"Expelled" expels the truth

Disinvited to a Screening, a Critic Ends Up in a Faith-Based Crossfire

By John Metcalf
NY Times - March 10, 2008

Shortly before he was to attend a screening in January of the documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” which is about alternatives to the theory of evolution, Roger Moore, a film critic for The Orlando Sentinel, learned that his invitation had been revoked by the film’s marketers.

In the film, Ben Stein interviews believers in intelligent design.

“Well, you already invited me,” he recalled thinking at the time. “I’m going to go.”
So Mr. Moore traveled to a local megachurch and planted himself among a large group of pastors to watch the movie. In it, Ben Stein, the actor and economist (and regular contributor to The New York Times) interviews scientists and teachers who say that Darwinism gets too much emphasis in the classroom and that proponents of the theory of intelligent design are treated unfairly.

There were nondisclosure agreements to sign that day, but Mr. Moore did not, and proceeded to write perhaps the harshest review “Expelled” has received thus far. The film will open April 18, but has been screened several times privately for religious audiences. Mr. Moore deplored what he perceived as “loaded images, loaded rhetoric, few if any facts” and accused Mr. Stein of using a “Holocaust denier’s” tactics.

Which, of course, was exactly the reaction the moviemakers were hoping to avoid by keeping mainstream critics out.

Mr. Stein said in a telephone interview that he had not read Mr. Moore’s review, but that “being compared with a Holocaust denier is nonsense,” adding, “This guy is extremely confused.” He said he decided to participate in the project because “there’s just a lot of people who don’t believe that big science and Darwinism should have a stranglehold on academic life, and they have been waiting for a voice.”

Paul Lauer, head of Motive Marketing, which is handling publicity for the film, said that critics were not invited mostly because the film was not polished enough for professional scrutiny. He said that his company, which also marketed the 2004 film, “The Passion of the Christ,” is reaching out to conservative leaders.

For example, Mr. Lauer said, Mr. Stein personally showed “Expelled” to James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, which has a big following among right-wing Christians. (Mr. Dobson gave the film a thumbs-up.)

The film, which takes a position on intelligent design shared by President Bush, has also been shown at California Baptist University and the Dallas Theological Seminary. Glowing reviews have popped up on AnswersInGenesis.org, whose co-chief executive, Ken Ham, founded the Creation Museum, and in The American Spectator, whose senior editor, Tom Bethell, said that the movie evoked “tears of joy.”

Mr. Lauer said the marketing strategy was “about finding and serving people with deep-seated motivations” and then hoping those people would talk up the movie to their friends. The general media will be invited to screenings in early April, he said.

Logan Craft, executive producer of “Expelled” and chief of Premise Media, said he thought Mr. Moore had been wrong to attend the screening after being disinvited, but both he and Mr. Lauer denied any involvement in an online “media alert” that purported to be from a backer of the film. The alert accused Mr. Moore of posing as a minister to gain admission, calling his actions a “security breach.” Mr. Moore said he never represented himself as other than a reporter.

After Mr. Moore’s review, Mr. Stein commented, “Oh well. This will probably happen a lot more times.”

You betcha, Mr. Stein. When people put gross lies and blatant distortions on film for the public to see, some who know the truth are bound to call you on it. Are you enjoying "Ben Stein's Money" for participating in this shameless ID disinformation campaign? Looks like you're a tool for anyone who will pay you a few shekels to say what they want you to say. One can't help remembering you're an economist, not a scientist.

If anyone reading this bothered to attend Cashill and Calvert's private showing last week, please let us know what you thought of it.