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Larry Charles who dissected the American cultural landscape
with Sacha Baron Cohen in the guise of ‘Borat’ took a swipe at
America’s narrow-minded view of foreigners. Now with the help of
long-time stand-up Bill Maher, he takes on America’s view of religion
and also makes pit stops around the world taking in the view of Judaism
and Islam. Unlike ‘Borat’ which was played for laughs to the extreme level of having men wrestle naked and run naked through a convention centre. This time Charles wants to make a serious statement about the controversy and challenges of religion through the spectre of religious sceptic Bill Maher – ‘I am Jewish, but I was brought up Catholic’ – to say he is confused is an understatement. Unlike Borat, who is a vessel for ridicule, Maher is an intelligent man who takes up the pilgrimage to question people’s beliefs by stating facts about the New Testament and how religions although they want to be considered different, share a lot of similarities. Maher goes to London, Amsterdam, Egypt, Jerusalem and the Vatican and meets self-confessed messiahs, atheists, extremists, and even a Jewish Rabbi who does not believe in the state of Israel and is shown hugging Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (!) A documentary in the guise of Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock’s ‘Super Size Me’, making a critical comment on something very abundant and powerful in people’s life; Maher says something, the person can defend themselves or attempt to fall over their own tongue and then Maher zings them with the truth – like when the Jesus from Holy Land Resort, Florida says to Maher, ‘The story of Jesus is unique to our culture and not told before’. Maher replies, ‘No it isn’t’, then follows the story of Horus juxtaposed with all the movie versions of Jesus through Hollywood. Horus was the Greek god meaning, ‘One upon high’ and his life story strike remarkable similarities to that of Jesus’. Two fascinating scenes are when he meets a priest in the Vatican who mocks his own faith and the belief cycles – such as celebrating his birth on December 25th, pretty much stating it is a fabrication. And when he appears at Speaker’s Corner where disguised as a loon he states the tenants of Scientology to a crowd who give him every minute to talk and listen intently – here the statement is made that people will listen if it is justly believable. Bill Maher: You know, Scientologists [sound of audience laughing] Bill Maher: And right, you're like, "Oh, yeah, that's some crazy shit. Okay." Jesus with the virgin birth and the dove and the snake who talked in the garden, that's cool. But the Scientologists, they're the crazy ones. In the end, Maher sits on the fence saying that religion is dangerous, it creates doubt and makes people ignorant of other faiths, races, prejudices and social class systems. Maher and Charles have expertly edited their footage to get the point across by making the people they interview not appear foolish, but make their words sound foolish and in life when you sometimes have only your faith – that may be the last thing you lose. Recommended viewing.
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