Ben Stein deserves to be 'Expelled'
His pro-intelligent design documentary isn't very smart
I've been hearing from a number of folks claiming "Liberal Bias!" because we didn't review the documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" on the TV show.
"Expelled," starring former Nixon speechwriter, all-around funnyman and "Bueller .. . Bueller .. . Bueller?" actor Ben Stein, is about the battle between Darwinist scientists and those who believe intelligent design should be included in the debate.
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The film has garnered attention from the so-called liberal media, and it cracked the Top 10 list at the box office in its opening weekend, bringing in nearly $1.4 million. For a documentary that doesn't feature Michael Moore, Al Gore or penguins marching, that's impressive.
So why didn't we review it?
No conspiracy. "Expelled" wasn't screened for us. But given the box office, the media attention and word-of-mouth buzz, I arranged to get a screener.
Wow. What a piece of garbage.
Like Moore, Stein melds documentary with performance art. For example, as he talks about the wall between Darwinists and those that dare to bring up intelligent design, we see shots of the Berlin Wall. "Expelled" also makes heavy use of visuals such as educational films of the 1950s, clips from movies such as "Planet of the Apes" and "The Wizard of Oz," newsreel footage of Edward R. Murrow and stock film of Stalin and Hitler. Subtle!
I'm not opposed to Stein's central thesis, i.e., if we don't know for certain how life began, why not at least entertain the notion of intelligent design? Heck, I've always thought evolution doesn't necessarily contradict ID; it's pure arrogance that leads humankind to believe it can understand the true workings of a higher power. (When we say "intelligent design," we're not talking about a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. We're talking about the belief that the first spark of life was ignited by an otherworldly force.)
It's not the pro-ID stance that makes "Expelled" so repugnant. It's the techniques employed by the filmmakers, from misinterpreting John Lennon's "Imagine" to Stein's faux-innocent act to the shameless way in which the film links Darwinism to atheism, euthanasia, abortion, eugenics and fascism. It's also nonsense like a supposedly neutral journalist saying a reporter even writing about ID is "finished" -- even though this particular journalist isn't finished at all, and in fact has written a book titled A Jealous God: Science's Crusade Against Religion. (For much more on other problematic omissions in the film, check the "Expelled" Exposed site.)
Stein tours the death chambers at Hadamar and Dachau while hammering home the point that Nazis were Darwinists. Yes, and some Muslims are terrorists, and some mass murderers are Christians. It's not a causal link.
When Stein visits Down House, where Darwin wrote On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, he encounters a giant statue of Darwin, with eerie music playing on the soundtrack. He stares at the image of the evil Darwin, as if ready to do battle. Please.
In the world of "Expelled," Darwinists are atheists, while ID supporters are crusaders for truth, justice and the American way. There's no in-between.
As a documentary, "Expelled" is a joke. As a piece of propaganda, well done.
So we're on the road with the radio tuned to a pop hits station on satellite radio, and within an hour we hear:
Fall Out Boy's cover of "Beat It," which is virtually a note-for-note rendition of the Michael Jackson classic from 1983.
Craig David's "Hot Stuff [Let's Dance]," which samples heavily from David Bowie's hit, also from 1983.
Kid Rock's "All Summer Long," which samples from the '70s hits Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama."
Fall Out Boy's "Beat It" has a what's-the-point feel to it. Probably fun to see them play it live, but if I want to hear "Beat It" on the radio, I'll take the Jackson original with Eddie Van Halen.
However, the Craig David song is just about impossible to resist. If that doesn't make you tap your foot, either your foot's asleep or you've never danced in your life.
The Kid Rock tune is equally infectious, with nostalgia-infused lyrics about growing up in Northern Michigan in the 1980s.
Nevertheless. Like so many songs that "sample," going back to MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" (which sprung from "Superfreak"), the song that gets sampled is the main reason the "new" song works at all.
