Yoko Ono Sells Out John Lennon To Creationist Manufactroversy -- UPDATED AND RETRACTION

All:

Well, it's been an interesting time since I first published this. I never thought that someone, far less Ben Stein, would take a song as famous as "Imagine" and use it in his film without permission.

However, I have learned that in fact Yoko Ono did not license the song for use in the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and any use of the song in that film is being made without authorization.

Obviously, I apologize to Mrs. Lennon for my incorrect assumptions and statements in the article below which, of course, I retract completely. I will also find out more about the producers of the movie and what their motives are.

Sincerely,

James Boyce

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I like to think I've seen it all, or at least a good portion it. But this Friday, a new movie comes out; one that is nothing more than creationist propaganda in the fine tradition of cigarettes don't kill you and global warming is just a natural occurrence.

The movie, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, has been reviewed and reviewed and discussed.

But what hasn't been discussed as much is the fact that Yoko Ono either sold or gave the rights to "Imagine" to the producers of the film. In screenings around the country, and in copies of the movie reviewed, everyone notes the odd inclusion of the song.

I guess that the $20 million plus the estate earns every year isn't enough for Yoko Ono, not only does she feel the need to license the song out, she probably held out for the highest bidder, in this case, the money behind the movie, Walt Ruloff, who made over one hundred million dollars selling his company to Microsoft. (Irony is that a company who makes computers, perhaps the ultimate daily example of the higher power of science in our lives, indirectly funded a movie that doesn't believe science should be taught in schools.)

Of course, it wasn't just Yoko Ono that sold out, the Killers did too (and I am a bigger Killers fan than I am fan of hers to be honest.) Their song, "All These Things That I've Done," is also in the movie. I hear that the going rate for a song like this is a million dollars, again, why can't the Killers be happy with the tens of millions they are making every year? Who knows?

"Imagine" and "All These Things I've Done" are great, great songs -- maybe one day they'll get sold to a movie I actually am going to see.

Comments

[Dani77]

Oh boy this is getting interesting. Look what the head administrator on the official message board has just posted:

"I just spoke to the band's manager, and adding to the confusion was the fact that they did authorize a project months ago with this request:

Quote:
'The film is a satirical documentary with an estimated running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, exploring academic freedom in public schools and government institutions with actor, comedian, economist, Ben Stein as the spokesperson.'

What they authorized was a documentary about 'academic freedom in schools', not the film that the producers produced.

They contacted the producers of the film to ask that the song be removed but it is too late. Unfortunately it was misrepresented to them when the request came through to use it. Add this band to a long line of people who were misled by the producers of this film."

[Boko999]

Anyone who's been following the Expelled fiasco knows the producers are serial liars.
All Boyce had to do was contact Ono or her reps to find out whether she gave permission and under what circumstances. But then, what do expect from a commentator on Fox News.

Boyce is a disgrace.

Jim Maughan

[auramac]

"Imagine no religion" is apparently the most frightening lyric (to some) Lennon ever wrote. The wimps at Idol skipped that verse. However, as Lennon used to point out- he wasn't saying he was against religion, or especially God- in fact, there is no line "Imagine there's no God." He was saying- "Imagine." Interesting when you think of how much hatred, suffering, and death is due to- not God, not atheism- but religion.

[celtic]

Imagine's "no religion" line is actually very appropriate to "Expelled", as the movie shows how Darwinism has become more an article of religious faith, and anyone making a scientific questioning of it is treated as some sort of heretic.

[JGatsby]

How is evolution a "religion"? For that to be true there would have to be some evidence showing that evolution is incorrect in some way that is being ignored by scientists. If you look at the creationist "literature" you will find no such evidence. You will find things like "ireducible complexity". For example creationists claim that the eye can't be explained by evolution because random mutation could never produce a fully functioning eye and there are no intermediate steps between no eye and a fully functional eye. In reality there are many small steps between no eye and a fully functional eye, many of which can still be found in nature. E.g., a clump of cells that just detects light. The other argument is the "gap" argument. The fact that there are so many "gaps" in the fossil record where we can't see intermediate stages. In reality, given how difficult it is to create a fossil its amazing that we have the fossil record that we have. This is the other general technique of creationists. Find some particular part of a theory that we don't completely understand and say "ah ha! we don't know how this works so it was God who intervened" Unfortunately claiming divine intervention is not science. Science will always be messy and be evolving. If there WERE some legitimate critique of evolution that could stand up to scientific rigor you would find ambitious PhD students grabbing it and running with it.

