# In Dogma why didn't they just... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 27, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670 "2000-06-27T02:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/1 "2000-06-27T02:19:24Z")
* * * \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* S P O I L E R W A R N I N G \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* * * * \*\* At the end, why couldn’t they have killed the angels **after** they lost their wings and became human but **before** they went thru the arch? That’s what Bartilby does to Loki, isn’t it? Great movie anyway. ---
**Author:** ![choens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@choens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choens)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/2 "2000-06-27T02:29:01Z")
Yeah and why do they all curse a lot? I mena I know Chris Rock is in this movie and it’s probably in his contract that he gets to curse at least 19 times a minute, but c’mon! Are we supposed to believe that? ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/3 "2000-06-27T03:25:25Z")
Why not curse? We have such a big taboo on certain words, but I believe the only thing G_D ever said about ‘vulgar language’ had to do with taking HIS name in vain… ‘Motherfucker’ does not mention G_D at all… Now if they said ‘Goddamnit’ (and for the life of me I cannot recall if they did/didn’t), that would be another story. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/4 "2000-06-27T04:08:27Z")
If you notice in the film, Bartleby takes off running toward the doors and they start to run after him–killing him after wings/before arch _is_ the plan but luckily God steps out before he goes in. Why do they wait between the time his wings are shot off and when he runs? Why do girls in horror movies always go check out scary noises? Why do the villains always put James Bond in a ridiculously easy-to-escape-from situation? Why does the hero always get attacked by the group of bad guys one at a time? _It’s just a movie-thing!_ Dramatic pause, suspense, etc. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/5 "2000-06-27T04:38:03Z")
Growing up, when I asked questions similar to the OP, my father would respond, “Because the director told them to.” ---
**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/6 "2000-06-27T05:03:20Z")
Who cares? That movie sucked after the first half anyway. Kevin Smith will never make another _Clerks_, no matter how hard he tries. _Dogma_ is mentioned in the credits at the end of _Clerks_. I can’t believe it took him that long to create such a piece of meaningless, star saturated junk. ---
**Author:** ![Gatsby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@Gatsby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatsby)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/7 "2000-06-27T05:04:54Z")
Do not question the ways of Kevin Smith! That’s all. Thank you. * * * Dante: My girlfriend sucked 36 dicks! Randall: Including yours? Dante: My girlfriend sucked 37 dicks! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/8 "2000-06-27T05:26:48Z")
The [Jabootu](http://www.jabootu.com) term for why a given character does something that just doesn’t seem right is “IITS”, or “It’s In The Script”. ---
**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/9 "2000-06-27T06:33:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Dante: My girlfriend sucked 36 dicks! > > Randall: Including yours? > > Dante: My girlfriend sucked 37 dicks! > \*\* That’s not in the movie. Maybe you need to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/10 "2000-06-27T09:09:27Z")
what i want to know is, if bartleby had the knowledge he did, why did it take so long for him to catch onto the main chick (linda fiorentino) in the train? does he only know people’s sins, or was he too wasted or what? i’d apologize about the ‘chick’ remark, but l.f. is certainly a chick (and that is definitely NOT a slur in my book). ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/11 "2000-06-27T09:28:41Z")
Hey all. First the wing/kill thing. Why don’t they kill him after blasting his wings off? Listen to the line right after they get to Jay. Jay says (disappointingly), “No more buwwets.” This translates to: No more bullets. They have one gun, and it’s out of bullets. They then try to catch the angel but God steps in and saves the day. As for the cursing, hmmm…I can’t actually remember if Bartleby and Loki curse, I don’t think they do. The demon makes sense, and everyone is from earth and that really makes sense. Even Chris Rock’s character was originally from earth. Anyone else can be explained by the line that says that the dead watch the living all the time. Just because there’s not a lot of cursing in Disney movies does not mean people don’t curse. People curse all the time. He’s just being realistic. But if you say that’s not true, just listen to people. If you still say that there was a lot of swearing, well…dick and fart jokes are funny. What can I say? Also, just because we have a stigma against cursing, doesn’t mean that those above us do. Anyway, I really liked the movie. Sure, it’s not just a slice of real life like Clerks and the rest (to a degree) and it makes you think more. But it’s a great movie. Later all. