Dogma (film)

{{film}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Dogma'' (film)}}
{{hatnote|For the religious term, see [[dogma]].}}
'''''Dogma''''' is a [[blasphemy|blasphemous]] 1999 [[United States|American]] film by Kevin Smith.  You know it's blasphemous because:
#Chris Rock plays [[Jesus]]'s thirteenth disciple (who was cut out of the [[Bible]] because he was black), and 
#Alanis Morissette plays [[YHWH|God]], which is doubly blasphemous because she is a [[woman]] ''and'' a [[Why can't I own a Canadian?|Canadian]].<ref group=note>But then again, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb0zkQ9mbWc God ''would'' be a Canadian]</ref>
And that's ''before'' you look at the blasphemous [[theology]] that having ideas is better than having [[belief]]s or the fact that it features George Carlin (yes, ''that'' [[George Carlin]]) as a self-serving [[Roman Catholic]] bishop who starts a "''Catholicism Wow!''" (one of the best known parodies of religions trying to act cool in order to get "bums on seats").

==Controversy==
[[File:Buddy christ.jpg|thumb|left|The "Buddy Christ"]]
Like any film or production dealing with [[religious]] sensibilities, ''Dogma'' has attracted some controversy and criticism. And, like any film or production dealing with religious sensibilities, this criticism seems to have come from people who never watched it in the first place. [[William Donohue]], current president of the [[Catholic League]], publicly protested the film for months and was one of the most vocal opponents attempting to organise protests against the film. His representatives called View Askew (Kevin Smith's production company) offices and requested a special screening so that Donahue could finally watch the film. Kevin Smith's apparent response was: "So what has he been doing the past six months?" 

Smith also satirised such sentiment against the film by appearing at one of the Catholic League protests and carrying his own signs saying "Dogma is Dogshit." After being spotted by a TV news crew he denied being Kevin Smith (although said he was sometimes mistaken for the man) and gave his name as Bryan Johnson, his long-term collaborator. When interviewed, Smith stated that he hadn't seen the film but had just been told it was "not good."<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UDoIBgiUAQ Kevin Smith protests Dogma]</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QepgKVOVfZ8 Actual clip of Kevin Smith's interview]</ref>

==Theological goofs==
While Smith does use the film to promote some of his own religious ideas (he's still a practicing [[Christian]]) he does misrepresent some [[Catholic]] [[theology]] as part of the plot and has been criticised for it. The central plot point of the film, the repercussions of Plenary [[Indulgence]], is problematic as this part of Catholic doctrine isn't actually a total forgiveness of [[sin]] as the movie describes. Indulgence in Catholic dogma is the removal or reduction of temporal [[punishment]], such as punishment on Earth or time spent in [[purgatory]], not eternal forgiveness. As a result, Loki and Bartleby would not have been given the clean, sin-free slate that would be required to overrule God's decree that they should be cast out of heaven.<ref>[http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/dogma-article.html Dogma in ''Dogma'': A Theological Guide]</ref> But hey, even Cardinal Glick didn't spot that one.

==Buddy Christ==
The "Buddy Christ" motif used in the film has been reproduced as dashboard figurines and bobble-head dolls, as well as t-shirt illustrations with the legend "Got Christ?". It has also been used on other Kevin Smith films as a cinematic inside joke. The actual statue shown in ''Dogma'' is on display at Jay and Silent Bob Secret Stash, a comic book store in Red Bank, NJ co-owned by Kevin Smith.

==See also==
*[[Black Jesus]] is referenced in the film.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/characters/nm0001674 Dogma (1999). Chris Rock: Rufus] ''IMDb''.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/ ''Dogma'' on IMDb]
*[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Dogma ''Dogma''] on [[TV Tropes]]
*[https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=dogma ''Dogma'' movie script]

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Blasphemy (probably)]]

Categories: Blasphemy (probably)