This movie,
seeking a release some time in 1999, just lost Disney as a distributor.
Written and directed by Kevin Smith, of Clerks (1994) fame,
Dogma could have been interesting and not very offensive. Unfortunately,
though, it succumbs to Smith's subconscious need to insert salacious
and scatological material into the proceedings, for no purpose
other than to shock his audience. By the way, I am not referring
to the salty language, used by all characters, heavenly or otherwise.
Loki (Matt
Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) are two angels who were cast
out of Heaven thousands of years ago. They think that they have
found a tricky way back in. It seems that Cardinal Glick (George
Carlin), in an effort to get people excited about the Church
again, has set up a plenary indulgence on the occasion of the
centennial of St. Michael's church in New Jersey.
A plenary
indulgence is a remission before God of all the temporal punishment
due to forgiven sin. So, their plan is to become mortal by removing
their wings, confess their sins, then step through the special
plenary indulgence archway. After that, all they have to do
is die, and it's straight up to Heaven--or so they think.
Actually,
there is quite a bit wrong with the theology here, but grant
Smith some poetic license.
The major
plot issue is that since God condemned these angels, but also
must support the plenary indulgence that would supposedly get
them back up, a huge conflict exists. Since there is no resolution
to this dilemma (Gospel according to Kevin Smith) God would
just cancel all creation.
To ease
all your minds, if there are any fallen angels trying to pull
off something like this, any notion that they can just become
human by removing their wings is blue-sky speculation, at best.
Furthermore, Catholic theology teaches that no one but God knows
for certain when a plenary indulgence is actually gained, because
only He knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate.
In the case
of Loki and Bartleby, the norm for disposition that all attachment
to sin, even venial sin be absent, is clearly violated over
and over in the story.
Now, back
to the plot summary.
Metatron
(Alan Rickman), the voice of God, informs Bethany (Linda Fiorentino)
that she is the one who must stop the angels from going through
the archway. Why her? Bethany, you see, is the last scion of
Jesus. She is a descendant of one of Jesus' brothers.
Here again,
the theology is skewed, as well as offensive. Even if one argues
against Mary's perpetual virginity, few Christians would propose
a normally conceived sibling of Jesus to be his full brother.
Indeed, for all of Smith's posturing as a "devout Catholic,"
it is difficult to find a Catholic doctrine that he has not
distorted or destroyed in this narrative.
Bethany
will be helped in her task by Rufus (Chris Rock), the self-described
Black 13th apostle, not mentioned in the Gospels, and two prophets,
Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith).
As this
motley group heads from suburban Chicago to New Jersey, they
have a series of adventures, including fending off an attack
by a gang, and various creatures from Hell. One of the more
forgettable demons they fight is Golgothan (Ethan Suplee), politely
described as an excremental. I'll give you three guesses what
this demon is made of.
Our heroes
get some help from Serendipity (Salma Hayek), a fallen muse,
who tells Bethany that God is a woman.
There is
a huge battle at St. Michael's, and God, who has been kidnapped
(don't ask), is rescued by Bethany, who is killed in the process.
Never fear,
though, as God (Alanis Morissette) revives Bethany, and good
triumphs.
Like I said,
this could have been a decent pic if more attention were paid
to theology, and less to scatology.