Marketplace Censorship

[A_Wanderer]

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 Briton Paul Bettany, details the naturalist'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 after the death of his daughter, Annie, 10.

The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere today. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.

However, US distributors turned down the film that will prove divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll taken in February, only 39 per cent of people believe in the theory of evolution.

Movieguide.org, an influential site that 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" influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film, based on the book Annie's Box by Darwin's great-great-grand-son, Randal Keynes, has caused debate on other Christian websites in America.

Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winn-ing producer, said he was surprised that such attitudes still existed.

"That's what we're up against, in 2009," he said. "It's amazing. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about."

Early reviews have rated the film highly. 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."

US snubs film on theory of evolution

And yet you can enjoy 'Left Behind'

 

[Vincent Vega]

Oh god, real satire complete with a ridiculous account from that lunatics website.

 

[financeguy]

I guess I'm surprised by this. Weren't there stats cited that claimed the % of non-believers in the US is actually going uo?

 

[Vincent Vega]

I wanted to question the figures as well, but then I realized they were provided by the holy Gallup. So they must be correct. Even though I cannot believe it, nor the distributors claims it wouldn't be save to expose the American public to a documentary about Darwin.

 

[deep]

They should have called the movie "Darwin"

calling it "Creation" will truly irk believers

and that sight the article list

http://www.movieguide.org/top-ten-lists

what do you expect from The Christian Family Guide to Movies

 

[WCF]

Eh? Religulous, the documentary by Bill Maher that outright attacked religion, was released last year and did very well. Top grossing documentary of 2008.

There must be more to the story then just what this producer is saying?

 

[deep]

good point

I think film distributors are concerned about return on investment

the film got a 6.66 on imdb.com

 

[Kieran McConville]

As usual these debates are pretty tiresome.

Talk about behind the times... on the one hand you have people who if they are to be believed, give religion a bad name quite frankly. For the billionth time I will say that having a religious belief need not imply ignorance of science. If balance means we have a tit for tat 'attacks religion' film for every 'pushes Left Behind down our throats' film, then I could comfortably say: neither.

Which brings me to...

I'm rather tired of hearing about Charles Darwin. Notwithstanding his influence he was a man of his age, and that is never to be forgotten. Evolutionary biology has moved on since then. Gotten more interesting, on the whole.

I've seen the US figures discussed in other places and have some doubts as to whether 60 per cent + of US citizens actually believe in a creationist/young earth type view of things (which is the implication). If that 60+ per cent included people who are comfortable with biological evolution on an earth many billions of years old, but who also hold a belief in God and the teachings of Jesus Christ, then well... See, polls depend an awful lot on the questions asked.

 

[melon]

Some thoughts here...

U.S. audiences are not big on foreign films, so I would be curious to know how many other internationally-produced English language films don't find U.S. distributors. Admittedly, aside from some U.K. and (latent) Canadian productions, I think most U.S. media consumption is domestic. Australian media is generally quite unheard of even in Canada, with the exception of some children's TV. And we are, frankly, talking about a fairly dry subject matter, I imagine, limiting the audience further.

So have U.S. distributors turned it down due to religious reasons? I'm not sure, but I'm also not sure we can take the film producer's word at face value here, because he could just as easily be trying to generate publicity by fabricating controversy. And, of course, it may just as well work, considering the press it has now generated.

 

[martha]

There was a big article about this movie in the LA Times a few days ago. Nothing was mentioned about why it didn't find a distributor. I seriously doubt it's because it's about Darwin.

 

[HyperU2]

Chances are this film just fucking sucks and he wants to drum up hype to find a distributor.

 

[U2DMfan]

It's surely all about money. On one hand, this producer just wants to get his product into our market, on the other hand, if it were guaranteed to make money, (more or less) it wouldn't make any difference what the subject matter was.

Most likely the production team wants too much money for it to begin with.
So it's easier to shame our film industry...so that some Hollywood exec will take up the cause to defend America from being seen as being so 'ignorant'...And then this stunt will see it's desired outcome...more cash into this producer's pocket.

He could just skip our ignorant ass market, right?... but no, there is way too much money to be made. Yeah, but this is supposed to be about principles of free speech, right?

What the fuck ever. It's about getting return for investment.
He could distribute the thing himself if it were all about principles.
But that would mean he would likely lose money. So we know that couldn't happen!!

For the record, it is roughly 2/3 of Americans who call themselves religious.
So, if that is the case, then why is it surprising that 60% (or thereabouts) wouldn't believe in "evolution"? Because "evolution" as it's talked about in America, is not about evolution of all species, it's about our descending from primates. And naturally that is a big road block in religious circles. We need to change the discourse but obviously...it ain't easy.

 

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[Kieran McConville]

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[martha]

Thanks so much for sharing the post.


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I reported you again.

 

[DrTeeth]

They should have called the movie "Darwin"

calling it "Creation" will truly irk believers

and that sight the article list

Movieguide: The Christian Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment - Top 10 Lists

what do you expect from The Christian Family Guide to Movies

These people only like movies about soldiers finding Jesus.

 

[Jive Turkey]

and that sight the article list

Movieguide: The Christian Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment - Top 10 Lists

what do you expect from The Christian Family Guide to Movies

You have to pay to read movie reviews? What the fuck? I wanted to read their review for Devil's Rejects, but could only see the first few sentences