Science, Religion and Paul

Over the weekend, I saw two movies at the cinemas. The usual prep went as follows; get Twisties, Cheezels and a bottle of water stuffed in my black hole bag (a smallish  black Kipling messenger where things somehow mysteriously disappear in). Pay $3 for water which you can get for less than a dollar in the shops? Unlikely. 

We then drive off to our favourite cinema with the big screen (it's quite a rarity in Perth) and incidentally Paul was playing on it as we were tossing between Sucker Punch, Scream 4 and Paul. So Paul it was.

Firstly, I absolutely love most, if not everything Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are in. Shaun of the Dead - brilliant; Hot Fuzz - awesome and now Paul - we shall see. If there are zombies in Paul too, it will definitely be ridiculously astounding.

I will try not to spoil the movie for anyone. As clarified by the trailers, Paul is an alien who looks very much like Roger from the American Dad. And apparently, Spielberg's alien film ideas came from Paul. Paul is a rude alien who is also entertaining and on the run. Who from? You'd have to see the movie.

 Image from moviecarpet.com

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have long-time-married-and-still-in-love chemistry about them, an epitome of bromance if you must. Speaking of chemistry, the movie hinted or rather obviously tried to relay atheistic messages. Not so much from Pegg and Frost but very much from Paul. Pegg and Frost are self-proclaimed atheists in real life as well. Paul, coming from a different planet/galaxy, appeared to grasp the meaning and origin of life, hence nominating natural selection and Darwinistic theories as more likely correct than any religious anecdotes on the matter. 

The movie does focus on a couple of religious Christians but did so by portraying them as bible bashers. Now, preaching belief in the nonexistent of a higher power is one thing but ridiculing another religion is another story (I feel that atheism is a religion itself). It reminded me of a 'The Daily Show' clip I watched the other night when Ricky Gervais made an appearance.

Gervais is a favourite comedian of mine and he is close friends with Jon Stewart, another favourite. Gervais talked about his atheistic beliefs and a photo showing him crucified with the word 'atheist' branded/carved on his chest. He said that much like Jesus, atheists are being persecuted by the general public. I disagree because I find atheism is forced upon us at uni (especially in science units), on TV and even in casual conversations; religion rarely, if ever, takes up any slot. If you think being atheist is hard, try being a scientologist for a day. I jest, I jest. 

Original images from www.rickygervais.com and 
celebtrashtalk.com; modified with Photoshop

True, I did not agree with the atheistic sentiments, which to me, were unnecessary after the third assertion. However, Seth Rogen as Paul is lovable and humorous and the movie otherwise is funny, up-to-date with popular culture and entertaining. I give it a 7/10. Ta ra~