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Movie Review: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
‘Expelled’ missed its mark
By Rachel Shepard
Special to 2theadvocate.com
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“Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” is the controversial documentary which follows Ben Stein as he tries to show how big wig Darwinists are suppressing Intelligent Design scientists because they break the status quo. Stein begins the film by showing the Berlin Wall being built and continues the film by comparing the Berlin Wall to the “wall” that is being built in America’s science field that separates scientific ideas.
He interviews several professors and scientists who have been “expelled” from their fields for expressing their views on Intelligent Design as well as scientists and professors who are promoting evolution.
The documentary overall was very professionally put together and had some great cinematic shots. However, the finished product can’t make up for the central misguided argument.
The beginning of the film started off great with the Berlin Wall clips (although a little dramatic for the situation), and the interviews of those “expelled” from the science community for their questions. The end of the film kept that same theme and showed Berlin Wall coming down to express to the American public that there is not freedom of speech and thought in science.
The middle of the film, however, lost some of that clear direction and began quite a long debate about religion and science in America. I realize that this is controversial and it is impossible to talk about each side without mentioning how religion plays a part, but it took away from his purpose to show that there is an elite group of scientists controlling what can and cannot be considered in science.
For a while, I thought it was going to end in a huge religious debate with religion and science in schools, but the last fifteen minutes went back to what he had said was his original purpose. I felt like I was reading a high school student’s persuasive essay where they were very clear for their introductory paragraph and lost all direction until the last sentence.
The documentary was very informative and you will leave with a greater understanding of both sides, but you never get really attached to anything. Whatever you may think of Michael Moore, his documentaries will pull you in because he is a master at sharing perspectives that grab you emotionally. Stein just wasn’t able to pull that off. At one point, he travels to Dachau and you get that connection to people in the Holocaust, but it is very brief and goes back to the religion and science argument as opposed to the freedom of speech in science.
The film just lacks direction and it becomes tedious to watch after awhile. There is only so much scientific jargon one person can take in an hour and a half. Unless you are really passionate about science or love watching documentaries, you won’t miss anything if you skip out on this one.
