Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Dogma’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​Faith is a funny thing. It guides us, sometimes it binds us and most importantly every single one of us have it in some form or fashion. It doesn't necessarily mean we all believe in the exact same thing, since there are those who are all about believing in a God, while others believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or they straight up only have faith in themselves.

But the fact of the matter is, we believe in something and there will come a day when what we believe in will be tested to its core and it is often a day we dread because when faith is tested, it evolves and we may not come out of our respective crisis the same when it comes to our beliefs. It is that challenge of faith, and the discovery of it that surrounds Kevin Smith's cerebral and controversial film...Dogma. 

Mankind may have brought about the end of everything without even knowing it. For a new campaign by a New Jersey Cardinal to reinvigorate the Catholic Church has created a loophole that two angels banished from Heaven can use to reenter paradise and, in the process, prove God wrong and destroy existence. Which means our salvation will rest upon the shoulders of a woman named Bethany, who just so happens to be without faith and is also carrying a special secret when it comes to her genetic heritage that will help to save the day, provided of course, Jay and Silent Bob can get her where she needs to go.
 
Upon its release in theaters back in 1999, Dogma was immediately branded a controversial film by many a church and church group. After all, it addressed religion, heaven and hell, and well...all of the controversy surrounding this film was and still is a waste of time. There is nothing here that is offensive in my opinion. Sure, Kevin Smith's biting humor and right kind of crude jokes are present here, but at this point, you know what you're getting when it comes to his movies so why be so surprised that he’s going to crack jokes that some might consider crude?

But, outside of his usual flawless brand of humor, this film actually offers up quite a thoughtful look at faith and what it means to people. There is no bashing of any religion in this film, or any moments when it says we as a people should abandon faith in general. If anything, the film truly challenges us with Bethany's story, because it doesn't actually ask us to believe in a particular faith, it just asks us, to believe in something, and that's a pretty magical message right there and that alone makes Dogma worth revisiting time and time again.  

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