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This DVD is a look at how Intelligent Design, the theory that there may be a designer (e.g. God) behind the wondrous universe, is being shunned in American academic circles. This is a fairly slick film presented by Ben Stein, a well known face and voice on American TV, who argues that there is a need for Intelligent Design to be taken seriously in academic circles. He also asks questions about what Evolution and Darwinism leads to, including associating Nazi Germany and Hitler as one of the possible outcomes.
The first part of this documentary is about meeting people who feel that they were fired or sidelined because they chose to publically talk about the possibility of Intelligent Design. Ben Stein talks to them and at times does seem to jump to conclusions a little, however Stein has been open and upfront about his bias. After these interviews there are visits to one of the Pro-Intelligent Design organisations which has created issues for the evolution lobby. This leads me to the first part of this documentary that I don't like, Ben Steins mock "I wonder where this huge organisation is?" schtick. He is seen wondering around asking people if they knew where the organisation is, and then when he finds the building he muses that it must be the whole building. Eventually 'discovering' that the organisation is one floor of the huge building. This smacks of a Michael Moore style propaganda documentary, and yes I can see the point being made, but it was hardly necessary.
The second half of the documentary is probably the more controversial as Ben Stein talks to evolution experts such as Richard Dawkins. However before that he questions where belief in Darwins theories lead. After discussing how Nazi Germany killed those who were disabled is ultimately an extreme interpretation of Survival of the Fittest, Ben does take pains to say that believing Darwin doesn't make you a Nazi. The interviews with Dawkins and co are probably the most entertaining of this whole documentary. With Dawkins saying in his proudly arrogant way that "God is about as unlikely as fairies, angels, hobgoblins etc." However when Ben presses the point about how life actually started after a while they start to admit that they simply don't know!
This whole film is clearly biased to the presenters own viewpoint, that's nothing unusual in this type of documentary. This film takes a lot from other film makers like Michael Moore and his style of presentation. The film never argues that ID is the same as Biblical creation, nor does it actually say that ID is the way that life started. However it lays quite clearly the case that at present there are 2 main ideas about how life started, either it started and evolved through random chance and mutation or there was an intelligent designer. The film then argues that academia should allow both aspects to be explored rather than just the evolutionary aspects.
This film is cleverly made. It uses scenes from classic films and animations to make it's points. There is also a very funny cartoon clip about the number of times you would have to get a jackpot on a slot machine in order to give you the same chance of all the factors for life being correct. This probably won't sway anyone from the evolution argument, but it could provide a little more understanding for the ID community about how the idea is viewed. This is mainly about the 'States and I don't think the same problems are quite here in the UK yet, but it may only be a matter of time. This is a controversial film for a secular market, but well worth sitting down with if you are at all interested in the debate.
