Moody Thinking

I realize I am little late on this movie review, but with a 2 year old, a thesis, and a full-time job, my only option for movie watching is usually long flights. So I watched “The Invention of Lying” on the very small in-flight movie screen for the first time last week.

First, we should establish the known facts. 1. Ricky Gervais is an atheist. 2. I am a Christian. So we fundamentally disagree on major issues, but I think the movie makes some good points and raises some interesting questions while at the same time presenting Gervais’ somewhat short-sided view of religion in general and Christianity specifically.

Ricky Gervais is very funny and pulls off subtle humor brilliantly, especially in an age when a lot of modern comedies rehash the  over the top “let’s drink and make jokes like 10 year olds” bit that sells more straight to DVD movies these days. Ricky Gervais plays Mark Bellison, a working stiff in a world where everyone tells the truth… always. He writes screen plays for televised readings about previous decades and loses his job because he could not find a way to make the Black Plague entertaining enough.

When facing an eviction, he becomes the first person capable of lying in order to get more money than he has out of the bank. He then carves a whole new life for himself by being the first person to be able to bend the truth, albeit without necessarily malicious intent. He takes in significant winnings in Vegas and reinvents the Dark Ages into the greatest historical event ever.

I found myself laughing out loud several times, especially when at the big moment of the movie where he is making his impassioned speech to his love interest, his friend continually interrupts him with side comments questioning what he is doing. Again, subtle humor at its finest.

That said, one of the major themes of the movie is the “creation” of religion at Mark’s mother’s bedside. She is facing death and is terrified of what is, or is not, to come. In order to comfort her, Mark lies and tells her that she will go to a place where she will be with everyone she loves and that everyone gets a mansion and will live in happiness forever. With these comforting words, believable because supposedly no one can lie, she dies happy.

The world is subsequently turned on its ear. Everyone crowds around Mark’s house, asking about the “Man in the Sky” and what happens when everyone dies. Mark then constructs a religion and writes down the “10 Commandments” on two pizza boxes. Later, when battling depression, Mark makes an appearance in sandals and a while sheet with long hair and a beard, a parody of Jesus.

The point here is not hard to miss. Religion was created in the minds of those unable to cope with the unknowns of death, namely that our lives simply end. Because humanity is incapable of critical thinking, they accept what Mark is saying, albeit while asking particular questions about the details that he cannot answer. The movie does not seem to hold the creators of religion as evil but as people trying to make the best of a bad situation, telling a white lie that snowballs out of control and becomes a cultural phenomenon.

This argument is not new and has been made by atheists for many years. The problem I have with this approach is that it basically assumes that humanity is largely stupid, willing to follow a delusion based on a white lie. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argues that one of the factors in his decision to turn from atheism is that, as an atheist, he had to admit that the vast majority of the human race was completely wrong. I do not wish to argue from the masses (so to speak), but it is an interesting point that an overwhelming majority of people believe in a God of some kind. In this majority are some of the smartest, logical, and sincerest people the world has ever known.

Love is more than genetic matching.

In the end, Mark makes a plea for his love not to think simply about science (genetics is the most important part of seeking a potential mate) but to consider love and make a decision based on her feelings. She pleads: “Mark, tell me what the man in the sky wants,” but he refuses, for the second time, to lie to her because he wants her to choose him because it is her choice. While I very much appreciate the emphasis on inability of science to provide the right choice over an emotion like love, the subtle criticism of those waiting for an answer for God is not missed.

The atheist seems to think that seeking the will of God is an unwillingness to make a decision for ourselves. In that indecision, we turn to a higher power so that we do not have to deal with the issue and subsequently lay blame on God for the consequences of decision. While I agree that many will unfortunately treat God’s will as such, I will say that for committed Christians, waiting on the will of God is the most logical step a person can take.

If I believe that God exists and that he is all-powerful and all-knowing, it would be foolishness to look anywhere else for guidance. So I am not unwilling to make a decision, I am actually making the best decision possible by asking the source of all knowledge who controls all things for guidance. To do otherwise would be the height of stupidity.

I appreciate the movie’s perspective and its criticism as well as its comedy. I am by no means offended as the producers simply put an artistic expression on an age old argument. But, there is a coherent perspective from Christianity that challenges this view. Let me stand on a soap box for a moment: Christians should not be “afraid” to see this movie because the exchange of ideas allows us to interact with one another on this world. We Christians have a bad habit of insulating ourselves against any divergent view and as such our faith is weak from lack of testing. We prove this movie’s point by showing ourselves incapable of critical thinking if we cannot handle any view other than our own.

Thank you for taking the time to read this review. Feel free to comment with whatever perspective you have, whether or not it agrees with mine.