Real-ligious Talk with Bill Maher

Photo of Thom Powers (l.) interviewing Bill Maher and Larry Charles (r.)

Religulous – Bill Maher and Larry Charles (Seinfeld producer and Borat director) are making a movie about religious beliefs. Ostensibly the film is about finding out what people believe and why. From the clips that were shown, it seems more like an extended skit where Bill Maher goes and asks people questions about their beliefs and then makes acerbic (and funny depending on your sense of humor) comments about what the person just said. I don’t know if the guys are seriously categorizing it as a documentary, but it plays like a comedy where each person we meet just acts as a set-up for a joke or riff from Maher. This isn’t a problem if you like Bill Maher, but I’m guessing this film will appeal only to those who do. I’ll probably see it, because although I find Maher a bit too smug at times, I still think he’s funny.

Since I already don’t subscribe to any faith, I don’t expect to learn anything new. I’m squarely in the choir on this one. I think these types of films are good for young people who maybe haven’t made up their minds about religious matters. There seems to be a point where the ability to believe just becomes hard-coded into people, a point where no logical argument against a particular belief or for an alternative will be persuasive. I’ve always just been about avoiding dogma in general; it’s kept me among the faithless for as long as I can remember.

The screening was more of a dialogue with Bill Maher and Larry Charles as the film was still in production. Roughly 15 minutes of clips were shown. The audience responded very well (but then how do you not shake your head and laugh at a rabbi in Israel who describes heaven as a place where--swear this is true--pizza grows on trees). Both Maher and Charles talked about their religious upbringings and how they came to both be non-believers. Larry Charles had the most interesting story in that he was actually planning to become a rabbi (interestingly enough, he looks like an orthodox Jew with his long beard, hat and black attire). He recalls telling his father whose response was something like “Are you f@#$ing crazy? Just get bar’ mitzvah-ed and get the hell out of there!” Charles went on to say that it was the unsatisfying responses he received from the rabbis in his synagogue that caused him to give up his dream. He would ask questions about the Creation story such as “how come God had to rest on the seventh day?” The rabbis, he said, would yell at him and force him to sit in the dark in the middle of a giant empty sanctum for hours until he stopped asking his questions. Yeah, way to propagate the faith, guys.

The rest of the conversation dealt with how they put the film together and some of the locales they went to (Jerusalem, the Creation Museum, a store in the UK that sold Islamic garb, etc.). Bill of course spoke about Bush and how ridiculous/ironic it was that faith is one of the most important attributes a candidate in the U.S. must have and wear like a badge of honor in public, yet we currently have in office one of the most hardcore persons of faith in history and we see how well that’s turned out.

One thing struck me about how the various religions are portrayed on film: Muslims are always humorless. It never fails. The Christians are usually affable, smiling folks; the Jews are usually self-deprecating and really funny; the Muslims—not so much of either. Just once I’d like to see them talk to some more moderate Muslims like the people I know who are just normal people with regular personalities—and a sense of humor.

Maher says the movie might get released in the Spring, but that’s not definite. If you watch the HBO show, I’m sure he’ll be providing more details.