EXPELLED from "Expelled"!
UPDATED: It would appear that Expelled's producer Mark Mathis was not being truthful when he told me tonight that "Crossroads" was a "working title" for the film Expelled. As Wesley Elsberry points out, the domain for Expelled was purchased before most, if not all, of the interviews were conducted - and yet Richard Dawkins, Eugenie Scott, PZ Myers, and others were told they were being interviewed for a film called "Crossroads."
Mr. Mark Mathis, do you want to come here and explain yourself?
SECOND UPDATE: Well, now you can read the story at the Pioneer Press.
---
The beefy cop patroling the audience at the screening of Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed threw PZ Myers out of the theatre right in front of me!
For a second, Rev. Barky and I thought we'd be thrown out too just because we were talking to him. PZ Myers is interviewed in the film, but in order to see it, according to producer Mark Mathis, he'll have to fork over $10 on April 18. God, you can get a blowjob for less than that. (Not that I would know anything about that.)
"Jared," an employee at the theatre, said that it was because "The producer said that he doesn't want you here. You don't have a ticket, and this is a private screening." Excuse me, this was a private screening that threw itself at you via a link from a website begging "please come and support this film, fill the theatres, wah, wah, we're victims, please come to our party, you'll love it, we're rebels, we're going to be very naughty!" This was a private screening that was asking for it! Having a showing during an atheist convention? Hello, producer Mark Mathis? Any intelligence allowed?
I wasn't invited! I didn't have to have a ticket! I received an e-mail that stated, "No ticket required." They were glad to have me, because I'm going to a Catholic grad school, and I have a little Catholic grad school pink notebook in which I took copious notes. Glad to have me, that is, until I started asking about a little film named "Crossroads" (the original title of "Expelled). (Actually, I am willing to accept that Crossroads was a working title. Yes, I do know something about how films are made, Mr. Mathis. I also know something about how they are marketed. CLASSIC FAIL tonight.)
Of course, this mini-police state, like most police states, couldn't sweep its trash into a coherent pile and thus didn't recognize the other guest, also an interviewee in this "film" - Richard Dawkins.
Mark Mathis, the producer, didn't recognize Richard until Richard stood up after being called on in the Q&A (I think that's what they called it) after the (so-called) film.
More on the so-called film later. An account of the so-called Q&A, and being ogled during the film by that beefy cop (after everyone was exhorted to spy on his or her neighbors - completely unlike the Nazis, of course) here. (AtBC, of course, where I go to unwind.)
Mr. Mark Mathis, do you want to come here and explain yourself?
SECOND UPDATE: Well, now you can read the story at the Pioneer Press.
---
The beefy cop patroling the audience at the screening of Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed threw PZ Myers out of the theatre right in front of me!
For a second, Rev. Barky and I thought we'd be thrown out too just because we were talking to him. PZ Myers is interviewed in the film, but in order to see it, according to producer Mark Mathis, he'll have to fork over $10 on April 18. God, you can get a blowjob for less than that. (Not that I would know anything about that.)
"Jared," an employee at the theatre, said that it was because "The producer said that he doesn't want you here. You don't have a ticket, and this is a private screening." Excuse me, this was a private screening that threw itself at you via a link from a website begging "please come and support this film, fill the theatres, wah, wah, we're victims, please come to our party, you'll love it, we're rebels, we're going to be very naughty!" This was a private screening that was asking for it! Having a showing during an atheist convention? Hello, producer Mark Mathis? Any intelligence allowed?
I wasn't invited! I didn't have to have a ticket! I received an e-mail that stated, "No ticket required." They were glad to have me, because I'm going to a Catholic grad school, and I have a little Catholic grad school pink notebook in which I took copious notes. Glad to have me, that is, until I started asking about a little film named "Crossroads" (the original title of "Expelled). (Actually, I am willing to accept that Crossroads was a working title. Yes, I do know something about how films are made, Mr. Mathis. I also know something about how they are marketed. CLASSIC FAIL tonight.)
Of course, this mini-police state, like most police states, couldn't sweep its trash into a coherent pile and thus didn't recognize the other guest, also an interviewee in this "film" - Richard Dawkins.
