Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America

This is utterly pathetic...

Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote On The Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.

The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.

However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.

Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".

More here

Hmm... Charles Darwin = Hitler, Mass Murder, and racism? Wow. I don't really see that; all the theory says is, "Look, guys, we were all descended from apes. We're a load smarter than them, don't worry, but there was no 'seven days' thingumajig'. Shouldn't that theory dissolve racism, because it says we all came from the same root? How does it = World War II and Hitler? They must be using some form of hitherto unknown equations.

Well, it is bound to be so isn't it?
The problem is (from a Briton's perspective) is that the average American Christian is so staunch in his beliefs that he refuses to accept any other actuality. While on one hand, it is a trait to be respected, perhaps even admired, however such a militant reaction can only be borne from ignorance.

Evolution = Fact. Religion = Belief.

For a religion that promotes tolerance, I cannot help but be confused by consistent Christian xenophobia.

(very sorry for getting deep)

I'd just like to take a moment to say that not all Christians are ignorant morons...I know for one that my mom sure isn't. I'm fairly open minded in my faith. Heck, I probably would've seen this film out of mere curiousity.

But yeah, just a reminder; don't stereotype all Christians just because a few are not open-minded or are ignorant. We're not all like that.

I don't think their faith is the problem, it's the fact that all those middle americans are so cut off from the rest of the world. People living in Kansas and Texas and places like that aren't exposed to much diversity where they come from and my theory is that they find it hard to accept other ways of thinking. Also all that patriotism and 'God's Country' stuff is so engraved in their culture. I think that film would probably be good for them.

Oh, crud. xD This is that sort of thing that makes Christians look close-minded, isn't it?

About the Darwin movie, I don't really see the big deal. I mean, movies that oppose Christian beliefs pop up all the time. For me, anyway, "evolution" isn't particuarly offensive, it's just *not real*, you know? The same way I've grown up with the knowledge that unicorns don't exist. The theory of evolution existed, sure, but I wasn't too bothered by it.

I'm sure the Christians that are bashing this movie knew about evolution before this movie came, so it makes me wonder why they're bashing it now. And why don't they just...not see it? They don't have to go flaming everyone to prove a point.

The whole thing calling Darwin a bigot with a legacy of mass murder was a bit strange and uncalled for, although Hitler *did* really get into that kind of stuff, right? Which is why he was killing off anyone disabled or different? I thought that's what they said.
Also, personally, I don't think a Christian should go around calling people names like that, dead or not. They never knew him personally, and besides, it's plain rude and a bad way to represent your religion.

And quickly, I'd just like to agree with Krupp! Really, the only Christians that are coming across as intolerant and close-minded aren't really getting it right! If you've ever seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you know what I mean. Bad guy is actually a religious judge, and he hates a gypsy girl because he thinks she's practicing witchcraft. So, he thinks she's like, ultimate evil, when in fact she's really nice. And so he wants to burn her at the stake. XD See what I mean? He was a little confused on the whole "religion" thing. And I don't blame him, it is a bit confusing. On the one hand, we're supposed to try to keep away from evil stuff, but on the other hand, we're supposed to be tolerant and love our neighbor as ourselves. It's tricky.
Just don't forget that we all struggle with different things, and if you put the "close-minded" label on all Christians, you're being pretty close-minded yourself.

Prejudice and bias blinds many people, and leads even intelligent people to accept something that is clearly absurd as fact. Why is it that a few have accepted this news story without a trace of skepticism? Your first clue that this article is absurd should be:

Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective

Emphasis mine. Influential? I've never heard of the site, and I doubt many have. Movieguide has an Alexa rating of 266,294. Doesn't sound very influential to me. By comparison, YWS has an Alexa rating of 225,411. Judging by the logic of the article, I should be able to use YWS to stop movies I disagree with from coming to the United States!

Then what about this bit of it being too controversial? Does this make any sense whatsoever? Fahrenheit 9-11 wasn't controversial? Clockwork Orange wasn't controversial? And Antichrist isn't controversial? If Antichrist can get distribution within the United States, any film can.

Ah, but no. That's not a good enough explanation. It must be rampant Christian fundamentalism within the United States that is keeping a movie about Darwin out. Nevermind the countless documentaries about Darwin on TV, or how every textbook talks about him.

Yet, then how does this fit into that narrative:
Movie about Charles Darwin's Life Lands US Distributor

In the end, the movie did get US distribution. Why did it have so much trouble? This seems likely:

A producer of Creation, the film about Charles Darwin and his wife Emma, starring Paul Bettany and his real-life wife Jennifer Connelly, is griping that the film has no distributor in the US, apparently because so many Americans are evolution-hating mouth-breathers that no one wants the touch the thing; it’s just too darn controversial.

Well, it may be that. Alternately, and leaving aside any discussion of the actual quality of the film, it may be that a quiet story about the difficult relationship between an increasingly agnostic 19th Century British scientist and his increasingly devout wife, thrown into sharp relief by the death of their beloved 10-year-old daughter, performed by mid-list stars, is not exactly the sort of film that’s going to draw in a huge winter holiday crowd, regardless of whether that scientist happens to be Darwin or not, and that these facts are rather more pertinent, from a potential distributor’s point of view. . . . Maybe if Charles Darwin were played by Will Smith, was a gun-toting robot sent back from the future to learn how to love, and to kill the crap out of the alien baby eaters cleverly disguised as Galapagos tortoises, and then some way were contrived for Jennifer Connelly to expose her breasts to RoboDarwin two-thirds of the way through the film, and there were explosions and lasers and stunt men flying 150 feet into the air, then we might be talking wide-release from a modern major studio. Otherwise, you know, not so much. The “oh, it’s too controversial for Americans” comment is, I suspect, a bit of face-saving rationalization from a producer

From:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/09/13/t ... ngination/

As for that Gallup poll, references to it always leave out that only 25% of the United States doesn't believe in evolution. 39% do believe, and (for some reason) 36% have no opinion. I have no clue how someone could have no opinion, but the poll does show that only a quarter don't believe in evolution.

Edit
Plus this: The American distributor of Creation is Newmarket. Newmarket was also the distributor for Passion of the Christ. If that doesn't force you to rethink this situation, I don't know what would.

Maddyc wrote:I don't think their faith is the problem, it's the fact that all those middle americans are so cut off from the rest of the world. People living in Kansas and Texas and places like that aren't exposed to much diversity where they come from and my theory is that they find it hard to accept other ways of thinking. Also all that patriotism and 'God's Country' stuff is so engraved in their culture. I think that film would probably be good for them.

I'm not sure if you've ever been to Texas, but it is an extremely diverse state, with a large Hispanic population for a start. States like Kansas and Nebraska have substantial populations of Hispanic people and Native American people as well:
http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_common_race.html

In my experience, diversity doesn't have much to do with it. If someone is going to be close-minded (no matter what their beliefs...) they're going to be that way no matter what part of the U.S. they live in. I wouldn't go so far to say that "middle America" is largely populated with close-minded people and the coasts are filled with open-minded people. There's a frustrating mix of both wherever you go.

I also agree heartily with Nate's point. There is quite a lot of bias in that article.

Really? And so why is so much obscene music not considered too much? At least it seems that way.