1. Comment #414287 by bruceeverett on September 12, 2009 at 12:44 pm

Wow. This is shameful. I'm gobsmacked.

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2. Comment #414288 by toddaa on September 12, 2009 at 12:46 pm

There's got to be something more to this. As cynical as I am, not even I can grasp America being this stupid.

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3. Comment #414297 by Spinoza on September 12, 2009 at 1:15 pm

I don't think America is that stupid. I think Gallup may be, though.

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4. Comment #414299 by pipsy on September 12, 2009 at 1:19 pm

It would look like 61% of Americans are obviously stupid.

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5. Comment #414300 by JemyM on September 12, 2009 at 1:20 pm

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.

It's important to note, that the "Christian perspective" is still in the habit of mythmaking. Still in the 21th century can we see new myths being woven, disguising itself as history.

The will to know is perhaps the most spiritual fire within human nature, and Christianity is the most successful Candle extinguisher made by man.

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6. Comment #414303 by Drosera on September 12, 2009 at 1:27 pm

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.

Yeah, right. And Jesus was born of a virgin and died on the cross for our sins.

BTW, what is wrong with cloning and genetic engineering per se?

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7. Comment #414306 by Nastika on September 12, 2009 at 1:31 pm

The Gallup poll in all its glory:

http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13062613

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8. Comment #414309 by the great teapot on September 12, 2009 at 1:39 pm

39% is a large number of people to ignore.
Probably more than 61% couldn't care less about harry potter, did they distribute that?
To be fair it won't be a very profitable venture even in the UK.

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9. Comment #414311 by AmandaKCampbell on September 12, 2009 at 1:41 pm

I'll be very disappointed if the film does not release here in the States. Of course, there's always Netflix when it comes out on DVD, but I'd really love for it to be released in theaters, and to go out with friends to see it. :(

Hopefully this article will spur SOMEONE in the US to pick it up!

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10. Comment #414312 by squeegee on September 12, 2009 at 1:45 pm

an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective

In other words a worthless organisation. A film review site run by flat earthers, holocaust deniers or believers in extra terrestrial kidnappings would be just as invalid as they are all biased, delusional liars.

If it's true that this film isn't being shown in the US because of "the controversy" [give me a break] then the Obama administration is in charge of more fuckwits per capita then any other democracy on the planet.

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11. Comment #414314 by gobes on September 12, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Twats.

How many times do these people need to be told that Eugenics was based on artificial selection, something which was know about long before Darwin was even born?

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12. Comment #414315 by Moq on September 12, 2009 at 1:46 pm

The comment by the producer is spot on. It's difficult to understand this kind of attitude in the 21st century. The ignorance seems pervasive and unbecoming of a supposedly civilized country.

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13. Comment #414316 by AmandaKCampbell on September 12, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Also: the fact that Gallup found that only 39% of Americans believe in evolution just made me go back to the office and tell Husband to consider the idea of moving out of this country once he gets his physics doctorate.

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14. Comment #414317 by j.mills on September 12, 2009 at 1:49 pm

This just makes me sad. Poor America. [Shakes head.]

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15. Comment #414319 by zeerust2000 on September 12, 2009 at 1:52 pm

The theory of evolution is about as controversial as the theory of relativity. The problem is, it would appear that the people who don't understand relativity (like me), know that they don't understand it, whereas those who don't understand evolution appear to be blissfully ignorant of the fact.

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16. Comment #414320 by terradea on September 12, 2009 at 1:53 pm

As an American, I can assure you that a high percentage of Americans ARE that stupid. Observe the large percentage who voted for Bush because of his faith in Jesus ... twice.

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17. Comment #414321 by Border Collie on September 12, 2009 at 1:58 pm

I'll try to do some work on finding US distributors so that I/we can send them emails so that we can get the movie here. Maybe some of you other American guys and gals can do same. I'll post whatever I find on this thread. I will henceforth refer to Christians as Nazis. Every day I awaken in a country that seems more and more like a David Lynch movie.

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18. Comment #414324 by gruebait on September 12, 2009 at 2:00 pm

As a 'Merkin, the Telegraph article doesn't describe a US that I am that familiar with.

I have always felt that the Gallup numbers must be seriously skewed by a whole lot of people who really have no strong feelings or thoughts about religion, but respond with "normal" answers when asked about it.

