Posted by Andrew595 at p105-122-x.trinity.reshall.calpoly.edu on November 15, 1999 at 19:05:18:
Hi. I loved "Dogma." Went and saw it with a ton of friends Saturday night and we laughed like crazy. But I was most affected by the spiritual stuff in this film. I am a Christian, so I was definitely interested in what this movie was going to say. And I expected it would be reverent, because Kevin said it would be. But I had no idea...
I definitely didn't agree with all the theological stuff in the movie, because in my opinion some of it contradicted the Bible, but I also understand that a lot of that was to be taken in context, and may not actually be the viewpoint of Kevin or the film. And I probably won't recommend the film to a lot of Christians because they will simply be offended by all the sexual dialogue, etc. Let's face it: I was too (even though it was still funny). But I was so into the spiritual ideas and teachings in this, a relatively mainstream film, that I felt it outweighed the stuff I didn't like. I have to admit I didn't expect this from Kevin, even though "Chasing Amy" was definitely deeper than "Mallrats" or "Clerks." I just remember thinking: So many non-Christians/Catholics are going to see this movie and basically hear the Gospel (well, close to it - especially that seen where Damon and Affleck go back and forth about God's existence/forgiveness).
Then, after seeing the movie, I discussed it with some of my friends. The Christian ones agreed that, of course, the movie wasn't blasphemous. And they all loved it too. But the coolest thing came from talking to a non-Christian friend about the movie. He's got no religious background at all. And he said he was personally touched by the film. His words: "This film had stuff I definitely needed to hear. It made me think a lot about spiritual stuff." And I got to talk to him about it for awhile.
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for making a great movie. I don't agree with all of it, but I definitely benefited from the movie as a whole. Here's hoping the next is even better...
Andrew Parker
P.S. Glad to hear The Roots in there too!