“Creation” How sad for America!
Posted on January 24, 2010
Filed Under East meets West, MOVIES | Leave a Comment
“Creation” Starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin’s  ”struggle between faith and reason” as he wrote On The Origin of Species. ”Charles Darwin is, the hero of the film. But the makers have 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. Most Americans unfortunately don’t believe in the  Darwin’s theory of evolution, 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.
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.
“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. The refusal to show this film in America is totally ridiculous. Even if you completely dismiss Darwin’s Theory. America is supposed to be a democracy where all points of view can be considered. I am fearful, that this is becoming less and less true for America. It seems to me it is a little like a child putting their hands over their ears while an adult is trying to address them. How sad for all America.
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