REVIEW OF "TALLADEGA NIGHTS" BY TED BAEHR

'Talladega Nights': Christian bashing in high gear
Posted: August 3, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
By Ted Baehr with Tom Snyder© 2006
This week, in the wake of the media storm over Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic comments during a drunk-driving arrest, one of the six major Hollywood studios will release a comedy starring self-described lefty Will Ferrell, called ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.'' A satire of the NASCAR racing scene, the movie is a racist and bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, southern white Christian men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity.
Don't count on Hollywood condemning and denouncing Will Ferrell and his partner, writer and director Adam McKay. And don't expect any self-righteous liberals to get on their soapbox and say they will never again work with Ferrell or McKay.
Hollywood is full of people, including many self-described liberals and socialists, who stood by silently while Dan Brown and Ron Howard mocked Christian beliefs and Roman Catholic leaders in ''The Da Vinci Code.'' They stood by silently when Martin Scorsese claimed in ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' that Jesus was a mixed-up wimp who was so weak-minded that he made crosses for the Roman pagans so they could brutally execute many thousands of people.
And those same liberals have stood by silently for many years while Hollywood gave up one negative stereotype (the shuffling black man) for another stereotype – the dumb, southern white male.
''Talladega Nights'' is one of the most blasphemous, politically correct major movies ever released by a major Hollywood studio. It is a racist, bigoted work that ridicules southern, white Christian males. In one scene, the filmmakers sneeringly deride Southern Christians who say prayers to Jesus before dinner. The southern Christians come off as ignorant buffoons, and the figure of Jesus is a symbol ripe for condescending mockery.
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times noted that both Will Ferrell and his writing partner, Adam McKay, the director of this movie, are pretty radical liberals who are angry at the Democratic Party for not being even more antagonistic toward its rivals in the Republican Party. Apparently, that also includes conservative evangelical Christians in the South who support conservative Republicans. To many such secular liberals, bigoted attacks on blacks, women, Latinos, and other so-called minorities are evil, but bigoted attacks on southern white males, especially Christian ones, are fair game.
Of course, ridicule of the Bible Belt and white Christian men wouldn't be complete without a homosexual character who comes to challenge the movie's stupid southern protagonist. At the end of the film, the protagonist reconciles with his homosexual rival by planting a big wet kiss on his mouth.
The message of the movie becomes even more clear after the credits, just in case viewers missed it. At the end, the movie shows the protagonist's mother reading a William Faulkner story to her two grandsons. The grandsons, who have been taught manners by their grandmother, discuss the meaning of the story with her. The grandmother explains the story is meant to generate both relief and sadness at the coming end of the ''Old South.'' ''Ah,'' replies one of the boys, ''moral ambiguity, the hallmark of 20th century American literature.''
In other words, this politically correct movie not only celebrates the ridicule of southern, white Christian males, it also ridicules Christianity's belief in moral absolutes. Apparently, Will Ferrell, who co-wrote the movie, is saying that anyone who believes in such moral absolutes, such as the biblical admonitions against fornication and homosexuality, or the moral superiority of Christianity, is an idiot. No small wonder then that ''Talladega Nights'' is not only full of ridicule, but also full of sexual references and foul language.
As reprehensible as they are, Mel Gibson's comments were said in private, during a drunken confrontation with a police officer. ''Talladega Nights'' however, is a public work that will be shown in theaters throughout the United States and the whole world, to millions of moviegoers.
Mel Gibson can always claim that it was the booze talking through him the other night. The question arises, however, what are Will Ferrell and Hollywood's excuses for making and distributing this awful Christophobic movie? And, does anybody in Hollywood care?
Of course, concerned moviegoers can make Hollywood care by refusing to go see a movie this weekend and doing something else with their family instead. How about attending a prayer meeting or a NASCAR race?