by Yvonne Berg, the Ottawa Citizen

Filmmaker Kevin Smith says his new work, Dogma, isn't 'anti-' anything, and is, in fact, true to his Roman Catholic values.

TORONTO - A film that features Alanis Morissette as God and comedian Chris Rock as the 13th disciple is a devout story, the movie's director says.

"It's pro-Catholic," says Kevin Smith, the 29-year-old film-maker whose comedy, Dogma, has drawn a torrent of criticism from the Catholic League for Religious Rights, an American lobby group, and the Catholic Civil Rights League, a Canadian organization. "They should be patting me on the back."

Dogma, which was shown this week at the Toronto film festival, tells the story of two fallen angels, played by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who find a loophole in Catholic doctrine that will let them get back into Heaven. In order to save the universe, God chooses Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a woman who works in an abortion clinic, to stop them. Along the way, in the dizzy Wizard of Oz-like plot, she meets the black disciple, a muse (Salma Hayek) who is a stripper, and two dope-smoking prophets named Jay and Silent Bob, a couple of empty-headed rockers who have made appearances in all of Smith's movies and spend most of their time chasing women and drugs.

"When you look at the history of religion, who did Christ minister to when he came?" Mr. Smith asked yesterday in an interview. "He didn't walk with the pious. He walked with prostitutes and tax collectors, the lowest of the low of His day. And lepers. He ministered to the people who were on the fringes, the minority of His day."

"And who are the minorities of this day, if not the losers we have in this flick? Jay and Silent Bob represent the worst of humanity, the stupidity of humanity."

Mr. Smith says that in this sense, his movie is a 21st-century update of most biblical texts.

The film is funny in a comic book way Mr. Smith says is intentional, and also steeped in Roman Catholic beliefs that send some of the references and jokes over the heads of a non-Catholic audience; the concept of a Plenary Indulgence, for instance, or a joke about the bishop's rosary.

Alanis appears at the end of the movie as a whimsical and poetic God who picks flowers and does a handstand, but never speaks. British actor Alan Rickman appears as Her voice. ("The voice of God should be British, and God should be Canadian," Mr. Smith said.)

Mr. Smith, who has known Alanis since 1996, calls her "a wonderful, wonderful human being, probably the best humanity has to offer. She's just a great individual and one of those people you strive to be more like -- just such an example of serenity and intelligence and good humour."

He said he offered her the lead role in the movie, but she declined because she was taking a trip to India. When she came back, she said she would like another role in the movie if one was still available, and she was put into the part of God that was originally to have been played by British actress Emma Thompson.

The choice of Alanis is one of the points of contention. The Catholic League says the Ottawa-born singer has declared her disdain for Catholicism in interviews.

However, Mr. Smith says the movie has been accused of a lot of things by a small group of people who have not seen it.

"It's been called anti-Catholic and anti-faith and anti-Christian and anti-God, a whole bunch of 'anti' things. It's actually anti-none of those. It's pro-all those things. The movie is fairly devout, as I see it. It's just that it's peppered with a lot of profanity and a lot of dick and fart jokes.

"It's not a movie that mocks the church. It actually upholds a lot of the Church's tenets. So I see no problem with the movie. And I know she (Alanis) didn't either."

Mr. Smith is himself a practising Catholic, although he says that when he is in church, he has a pick-and-choose attitude to what he hears.

"I sit there in church and I don't agree with everything the priest says, and based on everything I've seen in the last six months, the church doesn't agree with everything I've said. So let's agree to disagree."

Mr. Smith says the chief point he is trying to make in Dogma was that "it doesn't matter what church you hang your hat in, it's why you're there in the first place."

He said he places his idea in the landscape of Catholicism because that is the religion he knows. It is designed for all audiences, but Catholics will enjoy it more, he says.

"If you're Catholic, and you're not one of those knee-jerk Catholics who doesn't find anything funny, you'll really enjoy this movie, because there's a lot of inside stuff. I'm not saying you need a Catechism to enjoy this movie, but it certainly helps."

The Canadian group said in a statement last week that had the attack been against any other faith or group, it would have drawn worldwide condemnation.

"You know what? They're right," Mr. Smith said. "Catholics are fair game because they're the f---ing majority. They're not a minority. ... For the last 2,000 years (they) have run most of the civilized world. "

Indirectly addressing William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, he said, "You're a target. Of course you're an easy target. This movie, however, isn't targeting you. This movie is actually celebrating and maintaining a lot of the tenets that you hold up. It's pro-Catholic."

He said the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights scours the media for stories about Catholics and attacks those that have different opinions. He said the group spent $50,000 for an ad in the New York Times attacking Dogma, money that should have been put in the church poor box, "if you're such Christians."

The criticism of the Catholic organizations persuaded the Disney company to drop its plans to distribute it. Mr. Smith says Disney is a favourite target of the Catholic rights group because of its family image.

Dogma was picked up this month by Toronto-based Lions Gate Films, whose other properties have included the Oscar-winning Affliction and Gods and Monsters as well as the upcoming -- and sure to be controversial -- American Psycho.

Lions Gate president Jeff Sackman said in an interview yesterday that he supports Mr. Smith's position that critics of the movie should at least see it first.

He said he expects the controversy to die down as more people view it prior to its Nov. 12 release.

"I don't know what offends one person versus what offends another person. I believe that people should be free to make their choice."

Lions Gate, he said, sees the movie as a great commercial opportunity, a chance to pick up an independent movie that stars the likes of Mr. Affleck, Mr. Damon and Mr. Rock.

Smith says he is shocked by the reaction to Dogma.

"At worst, I thought the film would be dismissed as juvenile. Or, as I've seen in some places, some people have said: 'This is like a college pothead's take on religion. Like one of those discussions you have when you're high, on the nature of God.' That's fine. It's like that on the surface. Underneath, it's a little more than that.

"I like to think it's a very dumb movie with a lot on its mind."

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