'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed'

Rating:

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

April 18, 2008

Ben Stein, the actor, lawyer, columnist and onetime speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Ford, is probably smarter than you. He's definitely smarter than I am. What's galling about his new documentary, "Expelled," is that he seems to think we're both slobbering idiots.

"Expelled" begins by decrying the academic and scientific censorship of intelligent design, the controversial (if not new) theory that life is driven not by Darwinian randomness but by some sort of intentionality. Should this idea be taught in schools? Is it merely creationism in mufti? Why are scientists so dead set against it? These are worthwhile questions, and Stein initially addresses them. The testimonials from those who have been ostracized for even flirting with design theory are enough to stir outrage in any free thinker.

But Stein - who has been accused by some interviewees of hiding the true aims of his film - soon pulls a bait-and-switch, turning his documentary into a diatribe. It's not enough to point out the acknowledged gaps in evolutionary theory. In an increasingly hysterical tone, Stein lambastes Darwinians as misguided, ignorant fascists, cutting repeatedly to old footage of the Berlin Wall - a metaphor for squelched thought.

Finally, he unleashes his biggest attention-getter, holding Darwinism responsible for Nazi atrocities and genocide.

I'm no lawyer, but that's a pretty lousy argument.

Did Stein really think audiences wouldn't balk at being suckered into a propaganda rally? Or was he preaching to the converted from the start? Stein claims to denounce the tyranny of dogma, then browbeats us with his own.

(2 STARS) EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED (PG). A scathing lecture on the controversy around intelligent design. 1:30 (adult discussions and images). At area theaters.