Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote On The Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
Here we are supposedly the most evolved and progressive nation on earth (at least technologically), and yet we are too superstitious and ignorant to allow a film about Charles Darwin, perhaps one of the most important scientists in history, to be distributed to our theaters. Why?
Sure it is a financial risk. But any film that does not feature Meghan Fox's naked heaving breasts, or giant explosions and car crashes is ALWAYS a financial risk.
There is no doubt that many members of fundamentalist churches would save their popcorn money for a the next Kirk Cameron film instead (except don't those usually go straight to DVD?). Though it is conceivable that they may chose to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon carrying signs claiming that "Charles Darwin is the Anti-Christ". But most of those people do not attend that many films anyhow. (They think that Hollywood is the home of the devil and that he is trying to take over their minds. Well SOMEBODY should, since they are not using them.)
But there MUST be enough inquisitive intelligent movies goers to help it bring in some profit. I mean the movie is already made, so getting it the widest distribution possible would be the goal at this point. Even a relatively small American release would bring in some serious money.
So why wouldn't a distributor take the risk?
Because they know that the small yet very vocal minority of anti-intellectual fundamentalists would make their lives hell that is why.
They would threaten boycotts and protests, and throw an enormous hissy fit that would probably receive quite a lot of publicity.
FREE publicity.
And it would obviously garner a lot of criticism by people who had never seen the film.
Which of course would pique the interest of people who would then want to watch the movie.
Are you with me so far? What I am saying is that I want to watch the movie. The subject of Darwin's struggle with his faith sounds absolutely fascinating to me. Why can't I get a chance to see the movie?
The close minded acolytes of the Christian fascists will do most of the promotion for the film for no money whatsoever, so just imagine how much could be saved in promotional costs?
And how is that the least open minded and intelligent of us get to determine what kind of information is made available to the public at large? If somebody wants to stop me from watching a movie, can somebody please lock me in my house the next time that Vin Diesel makes a film? (I know they will be bad, but I simply can't resist!)
Come on American movie distributors, take a risk! Show some backbone. After all you spent billions of years evolving that backbone, may as well use it.
Only 39%? That is beyond scary. No wonder the US is about to go the way of the dinosaurs. Ironically, Sarah Palin's appearance on the national scene has served one very important purpose: it has alerted normal, sane, intelligent Americans to this seething underground of stealthy religious fanatics who are working to destroy everything we hold most dear. And you've been an important part of that. Thanks, Gryphen; you're a real American hero. Midnight
ReplyDelete"Here we are supposedly the most evolved and progressive nation on earth (at least technologically), and yet we are too superstitious and ignorant to allow a film about Charles Darwin, perhaps one of the most important scientists in history, to be distributed to our theaters. Why?"
ReplyDeleteBecause, no matter how many people proclaim it, were not.
One reason is that Bushco set us back about 70 years denying science. Probably longer.
Another reason is the tea baggin, racist, fake effin Christians, who have distorted Christianity to where it is unrecognizable.
I'm sure there are many more reasons.
But the fake Christians, with there mega-churches, with the home schooling bunch (I don't mean the normal people who home school, please don't take offense) that want to make our country Theocratic, they have set our country back a very long way.
Doesn't it just kill you, when the crazy want something to influence society or just want it for themselves, then everything is okay. But when average, intelligent, Liberal, Progressive, Democratic people want something, the crazy will scream, stomp their huge feet, go on A.M. radio and cable news, and always get their way?
What happened to what the majority wants?
Charles Darwin/Science = Bad
ReplyDeleteMel Gibson/Ultra Violent S&M = Sunday Matinee with the Kids
This is the 3rd article/blog I've read about this in two days so far. It may be that if enough publicity about distributors not wanting to show this movie because of the 'fundies' may give them enough publicity to get the movie shown at some point.
ReplyDelete1) Because Charles Darwin received a lot of attention promoting his science that the Creationists don't believe. It doesn't matter that it is science or that much of it makes sense, if it's not in the bible, it isn't true. Creationists do not believe in the right to free speech when it comes to the rights of others.
ReplyDelete2) Because he obviously isn't a Religious Man FIRST. His faith was shaken and had had a reason for that.
3) The faith of the "antis" is not strong enough or believed enough by them, to be able to introduce another idea. They are afraid of "thought" because their own faith is so weak.