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/12 "2000-06-27T13:27:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Who cares? That movie sucked after the first half anyway. Kevin Smith will never make another _Clerks_, no matter how hard he tries. _Dogma_ is mentioned in the credits at the end of _Clerks_. I can’t believe it took him that long to create such a piece of meaningless, star saturated junk. > \*\* If you just want to slam the movie, isnt there a forum for that? In regards to your post, Dogma was not meaningless crap! Kevin Smith has been looking for god (so to speak) for some time. He has tried many different churches and examined their dogma, only to come away dissapointed and unfufilled. I can relate to that, as can many others. I want to beleive in something, most of us do…but we get to church and they beat us with bibles and we turn off religion alltogether. THIS is why he did dogma. He wasnt trying to make another clerks, he was trying to convey his own spiritual quest in a way that quite frankly, made me feel more religous than I have in a long time. As far as star saturated, what big stars were in this one that werent already in his other movies? Matt Damon? He is a pal of Afflect, who was in Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Alanis? - please. I think they are fans of each other. Linda Fiorentino - who? Chris Rock? Yeah he is a really big star what with the success of all those movies… I think it is more likely that any ‘stars’ came to him, and not the other way around. Not that I am a fan or anything. And that restraining order Kevin Smith took out against me was just a joke, really. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/13 "2000-06-27T13:28:41Z")
I also enjoyed the flick, tho the 2d half didn’t come near to living up to the promise of the 1st. Concerning the language, tho I exercise the full range of my available vocabulary, I noticed the number of times they said f\*\*\* seemed a little over the top. Sure, a lot of people swear (but a lot of people don’t). And the only people I’ve met who have said f\*\*\* as often as in Dogma tend to be on the stupid side. I thought the movie had too much promise to go the cheap potty mouth shock route. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/14 "2000-06-27T13:38:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Growing up, when I asked questions similar to the OP, my father would respond, “Because the director told them to.” > \*\* Funny you should mention that, because that’s the correct answer to the OP. For _discussion_ of the movie and _speculation_ of what should or should not have been done, I’m moving this thread to **In My Humble Opinion**. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/15 "2000-06-27T18:35:40Z")
When will Silent Bob check in? Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Angkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Angkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angkins)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/16 "2000-06-27T23:46:47Z")
I have a message from Silent Bob… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/17 "2000-06-28T01:20:51Z")
After seeing it for the first time (and not being up on my Catholic dogma) I wasn’t sure about when they could do what to who! ``` "Does that mean she's part black?" ``` ---
**Author:** ![argyle87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/18 "2000-06-28T02:56:42Z")
The plot thickens… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/19 "2000-06-28T13:48:36Z")
What I want to know is, why did the two fallen angels who were condemned to spend all eternity in Wisconsin, find it so easy to leave Wisconsin? Rather than NJ, shouldn’t the climatic scene taken place in Milwaukee? ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670/20 "2000-06-29T06:12:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > As far as star saturated, what big stars were in this one that werent already in his other movies? Matt Damon? He is a pal of Afflect, who was in Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Alanis? - please. I think they are fans of each other. Linda Fiorentino - who? Chris Rock? Yeah he is a really big star what with the success of all those movies… > \*\* Just some nit-picks (sorry kelli!): Matt Damon was also in _Chasing Amy_, Ben’s last name is Affleck, I’d have to say that George Carlin is a big name (and Kevin Smith wrote the part of Cardinal Glick specifically for him), Alan Rickman is somewhat of a star, Janeane Garafalo isn’t too shabby when it comes to name recognition and neither is Salma Hayek, for that matter (but kelli might be right in thinking _they_ may have approached Smith). I agree with **kellibelli** , Kevin Smith wasn’t trying to make another _Clerks_. He was trying to make the film he made. I don’t think _he_ is very disappointed in it so I’m willing to bet it went exactly like he planned and it wasn’t a mistake. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-dogma-why-didnt-they-just/23670.md?page=2)