The Formerly Relevant Award Known as Oscar

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced their nominations for their Academy Awards. It comes as no surprise that Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed , a thought-provoking look at the issue of academic freedom in our nation's universities, was not even nominated.


Expelled is the brainchild of Ben Stein, a Renaissance man who has been, in turn, an economist, a comedian, an actor, an author, social activist, and sought-after speaker.



Expelled tells the story of academic censorship, of whether we have the right in the 21st century to challenge orthodoxy without punishment--in the same way that Gallileo or da Vinci challenged it in theirs. In doing so, Expelled makes us take a hard look at our history, our academic institutions, orthodoxy, and the role of religion in a secular society.



Someone must have liked it, because it:

• was a million ticket seller in 2008


• was the top grossing documentary of 2008

Nevertheless the leftist-dominated motion picture industry saw fit to leave it off its list of approved nominees.

The movie made clear where it stood on the issue of academic censorship. However, it fairly presented the dissenting opinion. Nevertheless, the Hollywood powers proved the point of the movie. In their equivalent of a book burning, they acted as if Expelled had never sold a million tickets or grossed close to $10 million.

Apparently pompous, arrogant gas bags like Al Gore or Michael Moore, with no academic credentials, can make documentaries about junk science or theses that are patently false, and Hollywood has no problem spiffing them with a little gold statuette. But let a man of accomplishment and intelligence make a film about something with which they disagree and they try to toss it in a vat of acid.

Just thought you might like to know.