With the release of "Dogma," Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith finds himself at the center of a very loud controversy. He's probably used to it; after all, his previous films have considered such charged subjects as accidental necrophilia, turning lesbians straight, a particularly icky oral-sex act, and, yes, spending a day at the mall with Shannen Doherty. But this time, according to Catholic leaders, Smith has gone too far in questioning and lampooning church doctrine with his story of fallen angels trying to sneak past the Big Bouncer in the sky back into Heaven.

Self-proclaimed "religious nut" Smith, who says he's such a devout Catholic he's thinking of becoming a church deacon at the end of his movie career, contends that "Dogma" actually embraces God and sends a positive religious message to all the mall rats who flock to his flicks.

But the pot of controversy was stirred as early as "Dogma"'s Cannes premiere, with Variety calling the film a "very vulgar pro-faith comedy" that "seriously belabors its assault on the established denominations and institutions, in particular the Roman Catholic Church." London's The Independent noted that "some of the most controversial sequences have already been jettisoned after earlier Miramax objections. One, in particular, is a 'South Park'-style cartoon advertising Hosties breakfast cereals--cereal in the shape of communion wafers, no less, being eulogised over by altar boys who confess to masturbation."

At that time, the Hollywood Reporter chimed in, "With many rude and offensive jokes, the movie is obviously too hot a tamale for corporate mother church Disney." Sure enough, Mouse subsidiary Miramax balked at the project, and soon sold the movie to Lions Gate Films.

But at least in Smith's celluloid world, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Jason Mewes, the Kato Kaelin of buddy pictures, once again plays Jay to Smith's Silent Bob. At least the characters have been re-imagined for "Dogma" as a pair of dope-fiend prophets. So at least that should boost interest in their comic books if this latest hassle with The Man shuts Smith out of Hollywood for good.

In the meantime, Smith and the church leaders opposing "Dogma" might take a cue from a certain Monty Python film and "always look on the bright side of life."

Frank Sennett

Newcity.com affiliates interpret "Dogma":

HOLY TERROR
Kevin Smith takes on God, the Church and Hollywood

JERSEY DEVIL
"Dogma" is funny as hell and twice as sloppy

THE BOOK OF SMITH
The director of "Clerks" spins a shaggy "Dogma" story

HEAVENLY HUMOR?
Kevin Smith gets goofy with God

DIVINE INTERVENTION
Kevin Smith moves heaven, earth and Jersey to get "Dogma" into theaters

HOLY SMOKED
"Dogma" half-succeeds in its desire to be both a smart-ass contemporary parody and a modern religious parable  

DOG FOOD
Kevin Smith's fourth feature is simplistic, adolescent and full of cheap laughs--but it thinks it's so much more