by Bill McLochlin

A wise man once said that there are two things you should never talk about: religion and politics. Apparently Kevin Smith chose to ignore this bit of advice. With the impending release of his new film, Dogma, writer-director Smith has gotten the religious community all in a tizzy. Dogma, which boasts an all-star cast that can be attributed more to Smith's great popularity than to the critical and financial success of his past films, is about two fallen angels who find a loophole which will allow them to get back into heaven. His rough treatment of organized religion, specifically the Catholic faith, has made Smith quite a few enemies, and has brought him just as much free publicity for this much-anticipated film.

Smith, whose work is known for bargain-basement production values and bitingly clever dialogue, has previously stuck to topics designed as much for the "Jerry Springer" show as for the big screen. From lesbian lovers to Gen-X slackers, his characters have been anything but holy. Now, by changing his focus from convenience store clerks and comic book writers to winged celestial entities, Smith has garnered a lot of attention, and ire, from the religious community. This attention from the Catholic Church is hardly new -- one pope or another has butted his pointy-capped head with the movie industry since film was invented -- but for Smith it is definitely a change in audience.

From Scripture to Screenplay

The clash between the holy good and Hollywood has some exciting moments throughout film history. Although most religious-themed films seem to slip under the radar, some cause great waves and greater controversy. Despite the fact that Christianity is only the third-ranked religion in number of followers worldwide, Christians seem to be the loudest critics of modern film. They came out in droves to oppose the 1979 Monty Python classic, Life of Brian. This movie was about Brian, a Jew who was born on Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus, and who was mistaken for the messiah by an anti-Roman revolutionary group. Christian groups picketed theaters and harassed filmgoers in the U.S., but the reception was far worse overseas: Life of Brian was banned in most European countries. Even though the creators of the film made the wise decision of changing the film's title from "Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory," it still wasn't shown in Norway until 1980, was kept out of Italy until 1991, and is still banned from being shown in Ireland.

Another film that met with great opposition from the Catholic Church was a modern retelling of the tale of Jesus' birth. When Jean-Luc Godard released Je Vous Salue Marie (Hail Mary) in 1985, he instantly became public enemy No. 1 among Catholics worldwide. The pope condemned this movie before production even finished, and it has never been shown in most Latin American countries. (Coincidentally, Dogma has also been fervently attacked before its opposition has even seen it. As one protester puts it, "You don't need to drink polluted water to know it's bad.") The most interesting thing about the controversy over Godard's film is that despite recasting Mary as a high school student who works at her father's gas station and Joseph as a cab-driving high school dropout, the film is actually a very reverential movie. It has been listed as one of the most influential religious films of all time, although it is still banned in more than a dozen countries. As a matter of fact, Hail Mary was actually honored by the Catholic Office of Berlin recently, even though it wasn't allowed in the country for many years after its release.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Too Blessed to Ask

If there is one thing that is sure to set off religious activists, it is mixing sex with scripture. When the movie Priest (1994) depicted a Catholic father conflicted between his homosexual nature and his calling, volcanoes of righteous fury erupted all over the Catholic world. Although many thought it was a sensitive tale of human suffering, the Catholic Church quickly banned it. The film was one of the factors that led religious groups to boycott the Disney company a few years later (the film was distributed by Miramax, a Disney subsidiary). None of this could stop the gay rights movement from using Priest as a call to arms for a non-celibate clergy (which is now the standard in two out of the three major Catholic sects).

Another film that caused a huge scandal for bringing S-E-X into religion was The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). This movie actually showed Jesus in a love scene -- full-frontal nudity and all. Director Martin Scorsese definitely deserved the chutzpah award for that bold move. Much of the opposition to the film, however, came from groups who had never seen it. If they had seen it, they would have known that the "last temptation" of the title actually referred to Satan tempting Jesus with a vision of a normal life, as a loving husband and father. The tastefully done sex scene played a very small part in the movie, which was actually intended to be a reaffirmation of Jesus' sacrifice. However, that didn't matter to most religious advocates who have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sex and the church. (Insert choirboy joke here, and proceed directly to hell.)