[keinsignal]

I can't resist repeating the old observation that creationists rejoice whenever scientists find a new fossil that's intermediate between two known species - because now there are two gaps in the fossil record instead of just one!

[Quaoar]

Intelligent Design doesn't qualify as a scientific questioning of the Theory of Evolution. There's absolutely nothing scientific about it. Also, can you creationists please stop referring to evolutionary theory as "Darwinism"? You're just displaying your scientific ignorance. The theory has changed much since Darwin's time.

[AdultFilmLegend]

120,000,000 Japanese and she has to be the most famous one. Sad, but true.

[Dani77]

How about you check your facts before you write such rash statements? I don't know about Yoko Ono, but I happen to know that the Killers had absolutely no idea that their song would be used in the movie. Apparently the creators didn't ask for their permission. I am a huge Killers fan and this is what the moderators on their official message board are saying. So don't jump to assumptions so quickly, please. Not only will you ruin your own credibility, but also the band's.

[InofTouch]

since when getting angery about about selling right to something that only matters because of one movie consider news.

This is just been reduce to a angry blog from blogger site

[sashimi]

Bill Maher once said that what John Lennon would've really wanted "divorce" and "Lucy liu".

[JohnFromCensornati]

"Imagine" is not a holy anthem for atheists.
Try to keep that in mind.

[bknott]

Intelligent design is a shell game - designed to convince people that religion dressed up as science is equal to science. It's not even religion - it's fraud. I think that a campaign to deceive people on a mass scale is something that John Lennon would be completely against.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Maybe so, but he didn't will that decision to you.
He willed it to Yoko.
BTW - the difference between religion and fraud is lost on me.

[MaxMarginal]

I think it's very likely that they are using this music in the screening (which they are using to raise money but not technically selling tix) without permission and it will not be in the final version, which is really effing dishonest.

[Fathoms]

I had the feeling this was a premature report myself. What do Yoko and Apple have to say for themselves?

[aaronbrown01]

"...maybe one day they'll get sold to a movie I actually am going to see."

Wow.

Firing off attacks aimed at an opponent when you don't take the time to hear what they have to say. Nice.

[jvarga]

"God did it because the bible says so." Look you don't need to see a movie to figure out their view point.

[Jude2004]

Imagine is an atheist song, so who cares. If anyone who watches the film seeks out the original song, they might learn something. Yoko can, and always has, done whatever she wanted.

[HarlDelos]

How did you decide $20 million is enough?

Maybe his music shouldn't have been licensed to iTunes. After all, Apple has pretty sketchy ethics. Jobs awards himself huge bonuses in cash and stock, and then demands that the board approve them when he gets caught. They make iPods with batteries that cannot be changed by consumers until they get too many screams, then they do the same thing with iPhone. They demand that when you buy a new hard drive for your Mac, that they get the old one - and they sell the used hard drive as if it was a new one, even without deleting the data on the drive.

Grow up! The estate of John Lennon doesn't have a zombie out there, digging ditches, in order to come up with $20 million annually. The estate makes its money by licensing the music and the art that John created. They don't ask you to prove that you're not a pedophile when you license one of his songs for your iPod. They don't ask you to prove that you haven't any overdue library books when you buy a CD with licensed copies of his music.

As incensed as you are about that film, I'd think you would be happy that Yoko has that money, rather than leave it in the pockets of the producers, and you would prefer that she got every last penny she could wring out of them.

[PaulAbrams]

I hope that Yoko Ono's views have not 'evolved' to support the MacDonaldization of our schools that these creationists seek.
The creationist ulterior motives are obvious: keep the working classes ignorant so that the rich can continue to plump up their own wealth without being confronted by inconvenient truths.
It would be interesting to file a civil lawsuit, for monetary damages, against those robbing our children of their futures. Don't laugh--there is strong precedent in the law for rights of students, for example, at public universities not to be expelled without due process based upon the economic value of the education that they would be denied.
Is robbing them of a quality education by infusing this junk science into the curriculum not be similar? You don't have to throw someone out to rob them of their education.

[S1m0n]

That's petty. Neither Yoko nor John have any obligation to continue your feud.