Kate Mulgrew To Narrate A Film About How The Sun Revolves Around The Earth Because Everything Sucks

[Rob H.]

Full article here.

Kate Mulgrew To Narrate A Film About How The Sun Revolves Around The Earth Because Everything Sucks
Set phasers to sadness.
By Victoria McNally

It’s a sad day for fans of Star Trek Voyager: Captain Kathryn Janeway herself is lending her voice to a “documentary” about how the Sun revolves around the Earth and how NASA is leading a conspiracy to keep the truth away from us. Oh, boy.

The film, entitled The Principle, purports to be challenging the notion that we as humans are “nothing special” in relation to the vastness of the Universe. The trailer also features theoretical physicist Michio Kaku as well as cosmologists Lawrence Krauss and Max Tegmark. We’re going to hope that they maybe didn’t know they were going to be in a movie that’s also about Geocentricism, because it’s not until the 1-minute mark that the movie’s principal, Robert Sungenis suggests, “You can go on some websites of NASA to see that they’ve started to take down stuff that might hint to a geocentric universe.” Uh, what?

...

Despite how completely nonsensical Geocentricism actually is when held up to scientific standards (or, as Phil Plait put it four years ago, “just a little thought“) a reported 1 in 4 Americans still believe that the Sun rotates around the Earth for some reason. Sungenis, who runs the blog Galileo Was Wrong, happens to be one of those people. So that’s delightful.

...

Of course, there are other reasons for Mulgrew not to get involved with the makers of this film regardless of their lack of scientific integrity. Sungenis also happens to be a Holocaust denier who believes in the “New World Order” and who writes articles about how Jewish people have aligned themselves with Satan. In fact, he’s such a notorious anti-semite that even his own local bishop, Kevin Rhoades of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, has gone on record distancing himself from the guy and his “Catholic” organization. Seriously, do you know how much of an ass you have to be to get a bishop to notice you? Rhoades’ diocese covers 15 different counties in Central Pennsylvania, for Christ’s sake. If the guy in charge of that many Catholics is telling you to “stop writing about Jews,” then you have probably said some ridiculously terrible things about Jews.

"For some reason"? Try the same reason there are people who believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old: religious stupidity.

Here's the trailer should you feel the need to have you faith in human intelligence seriously diminished:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Proof positive that dementia can strike anyone, at any time. Sigh. Too bad.

[trotsky]

2. Probably needs the dough.

Star Trek conventions only pay so much. Sad though, I thought she was an intelligent person.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. She's had roles since Star Trek

Maybe they offered her a lot for this one. Or maybe it's a labor of love for her.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Krauss: I Have No Idea How I Ended Up in That Stupid Geocentrism Documentary

So, the question I had to face after discovering this abuse of my words was what to do about it. I have no recollection of being interviewed for such a film, and of course had I known of its premise I would have refused. So, either the producers used clips of me that were in the public domain, or they bought them from other production companies that I may have given some rights to distribute my interviews to, or they may have interviewed me under false pretenses, in which case I probably signed some release. I simply don’t know.


Many people have suggested I litigate. But this approach seems to me to be completely wrong because it would elevate the profile of something that shouldn’t even rise to the level of popular discussion. The best thing we can all do when faced by nonsense like that, or equivalent silliness promoted by biblical fundamentalists who claim that science supports a literal interpretation of the Bible, is to ignore it in public forums, and not shine any light on the authors of this trash. As far as this particular film is concerned, one might hope that it has high production value that cost the producers a lot of money. Then, when no one beyond the three people in the country who may somehow have missed the last 500 years of science and history during their education watches the film, we can hope that the whole misbegotten enterprise will bankrupt the production company, or at least severely cramp its style.


It is, after all, impossible in the modern world to shield everyone from nonsense and stupidity. What we can do is provide the tools, through our educational system, for people to be able to tell sense from nonsense. These tools include the scientific method, skeptical questioning, empirical evidence, verifying sources, etc.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/08/lawrence_krauss_on_ending_up_in_the_geocentricism_documentary_the_principle.html?wpisrc=burger_bar

[Rob H.]

