DARWIN VS THE CREATIONISTS

SAT. 4/15: DARWIN VS. THE CREATIONISTS
It is certainly too bad when our academic institutions are threatened by retrograde superstition…as if some forces in our society were afraid to accept the fact that humans are also part of the animal kingdom. Around the time of the Scopes trial, Max Fleischer turned his considerable talents from Betty Boop and Popeye to advancing an enlightened view of human development. Here’s the premiere revival of his legendary 1923 masterwork, Evolution, a courageous cinematic initiative, that in fact includes stop-motion dinosaur footage from Willis O’Brien, projected in gloriously tinted 16mm, with musical accompaniment by David Cox! We open with a newsreel from that infamous “Monkey Trial,” plus a Joseph Campbell clip on genesis myths and—believe it or not—a crackpot Fundamentalist screed, The Evolution Conspiracy. PLUS a collection-plate of assorted religious anomalies, including Pat Robertson, Satanic backward-masking, and a sneak peek at Tom Borden’s new doc on Christian wrestling, Taking Satan to the Mat!! A portion of the proceeds goes to the ACLU.