Movies for Humanists

After seeing Floyd Sandford’s terrific performance as Charles Darwin in Darwin Remembers, all of you should watch the movie Creation.

Creation (2009) is a British biographical film about Charles Darwin, his work and his family, focusing on his eldest daughter, Annie. The movie takes place about 15 years after Darwin has returned from the Galapagos Islands and is still working on finishing his manuscript about his discoveries. His daughter, Annie, died in 1851, and the film shows Darwin interacting with Annie in flashbacks and hallucinations. Both Darwin and his wife Emma feel the pain of Annie’s death, but it strains their relationship between one another, which is especially acute due to Emma’s strong religious feelings and Darwin’s ideas about evolution.

Meanwhile, Darwin has received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, another British naturalist, who has come to the same conclusions as Darwin about evolution. Darwin’s friends urge him to continue with his book, though, as it is more comprehensive than Wallace’s work. Darwin makes a trip to the location where Annie had died, and, following his trip, he and Emma are able to speak and grieve together over Annie’s death. The renewed bond between Darwin and Emma allows him to finish his book, with Emma’s blessing, although she understands the repercussions of his book.

An interesting point about Creation is that, according to the producer Jeremy Thomas, the United States was one of the last countries to find a distributor due to the prominence of the controversy about evolution and creation. Thomas said: "It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He [God] made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and Los Angeles, religion rules.”