A review of reviews
May 1, 2008
By: Stephanie Walstrom <swalstrom@hilite.org>
For a movie that received a meager one star from The Chicago Tribune, the newly released film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” has made quite the stir. Not only did the film rake in enough to boast the third-best opening ever for a documentary, the movie has generated conversation across all fronts.
“Expelled” takes a look into the persecution faced by scientists who are from the school of thought that there may be evidence of intelligent design. The movie interviews scientists who, upon expressing support for the intelligent design theory, claim they were ridiculed, blacklisted, denied tenure or even outright fired.
And the film reaches beyond just the scientific community. Pamela Winnick, one of the movie’s interviewees and a former reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, claims that an article she wrote on the merits of intelligent design ended her career. “If you give any credence to (the intelligent design theory) whatsoever… you’re just finished as a journalist,” Winnick said.
The movie also argues that intelligent design deserves a place in academia. It asserts that the intelligent design theory is not one propped up by religion, but that it has scientific merit.
But if you leave the film asking, “So which origin-of-life theory is correct?” then you’re asking the wrong question.
What struck me as interesting about many of the reviews I read that totally trashed the movie was that the reviewers seemed to completely miss the movie’s point. A review of the movie by the New York Times offered the following comments: “Positing the theory of intelligent design as a valid scientific hypothesis, the film frames the refusal of ‘big science’ to agree as nothing less than an assault on free speech.” Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel claimed that the goal of the film was to create a sliver of doubt about evolution.
I was also struck by the Evangelical Christian communities that are championing “Expelled” as some sort of breakthrough for the Creationist theory.
Both of these conclusions fall hopelessly short of the film’s intended message. “Expelled” seeks only to show that the scientific community is no longer allowing peers to test theories about how the earth came into existence. The movie’s point is not to cast doubt on evolution or sway people to creationism; it merely raises issue with the fact that many scientific communities have closed the door on a question that is far from answered.
How well the movie fared with critics or viewers should not have had anything to do with intelligent design or evolution, because the reality is, the movie isn’t trying to make a case for either. It is trying to make a case for freedom of speech. In a country that protects a person’s right to burn flags or participate in a Nazi parade if they so wish, the freedom to openly discuss scientific theories must certainly be a protected one.
I skimmed through dozens of reviews, and came across few that I thought accurately portrayed the movie’s message. One, The Florida Baptist Witness, contained a review by William A. Dembski that insightfully commented that “Expelled” documented the “institutionalized intolerance” of anyone critical of Darwin’s theory. Dembski said that the film “unmasks the hypocrisy of an intellectual class that pretends to value freedom of thought and expression, but undercuts it whenever it conflicts with their deeply held secular ideas.”
Regardless of how anyone feels about Dembski’s opinions about “Expelled”, or about origin-of-life theories in general, you have got to hand it to the guy for at least correctly interpreting the movie.
Though several reviewers labeled “Expelled” a weak attempt at taking down evolution, I see only weakness in the reviewers themselves. Simply put, go see the film yourself. Because with a movie like “Expelled”, it is impossible to gain much from simply scanning reviews that may or may not have grasped the intended message of the film. Stephanie is a reporter for the HiLite. Contact her at swalstrom@hilite.org.
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