There are lots of religious fundamentalists here, but I can't help but think that they are louder than they are numerous. Somewhat, at least.

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19. Comment #414326 by IPV4 on September 12, 2009 at 2:01 pm

God I hate my country!

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20. Comment #414328 by Alan the Impious on September 12, 2009 at 2:02 pm

Actually terradea Bush was only voted in once, technically,lol. But your point is clear.

It would be nice for an American movie distributor to grow some balls and pick this up. It's not rocket science. What's the number one growing demographic in the US? Atheists. Surely someone can see the potential of a film like this.

I don't think there's a more important film that 61% of Americans need to see.

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21. Comment #414330 by Border Collie on September 12, 2009 at 2:05 pm

That wasn't such a great link. I'll keep searching.

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22. Comment #414331 by Szymanowski on September 12, 2009 at 2:06 pm

...denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist..."

So '1800s naturalist' is on a level with 'racist' and 'bigot'?!

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23. Comment #414334 by bluebird on September 12, 2009 at 2:11 pm

Roger Ebert's thoughts on the movie:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/09/tiff_4_darwin_walks_out_on_gen.html

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24. Comment #414335 by Dhamma on September 12, 2009 at 2:12 pm

They never cease to amaze me. "Half-baked theory"?
Do we really share ~99% DNA with these nutters?

Well, I'm incredibly happy I live in Sweden where creationists are at a minimum. I wish every American on this site could have a week over here, just to see that sane people do exist.

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25. Comment #414336 by linbetwin on September 12, 2009 at 2:14 pm

I don't want to hear any more Americans talk about their precious freedoms. They make it seem like the US is the pinnacle of freedom or even the only truly free country in the world. It's true there's no government censorship, but boycotting by pressure groups leads to a sort of self-imposed censorship. But I am sure that, in the end, someone WILL have the courage to distribute this film there.

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26. Comment #414337 by IPV4 on September 12, 2009 at 2:16 pm

DHamma,

I wish I could, thanks for the invite.

This level of nutiness has only grown since bush took office. This has nothing to do with politics just observation.

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27. Comment #414339 by Fuzzy Duck on September 12, 2009 at 2:20 pm

So "Transformers 2" was allowed in the states, but not a benign movie about Darwin? What a disgrace.


-Kevin

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28. Comment #414341 by IPV4 on September 12, 2009 at 2:28 pm

If anything, what we are viewing in America for the last 20 or so years is the brainwashing of people at a mass scale.

We are currently living in an environment where the current president is being compared to Hitler and that he is a not a natural born citizen but an implant. These accusations are being thrown due to the president’s audacity to take on some of the corporate lobbyist in Washington in an attempt to spread health care to those that are less fortunate and to those that have insurance but are being denied by their carriers for nefarious reasons.

Let me not forget to mention that people think he is setting up death panels.

So, in a nutshell what we have is a very uniformed and uneducated populace that takes their marching orders from the right wing news media that is hell bent on taking down this president at all cost by spreading propaganda.

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29. Comment #414349 by Nunbeliever on September 12, 2009 at 3:25 pm

I live in Finland that is a quite secular country. When I read articles like these I start wondering if I live on the same planet???

A movie about the life of a historical person is too controversial, but "The Passion of Christ" is just ok! Or the awful movie Expelled! I just feel sick.

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30. Comment #414351 by AtheistYeti on September 12, 2009 at 3:34 pm

This actually really pisses me off. I live in America and I REALLY wanted to see this movie. Censorship wins :/

If you don't like evolution, fine. But don't be a whiny little jerk and prevent people from watching a MOVIE because you don't want believe. Stop making a controversy where there doesn't need to be one.

And the whole thing about how Darwin was evil just really pissed me off, I could punch someone in the face right now.

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31. Comment #414355 by pragmatist45 on September 12, 2009 at 3:41 pm

The issue is money. The result is corporate censorship. Ever wonder why American TV has 300 channels and nothing to watch? Why movies and TV programs are non-controversial and lack content? The American public is fed a steady bland diet of pablam because, contrary to perception, US business is averse to risk-taking.

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32. Comment #414356 by AtheistYeti on September 12, 2009 at 3:53 pm

I'm sure money plays a big part, but there are certainly DREADFUL movies that have been distributed in theaters. Dreadful as in the movie was terrible and the director should have been shot, yet they still made money off of it. The issue is not about money in the case of this film, its about the controversy surrounding it.

