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Americans cannot stomach Darwinism?
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by smkovalinsky | September 14, 2009 at 09:41 am
98 views | 6 Recommendations | 6 comments
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The struggle between Faith and Reason is one of the great sagas of post-industrialism, in Europe, and in North America. It is an ongoing theme which resonates in our own time with nearly the force of the 20th century. One of its monumental and pivotal characters was naturalist , scientist, and evolutionary theorist from England, Charles Darwin (1809-1882). His book Origin of Species stands as one of the great masterpieces of modern theory, second only to the great works of Freud, as social catalyst. And the upcoming film about his life has sold globally, except in one country. Guess which? From the UK Telegraph, " Charles Darwin Film too contoversial for religious America":
A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin’s “struggle between faith and reason” as he wrote On The Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
The social commentator Jonathon Turley, who uses the Latin slogan, "Res ipsa loquitur" ("the thing itself speaks", or "the thing speaks for itself") has rightly called the caving in of Americans to the Creationist movement an "act of cowardice":
The film has been the target of creationists, who remind distributors that only 39 percent of Americans believe in evolution. Jeremy Thomas, the producer of Creation, notes “[t]he film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it’s because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they’ve seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up.”
In an act of utter cowardice, United States distributors appear to be caving into a creationist campaign to bar the movieCreation on the life of Charles Darwin. The film explores his loss of faith following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
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smkovalinsky
New York, New York, United States
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PIM of SPAIN
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a211423
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Roy C
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 13:01 on November 4th, 2009
United States film distributors are working overtime now being censors for the American public? What an outrage.
Let's hope that someone picks up the gaunlet and brings the film here. I would like to know which distributors declined. It might be possible some are not aware of the film, but it seems unlikely given the need to bring money back to the theatres in view of the increase in home viewing in PPV and Netflix.
There are many topics deemed controversial, which in the film and book market equals increased sales. Could any movie have beem more controversial than The Passion of the Christ, yet it was released here to record box office numbers.
at 03:30 on November 5th, 2009
Unknown makes it not beloved or similar as I used another language to come up with this reaction. If not legally or officially distributed, why not downloaded from the internet? iTunes could make a great business out of this, I suppose. Just make the interest known to iTunes and they are clever enough to take advantage of this narrow visioned mentality.
at 12:01 on November 5th, 2009
I just found this story yesterday, and it's November now, so it probably is finding its way around to American audiences, probably like you have suggested PIM via internet download. I searched a little, and couldn't find any recent information, and it's not listed on Netflix.
I find it interesting that opposition views try and paint Darwin as a racist, and nothing could be further from the truth. In the book Darwin's Sacred Cause that came out this year, the authors Adrian Desmond and James Moore posit and prove through extensive research that Darwin's hatred of slavery shaped his views on human evolution, and in fact both his family and his wife's family were staunch Abolitionists. Ending the slave trade in the West Indies was supported and part-financed by Josiah Wedgewood, Darwin's grandfather, of the famous Wedgewood pottery.
Darwin believed in a common ancestry for white and black even before his trip on the Beagel when as a young man he learned the art of taxonomy from a black man who had accompanied the famed traveler and "animal stuffer" Charles Waterton on his travels in South America that he accounted in Wanderings in South America 1825. The many hours he spent learning this craft with the African convinced him of the intellect and equality between the races.
at 09:25 on November 5th, 2009
Yes, your remarks are so enlightening, really expand the post, thank you so much, you scholarly little person, A211 ;)
at 09:36 on November 5th, 2009
You are welcome smk : )
at 12:22 on November 5th, 2009
Indeed a211423 it is an eye-opener not many people may know about. Very interesting. The film certainly will arrive on internet, it may take week or so after its first release. By then, if not found, send me a message and I get the specialists on it to trace it.