Mark Mathis, the producer, didn't recognize Richard until Richard stood up after being called on in the Q&A (I think that's what they called it) after the (so-called) film.
More on the so-called film later. An account of the so-called Q&A, and being ogled during the film by that beefy cop (after everyone was exhorted to spy on his or her neighbors - completely unlike the Nazis, of course) here. (AtBC, of course, where I go to unwind.)
Here we are afterward - Richard, Josh Timonen, Josh's friend, and Rev. Barky. (No, I didn't record the film, Mark, if you're reading this, you paranoid piece of work.) At this point, I must say that I'm really confused. Are we Nazis, or Communists? The film kind of ran the two together - along with a shot of Stalin while John Lennon's "Imagine" played. Did Josef Stalin write "Imagine"?
(Rev. Barky's comment: "Ben Stein is one ugly motherfucker, that's for sure." I'm, of course, hip to that.)
Labels: Ben Stein, Communists, Expelled, John Lennon wrote "Imagine" and was really Josef Stalin? Richard Dawkins, Nazis, No shimmies allowed
posted by Kristine | Thursday, March 20, 2008
76 Comments:
Ah, Kristine. You were right about something big. 457 comments at PZ's place and climbing. Hysterical and historic. I hope Dr. D points out that he was interviewed under false pretenses. God, I wish I could be a fly on that wall.
Did I not promise you fireworks? I knew about this. I didn't tell a soul, though of course Rev. Barky put 2 and 2 together.
I did not expect PZ to get thrown out, though. That really floored me. Rev. Barky was rather wry about it - didn't surprise him - but it sure stunned me!
For an objective look at how dissent from Darwinism is suppressed, please see NPR's Intelligent Design and Academic Freedom
Who is Rev. Barky?
Ironic that they conflate Hitler and Stalin when their tactics tonight seem to reek of both. (Well, I exaggerate a bit, but still. . .)
I first noticed PZ's blog about half an hour after he posted it -- and it made it to page 1 of digg fairly quickly -- what a fun evening for people who weren't even there!
Who is Rev. Barky?
The High Priest of Dog.
Now scram. This is a happy occasion for those of us who actually care about science education.
Susan, I was so nervous about all these threats beforehand that I lost my hat somewhere on the way to the screening.
The "open-minded" audience that supposedly wanted a debate certainly didn't appreciate the debate that broke out at the Q&A. Someone ultimately said "Read Mein Kampf!" at me. "I have," I said back. Yes, and I want that part of my life back. The most boring, racist piece of crap I ever read, thanks. Hitler didn't believe that the Aryans and the Jews shared common ancestry. End of story.
Who is Rev. Barky? Check my blogroll. Use the EF. (You know what that is, don't you?)
William, read my post "I'll Bet William Dembski" and "Do We Have a Bet or No?" Why would someone make a film about the same thing that he wouldn't bet me on?
This isn't a twit you're talking to.
So, if John Lennon is Stalin, would that make Paul Lenin and George Trotsky? No matter what, Ringo remains Ringo.
Good stuff, Kristine. Complete with pictures!
Prediction: One day PZ will look back on this day and lament, "Can't we all just get along?"
;-)
This isn't a twit you're talking to.
he can't help it.
creationists project, remember?
Witness and participant in a landmark evening; Kristine, thanks for sharing the story and pic.
("for an objective view on how dissent from the notion of gravity is suppressed..." sorry, after seeing the trilobites at Laelaps and reading the Expelled blow-up, I'm all giggly.)
Im glad PZ didnt make a fuss, it might have jeopardized the chance for you, Dawkins, and Barky from getting in.
And beware the mob, surrounded by a bunch of uneducated, indoctrinated, hateful, numbnuts is not necessarily the safest place to be in the world.
For an objective look at how dissent from Darwinism is suppressed, please see NPR's Intelligent Design and Academic Freedom
Let me see if I have this right.
A movie all about the alleged suppression of dissent from Darwinism is being launched on an unsuspecting public. This same dissenting view publishes websites, books, magazine and newspaper articles. Its proponents are interviewed on television and radio and give public lectures on the subject.
If this is suppression then please suppress me.