4) They are all rancid control freaks. If they don't like it, no one can see it.
5) They are unable to read or hear anything they differ with as they are unable to rebut it with logical thinking. The "anti's" use "Magical Thinking" and rather than just watch it and form an opinion, NO ONE CAN WATCH IT.
6) Carbon dating is a liberal bias.
I am only halfway through REPUBLICAN GOMORRAH, but Blumenthal's book explains so well why anything that is "intelligent" is threatening to the Christian right. It explains the funding source of "The Discovery Institute" in Seattle--the home for "intelligent design" theories.
ReplyDeleteDarwin has always been a hot topic. INHERIT THE WIND is still the best dramatic look at evolution's status in the USA, IMHO. Although it is set in the 20th century, due to extremist Christianist backlash, INHERIT THE WIND is still completely relevant today, sadly.
I would love to see this DARWIN film! I have always been a Darwin fan, and went to the Darwin exhibit in NYC two years ago. Paul Bettany is a terrific actor. It's probably a powerful film; the Christian Right fears it will persuade some of their kids and force them to think. But if anything, DARWIN probably highlights the emotional price of intellectual discovery--an issue too complex for those in the Christian Right who eschew intellect.
Like I said on my previous post on your earlier blog Gryphen ... no Science, no Arts, no Education. Why are we going backwards?
ReplyDeleteI want to see his film. Will pay money to do so.
ReplyDeleteMost Creationists have no idea what Darwin's Origin of the Species is about. They haven't read it. They read very little that isn't related to their fundamentalist ideas, re: Sarah Palin. In fact she probably doesn't read anything related to fundamentalism, unless it is written in large block letters and bound with a heavy cardboard binder.
ReplyDeleteThey fear him from a place of fear and loathing deep in their primordial brain that knows he's right. To believe that God made a woman from Adams rib (oh, girls aren't we lucky!) and the two of them got down right busy populating the world is a far easier pill for some self-righteous blow hard to swallow than to see that life is, and always has been evolving. Don't get me wrong. I'm down with God. I just think He's far too sophisticated for the "mankind coming from a rib" bit and He's a wicked mad scientist.
ReplyDeleteThe Bear Tooth Theatre in Anchorage would be a good venue to play this movie. They tend to screen lots of indie and 'alternative' flicks, and they are almost always pack the house.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I WANT to see this movie!
This is a basis for a good philosophical discussion on American attitudes Gryphen.From a Canadian's POV I can think of two possible reasons why this is happening.
ReplyDelete1. Many people in the U.S. are not educated enough to understand that creation is not a feasible answer. This idea would be in synch with the fact that the more highly educated the population is in any country, the less likely they will be stuck in the creationist superstitious beliefs. Yet we have to note that even otherwise highly educated persons such as some who frequent this forum are still Christian believers. It appears that they won't try to reconcile their Christian beliefs with evolution, which we know to be fact, because it's too uncomfortable for them to even try.
2. The immense pressure by those who sell religion for profit has prevented rational thought. If a child is fed religious nonsense right from the cradle then that child will have religion installed in it's brain for it's entire life. Therefore, if the vicious cycle can't be broken then Americans will continue to believe the hocus/pocus in huge numbers. This religious upbringing is as powerful as any other biological force installed into a child's brain. For example, nurturing a child doesn't come naturally and neither does mothering or fathering a child. It needs to be learned by the child in order to be passed on. We are no different from any of the other mammals and so we can look to a female puppy who is never exposed to it's mother peeing. If it only sees male dogs peeing it will copy that behaviour as likely as not.
Just a couple of suggestions, but let's hear what the christians have to say on the matter. We do know that even though the per centage of christians on this blog may be lower than an average sampling in the U.S., it's still most likely going to be higher than in any of the other first world countries. We just know that even though they can procalaim that evolution has to be the factual truth of the matter, they still will hang on to their christian beliefs and they will still make an attempt to reconcile the two. They simply need to live the lies and that makes number 2 above the most likely answer.
And can it be such a base thing as having learned that to support social reform in healthcare is not a good thing? Is this the same childhood training and upbringing at work? From a Canadian's perspective it is. It's just too much a natural thing in the minds of the Canadian majority that we simply need to look after our fellow human beings. Yet even now the evil and insideous influence from the right and from south of our border keeps trying to slither in and change what is natural and right for something more profitable.
