Reported in the News Today: Film Mentioning Evolution Kept from Southern Theaters

This should be of concern to people. I don't believe the marketplace argument is rational here. Southern states are not overwhelmingly fundamentalist, just moreso than other parts of the country. Plenty of folks would see this movie (as I did) and not even catch the brief references to evolution, or at least not be bothered by them. Apparently politics is at play -- the politics of keeping unfavorable information away from the public. I wonder who set that trend....

IMAX theaters reject film over evolution
Some theaters in South believe 'Volcanoes' a tough sell

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- IMAX theaters in several Southern cities have decided not to show a film on volcanoes out of concern that its references to evolution might offend those with fundamental religious beliefs.

"We've got to pick a film that's going to sell in our area. If it's not going to sell, we're not going to take it," said Lisa Buzzelli, director of an IMAX theater in Charleston that is not showing the movie. "Many people here believe in creationism, not evolution."

The film, "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," makes a connection between human DNA and microbes inside undersea volcanoes.

Buzzelli doesn't rule out showing the movie in the future.

IMAX theaters in Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas have declined to show the film, said Pietro Serapiglia, who handles distribution for Stephen Low, the film's Montreal-based director and producer.

"I find it's only in the South," Serapiglia said.

Critics worry screening out films that mention evolution will discourage the production of others in the future.

"It's going to restrain the creative approach by directors who refer to evolution," said Joe DeAmicis, vice president for marketing at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and a former director of an IMAX theater. "References to evolution will be dropped."