Darwin Central » 2008

Time to change the diapers

April 17th, 2008 RWA

We’ve already linked to Michael Shermer’s brilliant evisceration of Expelled in our last post. Now, Shermer is one of the best defenders of science out there, and everyone concerned with scientific literacy should be proud to call him a friend. Like Eugenie Scott or Ken Miller, he’s very wise and diplomatic, respectful of people even when they disagree with him, but still not afraid to call out ignorance or stupidity when he sees it. And besides, I have to love someone who writes an article like this. Alas, being wise, diplomatic, and damned near 100% right on everything carries with it a heavy price; it means putting up with the willingly ignorant and insufferably stupid, who won’t listen to the facts no matter how clearly and persuasively you try to present them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Extra(s), Extra(s)!

April 17th, 2008 EmmaPeel

Ben Stein’s “documentary”, Expelled, opens with an effective scene where he passionately addresses an audience of enthusiastic college students about how those evil evolutionary scientists are suppressing free speech in academia. In today’s eSkeptic, Michael Shermer reveals why those “college students” looked just a little too much like they had stepped in from Central Casting:

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WARNING: This Movie May Be Harmful To Your (Mental) Health

April 16th, 2008 RWA

Even though the makers of Expelled are trying to push their product to high school students, and insisting that it is acceptable viewing for young skulls full of mush, the MPAA thinks otherwise. They have given Expelled a PG rating, the reasons being:

thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking.

Mm-hmm. I guess Ben Stein shouldn’t be fretting about getting a PG rating for smoking, given that it’s his good buddy Rob Reiner who has helped agitate for that idiotic new MPAA criteria. But does blatant plagiarism really count as a disturbing image? Oh, wait, they probably meant the footage of Nazi and communist atrocities-or, rather, the disgusting and disgraceful exploitation of them to make an absurd point. That’s every bit as loathsome as the attempts by the far left to smear Bush and anyone else they happen to disagree with with the Nazi label (I’m just flaming out of the political closet, aren’t I?). As for the supposed “thematic material” in the film which is “supposedly” so objectionable, the MPAA should just come out and say it: this movie is a fountain of fibs and fallacies, is completely immoral at a time when we need to be improving scientific literacy instead of diminishing it, and your kids will be all the dumber for watching it. In a world where parents let their kids watch The Doodlebops, however, I’m not so sure that valuing a child’s mental health is paramount among parental values nowadays.

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The Official Expelled Paternity Test

April 15th, 2008 midwifetoad

The folks over at Uncommon Descent Report a news release from Expelled: The Movie.

Success has many fathers, but according to the producers, their baby is adopted.

Here’s a chance for you to be the judge. Turn the page and decide for yourself, which, if any, of the following suitors is the real father.
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Dissing Benjamin Stein

April 15th, 2008 RWA

As promised, the NCSE updated its Expelled Exposed website today to include a full debunking of the scientific and historical claims made in the crockumentary, as well as the dubious assertions of “persecution” by some of the interviewees. In addition, they offer some verrry interesting background information on the film’s marketing campaign and the people behind it. In spite of not being screened for critics, advance reviews from Time magazine (by Jeffrey Kluger, former columnist for Discover magazine and co-author with James Lovell of LOST MOON, the basis for the film APOLLO 13) and Variety all point to a bomb. It’s bad enough seeing fellow conservatives embrace pseudoscience, even worse when they stoop the left’s currently trendy tactics of making purposely misleading and fabricated “documentaries” as a vehicle for fibbery.

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Tomatometer Still Flatlined

April 14th, 2008 midwifetoad

As noted on Pharyngula, Ben Stein’s Expelled is “not screened for critics”.

Every semi-knowledgeable moviegoer and reader of movie criticism knows what the words “not screened for critics” means: The movie is a dog.
“Not screened for critics” means a movie is so terrible that the studio will take its chances, deprive itself of free publicity, and go without release-date reviews. Considering the garbage the studios will show us critics ahead of time (such as the gruesomely lurid “Street Kings” or the laughably stupid “10,000 B.C.”), to keep a movie away from critics is usually a sign that things are really, really bad.

This means Expelled will open with a big zero on the Tomatometer. This will have an effect. Another movie targeted at antebellum thinkers — Gods and Generals – scored eight percent and topped out at under thirteen million in box office. I’m just pessimistic enough to think Expelled might reach this level.

This means Expelled might be profitable in pre-DMCA lawsuit dollars. A sad commentary on American values, but I’m anchored to reality. A lot of people want to be told by a talk show host that they are not ignorant and intellectually dishonest.

The silver lining may be that this mocumentary will join its brothers in the Kent Hovind catalog of DVDs, assuming all prints are not ordered destroyed by a federal judge.

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Expelled to XVIVO: Up Yours!

April 11th, 2008 midwifetoad

The cease and desist letter from XVIVO has now been officially answered. The Expelled web site now carries the following announcement:

Editor’s Note: Questions have been raised about the origination of some of the animation used in our movie EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed. Claims that we have used any animation in an unauthorized manner are simply false. Premise Media created the animation that illustrates cellular activity used in our film.

The Producers of “EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed”

Of course the XVIVO letter never charged Expelled with using their video. Here’s what it says:

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The Empire Strikes Back

April 9th, 2008 midwifetoad

Full text found at Pharyngula.

EDIT: pdf of final letter

Re: Copyright infringement in “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”

Dear Mr. •••••:

This letter will constitute notice to you, as Chairman of Premise Media Corporation, of the copyright infringement by your corporation, and its subsidiary, Rampant Films, of material produced by XVIVO LLC, in which XVIVO holds a copyright.

It has come to our intention that Premise Media and Rampant Films has produced a film entitled “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” which is scheduled for commercial release and distribution on April 18, 2008. To our knowledge, this film includes a segment depicting biological cellular activity that was copied by computer-generated means from a video entitled “The Inner Life of a Cell.” XVIVO holds the copyright to all the models, processes, and depictions in this video, and has not authorized Premise Media or Rampant Films to make any use of this material.

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FLUNKED!

April 9th, 2008 RWA

We’re trying to do our part in helping to dispel the misinformation and distortions being perpetuated by the makers of EXPELLED, but as usual, the indispensible National Center for Science Education is on the ball quicker than anyone else, and has set up EXPELLED EXPOSED, an invaluable set of resources refuting arguments made in the film. As they note in their masthead, Intelligent Design hasn’t been expelled from science; it’s been flunked, having failed to meet the proper criteria of any good theory. We strongly advise that you check back on the site continually over the next few weeks, as the NCSE is promising to provide an official response to the film on April 15, and-providing that the threat of legal recourse from Harvard doesn’t scare them into holding back the release further-more and more critiques are sure to come. Also, make sure to check out the new Dispelled blog, offering continual critical updates on the film and its ad campaign.

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