A Question of Christ: DOGMA

By Summer Mendoza and Desiree Sylvester

Besieged in controversy, caused initially by The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and taken up by many over-zealous religious organizations, Dogma, Kevin Smith's fourth movie, has been dubbed anti-Catholic and anti-religion by many. However, Smith describes the movie as pro-faith.

In a QandA with the writer, director and star of his three previous films, Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy, Smith offered answers to and his opinion on the protests and campaigns to keep his movie from reaching theatres.

"It's just a movie," Smith said to a theatre full of college journalists. "Furthermore, it's a movie with a giant rubber poop monster."As two Catholic girls going to a Jesuit university, we found the film to be anything but anti-Catholic, or anti-religion.

Smith describes the movie as a "comic fantasia," which does deal with angels, demons, apostles and prophets, but reinforces the true meaning of religion, not discredits it.

Dogma follows two fallen angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) as they search for a way out of exile in Wisconsin. Loki is the former Angel of Death, who was banished from paradise for deciding that he wasn't into his job anymore, and Bartleby was banished for aiding in Loki's attack of conscience.

The two stumble upon a way back into paradise through a loophole in Catholic doctrine. They discover that by walking through the archway of a church in Red Bank, NJ, after its rededication, all of their sins will be forgiven. The church in question is being rededicated because of Cardinal Glick's (George Carlin) new movement to make the Catholic Church more modern, Catholicism Wow. Among Glick's plans is the change of the church's main symbol from the "kind of creepy" crucifix, to the new user friendly "Buddy Christ," which is a statue of Christ giving a thumbs up and smiling.

After being forgiven, if Loki and Bartleby were to become human and die, they would then return to heaven. The only problem being that this would mean God made a mistake by overlooking the reentry to heaven by the two exiled angels. This goes against the word of God, and such a blasphemy would erase all existence.

To prevent the end of the world, the powers that be choose a woman, who just happens to be questioning her own faith, to stop Loki and Bartleby. Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) is aided in her task by Rufus (Chris Rock) the 13th Apostle who is none to happy about being left out of the Bible for "political reasons" and two prophets, Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith himself). Along the way they meet a muse (Salma Hayek), a demon with a jones for air-conditioning (Jason Lee), the Voice of God, Metatron (Alan Rickman), and the Golgathan Shit Demon.

The film was ripe with the sarcastic dialogue and humor characteristic of all Smith films, with a steady dose of morality for balance. Through the characters and the humor in Dogma, Smith analyzes his own faith as well as makes his audience think about theirs.

The Catholic League found many things in the film to be blasphemous including the new and improved "Buddy Christ" and the satirical nature in which Smith views the Catholic Church. It also condemns the idea of God taking a break from overseeing all existence to play skee-ball. Prior to the its release, Dogma stirred up enough controversy to make the original distributor, Disney, drop it.

Smith said the problem started when pirated versions of the script began appearing on the Web. Some religious leaders got wind of the movie's blend of comedy and religious exploration Ñ though Smith contends those responsible for the rabble-rousing never saw the movie or asked him what it was about Ñ and began a campaign to prevent Dogma's production and release. The campaign was so great that Smith added a section to the movie's official web site, www.dogma-movie.com, showcasing the hate mail he's received.

In response to the controversy surrounding the film Smith pointed out the comic value of the movie.

"It started out with me asking some questions about my own faith but the flick doesn't attempt to hold out answers to any of those questions," Smith said. "It's meant to make you laugh."Smith also laughed off the accusations of both the movie and him being anti-Catholic in anyway."I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school," Smith said. "I wish I could say I had a bad experience in school with nuns wrapping my knuckles, but I actually had a lot of fun."

When asked if Dogma's new distributor, Lions Gate Films, was prepared to defend the movie from more controversy, particularly in the conservative South, Smith sarcastically said, "I don't know if Lions Gate is prepared for the South to rise again."

Most of the morality in Dogma comes from the character Rufus. It is the 13th Apostle who claims that Jesus is not exactly happy about the fighting and hate that is carried out in his name. He goes on to explain that it's the turning of a good idea into a belief that causes most of the trouble.

"It's easy to change an idea, but it's hard to change a belief," Rufus tells Bethany.Smith also shared the story of how pop star Alanis Morisette garnered the role of God. It turns out Oscar winner Emma Thompson was originally cast as the Creator, by suggestion of Rickman, but pulled out after finding that she was pregnant. Thompson wrote Smith a letter explaining/apologizing on "official Emma Thompson stationary" which Smith has posted in his office.

"When people come to my office I say 'Look, someone famous wrote me!'" Smith said. "Then Affleck said, 'Well, I'm famous.'"

Smith also answered questions about his future, and the future of Jay and Silent Bob. He said he does plan to include the duo in more films, but they will eventually retire.

"It would be so sad if I was 45 and still hanging out with this 'Snoochy Booches' guy," Smith said.Ultimately, Dogma doesn't mock religion rather it makes you examine why you are religious. Like the rest of Smith's films, Dogma is full of non-stop laughter and "Buddy Christ." We highly recommend it.

Des and Summer are seniors who major in something or rather. And for the record, Kevin Smith's favorite New Kid is Donnie.