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33. Comment #414357 by Witticism on September 12, 2009 at 3:58 pm

"The Terrorists hate our Freedom" G W Bush (insert any date of any speech he gave after 11/09/01)

Oh yes, what freedoms you have. I'm thankful that I live in a country that isn't as 'free' as the good ole US of A.

Apart from the death threats and call to arms to behead the movie's producers, Movieguide.org's reaction was not too dissimilar to that of many Islamic Fundies when Fitna hit the web.

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34. Comment #414358 by Barry Pearson on September 12, 2009 at 3:58 pm

#414335 by Dhamma:
Do we really share ~99% DNA with these nutters?

Good question! Do we?

In TGSoE, Richard introduces the idea that life started more than once and that there is more than one evolutionary tree. He favours the one-tree view. But ....

Perhaps those nutters are right, and they are not apes descended from an ancestor of chimps. Perhaps they are unrelated to the rest of us, but simply live among us, as a more limited species with a superficial resemblance as a result of convergence. Perhaps that accounts for their attitude towards sex - they don't have sex the same way we do.

Perhaps I've read too much science fiction, and watched too much TV.

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35. Comment #414360 by andrew.trapp on September 12, 2009 at 4:00 pm

I can't believe this movie can't find a US distributor. Since when has controversy stopped a film from being shown here?? Most movie studios (and, I would think, distributors) thrive on controversy; it's their bread and butter. If anything, they should play it up all they can. "Come see the movie the religious extremists don't want you to see!"

I did note in the original news story, though, that the article ended with the following line: "In the UK, special screenings have been set up for Christian groups." Why, in a country as proudly non-religious as the UK, would this be necessary?

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36. Comment #414361 by sgreilly on September 12, 2009 at 4:02 pm

well... how do we heathen americans see it?

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37. Comment #414363 by pragmatist45 on September 12, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Dreadful movies often make lots of money. I'm not sure why US distributors would see the film as controversial, because films about Darwin's life have been shown on American TV before without much controversy that I'm aware of. There was an excellent series about the life of Darwin on PBS channels a number of years ago. The series even stated some of Darwin's views about religious doctrines. I did not hear about any outcry over it. On the other hand, I don't remember seeing any movies about Darwin in theaters.

Contrary to US politicians, US entrepreneurship is not all it's cracked up to be.

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38. Comment #414365 by crvw1607 on September 12, 2009 at 4:14 pm

For all those saying the Gallup poll must be wrong or skewed in some way, I wonder in what part of the US you live in. I live in the Deep South - in the suburbs outside of Atlanta to be precise. My district is that which gave the world Newt Gingrich. These aren't backwoods people I live around. Now, granted, I live in a very right wing, religious centered area, but the majority of Georgia is like that outside of Atlanta, and I know from talking with other people throughout the Bible Belt that it is similar throughout their states. It's not even a "belt" anymore - it's half the country. The influence of the Religious Right has turned into an epidemic.

If 39% of the population in my community believed in evolution, I would be thrilled. As it is, I wouldn't even give it 20% if I were to bet on it. I'm surprised you see the US as an educated, objective country. That's not reality, though. Most children aren't taught about evolution at all, but they ARE pumped full of religious indoctrination. Most adults don't understand what evolution IS. Just take a look at the brilliant crockoduck arguments to prove that point.

In my own personal experience, evolution wasn't something touched upon in any of my public school science classes. It was mentioned, but mentioned as a historical fact - there was a guy named Darwin, and he came up with this theory of evolution. In my university science classes, natural genetic selection wasn't discussed at all. The only time Darwin was really "discussed" was in one of my early US history classes. The professor taught that Darwin was a racist, and his Origin of Species is what gave the white man the justification for slavery and oppression of the black man throughout the 1800s and early 1900s in the US. Of course, many of us had never read On the Origin of Species, nor did we know when Darwin lived, so we took the professor at face value. This was a public university, not a private religious institution. It wasn't until my latter years of college that I realized what Darwin's theory of evolution really was. I doubt many of my peers ever bothered to learn.

