When you decide to make a documentary about one of the most controversial subjects to divide the scientific and religious communities you have one of two agendas: stimulating intellectual conversation or pandering to the conflict mongers on either side. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed follows the latter route. It’s too bad too. With Ben Stein heading up the conversation you’d think the film would be able to stay within the purely academic realm – instead Expelled flies off the rails into a one-sided flight of fancy distorting truths in order to appeal to its “neglected” Christian movie going audience. But if you’re going to preach to the rest of the world about things not being what they seem you’d better come equipped with a leather jacket, black sunglasses and a name like “Morpheus”. A cool, clean-shaven black man Ben Stein is not. Blue pill? Red pill?
Ben Stein leads the audience through the current state of affairs in the debate over evolution – or rather the lack of debate. To that point I must concede. To say that the world is still debating the theory would be overstepping. However, Expelled takes this sentiment to an extreme suggesting a virtual persecution of anyone who would go against this tyrannical way of thinking. For the first half hour I thought the film would have the sense to stay entirely intellectual.
I was almost wrong. While the underhanded debate tactics didn’t truly rear their ugly heads until midway through – it wasn’t hard to see the setup.
Do you remember Win Ben Stein’s Money? That show was hilarious. Maybe it was mostly Jimmy Kimmel, but Ben Stein was pretty funny too. But that’s hardly the point. The point is Ben Stein is this incredibly educated human being and it was funny to see the common man flail against his staggering intellect. So why is this staggering intellect taking pages out of Michael Moore’s play book? Perhaps because he knows it’ll sell?
The merit of an argument between the theory of evolution and the theory of intelligent design is impossible to measure. The two arguments stem from two distinctly different types of thinking. The theory of evolution owes its origins to scientific observation while intelligent design begins with an admission of faith in a higher power. The two theories themselves aren’t exclusive per se – but their sources are. Theories based in faith can’t be used against theories based in scientific reason. Why? Because by their very nature faith and reason are incompatible. Reason requires observation and evidence to qualify its answers while faith does not.
The point being? To pit the two theories in an onscreen battle has no intellectual value other than vindicating one group or vilifying the other. That’s precisely what it does – if you swallow its arguments. And frankly if you’re coming from any other perspective besides that of the one featured in the film it does very little to convince you otherwise or win you over.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed makes no intention of hiding the fact that it’s intended for people who already share its point of view. So why make it? So these people can go to a movie and walk away smiling and thinking the rest of the world agrees with them. To that effect – I can’t hold it against them. You’re average evolution-believing individual gets that feeling walking away from most movies. X-men. Spider-man. Jaws. Heck, most movies feature some play on evolution if you look far enough into it.
Does that make it okay to twist and bend logic in ways that would make Gumbi flinch in horror? No. But since it’s so poorly equipped to do anything but preach to the choir, who cares? For a film so obsessed with criticizing a prevalent school of thought it really ought to have done its homework. This is just disappointing. See Expelled if you want some second-rate mind food, but if you really want some mind-bending documentary action, go rent What the Bleep Do We Know?
"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" opens April 18, 2008 and is rated PG. Documentary. Written by Kevin Miller, Walt Ruloff, Ben Stein.
