From Riverdaughter:
Charles Darwin film ‘too controversial for religious America’
A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.
… 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”.
Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Species was published.
“That’s what we’re up against. In 2009. It’s amazing,” he said.
“The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it’s because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they’ve seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.
“It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There’s still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It’s quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules.
Sigh. These people vote and reproduce. Somebody help us!
Oh boy, and this is the country that I lived in for 22 years. I'm so glad I escaped. They deserve an A+ for stupidity and ignorance. I pity them, but they have a dangerous attitude.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree Irene, they are definitely dangerous as are any people who believe that The Invisible Cosmic Housekeeper is on their side.
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This is utterly depressing!!!
ReplyDeleteJeez, and I sometimes feel like a beleaguered minority in my own country. Clearly I should try living in the States to know what that REALLY feels like....
ReplyDelete@Nevin:
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
@Nick:
We just don't know how lucky we are, sometimes!
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Oh My Gosh, I'm amazed that the words of a few would so scare you that the rest of us would be painted with the same brush.
ReplyDeleteYour all very lucky to not be living in America. We are lucky that you aren't as well. If you have "Constructive" criticisms I'm open.
Brighid:
ReplyDelete61% not believing in evolution is a staggering number of people - that's 192,150,000 of you not scientifically or logically minded. This does not bode well for the future which will be technological.
Hardly a few!!
I find that a very constructive statement in and of itself.
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Don't believe polls. 100% of the people I know believe in evolution. The poll was probably taken outside a fundamentalist church on a Sunday Morning. Of course I don't hang out with creationists. We're not all dumb. We're finally rid of Bush. He was such an embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteKarin:
ReplyDeleteWelcome!
Be that as it may, the decision not to show the movie in the US shows the power of the creationists.
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wanna see the movie? go to you tube.
ReplyDeleteI've linked my own post on the subject to you. It's time 'real' Americans stood up to these morons. They are, after all, a minority group - albeit very vociferous and backed by twenty-first century Borgia equivalents.
ReplyDelete@GFB:
ReplyDeleteThanks but I'll have to wait to get out of the dark ages of Dialup Dementia for that!
@RJA:
As mentioned on my post to your blog, it is actually far more distressing, I'll make my headline more clear.
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Hm ... as I was close to make at least two steps backwards on my quest to become the politest blogger in all known universes and those yet to discover, I read your post to my friend Tetrapilotomos.
ReplyDeleteBeing busy with proofreading the 1669 pages of his monumental opus "Pre-Assyrian Philately in a Nutshell", without looking up he muttered: "Well, I know some other silly theories with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over two millennia of trying."
LOL, Sean!
ReplyDeletePlease let me know when your friend's book is published, it sounds like a surefire bestseller!
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