Burtonia Blogs: I've Been Expelled

Saturday, April 19, 2008

I've Been Expelled

I granted Scott Nehring an exclusive on my "Expelled" review. You can find it here. Short take: disappointment.

Many are hyping this film as a skirmish in the culture wars and are therefore tracking theatre attendance closely. For what it's worth, the 7:20pm showing in Oakdale, MN was nearly sold out last night.

Labels: Expelled, Intelligent Design, movies

2 Comments:

Thanks for the great review. I love "argumentary"! I'm not sure I totally figured out how to pronounce "propagamentary", but I like that too!

I agree, the ID movie I would like to see is one that explains how detecting design in nature is a legitimate line of scientific inquiry (because I haven't figured that out yet). Not sure what your "uncomfortable questions" are, but I would also like to see the documentary about the relationship between Darwinism and Nazism. Maybe the producers will make enough (as you mentioned the show you attended was nearly sold out) to make those movies, but will also take the criticisms of reviewers such as yourself (and every other review I have read) and make a better movie.

Playing "guess who's telling the truth" with this subject sometimes gets tiresome. Here's another perspectiveon the stories of the "expelled" scientists featured in movie.

I am looking forward to seeing Dawkins, Provine, Scott, Myers, etc., but will be squirming in my seat a little knowing that they were basically tricked into being there. It may help to listen to Dawkins' perspective on this and also the context of the conversation in which the film makes it look like he admits to the possibility of intelligent design. If you want to avoid the bile (Dawkins did not like the film) you can scroll down to the 14th paragraph that begins "Another example."

I find myself reluctant to spend my time and money in support of this film, which makes me sad. I guess reconciliatory documentaries just aren't as sexy as inflammatory and divisive ones. And I guess that makes sense given the world we live in.

By swirlingeddy, At April 19, 2008 5:21 PM
Thanks for your comment, Ed. I read Dawkins comments shortly after the dust-up at the premier. I think his excuses for the "alien" comment don't make a lot of sense when contrasted with what he actually said in the interview. I think he realized after the fact that he had blundered and now is trying to figure out a way to minimize the damage.

By Jeff Burton, At April 19, 2008 5:42 PM