Dogma

Dogma presents many controversial topics throughout the film. The existence of angles, prophets, and God, abortion, and being a woman. This movie pushed boundaries by doing everything against the grain of how we’ve been told or how the media portrays what we think about topics like this.

Bethany, the woman who is chosen to go to New Jersey, is harassed in every scene that has Jay and Silent Bob in it. Jay and Silent Bob (technically Jay majority of the time) are always saying inappropriate and sexual things to Bethany about what they want to do to her or what they want from her. I found this funny at times, but mostly annoying because it went on forever. They would always try to make sexual deals with her. The only way she got them to take her to New Jersey was because she agreed to have sex with them if it came down to a life or death moment. And had it not been for Jay and Silent Bob looking for women to hit on at night, Bethany wouldn’t have even been saved by them in the first place. I found most of Bethany’s relationship with Jay and Silent Bob funny. However, it was also pretty offensive because of the way they would talk to her.

The movie presents some pretty strange ideas, like angles walking here on earth with humans. I thought it was very odd that there were angles on earth in this movie because it has always been my understanding that angles can only exist in heaven. I understand why the angel came to earth, because he had to give Bethany the news of the journey she had to go on. He chose very strange ways to prove to her that he was a real angel. Strange and also very inappropriate. I was a little freaked out when the angel proved to Bethany that he was truly was an angel by pulling his pants down and showing her what he “didn’t” have.

The prophets were very strange as well. Jay and Silent Bob were the prophets in the movie. They are not what I would normally consider a prophet to be like. They were inappropriate, crude, and pretty dumb. I thought it was funny but also sad that Jay and Silent Bob were the prophets. When I think of a prophet I think of someone who’s incredibly nice, willing to do anything for anyone else, and who’s naturally good at many things. ..Jay and Silent Bob.. not exactly like that. Even though they weren’t the average prophets, they still did cooperate with Bethany for the most part. They helped her in the beginning when she couldn’t open her car. They helped her on her way to New Jersey and they never actually did anything bad to her. Although they weren’t terrible people, I still found them pretty offensive as people who were supposed to be prophets.

I thought the way dogma portrayed God was interesting. God was played by a woman. Another way that Dogma pushes limits. Most people see or think of God as a man. I thought this was a good way to put a spin on things.

Abortion is a small topic in this movie. Bethany works at an abortion clinic. The reason why this was seen as controversial was because Bethany is catholic.

The movie Dogma has a lot of characters and scenes that push the limits. There are two prophets who are poorly dressed and perverted, there’s a thirteenth apostle who is African American, there’s an angel with no downstairs, and God is a woman. Dogma was very offensive, but that’s why it was a good movie. It portrayed it’s characters in the opposite ways of how the media would have. We’ve always been under the influence that angels are good spirits who made their way to heaven.. not scary old British guys who dress dark and attempt to drink tequila. The apostles have always been viewed as twelve men.. not thirteen including an African American man. Prophets are seen as important people who were put on earth for very specific reasons, and Jay and Silent Bob are definitely not what you would expect for that position. And God is someone we view as the father of Jesus Christ, someone who’s a man, not pop sensation Alanis Morrisette. I liked the movie Dogma because of these boundaries and limits that it pushed. It made me think about what life would be like if angels and prophets really were like how they were in the movie and not how they are portrayed by our religious teachings or the media.