{"id":305,"date":"2009-10-10T14:09:43","date_gmt":"2009-10-10T14:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/2009\/10\/10\/on_creation\/"},"modified":"2009-10-10T14:09:43","modified_gmt":"2009-10-10T14:09:43","slug":"on_creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/2009\/10\/10\/on_creation\/","title":{"rendered":"On Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was nearly a month ago that David Attenborough and I went to see a preview of the Jon Amiel film Creation<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\nWell, I say that, but there were 398 other people there too. And I didn’t actually get to meet Attenborough. Or even see him. But we were in the same room. I say ‘room’, but I mean the Science Museum. He touched Karen James’ shoulder! And she’s my friend, so that counts. Doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\nWhere was I? Oh yes. Heroes<\/a>. David Attenborough<\/a> is a hero to many. On the other hand, Charles Darwin has been turned into a saint<\/em>. I’ve reviewed the movie elsewhere<\/a>. These are some thoughts that didn’t quite make it there.<\/p>\n

\nPhilip Campbell<\/a> welcomed us to the IMAX theatre at the Science Museum, telling us that Nature<\/em> is a magazine as well as a journal; the narrative is as important as the science. (There may have been a small cheer from the LabLit representatives at this point.) After welcoming various luminaries (the producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter John Collee and Toby Jones\u2014who played Thomas Huxley), he introduced the director John Amiel.<\/p>\n

\n“This place is so cool!” Amiel said, before apologizing that the film was in 35 mm and not IMAX. He played on the narrative theme again, explaining but not apologizing for the liberties taken with objective reality: He made the point that a ‘true’ dramatization would have to spend eight years studying barnacles: ‘I’m not going to say, guys it’s only a movie: get a life.<\/em>‘<\/p>\n

\nThe film we were about to see was an imaginative rather than a literal truth, dealing with the spirit of Charles Darwin: man and scientist, because his ‘life and science were one piece’. I don’t know if it was intended, but I saw him drawing direct parallels with the Biblical account of creation. Truth in spirit if not in literal fact. <\/p>\n

\nNature selects for survival; man for appearance<\/em><\/p>\n

\nThe film was a feast of visual elements and hidden meaning. The (fictionalized) account of Jemmy Button and the del Fuegians; the bad science (or medicine, rather) juxtaposed with the bad theology; Jenny the orangutan; the process of decay, Huxley’s bullying and the balance of nature with a fox and a stunt rabbit. The opening scene of the movie, with the finger of Charles reminding us forcefully of the finger of Michelangelo’s God. (And I would have cheerfully held Darwin’s coat while he thumped the vicar\u2014or performed harm bodily and grievous myself.)<\/p>\n

\nWe would do well not to idolize our scientific heroes. Darwin himself tells the doctor that ‘logic isn’t everything’\u2014and tries to make a childish bargain with God for the life of Annie. All great scientific advances are made by human beings, heir to the same heartache and thousand natural shocks as all flesh: and the message of Creation<\/em> is that this, not our idealized notions, is true cause for celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was nearly a month ago that David Attenborough and I went to see a preview of the Jon Amiel film Creation. Well, I say that, but there were 398 other people there too. And I didn’t actually get to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/rpg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}