All Schlock Docs Are Not Created Equal
Cruising through the cinematic zeitgeist meter that Rotten Tomatoes has become, here’s a sampling of opinions regarding Ben Stein’s Expelled, followed by its official “Tomato Meter” rating as of a certain long-ago morning:
A cynical attempt to sucker Christian conservatives
an example of design by faith and emotion rather than intelligence, defined as rationality grounded in proof
propagandistic nonsense
One of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time
claims to denounce the tyranny of dogma, then browbeats us
it’s hard to imagine Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed being more one-sided, narrow-minded, and intellectually dishonest
Bizarre and hysterical
No intelligence allowed, indeed, as Ben Stein misguidedly crusades
has much less to do with academic freedom than with political ideology
The film’s flippant approach undermines the seriousness of its discourse
Now, by comparison, below is the consensus view of Fahrenheit 9/11. Granted, the full consensus is not in on Expelled; but with the direction this is drifting, and the reasons being cited for Expelled’s poor reviews, you may feel free to draw your own conclusions.
We now have the official RT consensus statement on Expelled:
Full of patronizing, poorly structured arguments, Expelled is a cynical political stunt in the guise of a documentary.
As opposed to F9/11, naturally.
The Dakota Voice makes a similar comparison with An Inconvenient Truth.
Copyright © 2014 Billy Rush