A local reviewer had (somewhat incredibly) given the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed “no stars,” so my wife and I expected to find 10 or 20 people in the audience. Surprisingly, the late Sunday afternoon performance was largely full and seemed quite receptive to Ben Stein’s efforts to take to strike a blow for real freedom of speech and against political correctness.
Who is Ben Stein? Well, those of us who are a “bit” older probably remember him as Ferris Buehler’s hapless teacher in Ferris Buehler’s Day Off or as the droning-voiced instructor in The Wonder Years 1980s TV show. Among other things, Ben has been a political speechwriter (for Presidents Nixon and Ford), a lawyer, a game show host, and a writer – and now he’s a filmmaker as well. It’s clear that he has strong feelings about things, a fact which is evident in Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed. It’s a documentary in which Stein takes the Darwinists to task, not so much for their belief in the theory of evolution as for their unwillingness even to consider any other explanations of how life got to be what and where it is. Never mind that an increasing number of respected scientists believe the origin of life (or for that matter, the universe) can only be explained by the existence of an intelligent designer. According to Stein, however, the approach of most of the Darwinists is essentially “my mind is made up; don’t confuse me with facts.” If you don’t buy the party line on evolution, you’ll probably be held up to scorn. If you’re a teacher or college professor, you might lose your job.
Stein constructs his picture largely through a series of interviews of well-known scientists, writers, and political figures, some of them believers in evolutionary theory and some supporters of ID – Intelligent Design. We soon realize that Stein isn’t subtle; he intersperses segments of his interviews with clips from old films which, often hilariously, show what he thinks about the interviewee’s comments. For example, when a professor talks about being disciplined for “inappropriate” comments in writing or in the classroom, we see an image of a guillotine. In another segment, Stein shows his disdain by inserting a Three Stooges clip. Heavy-handed? Sure. Objective? Not really. But it’s all part of Stein’s larger point that we need a political climate in this country that allows people to say or write what they really think, about evolution or intelligent design or God or anything else. Stein seems to believe that, while we give lip service to the concept of freedom of expression, we're increasingly reluctant to use that freedom. Perhaps the film’s most telling comment is made by a Polish Christian who maintains that the tyranny of the Darwinist position in America is due to “political correctness”— which he says does not exist in Europe, or at least not to the extent it does here.
In the latter part of his film Stein becomes very serious, linking Darwin’s ideas to Planned Parenthood, eugenics, and the tactics of the Nazis. He may be on shakier ground here, but Stein would be the first person to say that, in the marketplace of ideas, we should be free to attack (or accept) what he says.
When the film was over and the credits began to roll, the audience applauded. When was the last time you saw that happen? A friend reported that the same thing occurred when he saw the movie in another theater. Christian audiences in both cases? Maybe. At any rate, the movie will make you think.
Highly recommended.
Film Rating: PG
My Rating: 3 ½ stars.
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