Theatrical Review of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

One first comment on the most-misunderstood part of "Expelled": Dawkins's point with the "Ultimate 747" argument: even if aliens had seeded life on our planet billions of years ago, that fact still would have done nothing to explain the origin of life in the universe. Anyone familiar with Dawkins's latest book would have known this (apparently, Ben wasn't).

This movie is an embarrassment: it doesn't stand up to a basic fact-check. The first red flag is that the documentary makers didn't bother to ... document ... their claims on the movie's website one must look elsewhere. Fortunately, it's Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled:_No_Intelligence_Allowed is well-written and well-documented. One learns about whoppers both superficial and fundamental from the film:

The Smithsonian worker who was allegedly "fired" from that institution NEVER EVER WORKED THERE. He had -- and continues to have -- a volunteer position at that institution.

Darwin's quote is grossly distorted the Wikipedia shows both what the movie "quoted" and what Darwin's actual quote.

The "lecture" that Ben Stein gave was a setup: its audience was almost completely extras. The "standing ovation" was staged by the film's producers.

The interviews of the biologists were arranged under a false pretense that they were for a documentary called "Crossroads." The producers of the film first claimed that the topic -- and title -- shifted to "Expelled" during the production. However, the domain name "expelledthemovie.com" was acquired BEFORE any of the interviews happened (and the site "crossroadsthemovie.com" was never acquired by the producers). This is documented by a web page on the delightfully-chosen name crossroadsthemovie.com.


IMHO, the stories of the other four "Expelled" really don't hold water, either. Consult the Wikipedia entry for summaries and references.

Some from the Creationist/ID crowd have claimed that Michael Moore's mockumentaries somehow justify this production. I categorically disagree: a dishonest and shameful manipulation by filmmakers on the left hardly justifies one by filmmakers the right.

Others claim that this film's theatrical BO make it worth seeing on DVD. I disagree. As the Wikipedia documents, the producers hired four separate marketing companies to promote it. They toured the film nationwide to generate "buzz". And they even paid certain communities to see the film. One cannot judge this film's Week 1 box office unless the producers openly disclosed how much they spent to market and promote its release. The week 4 BO estimates are out: this film has suffered week-over-week BO drops of 53%, 51% and 55%. These are not the numbers of a film that has generated any significant word-of-mouth recommendations.

If you do decide to see this film at home, I strongly suggest you use your pause button early and often while watching. Look up the cases of the "Expelled Five" while watching. Note the distortions of the Darwin quote. Note how it's difficult to understand Dawkins's "Ultimate 747" point because Ben's response that demonstrates that he didn't understand.

Finally, I suggest you pause while Ben is getting his "standing ovation" -- and see if you're upset to know that the whole "lecture" was fiction, too.

[Post edited by Thom on May 11, 2008]

Sounds like a Moore movie, except not entertaining. If you are gonna spread propaganda from the left or the right at least entertain your audience.

Not eveyone on the "right" is like Carrie's mom on the movie with the same title (I hope).

You would think, with Ben Stein as host/star, it would have been at least entertaining. It's not. He's maddening.

There's this vast conspiracy in academia against intelligent design, as Stein would have us believe. And my jaw still drops over the Darwin/Hitler link. I don't know what else to say about it.

Jason, awestruck

The term "Intelligent Design" acquired its current meaning in 1988. Imagine if the term had been in vogue and had its current meaning in the 1930s. How do you imagine Hitler would have used the phrase in that hypothetical world:

"The Aryan race was created by an Intelligent Designer to rule the world!"
"[Some other race] was Designed to be [...]"

The question: what exactly would this hypothetical Hitler's statements have meant about "Intelligent Design"?

ben stein is the real-world equivalent of an internet troll. what a chode.

If this were a Michael Moore movie, the review would be about how original this movie was and how he had brought about a subject that we all need to talk about. The U.S. is going to hell because we don't let Moore rule us with his infinit wisdom.

Quote:
If this were a Michael Moore movie, the review would be about how original this movie was and how he had brought about a subject that we all need to talk about. The U.S. is going to hell because we don't let Moore rule us with his infinit wisdom.

Oh, how you know me so very well.

When I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 and reviewed it for my movie blog, I did note there was little attempt at being fair and balanced. Moore had an agenda. Duh. Stein does the same here and I called him on it. Moreover, I pointed out holes in the narrative which any critic worth half his salt should do. Sorry you didn't agree with it. Maybe you'd like to appeal to the creator do strike me down with lightning?

Jason, mildly amused

jason,

the creator will smite thee for the same reason that he's going to smite ian mckellan, bryan singer, liberace, etc.



eddie

Eddie,

Yeah, well, "the creator" might as well destroy the whole world because there isn't a single one of us who isn't broken at least one of the commandments.

Jason, at least I'll be in good company