Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed [Blu-ray]

This is not an unpleasant movie to sit through, if nothing else, Ben Stein can be very entertaining. The Blu-ray looks great. What is the movie about? The movie attempts to explore the reasons why intelligent design is not taken seriously in higher education as a theory of how man got here. Though this movie is entertaining to watch, this movie is not the place to start for a deep exploration of that question. hat question is not that hard to answer anyway, for those that don't mind playing with a straight deck (though you would never guess this from watching or listening to Ben Stein rant about it). The reason intelligent design is not taken seriously as a theory of how man got here, is that it is not based on any evidence. You can't test the theory. You can't explain how it works. There is no evidence that supports that theory. The theory does not even fit the evidence we do have. That is specifically why ID is not taken seriously as a theory (that wasn't that hard was it? For our next lesson, let's explore who killed JFK, psssssst, the name starts with an O, NOOOOOOOO, not OPRA). But Ben Stein won't tell you any of those reasons in this movie.

To give credit where credit is due, Ben Stein does let some of the scientist that do not support ID have their say in short little bits. Some of these parts are really the best parts of the movie, though all too brief. My favorite remark is the man that says, that ID is a really boring subject, and he is right on the money (though this is not a boring film, just not a particularly educational one). ID really is a boring subject once you try to find the evidence that supports it. Another scientist says quite simply, that if there is evidence to support ID, then bring it on. But that evidence is never shown in this movie, and never will be, because there isn't any evidence to support that particular theory. It isn't how science is done. The people that support ID as a legitimate scientific theory, do not want to play by scientific rules. You can't have it both ways, but apparently this little fact is lost on a whole lot of people. If you think what I am writing is not true, the first thing I suggest doing is actually find out what the theory of evolution is, if you don't already understand it. If you don't think there is any evidence for evolution, I can pretty much guarantee that you don't actually understand the theory. Just in speaking with people in general, someone that does not understand the theory of evolution, tends not to understand the vast amounts of time involved. The evidence for evolution is so totally overwhelming (and someone makes this point in the film), that there really is not any second theory (though scientist will quibble about the specifics, the theory itself has never been in real doubt).

There is a very good discussion of Expelled in Vol 14 No. 2 of "Skeptic", a magazine that I read on a regular basis, if you want to track it down. Towards the end, the film actually leans to the really silly side unintentionally. Ben Stein tries to make the case that not taking ID seriously, is akin to the Gestapo killing Jews during WWII. I found this rather offensive, though it is hard to get mad at Ben Stein in any serious way. This is quite a stretch (to be nice about it) and one that is not warranted by the facts. The movie spends it's time making the case that ID is not taken seriously, without really exploring the reasons why this is so, in any type of objective light. It also never even attempts to deal with the very real evidence for evolution. If you would like to know more about the theory of evolution, there are many good books on the subject (I have read most of Stephen Jay Gould's books on evolution), and a series from the BBC called "Evolution." So if you are interested in this movie, don't be afraid to pick it up, just keep your eyes open and know what you are getting into.

You can write to James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com