A dozen or so Imax theaters in the American South have decided against showing documentaries that present information threatening to the beliefs of christian fundamentalists. A survey taken from a sample audience revealed that some of them had adverse reactions to information.
“Galápagos” (1999) takes viewers to depths of 3000 feet with scientists studying “the processes of evolution as part of an ongoing effort to understand the forces which may ultimately affect the survival of our own species.” But said Carol Murray, director of marketing for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, “some people said it was blasphemous.”
Another film meeting resistance is “Volcanoes of the Deep Sea” (2003), in which viewers join scientists as they witness strange communities of organisms, bioluminescent creatures and giant predators, and explore the implications these discoveries may have “for our understanding of the emergence of life and our search for its traces elsewhere in the Cosmos.” Officials refused to show the documentary citing its “evolutionary overtones” which “would not go well with the Christian community” because “the evolution stuff is a problem.”
The irony is that these controversies have been more likely to arise at science centers, which, so labeled, ought to be deterrent enough for fundamentalists, who are more interested in literalist interpretations of mythology and fanciful folkloric fables. Imax bills itself as a movie experience that “takes you to places you only imagined.” For the lowest common denominator, who don’t want to venture too far beyond “imaginary,” that may be too far.