The film Inherit the Wind is about the fierce opposition between religious fundamentalism and freedom of thought. The movie revolves around the Scope 's monkey trial held in 1925 when a teacher was accused of breaking a state law by teaching his students the theory of human evolution. In a more emotional manner, Inherit the Wind presents a version of that event making emphasis on opposing nature of argument between reason and arbitrary. It is important to explore the film 's primary patterns and characters as well as evaluating the arguments representing fundamentalist 's and evolutionist 's sides on the level of their objectivity and reasonableness. It would be reasonable to say that there are four main characters in the film. The first …show more content…
First, the biblical argument seems entirely inappropriate when it comes to the legal case exploring the scientific theory. Those, who stood on the side of fundamentalism failed to present a logical and reasonable evidence to support their argument as well as instead of conveying people that their side is right, tried to blame the opponent in heretism. Further, one should say that appealing to one 's emotions is inappropriate for the matter when scientific argumentation and methodology is essential. Therefore, it would be reasonable to say that fundamentalist 's argument is weak, having neither logical nor evidential basis. Moreover, Brady, who was an apologist of the Bible, did not even read The Origin of Species failing to understand the evidential essence of the counter-argument. In contrast, one should say that Drummond presented a logical and reasonable argument providing textual support as well as pointing out on the inconsistencies in the opponent 's argumentation. One can say that the director of the movie depicted Drummond as being on the side of truth while fighting against an unhealthy and unreasonable fundamentalism. From a personal perspective, one should say that the only weakness in the defense team argumentation lies in the fact that The Origin of Species did not include enough evidence to state that humans evolved from apes. It is only a statement resulted in making a parallel between evolution in the animal kingdom and transition from animals to humans. Therefore, calling themselves a people of science would be inappropriate. Instead, one should call Drummond 's side a people of logic and
The “Monkey Trial” in 1925 was one of the most famous clashes in history between the Bible and evolution. The concept of the play was based on the Scopes Trial, but characters, actions, and words were altered. During the trial, William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow went to court to try John Scopes for illegally teaching evolution, causing major complications in Dayton, Tennessee. In the play Inherit the Wind, the character, Henry Drummond, parallels his real-life counterpart, Clarence Darrow, through ¬his appearance, beliefs, and actions.
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee vs. Scopes but given the nickname “The Monkey Trial”, has been credited as starting the popular legal dispute between evolution and creationism in the court, and its impact in the 20’s was immeasurable.
The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning. In Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson argues that a more significant battle was waged between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy. Even though the rural fundamentalist majority legally banned teaching evolution in 1925, the rise of modernism, started long before the trial, raised a critical question for rural Americans: should they publicly impose their religious beliefs upon individuals who believed more and more in science.
The concept of creationism has a strong religious history and very deep religious overtones, and the constitutionality of teaching the subject in a public school immediately was questioned. Called to preside over the resulting legal case was U.S. District Judge William Overton. Thu...
Charles Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution, transforming the thinking of the entire world about the living things around us (Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)). After working on his theory for nearly 20 years, he published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. As soon as the book was released, the controversy began with each sides gaining followers until the climax on July 10, 1925. The idea that animals could “evolve” and change into new species, including humans, was one that challenged not only how people thought about the natural world, but challenged the story of the creation from the Bible itself. Even though Darwin himself never said that humans “evolved” from apes, everyone took it as a logical extension of his new theory. It went against the idea of argument for design that had unified theology and science for decades (Moran 5). This new threat to Christianity and the social culture of the time was one that would transform state laws on their educational curriculum.
The 1920’s were a time of change. New ideas were becoming more readily experimented with and even accepted by large portions of the population. Some of these included jazz music and the fight against the alcoholic prohibition. The radical idea I will focus on in this paper, however, is Evolution. It is a theory that had been around for over half a century before the 20’s but had only more recently caught on in the US. It contradicted the Christian theory of Divine Creation as described in the Bible. This caused many religious fundamentalists to fight against it. They took their battle to the law books, and they were challenged by pro-evolution modernists in the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925.
