REVIEWS AND TESTIMONIALS

“In this time of false facts and backlash against a new equality, A DANGEROUS IDEA should be required viewing.”

“An effective dissection of the genetic determinist worldview, rising again in new garb and aided by the Trump Administration. This documentary provides a timely rebuttal to those who continue to embrace this dogma, and offers a critique that both Liberals and Conservatives can readily converge behind.”

“Dead on – [The filmmaker] connects the unsubtle ideology of fascist doctoring with the unsubtle democratic policies of welfare reform, unemployment, deregulation and urban management.”

Martin Billheimer, “Frankenstein’s Burden“

“[What] gives [the film] added value is its critique of genetics as a way of understanding human beings and society in the face of commonly accepted beliefs that genes determine destiny.”

Louis Proyect, “Racism and Eugenics, American-Style“

“Excellent documentary…Illustrates how these dubious concepts have been shaped to espouse an idea that is not only dangerous but goes against what America supposedly stands for. A scathing indictment of a reprehensible idea whose time is indeed up.”

“A Dangerous Idea is not only rich historic storytelling but an important reminder about the connection between science and equality; a subject that couldn’t be more relevant. This film should be shown in schools as it is ripe for intense discussion and needs to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.”

“Very worthwhile and timely. From a science standpoint, I appreciate the help communicating that pseudoscience is not real science. Real science is rationally thought out and hypothesis tested and supported.”

“After my students finished reading The Jungle, they were interested in seeing how often ‘natural’, ‘less fit’, ‘wired that way’, and ‘in their DNA’ are still used to explain oppression and inequality. Having a film like this would be helpful for many, including my students.”

“The never-ending challenge with eugenics is making that abhorrent history relevant to a contemporary audience. A Dangerous Idea meets that challenge by showing how the very same biological justifications of inequality that were used in the past to justify involuntary sterilization, slavery, and genocide are employed in the 21st century to justify anti-immigration policies, the gender pay gap, and racial health disparities. As modern science and modern medicine focus more and more on genetics, A Dangerous Idea reminds viewers that this obsession with genetics is employed by many to promote a vision of society made up of biological ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.”

“An essential and engaging work that I would like to see on the curriculum of every high school, and played in every library, in the United States. It highlights a shameful side of our society, the devaluation of racial minorities and the poor with supportive pseudoscience, which was mainstream policy for much of the nation’s history…These corrosive ideas, accompanied by newer, equally bad science, are now back in full force. This film has appeared at the right time to help turn back this poisonous tide.”

“An exceptionally important film. The scientific world is much too DNA-centric and when this world view is sold to the public by the scientific elite, it could lead to the destruction of democratic societies. With the ability to manipulate and then sequence DNA, many scientists assumed that this information would lead to curing most diseases and making genetically modified plants that would feed the world…More complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s and traits such as intelligence are not the result of simple genetics, but of the complex interactions between individuals, social, and environmental factors. Making policy decisions based upon genetics is not only dangerous, but also not scientifically valid.”

“Yes, this is a dangerous idea–and if you want to better understand why, watch this film and see the history, development and presentation of this idea that there is a book of life, a program that determines, from the moment of conception, all that we are and can be. It is indeed one of the more dangerous ideas humans have come up with.”

“A DANGEROUS IDEA is extremely timely, because with the current administration we are seeing a renewed threat of a biologically determined politics.”

“Claims about the genetic basis of intelligence have been addressed by many film documentaries over the last half century. And so it is quite a statement to say that this film stands alone as the most comprehensive treatment of the topic. Easily accessible to a lay audience, the wide scope and breadth are impressive, and make it likely that this will also soon be a favorite for classroom discussions.”

“Any idea that denies the basic equality of all people in all their glorious diversity is a dangerous idea. But no such idea is more dangerous than the eugenic version that emerged from the early fusion of Darwinian natural selection with Mendelian genetics. This film A Dangerous Idea performs a great public service in the tradition of American Democracy: go see it!”

“When federal resources were used to target the African-American Relf family for forced sterilization in the early 1970s, I knew it was racist and unconstitutional but had no idea of the frightening history of eugenics and the role that Americans and America played in proselytizing this fraud. A Dangerous Idea captures the true meaning of white supremacy.”