victormedina
September 30th, 2009, 8:25 pm
Hey all,
I posted this last night on my blog and thought you might like to read it before deciding to see this movie.
I just spoke to a movie critic friend of mine who had just left a press screening of "The Invention of Lying" and even he, a professed non-conservative, was shocked that the film was essentially an attack on the precepts of Christianity. He knew I would want to know, and stated that the film is much different from the trailers you see on TV. The movie is written and directed by Ricky Gervais, who I otherwise find very funny on the BBC "Office." Even so, I will try to relay what he told me about the film. It is spoilerish.
According to my critic friend, the world depicted in the film is one where only truth is spoken, and lying does not exist (until Gervais' character invents it). Of course, in Gervais' world of total truth, logic, and reason, God and religion does not exist. At some point, a character close to Gervais' character dies, and to comfort their final moments, he makes up "a man in the sky," and an afterlife where family and friends will see each other again and good people get a mansion in heaven.
Of course, all of the naive people in this world believe his lie of God, and Gervais' character is treated like a prophet. At one point, he grows out his hair and beard and looks like a sloppy Jesus, and his made-up "gospel" - outlining basically what most Christians believe - is written on a pizza box made to look like the Ten Commandments. Churches aren't called churches, but places of meditation about the man in the sky. A church is shown with Gervais in stained glass like Jesus, holding the pizza box gospel. At the end of the film, he admits God is a lie. That's it. No "there might be a God." The film has no moral center except what the characters make for themselves. It hammers the idea that anyone who believes in God is an idiot by mocking Christian tradition.
Am I suggesting people boycott the movie based on what I said? No, but I am suggesting people be more informed about the film before they see it. If what I said is confirmed by other critics, then you know it's correct and you should make a decision based on that. I suggest you check a critic with some kind of moral compass like Ted Baehr at Movieguide.org (and no, he was not the one I spoke to).
Vic
(http://www.WhenLiberalsAttack.com)
I posted this last night on my blog and thought you might like to read it before deciding to see this movie.
I just spoke to a movie critic friend of mine who had just left a press screening of "The Invention of Lying" and even he, a professed non-conservative, was shocked that the film was essentially an attack on the precepts of Christianity. He knew I would want to know, and stated that the film is much different from the trailers you see on TV. The movie is written and directed by Ricky Gervais, who I otherwise find very funny on the BBC "Office." Even so, I will try to relay what he told me about the film. It is spoilerish.
According to my critic friend, the world depicted in the film is one where only truth is spoken, and lying does not exist (until Gervais' character invents it). Of course, in Gervais' world of total truth, logic, and reason, God and religion does not exist. At some point, a character close to Gervais' character dies, and to comfort their final moments, he makes up "a man in the sky," and an afterlife where family and friends will see each other again and good people get a mansion in heaven.
Of course, all of the naive people in this world believe his lie of God, and Gervais' character is treated like a prophet. At one point, he grows out his hair and beard and looks like a sloppy Jesus, and his made-up "gospel" - outlining basically what most Christians believe - is written on a pizza box made to look like the Ten Commandments. Churches aren't called churches, but places of meditation about the man in the sky. A church is shown with Gervais in stained glass like Jesus, holding the pizza box gospel. At the end of the film, he admits God is a lie. That's it. No "there might be a God." The film has no moral center except what the characters make for themselves. It hammers the idea that anyone who believes in God is an idiot by mocking Christian tradition.
Am I suggesting people boycott the movie based on what I said? No, but I am suggesting people be more informed about the film before they see it. If what I said is confirmed by other critics, then you know it's correct and you should make a decision based on that. I suggest you check a critic with some kind of moral compass like Ted Baehr at Movieguide.org (and no, he was not the one I spoke to).
Vic
(http://www.WhenLiberalsAttack.com)