Damn it! That's the second irony meter that's blown this evening.
My congratulations, though, to all who took part in this stunning PR coup.
Re Sternberg, from Intelligent Design and Academic Freedom:
"He didn't lose his job, he didn't get his pay cut, he still has his research privileges, he still has his office," Scott says. "You know, what's his complaint? People weren't nice to him. Well, life is not fair."
Suppressed?
You call that suppressed, William Wallace? What a farkin' joke.
And he was never an employee of the Smithsonian. I believe that he was a research assistant or something like that.
The academic/museum/library worlds are full of backbiting, which is what his case amounted to. What I find interesting is that, had he not started to wring his hands, the larger world would have never noticed that article.
And are the little fundy homeschoolers going to read it now? No. Who reads all this ID shit? I do. (Note to Mathis: I asked my questions for the sake of the audience, to put seeds in their heads, not for your answers.)
Wesley iz da man.
He has only gone and shown that they bought the domain name for Expelled before they had conducted any of the interviews! And they didn't ever buy the domain name, "Crossroads". As he rightly put it - "busted".
Well done, Kristine. You sound like you need to take a shower?
OMnG thanks Damian! Holy crap did Mathis totally fucking lie to me?
The plot thickens.
You sound like you need to take a shower?
I'm drinking a beer, isn't that just as good? ;-)
kristine, have you seen this, supposedly from an attendee?
Dawkins asked a simple question: Why was one of his colleagues interviewed in the movie denied a chance to come see this movie and protest it and in fact was escorted out by security prior to admittance to the theatre? The irony apparently escaped Mr. Dawkins that he himself was a gatecrasher to the movie and was uninvited; nevertheless, he wanted to know why his colleague was turned away even though he himself was admitted as were his colleague’s family.
I just happened to be standing directly in line behind Dawkins’ academic colleague. Management of the movie theatre saw a man apparently hustling and bothering several invited attendees, apparently trying to disrupt the viewing or sneak in. Management then approached the man, asked him if he had a ticket, and when he confirmed that he didn’t, they then escorted him off the premises. Nowhere was one of the film’s producers to be found, and the man certainly didn’t identify himself. If a producer had been nearby, it’s possible that he would have been admitted, but the theatre’s management didn’t want to take any chances.
I'll let you decide how many falsehoods are contained in that piece. I will say, though, that they have certainly trained their monkeys well.
I just happened to be standing directly in line behind Dawkins’ academic colleague. Management of the movie theatre saw a man apparently hustling and bothering several invited attendees, apparently trying to disrupt the viewing or sneak in. Management then approached the man, asked him if he had a ticket, and when he confirmed that he didn’t, they then escorted him off the premises. Nowhere was one of the film’s producers to be found, and the man certainly didn’t identify himself. If a producer had been nearby, it’s possible that he would have been admitted, but the theatre’s management didn’t want to take any chances.
So ultimately Dawkins’ first complaint was irrelevant.
That's a fucking lie. I saw PZ in line with Dawkins behind us. PZ came up to me, said hello, and said, "They're kicking me out." Then "Jared" told him that he had to have a ticket and that this was an invitation only private screening. I had no ticket or invitation.
It's up at Christianity Today as well. I can tell you that I heard what I heard. Mark Mathis also repeatedly stated that the reason PZ was not let in was that he had no ticket. He said nothing about creating a disturbance.
PZ says:
"Stuart Blessman, the student at UM who made that claim at the lookingcloser blog, is a liar.
A shameful liar and a disgrace to the university.
No, I was not bothering anyone. I went forward and got copies of the form we had to sign to get in, brought them back to my group, and the people in front of us asked me if they could have some, too. That was my only interaction with other people in line.
Nobody had a ticket. You reserved a seat online, and they checked your name off their list at the front of the line.
I was not trying to sneak in. I reserved my seats under my own name.
I was called aside by a security guard, who asked if my name was PZ Myers, and who said that the producer had specifically asked that I be removed.
We do have some idiots who get enrolled at this university. I like to think that they're a minority, but I'm rather surprised that someone so ethically challenged is a student here."
