Posted by Johnboy at proxy.iwerks.com on November 16, 1999 at 17:17:30:
In Reply to: Loki & Bart's Fate & other q's & no-prize? SPOILER posted by blackadder on November 16, 1999 at 17:05:47:
Hey man,
OK, you wish Kevin would have resolved the story a little more cleanly. All I can say is, join the club. He's been a fan of open endings since the start. Notice the upbeat but open ending of Clerks; the wide open ending of Amy; and now these questions about Dogma. In fact, the only time Kevin's actually provided full resolution has been when a studio rammed it down his throat on Mallrats.
Part of what Kevin likes to do is make you think. He succeeded here, you obviously thought about this a LOT. Also Kevin likes to pose "litmus test" questions for the audience. For instance, if you like happy endings, you'd assume that God restored the people and brought Bartleby and Loki to heaven. If you think downbeat endings are more realistic, you'd assume much the opposite.
Kevin would tell you that you get to choose the ending...which has always annoyed me because only he, as the storyteller, has the authority to end his story so that it feels done to the audience.
However, as writer, director, and the man with final cut, Kevin told EXACTLY the story he wanted to. Anything that is left open, is left open because that's what he wanted to do. And you can draw your own conclusions as to why.
John