (by Mr. Maher’s demanding standards).

The prospect that such a religion might actually exist seems to terrify Mr. Maher on some level, since accepting such a notion would require him to rethink and reset who he is, publicly and privately. Thus, as so many of us do, he uses humor as a defense mechanism and goes for the broad and “easy” jokes to ensure that he entertains his audience while also demonstrating his intellectual superiority. To achieve this, among the majority of the people that he spoke to for his film, Mr. Maher clearly selected those who represent the most extreme views of their particular religion. While seeing him provoke these various characters in interviews might seem to make for better drama and ostensibly be more interesting, in reality, it’s a copout. Sure, we all get a good laugh at how ridiculous these people seem and at Mr. Maher’s mostly clever snark, but the greater challenge would have been for him to speak with more relatable people and draw their views out, then find the humor in the spaces between, because it’s certainly there to be found.

The moments when Mr. Maher chose the easy, obvious and occasionally offensive insults were disappointing precisely because he is so intelligent and capable of more. It is this expectation of a higher level of humor and discourse that brought me to the theater to get more than my weekly dose from Real Time instead of, say, finding satisfaction with Dane Cook’s Tourgasm. That being said, a great deal of Mr. Maher’s conversations were fascinating. For example, when he did speak with a more moderate figure, a prominent American scientist who bucks the trend in the scientific community and sincerely embraces a Christian faith, the conversation was both illuminating and entertaining. Mr. Maher sought to elicit an explanation of the inexplicable from one who lives his professional life according to the scientific method.

Mr. Maher similarly seeks an explanation for how the United States’ identity has become so wrapped up in religious fervor. He compares Americans to those of similar faith abroad, trying to understand how it is that Americans have gotten so carried away in their expression of faith. A particularly clever and illuminating segment of this exploration involved an examination of the origin of what some claim is “this Christian nation.” Mr. Maher thoroughly debunks that notion by tracing the history of the birth of the United States and presenting numerous quotes from various Founding Fathers that directly contradict those who would claim the U.S. to be “this Christian nation.”

It is these moments, when he makes the political personal, that Mr. Maher is most effective. The conversation that he has with his mother and sister, tracing the origin of his own faith and crisis of faith is both witty and touching and frames the film’s narrative well. But the relatively small glimpse we get of this conversation left me wanting more. Similarly, Mr. Maher bookends the film with his attendance of a truckstop church service and his discussion with the truckers in attendance after the service. Though he ultimately shakes his head in amusement at their embracing of a faith they cannot explain, it actually seems as though, more than anyone else, this group challenged Mr. Maher in his cynicism and made him think. That is ultimately what Religulous seeks to do it and it is a goal well-achieved. I recommend the film to anyone intrigued by a mostly-intelligent discourse on religion, although be forewarned if going to see it in the theater: not only does Mr. Maher have a big head when it comes to his estimation of himself, but physically as well -- the close-ups of his head/face/forehead on the big screen can be distracting as they make it clear: the man has had work done. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially since with this film, he’s delving deeper and getting spiritual work done.