A Gig Called God - Alanis Morissette - Interview

Interview, Nov, 1999 by Elizabeth Weitzman

What if the Almighty were played by a rock star? That's exactly what Alanis Morissette does in Dogma, Kevin Smith's new movie, which humanizes religion to such a degree that Walt Disney walked away from it. But even the naysayers can't stop its materializing in theaters this month

Here are the things Alanis Morissette has in common with (the Judeo-Christian) God: She's a creator; her presence is serenely graceful but her words often express flashes of grievous anger; and pretty much every living soul in the Western world knows her name. Here's one of the things she doesn't have in common with God: She's a woman. On the other hand, in this month's Dogma, Kevin Smith's terrifically pixilated love letter to divinity, God is officially neither girl nor bey, but still looks like, well, Alanis herself. It's an inspired piece of casting.

Morissette may have become the foremost symbol of young female passion with her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, but as last year's follow-up, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, affirms, her greatest gifts lie in universal connection; she's urgently determined to empower anyone who's been damaged by doubt or pain, regardless of gender or experience. In fact, Morissette is one of the few who holds a place of honor atop music's Mount Olympus and refuses to indulge in the wasteful separatism of sitting there. Which actually leads us to believe that while she may play a great God, she still does her best work in the role of prophet.

ELIZABETH WEITZMAN: How did you come to be in Dogma?

ALANIS MORISSETTE: Kevin and I had talked about working together, and by the time I was ready, there was one role left - God. I read the script, and it really required me to define what my beliefs were. Anything that triggers me in that way is very exciting.

EW: You and Kevin were beth raised as Catholics. Do you think the experience would have been different if you hadn't had similar backgrounds?

AM: Probably. I doubt I would have thought the movie was as funny as I did. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I've been questioning my own Catholicism since as far back as I can remember.

EW: In listening to your albums, it seems as though you've embarked on a pretty intense spiritual journey in the last several years. When did your doubts about Catholicism begin?

AM: When I was eleven years old and I was on a road trip with my family. I turned to my dad and said, "Do you believe in Adam and Eve?" And he said he didn't think so. I remember that felt like a slap in the face, because if my parents questioned Adam and Eve, then they potentially questioned everything within Catholicism. Eventually that idea led to my feeling liberated, but at the time it was very scary. From that moment onward, I questioned our faith entirely.

EW: How did your parents feel about that?

AM: They weren't overly strict about my personal beliefs, but I still went to Catholic school and to church every Sunday until my late teens.

EW: The negative reaction of the Catholic LeagUe to Dogma obviously brings up issues of censorship, which is something that you've experienced yourself.

AM: My take on such violent reactions is that it's exciting for people to define who they are in relation to what I write - whether it be by loving it or hating it. It's the same with Kevin's movie. When someone has a very urgent response, I think it just means that it's triggering something in them that they may not necessarily want to think or talk about - which I see as a positive thing.

EW: So then calls for censorship don't really offend you?

AM: In a perfect world, there would be no censorship, because there would be no judgment. I find the hypocritical aspect disconcerting, to say the least. We can show people being murdered on television, but I'm not able to say "chickenshit" in public. At the same time, I understand that people are afraid. Because I think censorship is about fear. It's just fear being projected onto art.

EW: Then you think that the reaction of the Catholic League stems from fear?

AM: Absolutely. In my life, anyway, anytime that I judge something to be rigidly right or wrong, it comes from fear.

EW: The concept of a God in feminine form has proven to be pretty controversial.

AM: I think the Bible is hugely patriarchal. There are so many sexist comments and homophobic comments and comments that are not in keeping with nurturing and loving the human spirit. But that's found within so many religions.

EW: What's your image of God?

AM: Female, male, inanimate, plant. I think God is everything. Human beings created the punitive, vengeful deity who considers us to be innate sinners.

EW: The chorus in your song "Forgiven" goes, "What I learned I rejected but I believe again." What specifically did you reject?

AM: I rejected the God that was portrayed as masculine and judgmental and creel at times. The concept of us being not worthy to receive him is something I used to say every Sunday in church, and eventually I just couldn't say it with any conviction.

EW: What was it that you said, exactly?