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Dar-win or Dar-lose, Stein’s film not ‘intelligent’
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Ben Stein, known for his hoity-toity game show, “Win Ben Stein’s Money,” poses even bigger questions in his latest documentary, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” Stein argues that America, the country that has sacrificed so much for its freedom, has just begun to feel the tightening of modern science’s grip on Intelligent Design. ID, which proposes that life is so complex it must have an intelligent creator, is introduced as the subject of this film, a subject that scholars, professors and philosophers worldwide have lost their jobs over. Although Stein succeeds in bringing the highly debated subject of ID to the table, he fails to effectively document why its consideration and integration into the classroom would be beneficial to our society.
Stein’s disarming schlumpiness and unavoidable liver spots add to his air of pseudo-intellectualism, but they also assist him when conveying a documentary filled with overall cinematic cheese. At one point in the movie, a statue of Darwin (depicted in a Darth Vader-like fashion) and Stein engage in an epic minute-long stare down, both unflinching and totally unaware that viewers are not impressed. An unsettling, almost comical, eerie hymn then fills the background and confirms that Stein’s argument to reintegrate ID into society’s way of thinking is only arguable under certain cinematic ploys. Arguably, half the movie was filled with five-second snippets from early educational films. The kind that feature the young boy Billy asking, “Gee whiz, Mister, why am I so naive?”
Stein attempts to develop his argument by citing the denial of tenure for scholars and philosophers at several top U.S. universities, like Iowa State University. Additionally, Stein also argues that atheism is now becoming a product of scientific advancement, which may be true in some senses. As a grand statement, Stein links Hitler to Darwinian ideas, which is far too easy to argue. After hearing 10 minutes of Stein’s nasally voice, his message was clear: Intelligent Design should not be dispelled because, in the end, no one actually knows how life came about. Travelling to a concentration camp or waltzing through Darwin’s home still isn’t going to help further anyone’s understanding of this.
So, where did Stein go wrong? We all know he is an intelligent man, but it’s clear that he just asked the wrong handful of people the wrong questions in hopes of adhering to his flimsy argument that has ID sitting alongside modern sciences. The film is deep and engaging merely because of the mocking musical cues and exciting — however inappropriate — cinematography. Wait until a rainy day when this movie is available On-Demand, read a few chapters in your torn-up philosophy book and then maybe consider watching Stein’s “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.”
2 stars out of 5
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Stein is just reinventing himself so he can cash in at the fundamentalist trough. He knows exactly what he did here and apparently could care le$$.
and we wonder why the rest of the world mocks us…wonder no more. The fact that in 2008 we even ponder disguising religion as science is embarrassing
Until it is scientifically determined how life started, and why so many links are missing, we must continue to debate.
Remember; Question Authority.