A reader we'll identify as Ed J. has written a lengthy letter taking me to task for calling actor Kirk Cameron a "nutcase" for his campaign to undermine the theory of evolution and tie it in with the practices of Adolf Hitler. Ed believes that my comments in the humorous Cameron piece displayed a bias against Christianity and that we at Cinema Retro should stick to writing about movies. His letter presents an intelligently written stance on why he shares Cameron's skepticism about the theory of evolution and how Hitler and others appropriated Darwin's theories for evil purposes. He also states that my tongue-in-cheek advice for Cameron to watch Inherit the Wind should also be taken to task, as Ed apparently feels that the film offered a biased and inaccurate view of the famed Monkey Trial. (In fairness, the film and the play it is based on never pretends to be anything but a loose, fictionalized account of the trial.)
I do confess that I obviously overlooked the fact that there are
people out there who do not accept evolution of the species as fact.
However, for the record, my comments about Cameron were admittedly
sarcastic and were relegated to a minor article - and they did relate to the movie industry, as Mr. Cameron is an actor. The comments were not intended
to be an assault on Christianity or any other religion. Regular readers
of Cinema Retro know that we scrupulously avoid using this site as a
forum to argue religion or politics, and only cover those topics when
celebrities make them a legitimate story for us.Thus, to the extent
that anyone out there who might share Kirk Cameron's beliefs about
evolutionary theory felt offended by the term "nutcase", I do
apologize.We print numerous stories every day and have over one million
pages of our web site read every month by hundreds of thousands of
readers around the world, so I guess it's inevitable someone will
occasionally be rubbed the wrong way.
I have chosen not to run
Ed's letter, not out of a desire to deprive a reader of
stating his opinion, but because it offers a point-by-point defense of
his own positions regarding evolutionary theory and how it relates to
Hitler's practices. It would undoubtedly elicit mail from others who
want to sound off on the topic and before long, I'd be playing referee
in a fight over the origins of the universe. This would be far too
complex for a man who still can't figure out how to work the remote
control for his TV. Additionally, I don't think anyone out there
really wants religious debate on this site, as we would soon become as
boring as a Robert Taylor film festival. So, with all due respect to
all parties out there, let's close the issue and move on to the next
topic. (Though I do feel compelled to throw in one last caveat to
defend my position that I am not anti-Christianity. I am about the only
critic alive who defends George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, even though it seems at times to tell the tale of Christ in real time.) - Lee Pfeiffer
And on a somewhat related topic...
Hi guys;
I love your candid assessments of the absurdities found on TV news - you were among the first to point out the craziness of the coverage extended to the "balloon boy" story. However, why don't you ever cover the most interesting aspect of TV news, namely the controversies found on the political analysis shows? Seems that would be fertile ground for your coverage... - Steve Jacobs
Retro responds: Steve, you are among a number of readers who have asked why we shy away from coverage of the political shows. As I point out in the above statement, Cinema Retro is not and never will be a site devoted to political coverage, no matter how tempted we may be to dip our toes in those storm-tossed waters. We only cover politics on the rare occasion when politicians make news in the entertainment industry. (We did recently run a story regarding the prospect of the more controversial hosts being threatened by boycotts that might affect their advertising revenues.) You are right that the larger-than-life hosts of American cable TV news programs would make for some interesting coverage, but we serve an international readership and these analysts are largely unknown to people outside the USA. Secondly, there is probably no way we could cover such contentious people without exposing our own political views and prejudices, which we always try to avoid doing out of respect to all of our readers. Finally, the vast majority of Cinema Retro's coverage will always be relegated to the film industry, past and present. An excellent site that offers objective coverage of American TV news shows is TV Newser. - Lee Pfeiffer