Religulous

Directed by Larry Charles , and written by Bill Maher, this American documentary aims to prove that there is no reasonable point in keeping faith in God and following any religion. Considering how controversial the topic of religion has always been, Bill Maher choses the oddest subjects to prove his view.

To start with, the documentary focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I accidentally came across a group of friends watching it, so I missed the Judaism part. I was immediately drawn to it, just like the rest of the party. Bill Maher has a certain style to provoke the subjects, but doesn't necessarily give them a chance to explain their views and beliefs. Moreover, he consciously asks indelicate questions, so the inte

rviewee is either left completely confused or feels trapped.

I noticed how there was a slightly more aggressive approach towards the Muslims. That footage was from the Middle East. A woman was stopped in the street and asked about the current situation, and she starts off very relaxed, but the film maker keeps pushing and bringing references from the past. At some point the woman looks offended that he is not listening to her, instead only reinforces his own statements. Another random selection was a muslim gay couple in Amsterdam, who clearly had no clue what they were taking part into. The couple was pleasant and probably high. Bill seemed to only use them as an example how a gay community cannot develop freely in the muslim world.

The most entertaining part was maybe the last third, when the film maker was meeting some dedicated muslims with extreme views and using captions to mock their beliefs. I have to admit that I was laughing just like everyone else, but afterwards felt quite bad the way they were presented. It seemed that if the Christian community was slightly odd, the Muslims were shown as complete lunatics. In my opinion, there is certain boundary that a film maker should never cross, if he wants to stay objective and ethical. Well, this documentary was off limits. The selection of subjects was not fair and equal in the 3 religions which were explored.

Finally, the last ten minutes tried to sum up the "ridicule" of worshiping any God, but felt quite long. It consisted of images of nature disasters and terrorist attacks. Despite trying to make a grand statement of the uselessness of religion, the ending was not convincing, unfocused and generally sloppy. It's main advantage is the high production quality.