Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial (2007)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Nova handled this in its usual balanced manner. The evidence is presented and the viewer is allowed to make a judgment on one's own. For someone who is willing to be open-minded and willing to view the evidence instead of just insisting on taking things purely on faith, the case is presented in the format of a trial, allowing the view to hear the evidence and draw one's own conclusions. As someone who was raised in an atmosphere of creationism dogma, who came to evaluate the evidence and make another decision, this episode of Nova closely mimics my own personal experiences in reviewing what the data really shows. Unfortunately, in most debates on this issue, the evidence never really gets a fair hearing since each "side" comes to the table with predetermined opinions. If you're willing to have an open mind, the evidence is persuasive in its own right.

...and well worth the attention of the otherwise uninformed viewer, "Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" presents the basics of the ongoing evolution vs. creationism (oops, sorry, "intelligent design") controversy as it played out in the courts of Pennsylvania nearly a decade ago, driving a very strong nail into the coffin of said "intelligent design" attempting to pass itself off as science. Writer/co-director Joseph "The Elegant Universe" McMaster incorporates post facto interviews with all the major players on both sides along with dramatic re-enactments of key transcripts in the courtroom to present the story of a modern day Scopes Trial. The documentary is remarkably even-handed, containing almost no digs against the losing side, perhaps because it really wasn't necessary to get the gist of things across.Speaking as an agnostic (i.e. weak atheist), it never ceases to bemuse me that such a large portion of the American population (something like 2 out of every 5 people, if memory serves) rejects the theory of evolution in favor of superstition. It's a sad reflection on the state of education and the gullibility of the American people. Then again, it's also a consequence of the very human fear of death and insignificance; theism is a remarkable palliative for existential dread. Perhaps proponents of rationalism and science might want to consider the need to do a better job of communicating and instilling in our youth the true and ennobling sense of wonder and purpose that a genuine understanding of the immense beauty and mystery of the universe in which we live provides. Just a thought.9.5.14: Minor edit for clarity.