Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is certainly
the most dishonest movie I have ever seen, portraying Intelligent Design supporters as political
martyrs to Big Science, academia as the equivalent to the USSR, and
doing everything it can to link Charles Darwin and evolution directly to the
Holocaust. It truly is despicable and intellectually insipid in a way I
thought not possible until now. If you want all the gory details about how
awful this film is factually, please visit the NCSE's Expelled Exposed website
and Scientific American.
Unfortunately, the movie is almost certainly a success. In the US, most people know absolutely nothing about evolution,
or any other form of science for that matter. They probably never heard anything about
it in their schooling, from the media, or from the science establishment. If
they know anything about it, it is probably something negative (and false)
they heard from a creationist. It must also be remembered that most
people in the US (and for that matter, around the world) rely on
understanding their world through perceptions, feelings, and intuitions, not
facts, logic, or evidence.
This film may very well be the only thing that
many people ever hear about evolution, and while factually worthless, it is
decent propaganda. I thought that the film would be hard to watch because
Ben Stein wasn't likable enough. I was wrong. Stein is human: funny or serious
as the situation demands, with his characteristic
dead-pan delivery and wit. Although the film sags in the middle when Stein
takes his little trip to Hadamar and Dachau, and then on to Down House, it
moves at a fairly brisk pace and effectively uses images, editing, and
symbolism to get its point across (though Stein and the director are no
Michael Moore).
The images used play more to a generally conservative,
though not overtly evangelical/conservative, audience: evolutionists are
associated with Stalin, communism, the Berlin wall, angry atheists, Planned
Parenthood, eugenics, euthanasia, and abortion, while Stein and the ID
supporters are juxtaposed with Reagan, American flags, the Washington
monument, MLK Jr., the destruction of the Berlin wall, Mom, and apple pie.
The ID supporters are given ample time to present their vague and
ill-documented claims, while the evolutionists get scant screen time and,
for the most part, look bad (not necessarily their fault, probably due to
editing). All of this makes for a compelling, if somewhat heavy-handed and
overwrought, film. Most people who do not know anything about evolution or
ID will probably be swayed by it. To believe otherwise is wishful thinking.
Contrary to the opinion of many prominent science bloggers, it is a really
big deal for a documentary to be shown in thousands of theaters in the US
(most documentaries will only be shown in a handful). It is a big deal for a documentary to
take in $3 million dollars in its first weekend (most never take in
hundreds of thousands). It is a big deal for a documentary to be supported
by millions of dollars of PR and expensive TV and print advertising (most
documentaries get none).
People can argue over whether Expelled will ever
make enough money to cover its costs (I think it will through DVD sales),
but it will influence a lot of people, and no debunking website (not matter
how factually correct) will reach as many people. The only thing that would
be effective would be another film to counter it, like Randy Olsen's Flock
of Dodos. But that isn't likely in the cards. This is a bad day for the
public understanding of science. Really bad.
