Hook, Line, and Stinker

According to a statement released by The Telegraph, the movie Creation, will not appear in theatres in the U.S., since it was deemed “too controversial” for American audiences by the film’s producer, and was unable to find a distributor in the U.S.

The article released by The Telegraph cites a Gallup poll in which the findings show that only 39% of Americans believe in evolution, and details the debate started by Christian groups against the film’s release.

The Creation website describes the movie as “the powerful and true-life tale of Charles Darwin and the most explosive idea in history”, and details the story of how Darwin’s “On The Origin of Species” came to fruition, and how he dealt with the death of his young daughter and a dissolving marriage.

The film’s producer, Jeremy Thomas, is shocked that in 2009, over 150 years after Darwin’s original work was published, people are still against such a film due to its content.  He describes the film as being done in an “even-handed” manner, and says that Darwin “wasn’t saying kill all religion”.

I looked for a review of the movie on the Christian-based movie site, Movieguide.org, and was unable to find one.  Instead, I found a book review for a book titled, “Darwin’s Racists-Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”.  Interesting.

The film will not be released in the U.S. but will, however, play in Canada, The UK, Greece, Belgium, Australia, The Netherlands, and New Zealand, starting September 25th in the UK.  The film was met with praise at this year’s Toronto Film Festival in Canada.

My question is this.  How can we have so many films in this country that show gratuitous violence, sex, and murder, but yet, we as a society cannot handle seeing a movie about a man’s story, and his life’s work, simply because religious groups deem it abhorrent and vile?  In my opinion, to think that seeing one movie is going to change everyone’s worldview and ideas about the nature of creation is just asinine.  If a person believes in their faith, in their God, and in their idea of how life started with enough certainty, a film about a man’s idea which contradicts popular religious thought shouldn’t be seen as so threatening.

This does, however, go to show the power that controversy in film carries.  With enough upheaval, groups can keep a film from being shown to the masses, even though they never intended on seeing the movie themselves.  Distributors, whatever their religious beliefs, can’t touch a project that is as hot as this one because of the backlash from those in the public who would rather nobody see a film which goes against their beliefs.  It goes to show how much influence these groups truly have on our society, and I’m reminded of the reaction towards Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, and how Christian groups petitioned and worked so hard to get that film seen everywhere that it could.  It’s funny how something as simple as a movie can spark such an anger in people, but if movies weren’t making us think or feel something, what would be the point of having them in the first place?

To what extent should religion and societal beliefs hinder controversial works of art, be it film, music, television, or any other medium?  What are your opinions on controversial films such as these, and would you see this film if it were to be released in the U.S. at some point?

Here’s a trailer for Creation.