Witness! Ebert’s long-awaited epic review of Ben Stein’s dreadful Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. I can barely comment (I’ll let the 592 comments on Ebert’s blog at this moment speak for me) beyond saying
a) I wish there was a Heaven so Siskel could smile down on Ebert and give him a big ole’ thumbs up, and
b) This is easily the most scathing review of anything I’ve ever read by anyone. Snap!
I too was part of the Agnostic possee that descended on our local ‘weird movies with no audience’ theatre to see Ben Stein’s finally-arriving-in-our-city epic. As it’s a smaller theatre where you just pay at the door and go in, I bought a ticket for “My Blueberry Nights”, in an effort to divert box-office from Mathis et al. You’re welcome, Kar Wai Wong.
So, no doubt you’ve checked out what amounted to a SciAm microsite devoted to debunking the film, and visited Expelled Exposed for the latest dirt. I’ll leave those far more educated comments to evaluate the science of the film. I just want to say:
1. Wow, did this ever turn into another movie 1/2 way through. I had no idea studying the development of species leads to wanton murder. You would think worshiping random mutation would lead to a certain regard for those with different characteristics than the norm; after all they might be the next big thing in humans.
2. For the 12 millionth time, things have to fit the methodology of science to be included in scientific discussion, and if they don’t (or if the person advocating them doesn’t seem to know the difference), then they belong in a different forum. I’m trying to say “if it isn’t science, it isn’t science“. That needed a whole plodding yet smug documentary’s worth of discussion?
Ben Stein, keep your money. Kar Wai Wong, you can have mine.
Several members of the Topic Agnostic team went to see Expelled No Intellegence Allowed. There have been a multitude of great reviews about this film, including a website that thorough discusses the major flaws in logic, reason and factual errors that are in the movie, Expelledexposed.com/. Here are a few of my thoughts to add to the list.
First off, this movie did nothing to actually explain what Intelligent Design is! Most of the movie is an attack on “Darwinism”, and really doesn’t do anything to explain what I.D. is other than to say that merely suggesting it to be considered in science has gotten people fired or in trouble with their academic institutions.
Another problem is the focus on”Darwinism”, it is a red herring and a straw man; modern scientists don’t worship or hold Darwin’s theories to be infallible, in fact much of today’s evolutionary science has proved some parts of Darwin’s theories to be true and others to be false. Darwin was a starting point; science advances and throws out things that turn out to be false. So to focus on “Darwinism” like it is some sacred cow of science is dishonest.
Much has been written about the movie making the connection between “Darwinism” and Eugenics, which in this movie was directly linked to Nazi Germany and the killings that happened because of it. Other than being and insulting connection, the facts are that science has advanced since then to have an even better understanding of evolution and “natural selection”; yet we have seen an improvement over time of the treatment and understading of people with mental difficiencies. Where are the mass sterilizatons now? Where are the Eugenics now? To make a connection between Hitlers actions and the understanding of evolution is absurd.
This movie felt like nothing more than propaganda, making huge leaps in logic and using inflammatory images to draw false conclusions. Deliberate attempts are made when a “Darwinist” was on camera to make them seem like “the bad guys”; their lighting was usually darker and more ominous, and the music used behind them was also more ominous.
This movie was not an honest presentation of the events. using terms such as “Big Science” and “Darwinism” do not paint an honest picture.
From browsing the Expelled website, you can see that part of the goal of the films creators are to bring the I.D. subject up in schools as a legitamite course of science discussion, and in the U.S. several states have had I.D. incorporated into their science classrooms as the behest of certain groups that advocate for it. I.D. is religion, and has no place in science, it is really that simple.
While it was good to go see the film for me to see what the fuss was about, I feel dumber for having viewed it.
Yoko drops the ‘Hey, you don’t own that song, guys’ bomb on the Expelled filmmakers for their use of John Lennon’s Imagine, launching a lawsuit in conjunction with her sons, who do own the song.
As John said: “I don’t believe in magic, I don’t believe in I-ching, I don’t believe in Bible, I don’t believe in Tarot, I don’t believe in Hitler, I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in Kennedy, I don’t believe in Buddha, I don’t believe in Mantra, I don’t believe in Gita, I don’t believe in Yoga, I don’t believe in Kings, I don’t believe in Elvis, I don’t believe in Zimmerman, I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me…and that’s reality” - John Lennon, God
“I’ve always questioned ‘Darwinism’ because ‘Darwinism’ leads to social Darwinism, the belief that some races are superior to other races, and that the superior races have it as their moral duty to eliminate the ‘lesser’ races, and that means my fellow Jews, and of course African Americans, Indians, Aborigines…just kill them, they’re worthless…”
Ben Stein really thinks that genocide is the eventual outcome of the theory of evolution? What is he talking about? He goes on to decry evolution for not explaining gravity, thermodynamics, or physics. I’m not kidding, he thinks one of the flaws of evolution is that it doesn’t explain gravity. His gross misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of science seems almost absurd. And damnit you should lose your grant if you admit you’re not clear on how the planets stay in orbit.
This type of nonsense is dangerous because Pat Robertson’s truly ignorant viewership will take these statements at face value, fueling their burning certainty that evolution and creationism are somehow on equal footing.
The action doesn’t start til 3:40 into the video.
How did they not catch the creationist ass-burning hilarity of subtitling this movie “No Intelligence Allowed”?
Remember that movie hosted by Ben Stein, Expelled?
http://www.expelledthemovie.com/
It has been making the rounds at private showings in the U.S., and some people that have seen it are reviewing the movie. You can read many of the reviews here…
Trailer for the upcoming creationist documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed“.
The focus of this film is on the ‘mistreatment’ of academics who challenge Darwinism. Jobs lost, shunned by publications, tenured teaching positions withdrawn; these misguided intellects experience terrible career prejudice because of their beliefs.
Universities, it could be said, are correct to reject academics who refute Darwinism. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the scientific process. If they can’t grasp that, why should their academic credentials be respected?
Attacking Dennett, Dawkins, et all, and under the guise of ‘freedom’, this film begs not to be attended or supported in any way.
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