Darwin too controversial for religious America

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Géén idéé wat ik hier over moet zeggen.
Nog iemand een nootje?

Groet / Cees

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

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'
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 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.

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.

"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.

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