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Crucifix It

Despite all the clamor over Life of Brian, Priest and other such movies, some religious-based films actually managed to slip under the radar of religious leaders. Strangely, nothing was ever said about the Dudley Moore parody, Wholly Moses! (1980). This story of Herschel, the man who was actually supposed to lead the slaves out of Egypt but was too clumsy and inept, rewrites the biblical epic more radically than any of the banned films, yet was totally ignored by religious groups. Apparently they never saw "Arthur the loveable drunk" as much of a threat, or maybe they correctly guessed that so few people would see this film, it could hardly have any lasting affect on anyone. In the same vein, Mel Brooks' film, History of the World: Part I (1981), also evaded controversy although it poked fun at religions all through history as well as important religious moments as The Last Supper and The Inquisition. I guess if there's one thing you can count on, it's that you can't count on anyone, not even religious fanatics.

Today, modern culture seems to be veering away from the Religious Right and the conservative values of our forefathers, so it seems to be getting even harder to draw religious ire. Most recently, such films as Leap of Faith (1992) and Apostle (1997) have attacked organized religion with a big stick, but could barely get a rise out of anyone. Perhaps as our country becomes more jaded by the constant stream of sex and violence in the media, and we spend more of our Sunday mornings in bed than on our knees, it may seem futile to religious leaders to fight the old battles against sin in cinema. Earlier this year, Stigmata debuted, denouncing many of the tenets of the Catholic Church. Unlike Life of Brian, et al, it wasn't even banned in a single country. As one clergyman put it, "The message goes to the heart of the troubles with the Catholic Church, but it was too MTV-ish for the church to take seriously, or to consider to be some sort of threat."

Perhaps religious leaders have discovered a better method: Make their own damn movies. Last month, Providence Entertainment, a movie distributor funded by Christian organizations, released The Omega Code, a James Bond-style thriller specifically targeted at Christian audiences. The film featured no cussing, no sex and minimal violence, and its grassroots style publicity campaign actually landed it in the top 10 at the box office during its opening weekend.

Are You There God? It's Me, Kevin Smith.

I suppose that with all of this in mind, we should applaud the irreverence of Dogma. Kevin Smith is either a bold thinker who insists on stating his beliefs despite their controversial nature, or he is a marketing genius. By generating such a buzz among the religious community, Smith has managed to create a bigger scandal not seen in years. This attention is sure to pay off in terms of viewers when the movie airs, as history has shown that nothing makes people want to see a movie more than being told how naughty it is. It may have cost him his first choice of studio (Dogma was dropped by Disney subsidiary Miramax before being picked up by Lions Gate), but the controversy is sure to bring huge publicity to Smith and big numbers for his film. If he can endure the death threats (I'm not kidding), and the opposition of such figures as the Mayor of New York City Rudy Guliani (who recently took time off from closing down museums to try to close down the film's premiere), Smith should have a big hit on his hands. This should increase not only the size of his future filmmaking budget, but also the number of big-name actors willing to be in his upcoming pictures.

Perhaps this controversy and the accompanying publicity are what the producers of the end-of-the-millennium Arnold Schwarzenegger film, End of Days, are hoping for. In the trailer for the film, the year 1999 rotates slowly until it becomes 666, the devil's digits. Although you'd think this would tick someone off, the saddest thing is, nobody seems to care. What kind of world is it when you can't even intentionally offend someone? Maybe they should take a cue from Kevin Smith. Dogma has ghetto-mouthed black comedian Chris Rock as a 13th apostle, and angst-ridden pop star Alanis Morissette as God. Maybe it's casting like this that has really ticked everyone off. Hurry Arnold, I think there's still time to work Martin Lawrence as a wisecracking saint and Courtney Love as the bitchy diva somewhere into your script.