Dogma is a comedic film, one that has plenty of laughs (like giant poop monsters) and plenty of fun, all while navigating through religion. I guess that the controversy towards this movie came from having Christianity as a backdrop for the movie, but I genuinely do not feel like there was anything blasphemous about it, as the Catholic League claimed. Maybe what the Catholic League found problematic was the way that the film joked and played around with religion in some ways. However, I really do not feel that the film mocked or criticized so much as it had a good time, never truly making criticisms about the church or religion in and of itself. The outrage and controversy that was sparked by this movie is evidence that some devout American Christians are just overly uptight. The movie was silly and defiitely a little bit stupid at times (again, giant poop monsters), but it had its poignant moments, as main character Bethany rediscovers her faith throughout her journey. I have probably said worse things about religion and Christianity than this movie ever did. There seems to be this idea in some extremely uptight Christians that their religion has to be revered and taken seriously by every single person. I completely respect someone’s choice to be religious and to have faith in a higher being, but I really feel like it’s ridiculous to expect utmost respect and piety from everyone else in the United States, especially when the jokes made in the context of their religion don’t criticize religion itself. Sometimes people kind of maybe need to get over stuff.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-07-9911070455-story.html