Are you sure that it is only 39% ?!??? WTF???
ReplyDeleteI guess I did not know I lived in such a backward country.
No wonder the ReTalibans and are getting the upper hand.
$arah Palin, I guess, then is right for this country... (shaking head in disbelief)
WHAT?! We are free to see sex and violence to our heart's content, if we so choose, and we are denied the right to see this film? That's hard to believe. The more people clamor to see this, the more it will happen.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time believing this is true. We allowed "Religulous" to be shown here. How can a Darwin film be any worse?
ReplyDeleteI love Darwin. Only 39% believe in evolution? That is kind of unbelievable and incredibly scary if true. It explains a lot though--how we elected Bush for two terms (or maybe we actually didn't) and he remained popular with a large number of people.
ReplyDeleteThis just made me sick when I read it in the UK Daily Mail this weekend.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's not fear of evolutionary that frightens Americans, but fear that the process may not be equally distributed. For instance, when I see the Teabaggers I instantly think that while man may have sprung from apes, some did not spring very far.
Oh, and speaking of wild chattering, did you hear that Sarah's closing her speech to the media? Big surprise, huh?
Gee, why don't we just give up reason and fact all together and in fact, turn this into a theocracy? That's some mighty fine patriotism. /s
ReplyDeleteTOo bad these clowns have no idea about the real history of this country.
Also, too, might possibly portray a man who questions his faith as being a good man nevertheless?
ReplyDelete'Cause you know you're not supposed to question anything.
Especially too, fundies like to think that "God" made them straight up in a beaker or something, and zinged on some fairy dust to put that extra sparkle in their eyes, as opposed to the rest of us, who, nevermind that we are all evolved from the earliest form of life, have managed to yet become the spark in the universe that, in the quest to know ourselves and the universe, are closer and closer to seeing that WE ARE ALL ONE, and we evolve too, by learning to love one another as that dude from Nazareth showed us, you know, the guy those crazy hate-y folks think that they are following? That dude. If that dude were here today, I'm quite sure he would tell these ridiculous and unlearned people that they need to stop acting like spoiled brat children, and use their BRAINS that "God" gave them, in order to become a better and more loving society.
How's that for a Palinesque run-on sentence?
Plus there's that whole use of the word "theory" that gets the fundies all in a lather. They don't understand that it means established scientifically, as opposed to just one guy's unproven musings. For instance, the scientific theory of electricity enables us to turn on our toasters, while the blogospheric theory that Trig Palin was not born on April 18th, 2008 to Sarah and Todd Palin has not yet been shown beyond a reasonable doubt (quite yet).
ok, i can't even begin to say how out of the loop and what a frickin' heathen i must be! 39% of Americans don't believe in Evolution? I can't even stand it! How in the world did we become the greatest Nation on earth with this kind of ridiculousness! I just began taking a small poll in my office and the amount of Creationists right here in this teeny tiny mircrocosm of the US was upsetting enough. That desert island i'm thinking of retiring too is looking better and better...SHEESH!
ReplyDelete-Ayerishgrl
gryphen asks:
ReplyDelete"Why does America still fear Charles Darwin?"
because we're stupid, gryphen! we want to be entertained, not educated.
priorities, ya know.
All of this will be water under the bridge when we finally realize that we actually inhabit a sophisticated hyperdimensional user interactive hologram. Along the lines of a higher-order planetarium.
ReplyDeleteSimple.... Two reasons.
ReplyDeleteMany 'fear' Darwin because they don't 'understand' Darwin. Stupid is as Stupid does.
Others 'fear' Darwin because they have money and power invested in the status quo (religious intolerance).
What if Earth really is no more than a speck in a petri dish in some alien high school student's biology experiment. Think that is what scares 'em? There is always the theory that we are just a dustball under some bed somewhere...we are here, we are here..WE ARE HERE!
ReplyDeleteboodog
Darwin's theories are not easy to understand. He actually was a Christian, in the best sense of the word. Because one loses faith does mean that we lose our Christianity.
ReplyDeleteThese are the same wingnuts who believe they will be lifted off by aliens in the near future.
The movie will be undergrounded, no matter what is said. I remember the original Caligula (no comparison, just a really nasty movie). It showed in Georgetown, Wash DC, late night, for a long, long time. And the theatre was never empty. It was a very nasty movie BTW.
