I finally watched Religulous tonight and I’m glad I didn’t go to watch it in the theatres. As much as I like Bill Maher and his show on HBO, I found this movie lacking any kind of depth. I’ve watched him do stand-up in Philadelphia and this movie reminded me a little too much of his comedy routine. Maybe that was his reason for making this documentary but I was a little disappointed with the outcome. The movie consisted primarily of two types of scenes: Maher interviewing people and Maher talking into a camera while being driven in a car.
When he interviewed people, he would often try really hard to make fun of them and their beliefs instead of trying to understand and seriously critique their points of view. Often, he interviewed Middle-Easterners and Europeans and they didn’t quite get his American brand of humor and tended to give him blank stares. When he was talking into a camera while being driven, there was this weird voice in the background either asking him questions or agreeing with him. It annoyed me trying to keep up with what this voice was saying. Again, this is strange because his show on HBO is very polished.
Bill Maher had the opportunity to truly represent the 16 million people he says are non-religious. A better job at making this an informative, critical, and thought-provoking documentary would’ve gone a long way in making non-religious people feel safe(r) in a country that has, for as long as I’ve known it, been considered a Christian nation by its leaders.
Krishna Srinivasan 