FurryFury
Since: Oct, 2009
04/01/2010 00:00:00
I'd even say the movie deconstructs and then reconstructs Christianity. And does it very intelligently.
ccoa
Since: Jan, 2001
04/21/2010 00:00:00
The movie actually doesn't make God female, though. He/She appears as both over the course of the movie and is referred to as both genders by different characters.
Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.
Tal9922
Since: Jan, 2001
05/16/2010 00:00:00
Nerdy Ninja, I think you're kinda missing the point. The whole 'God is Female' running gag was aimed at how, if he's supposed to have no gender, why is he always referred to as a male? It would be as equally (in)accurate to refer to her as a female and have her appear as one. As for Jesus being black, to me it was obvious it was a joke on how this historical fact was "edited out" of the bible. The movie didn't seriously try to claim it as the truth.
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An Incredible Satire
Dogma is the only movie in the View Askewniverse I have ever seen, but I've heard it is a somewhat more raunchy sort of universe. Of course, I didn't know this when I saw Dogma, so I was able to view it as a stand-alone movie. I was very pleased with what I saw.
I'm going to admit right off the bat that I'm a Christian, albeit from a low-liturgy denomination, so I watched this movie with a Christian viewpoint. Some of the historical details and Christian views (the dogma, if you will) were almost painful at times. God is not a female (technically not a male either, even though we normally identify Him as male), and Jesus was definitely not black—Jesus was ''Jewish''. I really can't say what Catholics believe, since I'm not one, but there were probably some mistakes there too.
At the same time, Dogma got a lot of things right that many Christians don't. While God isn't female, and Jesus wasn't black, it wouldn't diminish anything scripture says if they were. And while the details may have been wrong at times, the message was dead on. In fact, it sounded a lot like what Christianity is supposed to be. While the movie is often perceived as an attack on Christianity, it has an almost scholarly view on what it was supposed to be attacking.
In conclusion, if you look past all the crude uneducated humor and language, you find the perfect example of a satire: an intelligent movie that does more than just attack it's target. It criticizes it, finds the flaws, rips it apart, yes, but then it builds it back up. It's a criticism, but a constructive criticism that remains in line with Christian theology and philosophy. This is what a satire is supposed to be.
I would highly recommend this movie to all Christians out there (non-Christians as well, but for different reasons). It's a movie with a very wise message. Even if you have a different reaction and don't agree with the movie like I did, it still gives you a lot to think about.