Film Movement, which has a well-earned reputation for distributing the best international films, literally and figuratively brings things home for the holidays with the November 14 DVD release of the 2015 documentary "Atheist America." This pure cinema verite production turns its camera on "The Atheist Experience," which is a long-running Austin local cable show in which the hosts debate the existence of God with callers who watch the series both on television and the Internet. The notable elements of this are that "Experience" is the only series of its type, and "America" achieves the documentary ideal of being equally educational and entertaining.
This release comes just in time to prompt discussions on the taboo subjects of politics and religion around the family holiday table. As "America" clearly shows, people who debate the existence of God have very strong and rigid views on the subject.
The two-fer regarding this aspect of "America" is that it is the second recent Movement documentary on a highly controversial subject. The reviewed "The Settlers" is a comprehensive documentary on Jewish people in the West Bank.
The following YouTube clip of the theatrical trailer for "America" accurately portrays the objective tone and the scope of this study on this touchy subject.
Filmmaker Rolf Bucheler primarily alternates between footage of the filming of "Experience" and scenes that show the extreme faith of Texans. Examples of the latter include a Tea Party meeting centered around religious freedom and an announcer at a NASCAR event praising the track owner for taking the heat for allowing an element of religion at the races.
Watching the "Experience" hosts argue with callers provides a strong sense that the purpose of the show is to make futile attempts to show Christians the fallacy in their logic regarding their faith; a scene in which we learn that the show converts some folks into believing that God does not exist illustrates that the discussions have impact.
One of the best scenes centers around one of the aforementioned converts who appears on "Experience." The depth comes in the form of the obvious analogy to being gay in that many atheists either remain in the closet or have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding family members who believe in God. This extends to the atheist policy of love the believer and hate the belief regarding relatives who still accept Jesus as their lord and savior.
The hilarity relates to an aspect of this woman being in the closet; she begins by stating that she still celebrates Christmas but goes on to cite the pagan rituals of the holiday as examples of that marking of the holiday. She specifically talks about having a Christmas tree and exchanging presents.
Bucheler ends on a high note by having the final sequence center around one of the hosts debate a believer in front of an audience. This competitor bizarrely uses clips from "Experience" to conduct a one-sided debate on the existence of God; the rebuttal to this discourse is hilarious.
The best viewpoint regarding both "America" and "Settlers" (and to avoid relatives storming away from the dinner table) is to remember that there is your view, the view of the other guy, and the truth. People should remember that although there is no definitive concrete proof that God exists, it is equally true that we accept the veracity of many things that occur beyond our perception.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "America" or "Settlers" is strongly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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