I'm a big NASCAR fan--will be at the Brickyard tomorrow and have already been to Daytona and Michigan races earlier this year. So I went to see Talladega Nights like a lot of other people last night in a sold out showing.
On the face of it the movie is mildly funny with long stretches in between laughs. The plot is very similar to Anchorman where the hot shot dumb guy is replaced with someone who is marginalized but more talented and the former star ends up in the gutter until he has a miraculous comeback. Much of the humor is based on Ricky Bobby's stupidity and no doubt based on Hollywood's stereotype of the Southern U.S. But the character of Ricky Bobby is inconsistent and perhaps the longest stick in the movie centers on him saying grace to "baby Jesus" with a great discourse that as I said in the headline borders on blasphemy.
Now first of all southern Baptist don't pray to the baby Jesus, in fact Catholics are the only organized group that has this devotion. Mother Angelica's Monastery in Alabama is dedicated to the baby Jesus (and I wondered if that wasn't the source of this bit) and is not too far from Talladega where some parts of the movie were filmed on location.
I'm sick of something sacred to those who believe, like I do, that Jesus is the Son of God, being used as a vehicle of ridicule. You won't see Hollywood ridicule Arabs and their faith in Allah or see Mohammad being mocked. Why? Because radical Moslem fundamentalist would blow up the theaters and the studios.
Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek, by Jesus. That has to make the movie makers happy. But Christian's who believe that Jesus is their savior shouldn't waste a dime on Talladega Nights.