Gone with the Wind is a classic fictional love story that depicts life in the old south before, during and after the Civil war. The book was originally written in 1936 by Margret Mitchell, the movie adaptation was released in 1939, directed by Victor Fleming, and staring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. Ms. Mitchell grew up listening to Civil war stories from confederate veterans. It was reported that they told her everything; everything that is, except that they had lost the war, she found that out when she was 10 years old. Though the book was written 71 years after the Civil War ended, Ms. Mitchell did her research and appears to have drawn inspiration from those childhood stories that she was told. This is apparent in the detailed description of the clothing, houses, and everyday discussions and interactions of the characters throughout the book. Though not all historically correct most of what is in the book is accurate. During the time the movie was released, “damn” was considered to be vulgar and controversial and they used the term “darkies” to describe the slaves.
The first example of the people’s unwillingness to accept new ideas, such as Darwinian theory, is towards the beginning of the book when both sides of the prosecution arrive in Hillsboro. The town is parading up and down the streets chanting, “give me that old time religion”, and “down with Darwin”. The irony of this is that none of them have read Darwin’s book, for example, when E.K. Hornbeck was talking to Eliza, the Bible salesman. Eliza said, that he, “can’t neither read nor write”, so he could not have read Darwin’s book, but yet he is calling Hornbeck a “sinner, and “evil-utionist” for believing in its ideas. None of the town’s people on Mr. Brady’s side of the trial have read, The Evolution of Species, not even Mr.Brady himself. Nevertheless, they will not accept the idea or take it into consideration. It is the town’s peopl...
The most common association with the trial is as an example of the debates that raged during the 1920’s; this case particularly described the battle between the conservative religious movement and the new liberalized ideas of evolution. The case is most often referred to for, and most commonly associated with, the debate between science and religion. The scientific revolution had its roots in the arguments of the trial. “Because of this, scientific thought becomes very prominent and also with this, self consciousness is elaborated upon. With the clear understanding of why mankind is self conscious, commercialism and consumerism start booming like never before!” (Gerstein 14) the monkey trial opened people’s eyes, as well as their pocketbooks; consumerism flourished more so now because people could use reasoning to justify the spending that they did. Every religion in the world preaches some form of love for others and respect for humanity, while science, and especially evolution, advocate the survival of the fittest organism. By developing a scientific outlook on life, people felt less indebted to their contemporaries and instead found themselves concentrating on material possessions.
Ever since science began to explain the previously unexplainable, it has caused conflicts with religion. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial of Dayton, Tennessee was one of the most talked about trials in history because it was one of the first and most publicized times that this conflict occurred. The trial showed the schism between the faithful fundamentalists and the newly formed group of evolutionists. Although the jury was reminded that they only had to decide if Scopes had broken the law, the verdict was seen as much more than that. For one of the first times in history, it seemed as if the jury had to choose either religion or evolution. For the time being, there could not be both. The Scopes “Monkey” Trial revealed the ongoing conflict with faith and science and set a precedent for decades of conflict to come.
I chose to watch Gone with the Wind for my epic movie. I really enjoyed the movie. Gone with the Wind is about a girl named Scarlett O'Hara is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who in 1861 owns a plantation named Tara in Georgia. Scarlett is infatuated with Ashley Wilkes, who, although attracted to her, marries his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. At the party announcing Ashley's engagement to Melanie, Scarlett meets Rhett Butler, who has a reputation as a rascal. As the Civil War begins, Scarlett accepts a proposal of marriage to a man who she does not love and later dies in war. After the war, Scarlett inherits Tara and manages to keep the place going. When desperate measures take place and Scarlett can’t get money to pay for Tara she marries a wealthy man who later dies attacking the men that assaulted her. After that Rhett confesses his love and they get married, but when things get rough and Scarlett’s true colors appear he packs up and leaves.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released.
Since the time that teaching evolution in public schools was banned as heresy and taboo for contradicting the Bible, most public school systems today take an opposite approach in which creationism is seldom ta...
The film Sunset Boulevard, presented in 1950 is a black and white film. The film is about Norma Desmond an old actress, who has issues accepting that she is becoming old. The main actor in the film is Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, an older woman who believes she is still young. Desmond is not content with the fact that Hollywood has replaced her with younger actresses. The next actor Nancy Olson, plays Betty Schaffer who falls in love with Gillis despite being engaged to his friend. The third actor is William Holden who plays as Joe Gillis, who has financial problems and decides to turn himself into a gigolo to earn money. The dilemma with Joe is he does not want Betty to know about his job because he knows he might lose Betty as