What we actually have is a light-weight action film packed full of theological
discussion and debate all neatly packaged inside a comedy wrapping.
The film can be considered on all these levels. The central story is one of two
Fallen Angels; banished from God's Kingdom the Catholic Church opens up an
Earthly loop-hole permitting them to get back to Heaven.
Of course, if they make their way back in, God's proven to be fallible and the
world as we know it, along with all existence, will go up in a puff off smoke.
So we have Bethany, an abortion clinic worker, and lapsed Catholic, who is
chosen to stop our Fallen Angels, who, as well as being determined to get back
into Heaven decide to do a bit of wrathful vengeance against sinners en route.
And along the way we bump into The Voice of God, a Demon and his trio of
skateboarding minions, Rufus, the 13th Apostle, a Muse, now working as a
strip-dancer, and a couple of Prophets for good measure and cohesion.
A veritable array of characters with some classic comedy as this unlikely
group pop-up in today's modern setting.
The comedy set pieces were a little bland in places but raised a smile or
two. The sexual jokes were pretty tedious and "F--k" was used to excess with
only a few truly humorous renditions.
The s--t monster was banality at its worse.
The new, "Catholicism Wow !", campaign was rather incisive as it reflected
the struggle Christian religions have to get bums on pews; the
new Buddy Christ, thumb up and a winking eye, isn't that far removed
from the images of Christ portrayed as Che Guevaro which are appearing on train
platforms across the UK.
And it is the theological debate which is the true core of the story. Although
seen as filler by many who have seen the film as a purely comedy
vehicle there was some serious stuff under discussion here.
Dropping in the allegation that He, God, is actually a Her is not a new claim
to have hit the streets. That Jesus happened to be black probably made a few
more people sit up in disgust, whilst others rolled around in hysterics, but
tied up with the 13th Apostle's claim that all this had been edited out of
The Good Book for political purposes brought us to part of the film's central
message.
Just how much of God's Word has been corrupted by organised Christian religion ?
And, as the film tore ruthlessly into the dogma, interesting questions were
raised about the nature of the deity we call God.
The role of Angels, especially the fallen ones, was brought into focus, an area
not traditionally considered in Religious Education classes; how can God give
us humans such free will whilst ruling Angels so harshly ?
With sinners being gunned down for their crimes, the righteousness, some would
say ruthlessness, of God was well portrayed and the film's contrasting ending,
as God puts everything back to how it was and throws in an immaculate
conception for good measure, it left plenty to discuss afterwards.
The film kicked hardest at the organised Catholic faith, pointing out the
Church's inaction on slavery and the holocaust, but failing to touch on the near
destruction of the ancient South American peoples, the Spanish Inquisition and
Witch Findery, but its attack was not purely anti-Catholic.
It is the Catholic Church however which has kicked up the most fuss. The film
was dumped by its original production studio, Miramax under the onslaught and
has drawn the attention of various anti-defamation groups.
The film now appears with a prefixed disclaimer, along the lines of, look, its
meant to be funny, God has a sense of humour.
Let's hope so, but tacking on a cop-out clause doesn't change the sentiment of
the film. It may have led a lot of people to see Dogma as nothing more
than a Bill and Ted Battle With Fallen Angels film, plus there seemed
to be some evidence of censorship editing, and it has avoided much of the
public outcry, in Britain at least, which accompanied the release of Monty
Python's Life of Brian.
Which is surprising; the heady theology may have been buried but it hasn't
been lost.
Perhaps it's because we are approaching the year 2000 and, soon after that,
we'll be entering a new millennium. Perhaps it's because people really are
losing their faith and the climate is now one of both seeking and questioning.
I'm sure that Dogma would have been scrapped or banned just a few years
ago; its existence says much about the times we live in.
Religious leaders should perhaps spend more time worrying about why so few
people have such little faith or belief in the traditional, orthodox teachings
than about the content of this film.
The film is, however, a message to the religious leaders as well; it stands as
a fine example to what many say and think about the doctrines purveyed.
In the battle for ratings, God's foot soldiers have not provided any credible
response in the debate which rages.
It may be that Dogma is blasphemous, it is questioning, it is offensive
in places, but it does capture the essence of many religious thoughts that
abound in a great number of people today.