Unfortunately, it is looking more and more like this is the line that they are going to take. And they say that we have no morals?
oops, I hope you have some serious bandwidth.
the link to this thread has been posted 3 times on that thread on Pharyngula, which has been linked to every major blog spreader on the web.
I apologize if it causes slowdowns.
If it does, just move the picture to a different thread, and that should help.
hope you had fun (yeah, you did!)
I have a headache, Ichythic! :-)
Hell, thanks for the links. You know how I hate attention! I wouldn't dream of taking that photo down.
I wish I had recorded that Q&A, but that fucking cop was walking around. Jesus! This whole thing is just unreal!
Here is your own proof
http://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=expelledthemovie.com&type=domain
Sorry about the bad language before.
Don
When the "Expelled" trailer hit YouTube a few months ago a bunch of us tried debating the IDers, but it was hopeless. Despite our attempts to helpfully remind them that "Intelligent Design" is promoted as non-religious science, their appeals to biblical authority never ceased.
I'm curious to hear from those of you who have now seen the actual movie whether Ben Stein was able to steer clear of this trap. Did he stick to the ID-is-pure-science ruse, or did he too fall his knees?
He moved the goalposts all over the place. ID is science - but it's not science, because science is not really science without religion, and ID is religion. Religion and science are not at war - but they are, because liberal and mainstream theologians believe in God and accept evolution, but we can't have that. But we can have that - through ID! Which is science! Which is the universe being created by God! Which is not science but the same evidence being seen by both evolutionists and ID theorists! Which is really a culture war! Got it? Good.
"At this point, I must say that I'm really confused. Are we Nazis, or Communists?"
It's not unlike the way anti-semites can at the same time believe 'the Jews' are behind both Communism and banks. It's the kind of thing that tells you they're not basing their beliefs on any characteristic of the folk they're tarring.
I love this story to no end. However I'm also kind of bitter. This really stole my thunder. There I go thinking I'm being all adventurous in seeing it on my own and then you go and see it with Richard freaking Dawkins!
And moreso.. MAN I wish I could have been there. I am green with envy. I know, it was a secret, top level atheist conspiracy clearance required. Loose lips sink sh... er.. get people kicked out of theaters.
Wow this is epic stuff! Wow.
Cdesign proponentsists honesty FTW!!
I'll be giggling maniacally all weekend about this.
"William Wallace" writes:
"For an objective look at how dissent from Darwinism is suppressed, please see NPR's Intelligent Design and Academic Freedom"
That was probably one of the most one-sided spectacles I'd ever heard on NPR. I emailed them after I heard iot and complained about Bradley-Haggerty's sloppy "research."
Sternberg is a chump, and did not get what he really deserved.
Oh - and that Stewart whatever his name is "defended" his claims over yonder.
Is there a legal recourse for Richie D and PZ for having their views so grotesquely misappropriated?
I don't think they have a case - what I would like to see is a documentary researching the making of Expelled and all the shenanigans surrounding its screenings.
Gott Mit Uns...
http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Gay%20Jesus_files/Nazi%20buckle%200.jpg
Really, they should have just stuck to "commy"
:-)
Gott in Himmel! A belt buckle proves nothing - what about those "Natur Wählt Uns" tie clip?
OMnG thanks Damian! Holy crap did Mathis totally fucking lie to me?
Color me shocked! Shocked I tell you!
I simply fail to understand how this group with such a strong faith in God has such a loose grasp of morality. Just be fricken honest about what you're trying to do - hell, you have most of the US on your side (unfortunately).
-J
Fragile beliefs must be protected by a bubble-wrap of lies.
(With apologies to Sir Winston...)
Brilliant, Kristine!
Thanks for the write-up.
Kristine said-
"He moved the goalposts all over the place. ID is science - but it's not science, because science is not really science without religion, and ID is religion. Religion and science are not at war - but they are, because liberal and mainstream theologians believe in God and accept evolution, but we can't have that. But we can have that - through ID! Which is science! Which is the universe being created by God! Which is not science but the same evidence being seen by both evolutionists and ID theorists! Which is really a culture war! Got it? Good."
It may seem premature but I'm going to go out on a limb and say...
Best. Summary. Evah!
