When was the last time you were sitting in a theater and heard the crowd applauding for the film? It's been a long, long time for me. I can't even recall when it last happened. But applause is what I heard the other day when I took the three older boys to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. And no, I do not believe all the people were applauding for me... I polled them as they exited the theater. They all said "No, it was for the movie but you seem very nice too."The critics have not been kind, but I wouldn't expect them to be. This isn't a critics kind of movie. It's a people kind of movie. And the people in my theater must have thought it was pretty good.
The boys said they enjoyed it and I would recommend seeing it, no matter which side of the origins fence you stand on- just to see the amount of bias that exists in the academic, scientific, and medical communities against proponents of ID, and most definitely against people of faith in general.
I have a few very minor complaints about the movie (and Ben Stein), but overall, I'd say it succeeded in its objectives and made some really strong points. I was glad to see them broach the subject of Darwinian evolution as it relates to Hitler, Nazi Germany, Eugenics, euthanasia, and abortion- All interesting topics to explore with teens.
Some of the comments on the evolution side were definitely insulting to intelligent people of faith, so be ready if you're a believer with any brains whatsoever. I'm a believer with no brains, so for me, it was insulting to the point of being amusing. It was a little disappointing to see these well-educated, highly intelligent people (evolutionists) resort to name-calling and mockery instead of logically and intelligently making their points, but it wasn't surprising. I loved watching Richard Dawkins talk himself into circles near the end of the movie. Made my day. I'd definitely take a youth group or science class to see it from middle school on up. I'll probably buy the DVD when it comes out to use later on in homeschool.
Go see it. It's good. Of course, all this assumes that there's someone out there who gives a piddly flip about my opinion of a movie.
If you've seen it, what did you think? Care to discuss?
4 comments:
I totally want to take my daughter K~ to see it, but don't know if I'll find the time while it's still in theaters. It looks great though and my daughter is very passionate about this topic so I know she'd like it too.
My brother went to see it. Loved it, I've heard. I want to see it, but I don't think it's playing anywhere here in the greater Radiator Springs area. I'm not even sure there is a movie theater anywhere other than the mall, and one of the anchor stores at the mall is the Dollar Tree, so that tells you the likelihood of that movie coming to town here. Not that I have anything against the Dollar Tree.
I live in the Bible Belt. I don't have to see this movie; I live it.
Frankly, if you are feeling that your thoughts on this matter are a bit out of line from the mainstream, I have 3 words for you: location, location, location.
As a person who thinks that evolution should be taught in schools, I am definitely a minority where I live. We have stickers (or stamps) slapped on our school books saying that evolution is "just a theory". Of course relativity doesn't get this much attention. Sometimes, I wonder if it is jealous.
Evolution is a theory just like everything else. I can't wait to see this movie! My husband and I are going to have a date night so we can go and see it. Religion is a major part of our lives as well as education. I want my children to grown up knowing that evolution is just a theory.
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