Anon @ 11:51 - not sure if you were joking but I'll tell ya - I like it !
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe it's much more complex than evolution can explain. I think we need to say that we don't the answer and the best we can do is have fun exploring and asking the good questions. For any camp of belief to say definitely that they have the answer and everyone needs to believe - well that really makes me nervous. Both science and religion have been proven incorrect, time and time again.
After being shot down by teachers (quite often) as a kid for questioning things. I came up with this saying, " we only know what we know at any given time. it's always going to change so don't get too attached"
I'm wondering if the 39% believing in evolution has to do with the way the query was posed. If there had been an option for " do you believe in some mix of intelligent design as well as evolution" we might've seen a different outcome.
PS - Check out Palingates
Thanks, Guys and Gals... you have covered the subject well...
ReplyDeleteEvolution Lives! We are Proof!
The book AMERICAN FASCISTS(the Christian Right and the War on America) explains why the increase in home schooling, racism and a lot of the things in the headlines today. Good read!
ReplyDeleteI think people fear Darwin because deep inside they feel that our civilization is the booby prize we got when we found out that we couldn't have have all the sex and violence we wanted. So instead of just relinquishing that goal in favor of getting along reasonably with others, they decided that somebody must have MADE them give it up.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they think that gravity is just Intelligent Falling?
Philosopete... I almost baptised the keyboard with a snort of tea!
ReplyDeleteGravity = Intelligent Falling? Brilliant!
i believe that darwin was definitly on track with evolution and all religions are in the ballpark with at least the alpha aspect saying this, my rationale is "from nothing you get nothing".the big bang happened but something had too create a spark to this life giving evolutional/creational explosion.there is a god or allah whatever name you may call him/her its the blind hatered or misunderstanding if you will, between science and religion that plagues mankind we all should appreciate darwin and all scientist who try an offer enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI note with alarm that even one of your own crew doesn't understand that 'man did not spring from the apes'. You've got a lot of work ahead of you Gryphen if you want to edgycate those kristyuns Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteMaybe first explain to them that they have to stop looking for that ol missing link, cause there isn't one.
And hey, if you really want to hold their feet to the fire then ask them to say if they're atheists!
Like the young woman who told her mother she was an atheist. The mother exclaimed: Ahhhhhhhh nooooooo, I knew you didn't believe in god but not an atheist!!!!!
I have yet to see any anti-evolutionist make a damn bit of sense. They are all willfully ignorant simpletons who put their faith in superstitions. For those interested in gaining a better understanding about Darwin and the implications of evolution, read some of the essays by the late Stephen Jay Gould. HIs book "Bully for Brontosaurus" is a collection of essays written originally for Natural History magazine. He was a passionate defender of the work of Darwin and sought to enlighten the discussion of evolution.
ReplyDeleteThat only 39% of Americans believe in evolution is about as shocking as saying that 39% believe in gravity. That figure does much to explain teabaggers, birthers, deathers, Birchers, Palinites, and the rest of the vast cloud of the idiot fringe that has been hyperventilating since Obama's nomination as the official Democratic candidate for president.
It seems that we are becoming more stupid as a nation with each passing year. How is this possibly a good thing?
It is interesting that up until very recently, there was no problem with believing in Evolution AND being a Christian at the same time.
ReplyDeleteScience and religion have co-existed for centuries without blowing each other up. What many people can't figure out is the concept that "faith" is what makes the difference.
If you are a TRUE Christian, and your faith is solid, believing in evolution as a way of species progression works fine.
So why the problem all of a sudden? Why is "science" such a threat? If you do have that faith "the size of a mustard seed", why does it matter what others believe?
What I have wrestled with is that the older I become and the more I read and learn and study, and QUESTION, the less I "believe". I never considered it a bad thing to be a skeptic. Blind faith never made much sense to me.
According to the Constitution, I am free to NOT believe in organized religion as my choice. When you think about the literally MILLIONS of people who have been slaughtered in the "name of God" throughout the ages, it doesn't seem very "holy" to me.
Why is it that fanatic religious people tend to be the most vicious, violent people in the world? Doesn't make much sense to me. And if they don't believe in evolution, they have no right to tell me what to believe or not.
Way too many people meddling in other people's business.