Word: godly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Though not conveyed in the most ingenious manner, these themes in Dogma remain provocative, to say the least. They often take the form of shots at the church (to lessen the ennui, a churchgoer reads "Hustler" during a service Bethany attends), but never do they lead to God-bashing. You see, Smith doesn't satirize God, per se--he satirizes the inadequate human perception of God. Our quest to interpret the will of the divine has lead humans to murder, war, persecution, suspicion, and a bevy of other moral wrongs. The funny (and much less extreme) situation that Smith uses...
...Ultimately, Smith message is very ecumenical: as long as you love God, it doesn't really matter whether you believe the Almighty is male or female, white or black. Just for the record, God is a white female, who looks like Alanis Morissette? Well yep, that's Him at least according to this film. Placing Morissette in the role of God is certainly the most controversial casting in the film--not so much because she's a woman, but because, as one Internet fan revealed, "she's not hot." Yes, Emma Thompson was originally billed for the role, but Morissette...
...best thing about God's anthropomorphism is that it adds to the poignancy of Bartelby's situation. Though it is Bethany's struggle with faith that is supposed to be the centerpiece for Dogma, it is Bartelby's that proves much more intriguing. Metaphysics aside, his story is about a rebellious, frustrated child. Throughout most of the movie, Bartelby is the voice of reason, constantly rolling his eyes at Loki's own version of divine justice ("You didn't say 'God bless you' when I sneezed" Loki chastises, pulling a gun on an innocent woman). But after a theological discussion...
...This mix of jealousy and wounded pride proves a dangerous intoxicant; Bartelby later rebukes God, drunk with self-importance. It is this egotism that is God's foe, growing stronger with every ill-conceived rationalization Bartelby spews, until it is of Luciferian proportions. Not until the theophany of the last scene does the sight of the kind, matriarchal God reminds us that Bartelby's self-deification is something other than prideit is frustration with the fact that God loves him differently than She loves man. And we feel for Bartelby,, who is at last a soulful child, vying...
Kaminer, a contributing editor at The Atlantic Monthly and a commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition," began her talk with a discussion of the role of religion in politics, expressing strong displeasure with the presence of "god-talk" in the race for president...