To those of you who are surprised or amazed or doubtful about the "61%", perhaps you should immerse yourself more in the online skeptic community. While I was able to see the ignorant, religious masses living in the community around me, I didn't realize that it was a widespread phenomenon until I began to involve myself in the online skeptic community. It was an eye opener. I had no idea there were state school board members, governors, even congressmen who believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old. I didn't realize the steps being taken by the religious right to suppress science education and push Christianity into the public school system. They don't talk about these things on your local or even national news networks. They DO talk about these things in the skeptic blogging community.

To be honest, I'm surprised at those of you who are in doubt over the percentages in the Gallup poll. When I saw the percentages, I was initially shocked myself, but after some thought, I realized that it makes sense. All you have to do is look around you. When your president has started a holy war on the basis of his personal religious beliefs (because, sorry, that's what it was. Just read about his conversations with Blair and Chirac), wouldn't you think that he just might possibly represent the majority of the country? Especially as he was RE-elected for a second term after starting that war?

I'm not surprised that 61% of this country is ignorant. I'm surprised it isn't higher.

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39. Comment #414366 by George Lennan on September 12, 2009 at 4:22 pm

Yes isn't it a conundrum that the land of opportunity, which set out to be the most progressive, radical, free, enterprising, rational, advanced and powerful nation ends up with the largest population of retarded, conservative, closed-minded and self-deceiving liars outside
the taleban?

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40. Comment #414368 by Alan the Impious on September 12, 2009 at 4:28 pm

36. Comment #414361 by sgreilly on September 12, 2009 at 4:02 pm
well... how do we heathen americans see it?

Looks like you'll have to wait until the DVD/Blu-ray comes out. You can always order it from Canada if you can't get it in the States.

I'd say bittorrent but this movie's too important to steal, in my opinion.

Other Comments by Alan the Impious

41. Comment #414369 by robotaholic on September 12, 2009 at 4:31 pm

This makes me boiling mad. I live in Oklahoma and trust me, this is pretty accurate.

Oh, and it needs to not be phrased "Do you believe in the theory of evolution"! Instead, it needs to be phrased "have you learned about evolution through natural selection?"

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42. Comment #414374 by Follow Peter Egan on September 12, 2009 at 4:46 pm

38. Comment #414365 by crvw1607 on September 12, 2009 at 4:14 pm

thank you for the illuminating post. It's not often I'm glad to live in the UK but this is one of those instances. This is not just depressing but terrifying.

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43. Comment #414377 by MarcCountry on September 12, 2009 at 5:01 pm

All you need to see is that headline, next to the very obviously Victorian-era imagery of the picture, to fully appreciate the irony here.

Whoa, whoa! Slow down, 19th century science! You're moving too fast for the 21st century American populace!

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44. Comment #414378 by artisfact on September 12, 2009 at 5:02 pm

I can say that where I live in northwest, I'm surrounded by zealots. But still, I'm surprised no American distributor will pick up the film. Its a little hard to believe.

And I don't believe the outside of New york and LA bit either; he's generalizing.

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45. Comment #414380 by cnocspeireag on September 12, 2009 at 5:06 pm

4,15,41 et al, yes, when reporting on the Gallup result, we should probably say that 'only 39% of Americans understand the theory of evolution'.

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46. Comment #414387 by fossil-fish on September 12, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Had to read the headline twice. Still found it really hard to believe. Is the world really so crazy. Americans can not see a British film about a gentle genuis, but we get to see Rambo? Crazy.

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47. Comment #414390 by Border Collie on September 12, 2009 at 5:35 pm

Aw, hell, who cares? I'd forgotten that we're all going to die in 2012 anyway according to Nostrildumbass, Mayans, Aztecs or some other heart-ripping cult!

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48. Comment #414391 by DoctorE on September 12, 2009 at 5:35 pm

Protecting the creation myth... ok we can say it's stupid but is it not mostly about greed and selfishness.
They are fixed on eternal life in paradise.

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49. Comment #414395 by chuckgoecke on September 12, 2009 at 6:06 pm

I fired off an email to Cinemark corporate's comment web page expressing my dismay. Even though they are not a distributor, they deal directly with them, and have huge stroke with them. The page is here: http://www.cinemark.com/contactus.asp

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50. Comment #414399 by vampfan30 on September 12, 2009 at 6:52 pm

Not showing in the US????

Right where it is needed the most...that & I was looking forward to going to see it.

V

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