Wyman 1 Amy Wyman English 101 Davern 02/27/2012

Creation- An Evaluation

I am not sure that I liked the 2009 movie Creation Directed by Jon Amiel and written by John Collee. It was a wild and passionate representation of the life of Charles Darwin. I actually almost wrote a review of the movie Darwins Darkest Hour. It was more subdued and factual, showing an understanding wife, and a calm reasoned conflict about his theory of evolution. The fact that I didnt care for the movie Creation bothered me, also I couldnt get it out of my mind. I realized then that what I didnt like about the movie was that it didnt conform to my idea what his life in Victorian England would be like. I didnt take into consideration the person who it was about. Maybe my preconceptions where wrong, I decided to give it another chance. The movie starts out with Charles telling a story to his daughter Anne about a couple of native children that where bought and taken to England to be educated and taught the faith of Christians. They then returned the children to their tribe to influence the other native and teach them to be proper and civilized. It backfired, the children as soon as landing stripped their finery and ran off like the wild things that they were. We find out soon after that that the daughter that he was telling the story to had died. Throughout the movie we get flashes of him telling stories to his daughter and his memories of her. Sometimes he would talk with her about his theory and his worries as if she was still alive. This is where we learn about his life on the Beagle, the time he spent with his children

and the love he had for all of his family but especially his daughter Anne. When we are not viewing these vignettes, we see a man who is gravely ill, we are not sure if this is a physical illness or because of grief for his daughter, or if it is because it is due to inner conflict regarding his theory. What I discovered in my retrospection was that the movie could have been accurate or at least reasonable speculation. I really didnt know anything about the life of Charles Darwin. I knew all about his book On the Origin of the Species and some of his other writings. I realized that I really didnt know anything about the man that I didnt learn in Science class. I knew that he was conflicted about publishing the Theory and that his wife was a devout Christian. What I didnt know was how passionately he loved his wife who was also his first cousin. How involved he was in his childrens lives. I also didnt realize that he knew what kind of an impact his theory would have on his society. Based on a biography by Darwins great-great Grandson, Annies Box which is a compilation of letters and personal journals of the Darwin family, I will show how this could be more accurate than some of the more proper films. In the movie it is difficult to see the extent of the love he held for his wife. It seems that they are at odds at every turn. After receiving a paper written by a contemporary that was very similar to his own theory, he was in the position that if he didnt publish his own work then his lifes research would be for nothing. He would miss his opportunity to write his book. The flashbacks to the past show a loving relationship in the family and you wonder through the movie what exactly happened to their relationship. His wife believed strongly in the bible, although she supported Darwins experiments and his research. I came across a website, www.Darwinonline.org.uk that contains copies of his journals, personal and private as well as writings of his wife Emma. These journals support the affection that he held for his family. Darwin due to his

Wyman 3 long time illness, he had Scarlet Fever as a child and this could be the reason for the prolonged bouts of illness. (http://www.aboutdarwin.com/darwin/CD_Daily.html) They spent a good part of each day in each others company. Spoiler alert; at the end of the movie we find out that each of them believed for their own reasons that the other felt responsible for Annies death. In the movie we see the deep grief he had for his daughter Anne. She was a lively and inquisitive child. Probably much like he was himself as a child. He felt responsible for his daughters death, and believed his wife also blamed him. She died of an illness not an accident so at first you are not sure why he would feel guilty. As it turns out, as he studied evolution and extensively in animal breeding, he knew that there could be many health complications when those closely related produced offspring. The wife that he loved so much, and bore the children he loved, was also his first cousin. He believed that the illness that was recurrent in his daughter was a genetic defect. His grief at her loss was intense. The best way I can describe how this affected him is to quote from his journal. We have lost the joy of the Household, and the solace of our old age: she must have known how we loved her; oh that she could now know how deeply, how tenderly we do still & shall ever love her dear joyous face. Blessings on her. April 30. 1851. ( http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=CULDAR210.13.40&pageseq=1) The society that Darwin lived in; the society that worked so well was bound to be changed by the publication of On the Origin of the Species. Victorian England was a Christian based society. The church was the basis for their rules and laws. He was very concerned about how the publication would impact his family. He didnt want his family to be known as belonging to, the man who killed God. This is a title that is still used in reference to him today. He was aware that he would receive a lot of criticism and negative publicity for his work. He did not want his

children, his wife, or even their extended family to suffer for his work. This nearly drove him mad. He was certain that his theory was correct. He had devoted his life to this research. He was in danger of having the discovery being published by someone else, perhaps someone not as sensitive to the Christian based society. At the end of the movie, his wife encouraged him to publish the book in spite of her faith. http://darwin-online.org.uk/manuscripts.html I realize that all of these occurrences may not have led to the seeming insane behavior portrayed in the movie; it is possible that it is a gross exaggeration. Even the letters and journals are written in such a manner as you would expect from a proper English gentleman. When I think of the whole together though, the kind of man who would spend his life working on the theory of evolution, I tend to believe that it is possible that he was deeply emotional at that time. After researching the material and reading letters and journals written in his own hand I find that I changed my mind about the film. Just because something is not how you imagine it to be doesnt make it bad. On the contrary, perhaps that is just what is needed. Creation is a portrayal that takes you outside of your preconceived ideas and into a persons life experience. I would highly recommend the film. It made me want to know more about the man www.Darwin-online.org.uk http://darwin-online.org.uk/manuscripts.html http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=CULDAR210.13.40&pageseq=1 http://www.aboutdarwin.com/darwin/CD_Daily.html