Stepping past the seriously lulzy 'let's expel Myers... but let this British chap he brought with him stay... umm... wait a minute... that's who again?' bit for a sec, I really would also like to thank all of you who attended.
It is as with those who attend all unutterably bad bombs and warn the rest of us so we do not have to. You have suffered so we need not. For which you have my gratitude.
I still think EXPELLED would be a great 'Rocky Horror'-- Everyone dress up as their favorite expellite (big sweater, youre Dembski! Wizard shirts or lumberjack plaid, youre Behe!), throw Cheetos at the screen every time you hear the word PARADIGM!
I bet it would be an excellent drinking game, too!
I simply fail to understand how this group with such a strong faith in God has such a loose grasp of morality
Hey, they're made in god's image. God of the Old Testament didn't seem to have much "moral restraint" either.
This is one of those "Emporer has no clothes" moments though. Their concepts of morality and integrity are as hypocritical as their cries of suppression.
I bet it would be an excellent drinking game, too!
I dunno. I'm thinking they'd be adding a new code to the alcohol poisoning-related codes in emergency rooms everywhere, if that were to get too popular...
BYSTANDER: I dunno. He just passed out. Stinks of liquor. He was watching somethin' called 'Exelled' or somethin'...
TRIAGE NURSE (Very blase, into intercom mic): We've got a 904. Repeat. 904. Stomach pump team to ER, stat.
Expelled was shown at the Mall of America multiplex.
For the record - and Kristine and I witnessed the whole thing, PZ was approached as he was in line and pulled aside by an officer and was told "Sir, we got a call from the producer that you must leave the premises". PZ was making the rounds talking to Dawkins and other Atheists in the line. He came up to Kristine and I and told us he was being kicked out. At that point the officer pulled him aside and said "Sir unless you have a ticket to see another show in this theater you are to leave immediately". PZ did not argue or anything he just said he would go and he did. He was NOT bothering anyone, just talking to friends in line. It was cowardly for Mathis not to ask PZ to leave himself.
Tee hee hee - it's juvenile I know, but someone's done a number on the expelled website:
http://rsvp.getexpelled.com/events/events/list
and in case it's gone by the time you get there:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2260/2350566174_c8d94c51a7_o.jpg
The time in the taskbar is GMT on the 21st March.
I have been looking at 'Creationism' the past couple of days and wandered into the Panda's Thumb and saw a reference to Dawkins dated today. I really needed some cheering up, too, as I live in southwestern Ohio and often feel like a pale blue dot adrift in a sea of red. I was looking at Creationism because yesterday I overheard a colleague refer to the "creation museum" in Florence, Kentucky, and was dumbfounded and distraught, almost, that a person who is otherwise intelligent could think that the earth is only 6,000 years old, or that dinosaurs were coeval with humans. Quote, "I can't believe I was descended from a monkey". I said, "well you weren't, but you did have a relatively recent common ancestor". Some people are very offended by that. My own feeling sometimes is that the apes should be offended.
Anyway, my thanks to Kristine for the blog, and to all of you posters here for cheering me up.
"TRIAGE NURSE (Very blase, into intercom mic): We've got a 904. Repeat. 904. Stomach pump team to ER, stat."
I believe the actual hospital code for intoxicated athiest is "666".
I doubt you secularists give one whit about all those Christian Souls that Richard Dawkins placed in extreme peril by sitting in that theater uninvited and unknown until the end.
If a one of them had a Heart Attack and died, that soul would have gone straight to hell without a Prayer of Salvation.
Auntie Em, I have to admit to being confused by your post. The website and the screenshot you linked to look the same, but they both look fine. What was done to the website exactly?
What? No "shimmy slut" for me, Rev. Paul T Hipple? ;-)
It's too bad that Mr. Mark Mathis didn't crash the American Atheist Convention in Minneapolis today to see the Freedom Riders who marched in the place of William Moore, an atheist who was murdered during his own march for civil rights in the 1960s.
You would have learned something about your "enemies," Mr. Mathis.
The false prophets of the end times will bamboozle you with their sweet words. I just didn't think it would be Ben Stein, eyeball juice panderer.
The word "crackpot" seems to have fallen into disuse. I think it's time to bring it back.
