I haven't (and probably won't) see the film, which seems a trite one to have produced in the continuing wake of Katrina. A comedy about a politician with knowledge of an imminent flood, who still can't protect his constituents before the dam breaks and the city is swamped? About how God favors WASP-y types when it comes to salvation? About how you won't escape natural disasters unless you've got a lot of your own capital to make the escape possible? David Plotz is right, the film ignores the spirit of the Biblical flood story. But we don't need to look so far back in history and literature to recall the horrible destruction that comes when a city is swallowed by the sea. What will New Orleans residents and exiles think of the film? Will they feel that the film trivializes their hurricane experience? With Katrina less than two years behind us, it seems almost ethically reproachable to put such a twee comic spin on a disaster that continues to adversely affect thousands of people.

...why do you talk as though you did?

The politician (Steve Carrel) was told by God to build an Ark to save the animals and the inhabitants of his newly developed community from a flood. It was never divulged (by God) to Congressman Baxter, that corners were cut on the dam that kept the river (that once flowed across the valley) from covering up usable land. And I hate to be a spolier for those intending to see the movie, but he DOES protect his constituents, in that he saves their lives. As for God being a racist, some examples FROM THE MOVIE, if you please. I thought black people were immune from racism by virtue of their being black. And please tell me how my money can save me from an earthquake, tsunami or hurricane? Shit happens, my friend. If we have to scratch subjects off some "CAN NO LONGER JOKE ABOUT THIS" list, we will soon be the dour complaining crybabies that DESERVE a good bitch-slapping. Whether that bitch-slapping comes from God or the universe is really neither here nor there.

Hate it when those darn rivers cover up our usable land! How dare they get in the way of our urban sprawl! Look, you're right that I didn't see the movie, and my understanding of the details is based on a few trailers and reviews. Nobody dies, nobody gets hurt, nobody loses their livelihood? So that makes it a good comedy? Absolutely not. My point is that this movie should be seen in its cultural context, which includes a very recent and very real disasterous flood. The fictional flood, treated as it is in this mediocre comedy, cheapens the hardship of those who suffered in Katrina. And those who suffered the worst in the real storm were largely very poor and African American. Does "Evan Almighty" deal with these issues at all? Or does it pretend that poor and disadvantaged groups are literally in the same boat as the middle- and upper- classes, whose insurance plans will give them the funds for a fresh start? Comedy and satire can be very good ways to deal with tragedy. Pirandello did it brilliantly in his tragicomic plays. So did Art Spiegelman in his graphic novels about the Shoah. And there have been many, many poignant political cartoons about Katrina and FEMA's inadequate response. But this film is of mediocre comic quality. It treats a natural disaster so freshly stamped on our national memory (and even sets it up with corrupt politicians and a weak levy), and by my estimation it ignores all of the big social problems that were exposed when Katrina hit. Pretending that racism doesn't exist isracism, whether Morgan Freeman is playing God not. Pretending that it's not such a big deal to lose your home trivializes the plight of the thousands who did lose their homes two years ago.