Darwin Film Too Controversial for america

[Faeelin]

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.

Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".

Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Species was published.

"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said.

"The 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.

"It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules.

"Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion', he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people."

Creation was developed by BBC Films and the UK Film Council, and stars Bettany's real-life wife Jennifer Connelly as Darwin's deeply religious wife, Emma. It is based on the book, Annie's Box, by Darwin's great-great-grandson, Randal Keynes, and portrays the naturalist as a family man tormented by the death in 1851 of Annie, his favourite child. She is played in the film by 10-year-old newcomer Martha West, the daughter of The Wire star Dominic West.

Early reviews have raved about the film. The Hollywood Reporter said: "It would be a great shame if those with religious convictions spurned the film out of hand as they will find it even-handed and wise."

Mr Thomas, whose previous films include The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, said he hoped the reviews would help to secure a distributor. In the UK, special screenings have been set up for Christian groups

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6173399/Charles-Darwin-film-too-controversial-for-religious-America.html

This is amazing.

[Eddie Teach]

I'm betting the lack of distributor has more to do with our reluctance to see dry low-budget indies than any fear of boycott.

[Admiral Yi]

They might have bothered to ask a distributor or two why they weren't showing the film.

Like the Georgia restaurant king just said.

The quote about religion ruling outside of NY and LA might be interpreted by some as, you know, a certain different perspective.

[Syt]

[Josquius]

Been there, done that...over 150 years ago.

[garbon]

The quote about religion ruling outside of NY and LA might be interpreted by some as, you know, a certain different perspective.

Religion is very strong here in SF!

[The Brain]

I don't see anything new coming out of a debate that took place more than a century ago.

[Admiral Yi]

Religion is very strong here in SF!

I don't think he was talking about militant Buddhism.

[garbon]

From the LA Times about its critical reception:

Variety reports "Creation" as "handsome" but describes leads Bettany and real-life wife Jennifer Connelly as "a little monotonous," but The Hollywood Reporter offers a more positive take, citing the film as "thoughtful and memorable." Movieline is less charitable -- Bettany's Darwin is "whimpering," while Thompson on Hollywood spares no quarter: "flat, dull, and painful to sit through." Ouch.

I noticed that wikipedia links to a positive review from the National Center for Science Education Director.

[garbon]

I don't think he was talking about militant Buddhism.

I was invited to a gay shamanistic drum circle the other day.

[The Brain]

I don't think he was talking about militant Buddhism.

I was invited to a gay shamanistic drum circle the other day.

"Gay" seems utterly redundant.

[Alatriste]

Well, well, well... this one I just _HAVE_ to watch, for the love of Darwin, because Paul Bettany is a superb actor (he was great as Chaucer and even greater as Dr. Maturin) and, last but not least, because the Victorian era is fascinating.

Now, perhaps they should have marketed the movie in the USA as the history of a racist scheming bigot, a card carrying, cat-caressing evil mastermind planning a century of wars, the fall of dynasties and empires, the collapse of social order and religion, and the murder of untold millions, all just by the sheer force of his genius - and worse still, as a democrat at heart!

I bet they would have found a big distributor that way... and, hey, they could have said Darwin was actually Moriarty!!!!

[Admiral Yi]

Now, perhaps they should have marketed the movie in the USA as the history of a racist scheming bigot, a card carrying, cat-caressing evil mastermind planning a century of wars, the fall of dynasties and empires, the collapse of social order and religion, and the murder of untold millions, all just by the sheer force of his genius - and worse still, as a democrat at heart!

No, I don't think that would have workedl.  The producer is actually marketing it pretty well.  Now there's a chance that a few art houses will pick it up so that the viewers can snicker to themselves about how enlightened they are compared to everyone else.

[Razgovory]

I'm betting the lack of distributor has more to do with our reluctance to see dry low-budget indies than any fear of boycott.

Yeah, a proper statement would be that "profit rules" rather then "religion rules".

[CountDeMoney]

I'm betting the lack of distributor has more to do with our reluctance to see dry low-budget indies than any fear of boycott.

Yeah, a proper statement would be that "profit rules" rather then "religion rules".

I have to agree;  I don't think it's got as much to do about anti-Darwinism as it does anti-shitty-low-budget-indie-thinker-flick.  We have Hollywood here, you know.   If it's not a Bruckheimer/Bay tittie bombfest, Yankees don't care.