Will Angels & Demons Viewers be Talking Science and Religion?

Not only will Angels & Demons likely jump start conversations about physics, as some scientists hope, but the summer blockbuster will also be a launching pad for audiences to drive home discussing the relationship between science and religion.

I'm heading up to Georgetown tonight to check out the film and will have more to report on this angle. But for now, check out this short trailer put together by the Angels & Demon's publicity team addressing the science and religion theme in the film.

More like this

Angels & Demons opened this weekend with a less than expected $48 million just edging out the still hot Star Trek ($43M, $150M over two weeks). I took in the film at a 3/4 filled theater in Georgetown. Angels is worth seeing and a better film version than Davinci Code. The film is also likely…
Fronting the NY Times today is a preview of a bold new strategy for engaging hard to reach audiences on science. As the NY Times describes, today's media event that unveils the fossilized remains of the monkey like creature Darwinius masillae features a unique collaboration between the History…
Tony Stark, the man behind the mask in the blockbuster Iron Man movies, doesn't have any super powers, but he is supernaturally gifted in terms of intelligence, ingenuity, and sarcasm. His most amazing ability, however, may be the ability to make movie audiences suspend their disbelief regarding…
Magnetic Movie Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt) Last fall I stopped by the Hirshhorn Museum's Black Box theatre to watch a short film by Semiconductor (the artistic team of Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt). Magnetic Movie is a color-drenched, imaginative tour of Berkeley's Space…

Based on the trailer, here's what I took to be the message: Science is progressive, curious but naive, and destructive. The church is old, wise, and behaves like an authoritarian parent.

As far as stereotypes are concerned, nothing new.

I would like to believe that this movie could spark an intelligent debate on science and religion, but it seems unlikely. There is just too much ingrained ignorance out there about the history of science, and Angels and Demons does nothing to inform.

By Catherine Collins (not verified) on 16 May 2009 #permalink