The word "crackpot" seems to have fallen into disuse. I think it's time to bring it back.
Last year, it was William Dembski and his animation full of *fart* sounds. This year, it's Ben Stein and his *expelling* sounds. :P
Kristine, since you've seen a screening, can you tell us if the movie included anything about Francis Collins, Kenneth Miller, or the likes thereof? It'd be interested to see if they included some better known "religious" scientists, so to speak...since they claim to be so "even-handed". Thanks!
Just out of idle curiosity (from a purely sociological perspective, of course), where can I get a blowjob for less than $10?
This year, it's Ben Stein and his *expelling* sounds. :P
From which orifice did these sounds get expelled?
Kristine, since you've seen a screening, can you tell us if the movie included anything about Francis Collins, Kenneth Miller, or the likes thereof?
No, certainly not. They wouldn't want to be off message about how "most evolutionary biologists are atheists." I'm not kidding, Stein says that. Another inaccuracy. They do make some passing remark that "liberal and mainstream theologians" are complicit with the Nazi/Commie atheist scientists. It's just astounding!
where can I get a blowjob for less than $10?
Now, now, I wouldn't know anything about that! ;-)
From which orifice did these sounds get expelled?
I'm beginning to wonder if Ben Stein uses his orifaces for the same purposes we do. :-P
where can I get a blowjob for less than $10?
You know, if you can still attend one of these (disappearing) free screenings, the film blows pretty much!
where can I get a blowjob for less than $10?
You know, if you can still attend one of these (disappearing) free screenings, the film blows pretty much!
Duly noted.
In all seriousness though, I honestly had more respect for B.S. (love how those initials turn out) before this. I guess I just didn't know enough about him. I mean, I knew he was a conservative wackjob, but there are plenty of neocon wackjobs out there that I may disagree with, but know wouldn't lend their name to a production as utterly absurd as this one. In a perverse way, I'm honestly looking forward to downloading the film and skipping through it. At the end of the day I'm very heartened that this is the best that this element of theocracy can produce.
pThe word is that this was a set up.
PZ had a family member call management and say he was going to yell and shout during the showing, which he claimed earlier on his blog.
I thought this seemed a little too convenient.
You'd better back up your claims, "Anonymous."
Evidence, please? "The word is" from whom?
Which family member called?
I'm waiting.
...waiting...
One more of these 'explanations' and there'll be enough for another movie. Perhaps it could be called Imploded.
Or “Exploded”?
“Expired”?
“Explained”? Or how about
~Expletive!~? ;-)
Expectorated?
"He came up to.. I"
Illiterate, what state are you from?
Who is PZ Myers?
Illiterate, what state are you from?
Illiterate, in what state do grammar Nazis end their sentences with prepositions?
Who is PZ Myers?
Clueless, figure it out.
Illiterate, that was a postposition; my use is fine in any English state, which is not Latin.
Do you have something that is 1) interesting to say and 2) that is on-topic? If not, scram.
It might interest you to know that Tom Gilson over at Thinking Christian is using comments made on this blog to back up his own claim that Myers "crashed" the screening of Expelled.
He's closed the comments because he can't deal with the facts.
http://www.thinkingchristian.net/?p=1310
Well, let him. It's too late. The whole, real story is out. (Original source: a Christian blog.) And they're just digging a deeper hole for themselves.
This whole embarrassing episode is what they deserve after 1) first setting the premire for their crap film on Darwin's birthday, and then 2) setting the premire on the weekend of the anniversary of both Charles Darwin's and Erasmus Darwin's death. "Death of Darwin" my ass. Darwin will live on long after these talentless nobodies sell insurance to make ends meet.
And as for those cookie-cutter homeschooled twits in that theatre, they'll be able to brag that they laughed at Richard Dawkins once, an achievement not unlike being one of the churchy drones who refused to look through Galileo's telescope. Small wonder that these folks deny evolutionary theory, being that the paths they have chosen are dead ends.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
thanks alot ... i love this blog
Fragile beliefs must be protected by a bubble-wrap of lies.
(With apologies to Sir Winston...)
Thank you from the article
وادي العرب للمعرفة
الدورات التدريبية
Post a Comment
<< Home