Best movie of 2008: Bill Maher's Religulous

December 29, 12:22 PMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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From the perspective of a self-proclaimed rational individual, me, Religulous was the best movie of 2008 as related to atheism. Bill Maher gets his serious point across in a funny way. This movie is rife with humor, yet, it makes clear the overwhelming ignorant zeal that abounds in the world. I laughed so hard at certain points that I had tears streaming down my cheeks.

Yet, there are those who think of this movie as an affront to God. Perhaps it is not so easy for them to laugh at themselves, as they do not see their beliefs as absurd as others do. Honestly, how can you not find humor in the ridiculousness of some of these religious zealots? While some call it an expression of faith, others see it as an expression of lunacy. When you get down to it… it is really more sad than it is funny.

People have said that this movie was popular because of the current fad, which is atheism. Those who think that atheism is just a fad or a phase and that it will go away are sorely mistaken. More and more every day people are reaching out for truth… not belief… not faith. This is evidenced in the success of the movie as well as in little things like the attention that video clips from the movie, like the one below, draw. After only a few days the video has 70,000+ views, approximately 800 comments, and around 1300 ratings which culminate in 4 ½ stars rating.

Although the critics were divided in their reviews, Maher’s movie still managed to get a B average according Yahoo! Movies critics’ ratings.

"Maher happily makes a mockery of religion” was the title of a review by Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe. He gave the movie a C. There are those who would argue that Bill didn’t make a mockery of religion and that religion does that well enough on its own. That he pointed out the absurdities does not mean that he is the one who made the mockery of it.

Roger Ebert, who doesn’t necessarily agree with Maher’s views or his methods while filming and editing this “documentary,” admitted that he laughed during the movie and he gave it an A-.

Interestingly, some critics seemed to be more hung up on Maher’s character than with the content of the movie. It is obvious from their reviews that they dislike him as a person and whole-heartedly disagree with his views. In many cases, their reviews of the movie degenerated into nothing more than a ridiculous character assault adventure. In all fairness, though, even some of the critics who resorted to name calling and character assassination were kind enough to admit that there were bits of the movie that made them laugh. Perhaps they took Roger Ebert’s advice and “enjoy[ed] the material about other religions, and tune[d] out when [theirs was] being discussed.”

Regardless of what the critics say or what kind of money the movie brought in at the box office, I applaud it because it was bold, direct, and funny. And, although I don’t agree with Maher on every point, I applaud him for taking a stand and putting his thoughts out there to let other atheists know that they are not alone. Though our motivations may differ, I join him in his appeal to all atheists to come out, to take a stand, and to be heard.