5. Thanks for posting that

I like this part:

As far as this particular film is concerned, one might hope that it has high production value that cost the producers a lot of money. Then, when no one beyond the three people in the country who may somehow have missed the last 500 years of science and history during their education watches the film, we can hope that the whole misbegotten enterprise will bankrupt the production company, or at least severely cramp its style.

Here's hoping it goes the way of Expelled--the company that produced it went bankrupt.

[deucemagnet]

6. Krauss got the "scientitian" edit.

[Brainstormy]

7. Sheesh. I need a drink. n/t

[DesertRat]

8. Kate Mulgrew does not believe the sun revolves around the Earth

She posted this on her Facebook page:

"I understand there has been some controversy about my participation in a documentary called THE PRINCIPLE. Let me assure everyone that I completely agree with the eminent physicist Lawrence Krauss, who was himself misrepresented in the film, and who has written a succinct rebuttal in SLATE. I am not a geocentrist, nor am I in any way a proponent of geocentrism. More importantly, I do not subscribe to anything Robert Sungenis has written regarding science and history and, had I known of his involvement, would most certainly have avoided this documentary. I was a voice for hire, and a misinformed one, at that. I apologize for any confusion that my voice on this trailer may have caused. Kate Mulgrew"

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Mulgrew/7122967465

[Rob H.]

9. That's a relief to read, too

Seems Sungenis' tactics are the same employed by the producers of Expelled: interview people and then take their quotes completely out of context. PZ Myers has a great story about how he tried to see Expelled at the movies, but the people involved with the film recognized him and kept him out while letting his companion continue into the theater because they didn't recognize him. His companion? None other than Richard Dawkins.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. OMG, that is hilarious. Don't ya just love it!

Amazing how these people are not able to find "real" people who believe the shit they are spewing to do the "documentaries".

[DesertRat]

12. they have to trick them into it! nt

[deucemagnet]

10. I'm glad she doesn't,

but it would go a long way towards explaining why she was lost for years in the delta quadrant, wouldn't it?

[progressoid]

13. Thanks for that. n/t

[backscatter712]

14. Sounds like she got sold a bill of goods.

She was probably told she was doing a "science documentary", not told that the "documentary" was full of geocentric nonsense, went to the studio, read the lines from the script out of order (tapings and filmings never happen in script-order), so she didn't know what she was getting into.

Now she's as upset as we are about this nonsense.

[onager]

15. That happens a lot.

Interview subjects really need a Master Database Of Lying Assholes they can reference whenever they're asked to participate in these things.

That database would include such names as Ken Ham, Ben Stein, Discovery Institute, etc. etc.

Along with your point about how these things are put together - it can be months or years after an interview before the final production is released. So I think this is part of the scam as well: expert gives short interview, goes about life, then much later when they may have even forgotten that interview, BAM! Their chopped and cherry-picked interview is all over the media. (Though in this case, Mulgrew was probably just hired to do a voiceover job, as you noted.)

Yesterday I posted about the new documentary "American Jesus," and that's what happened to Frank Schaeffer - in a GOOD way, in this case. The film maker interviewed Schaeffer but the documentary wasn't released for more than TWO YEARS. In his review at HuffPo, Schaeffer said he had pretty much forgotten all about the movie, until it was finished and the director invited him to watch it. Schaeffer was happy and had no problems at all with his participation.

In the movie, Schaeffer refers to American Fundies as "a Fifth Column of crazy." ROFL...

[nil desperandum]

16. Or maybe

They just offered her a nice fat check and like so many other bubble headed celebrities she took the dough did the job and didn't even think about what it was other than words on a page....


I never cease to be amazed at the lengths people will go to in order to convince themselves and others of their own superiority despite the lack of any compelling evidence to support their visions of magical men who devote all their time to make sure the local high school quarterback throws a touchdown pass on Friday nights....

[Gore1FL]

17. It was probably the Kate Mulgrew from the "Mirror, Mirror" Universe n/t