'Atheists hate the ending'?

That's a ridiculous generalisation- I'm atheist (was raised by Catholics) and very much enjoyed not only the ending, but the entire movie

Do guys like "the thing"?
They like it better than no thing.

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DaliParton said: "I was totally digging what you were saying until this part. The Chinese leadership didn't flip out because the Tienanmen Square protests were challenging their belief in communism. They flipped out because the protests were challenging the leadership's hold on power, just like dictators everywhere become quite disgruntled when threatened."

I just wanted to clarify, the Chinese leadership DID flip their lid because the power afforded to them by communism was being challenged. In that way it was about ideology and beliefs, but it was also because their power was being challenged. The demonstrators were there because they wanted a little more access to the decisions their government made for them. I don't dis communism, and would agree that Christ did exhibit many socialist views, but not in a political sense, it was a way to help others and the ideological purposes of socialism is to help others in society to pitch in and sacrifice for their fellow citizen. It's hard to argue with the success of communist China, though they are more open to capitalistic practices than the Soviet Union was and that has benefited their economy. I just wanted you to understand what I was referring to and that I'm not anti-communist or anything. I don't mean to come across that way.

Sorry for the diversion but I always try to make myself clear now please, back to the movie.

Peace is not the absence of affliction, but the presence of God. ~Author Unknown

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As an atheist - not by routine but by personal conviction - I find this movie worth watching.

I don't believe in God (any god) but I enjoy the concept and the stories it can foster. I like 'The Da Vinci Code', 'The Passion of Christ', 'Dogma' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' as well as 'Lord of the Rings', 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and the Harry Potter series. To me they are basically the same - building a story from superstition.

I feel safe and comfortable in my belief (or lack of it) so I don't feel threatened by the Christian concept. And that is what I think is the fundamental problem for many atheists; they are afraid to be converted into a religion because their atheism is not firm enough. That's why they feel offended by Christian themes.

I will accompany a friend to church if they ask me to. I won't join in the singing or the praying but I will show my respect to their belief, standing up when the congregation does, and sitting down when they do. *Just as I want them, in my favourite places, to respect that I do not believe in any god.*

To believe in different things does not mean you have to mock each others. It just means that you are different, and (at least somewhat) free to make up your own mind.



Computers are like air conditioners - they stop working properly if you open windows.

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We actually don't even know if Cotton did die based on the way this film ends, it's fairly ambiguous (the sequel sort of answers it, but I'm referring this one its own terms right now).

+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++

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b.) I'm also pretty sure that most people hate the ending for the same reason I did. The whole film kind of had an air of plausibility surrounding it that I was really enjoying. The characters seemed pretty real, their dialogue was believably awkward, and the possession scenes all kind of had a plausible deniability thing going on that left them nicely open for interpretation, so a giant CGI fireball made for a huge, unwelcome tonal shift. The worst of it is, they probably could have done an ending with the same basic plot elements while keeping the tone they'd set and I wouldn't have complained.

The ending was just the final straw, I think it lost any pretence that it was supposed to be real about 30 minutes in when they started adding musical stings, impossible camerawork and seemingly ignored the presence of the crew. The ending itself is so ridiculous that it's hard to believe it came from the same film. It's very disappointing because it really could have been good.

c.) I actually feel like the ending of this movie is really, really atheistic. Yeah, Cotton gets his faith back, but it doesn't really accomplish anything. He still dies. Everyone dies. He doesn't save anyone; he doesn't stop the demon. Everyone seems pretty well-screwed, and his leap of faith may well have actively doomed the camera crew. There's no divine intervention present, and the God of the movie seems either powerless to help Cotton defeat the demon, unwilling to help, or just...absent. I don't know; I think if I was Christian, the ending of this movie would bother me.

You're conflating atheism with nihilism. The confirmation that demons and the supernatural do exist is certainly not atheistic, whether or not it confirms a Christian God.

Still, I think you're right. I'd be surprised if an atheist hated the ending just because it has religious overtones, just as I'd be surprised if they hated 'The Exorcist' or even films about Jesus for the same reason. I can happily say I've never encountered anyone so silly. I have, however, met religious people who are unhappy about films who are unhappy when films seem to suggest there might not be a God (for example, I remember the 'Life Of Pi' message boards being quite consumed by those kinds of posts when it came out).

These bastards!

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I am an atheist and if I was in charge of this movie I would have done the ending differently, however I wouldn't have removed the unambiguously Judeo-Christian ending, I wanted him to get back his faith at the end, I cheered when he went into battle for his faith. I'd get rid of the black mass, and have him perform an actual exorcism, confident in his faith, with it actually working. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for a happy ending, but the black mass was over the top, and the ending was far too abrupt. An true exorcism to end it was just what was needed, it doesn't look silly and it allows for an ending that sinks in.

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I'm an atheist. I didn't think this was a particularly good film but I would think lots of believers think it's not a good film, too. It really has nothing to do with being an atheist though. When I watch a film, I don't evaluate it based on whether it is consistent with my beliefs but on whether it tells a good story and is well-made, -written, and -acted.

Jaan Pehechan Ho

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The whole film kind of had an air of plausibility surrounding it that I was really enjoying.

I must disagree with this. When the movie pretends to be shot via a camcorder, it looses all plausibility the instant the camera angle changes mid-scene, and this movie has done that repeatedly in the five minutes of it that I've watched. When I see that, I basically feel like the director is telling me that I'm too dumb to notice such a glaring error and that I'll eat up anything they throw at me. It's sort of offensive to me that a filmmaker would think so little of their viewers.

I can't be bothered to watch a movie made by people who are too lazy to stick to their own contrived plot device.

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