Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

[cmt2779]

According to Ben Stein, "Evil can sometimes be rationalized as science." Expelled reveals the ways that evil can be rationalized and disguised as argument and intellectual inquiry, too. That may seem extreme, but the ideas presented, the sorts of sloppy arguments made, and the twisted rhetoric used in this movie are dangerous and have the

Comments

2 cents

[mattbeasley]

I have not seen Expelled, but I did read Ebert's take on it along with many of the responses (his blogs are some of the best I've ever come across). What struck me as odd while reading his review, and what was voiced loudly in the responses to it, were the parallels between Stein's Expelled and Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Both are shameless propaganda peices marketed as documentaries. Yet, all of the tactics in Expelled used for manipulative purposes were denigrated by Ebert yet, in his review of Fahrenheit 9/11, he calls the same tactics help "make a good movie better." I wonder if there will ever be a category simply called 'propaganda.' I fear the soiling of 'documentary' will never be purged.

Re: 2 cents

[cmt2779]

You know, I did think about Fahrenheit 9/11 a couple of times while watching Expelled because I recognized some of the same basic techniques in both films. I'd have to see Fahrenheit 9/11 again to comment on this with more certitude, but I felt that while Moore's film is not a true documentary but, as Roger Ebert calls it, an op-ed piece, Stein's is ultimately nothing more than propaganda. While Moore definitely makes an argument, I felt like he did a good job of stepping out of the frame and letting the images and individuals speak for themselves on key points. I didn't feel like Stein ever really allowed that to happen in Expelled.

I can't deny, of course, that I am more inclined to like Fahrenheit 9/11 because I already agree with many of Moore's basic premises (though I did have some problems with the way he presents some ideas) and that I am more inclined to disagree with Expelled because I disagree with Stein's basic premises. But I don't think my bias is so strong as to completely blind me to the truth and the rhetoric

Re: 2 cents...+ ramblings on

[mattbeasley]

The problem is that propaganda has a negative connotation. If a film came out promoting youth abstinence, those holding opposing view points would label it propaganda just as a film coming out promoting safe sex would be labeled 'propaganda' by others

Re: 2 cents...+ ramblings on

[cmt2779]

Dude, mine, too.

I feel like there are some things I'd like to say in response to this, but what they are isn't clear yet. I may come back to this later.

Re: 2 cents...+ ramblings on

[cmt2779]

Here's another thought on the question of propaganda. I have to ask what role power plays in these films, for I think one further reason I am more likely to label Expelled as propaganda than I am to label Fahrenheit 9/11 propaganda is because Expelled has behind it the weight of Christianity. It represents a majority position condemning a minority position, reinforcing negative ideas about Darwinism and about atheism. Fahrenheit 9/11, on the other hand, presented what was at the time a nonmajority position. Moore was making an argument that hadn't thus far been made so publicly and he was making it against the powers-that-be and against the cultural zeitgeist.

This doesn't change the fact that both are advocating a cause (the most basic definition of propaganda), but it does change their social effects and roles. A further definition of propaganda emphasizes this distinction even further:Official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion. The information may be true or false, but it is