Posted by Snuffy at compaq.resnet.grinnell.edu on November 16, 1999 at 20:56:01:
Bethany's carear in an abortion clinic is an interesting thing. I thought Kevin included that trait of Bethany's in order to give us a pro-choice outlook. But, watching the movie, I couldn't help but think that Dogma was pro-life (as in anit-abortion). Here's why.
Dogma is a story of Bethany's transformation, from lacking in faith in the beginning, to regaining her faith in the end. At the beginning, she doesn't have faith, she can't have children, and she works in an abortion clinic. At the end of the movie, she has regained her faith, she not only can have children but she is immaculately impregnated, and (I assume) she will no longer work at the abortion clinic.
I am tempted to interpert her abortion-clinic profession as being a symptom of her lost faith. She works at a clinic because she herself cannot have children, so she takes away other people's impregnation. Also, she has lost her faith in the church, so she ignores the church's anti-abortion stance.
I was reminded of "The Last Temptation of Christ" (a favorite movie of Kevin's), where, at the beginning of the movie, Jesus trys to avoid his fate. His carear at the beginning of the film is that of a carver of crusifixes. At the end, it's an ironic reversal that he himself is crusified. Likewise, Bethany's profession at the beginning of Dogma is in an abortion clinic, and therefore it's an ironic reversal that she is impregnated at the end of the movie.
Anyone want to debate this interpertation of "Dogma"? (I was kinda suprised by the interpertation myself, since I thought Kevin was pretty much pro-choice.)