Crimson White

Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Rotten Tomatoes Ben Stein

A documentary called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" sailed into the mainstream this past Friday with Ben Stein at the helm. Packed to the brim with creationist propaganda, the film seeks to make a mockery of evolution and the past 150 years of scientific inquiry.

The film is framed in deceptive tactics. Images of the Berlin Wall and Stalin whisk by as Mr. Stein "proposes" gaps in evolution. But like a fishnet with lots of holes, one can still catch a lot of fish. This points out the big mistake in "Expelled:" it deals solely in absolutes.

Even science doesn't even deal in absolutes. I find it hard to believe anyone would mistake the theory of gravity as just one man's opinion, but that option is still open. Sadly, absolutes are the terms dealt out by Stein's camp.

Stein attempts to resurrect William Paley's Grand Designer argument. He uses the DNA molecule and the cell as his "evidence" to prop up the idea that both are irreducibly complex and that "random, dumb, blind chance" couldn't have made such things. But where is his evidence for that?

This film wishes to establish a new precedent against the academic ruminants of Darwin. Evolutionary biologists PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins are featured in the film as purely ornamental, rather than the leaders in the field that they are. Ironically, Myers was not allowed to see the movie - after his family and Dawkins were, ironically enough, admitted. Dawkins and Myers are tagged as the "bad scientists," while Christian scientists suffering persecution for their claims are the "good scientists."

Once again, this is an absolutist's tongue, not a scientist's. It is amazing that even now, bad science cannot be deciphered from good science. As the film progresses, the manner in which Stein presents ideas begins to reflect the same rigidity he seeks to expose.

"Expelled" seeks to propagandize evolution, to take a few Spencerian misconceptions about the "fittest survival techniques." Though it should be relatively easy to wade through the options this film presents, it will no doubt appeal to the certain audience that will see it.

One woman enthusiastically stopped me afterwards to sing the film's praises. "Now, that was an honest take, don't you think?" she said. "The other side of the story." Stories should be left for Disney to tell.

Stein loses sight of his claim as the film wears on. It becomes scarcely about academic freedom and more about Hitler. Stein's storybook gets more elaborate as evolution is held responsible for everything from eugenics and the Holocaust to the current unemployment rate and the war in Iraq; mix around some disgruntled "scientists," sprinkle in few Nazis and you probably have an advanced copy of the script.

Finally, creationism is not science. Scientists who make claims without evidence should not be taken seriously. "Expelled" misses this point entirely. Just because they mention the sacred cow of religion as a probable cause for our existence does not exempt them from any level of scrutiny.

CW critic's rating: * (out of four)

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