I've been trying to rent this movie from the local Redbox for at least two months but it has always been checked out. I guess that can be expected since I live in the the Bible Belt. So I decided to download it and see what all the fuss is about. After watching it, I'm glad I didn't contribute any money to this movie.
One of the first scenes during the opening credits, before anybody says anything, shows a Muslim father checking to make sure his daughter's veil is on all the way, and completely covers up her face, before he drops her off at school. That gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect from this movie. Later he ends up beating her because he finds out she's been listening to Christian preachers on her Ipod.
The main story is about a college student who has to take a Philosophy class as one of his electives because it is the only one that fits with his schedule. He is warned beforehand by the admissions guy that the teacher is a real jerk, but there's no way around it for the student because it's the only class that fits his schedule.
The very first day of class, the asshole teacher tells everybody about all the smart philosophers that were atheists. He is pretty much the exact cliche of the arrogant, mean-spirited, and deceitful atheist. He tells all the students that they need to accept that there is no god without providing any arguments or reasons whatsoever except for the appeal to authority, and then tries to make them all write "God is dead" on a paper and turn it in to him for a grade. Watching this bullshit made me think that this is what uneducated people think college is like. Anybody who has ever attended a real university would have probably walked out of the movie at this point if they paid for it.
So of course, the student refuses. The teacher then challenges the student to prove that god exists in front of the class. Challenge accepted, blah blah blah. The only two arguments the student uses to prove god exists is the similarity between the big bang and genesis, and that the fossil record shows too many big leaps that couldn't have happened in any other way besides god did it. I've seen both of those arguments refuted many times in forums like this in different ways. There are enough big words and philosophical terms used to catch the interest of any Christian who has never studied philosophy, but I doubt any moderate Christian with a decent education would be impressed.
Throughout this challenge the teacher continually warns the student that his grades will suffer if he doesn't give up. He even threatens to make sure the student never gets his law degree at one point in the movie. The professor is such a comically bad, unbelievable character that I'm guessing this movie will make many Christians question their faith more that reinforce it. Did I mention that the main Duck Dynasty guy, Willie Robertson, also makes an appearance? I get the feeling that he may have helped fund or produce this movie, but I don't give a shit enough to check.
During the climax of the debate between the student and the professor, the professor becomes so frustrated by his inability to answer the student's questions that he finally admits that he has secretly known that god existed all along, but hates God because He didn't save his mother when she was dying of cancer. Watching this scene reinforced my theory that most religious people don't really understand why atheists think the way they do. Fortunately, the professor gets hit by a car at the end of the movie, but repents just in time before he gets sent to hell where he would have been tortured for eternity. The end.
This movie is probably worse than most of you imagined it was.
One of the first scenes during the opening credits, before anybody says anything, shows a Muslim father checking to make sure his daughter's veil is on all the way, and completely covers up her face, before he drops her off at school. That gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect from this movie. Later he ends up beating her because he finds out she's been listening to Christian preachers on her Ipod.
The main story is about a college student who has to take a Philosophy class as one of his electives because it is the only one that fits with his schedule. He is warned beforehand by the admissions guy that the teacher is a real jerk, but there's no way around it for the student because it's the only class that fits his schedule.
The very first day of class, the asshole teacher tells everybody about all the smart philosophers that were atheists. He is pretty much the exact cliche of the arrogant, mean-spirited, and deceitful atheist. He tells all the students that they need to accept that there is no god without providing any arguments or reasons whatsoever except for the appeal to authority, and then tries to make them all write "God is dead" on a paper and turn it in to him for a grade. Watching this bullshit made me think that this is what uneducated people think college is like. Anybody who has ever attended a real university would have probably walked out of the movie at this point if they paid for it.
So of course, the student refuses. The teacher then challenges the student to prove that god exists in front of the class. Challenge accepted, blah blah blah. The only two arguments the student uses to prove god exists is the similarity between the big bang and genesis, and that the fossil record shows too many big leaps that couldn't have happened in any other way besides god did it. I've seen both of those arguments refuted many times in forums like this in different ways. There are enough big words and philosophical terms used to catch the interest of any Christian who has never studied philosophy, but I doubt any moderate Christian with a decent education would be impressed.
Throughout this challenge the teacher continually warns the student that his grades will suffer if he doesn't give up. He even threatens to make sure the student never gets his law degree at one point in the movie. The professor is such a comically bad, unbelievable character that I'm guessing this movie will make many Christians question their faith more that reinforce it. Did I mention that the main Duck Dynasty guy, Willie Robertson, also makes an appearance? I get the feeling that he may have helped fund or produce this movie, but I don't give a shit enough to check.
During the climax of the debate between the student and the professor, the professor becomes so frustrated by his inability to answer the student's questions that he finally admits that he has secretly known that god existed all along, but hates God because He didn't save his mother when she was dying of cancer. Watching this scene reinforced my theory that most religious people don't really understand why atheists think the way they do. Fortunately, the professor gets hit by a car at the end of the movie, but repents just in time before he gets sent to hell where he would have been tortured for eternity. The end.
This movie is probably worse than most of you imagined it was.
