How would somebody trick you into narrating a film that says the sun travels around the earth?

[OmahaBlueDog]

But that’s all changed with the release of a trailer that finds Mulgrew’s familiar voice intoning, “Everything we think we know about our universe is wrong,” before a montage of physicists offers vaguely articulated assessments of how unique our planet is, seemingly in support of the idea that everything must therefore revolve around it. Some of them stand before whiteboards with calculations written on them. The evidence is compelling.

However, one of those physicists, Lawrence Krauss, has already come forward to say he has no idea how he ended up in this stupid Geocentrism documentary. In his Slate article, titled “I Have No Idea How I Ended Up In That Stupid Geocentrism Documentary,” Krauss claims that producers must have taken clips of him that were in the public domain, purchased the rights to them from some other production company, or simply deceived him as to what their project was about—a misrepresentation that he sees no need to sue over, lest it “elevate the profile of something that shouldn’t even rise to the level of popular discussion.” Unfortunately, Captain Janeway is in it, so here we are.

But according to Mulgrew, she too was misled. In a post on her Facebook page, the actress addressed that discussion, denying any involvement beyond being a hired gun who maybe should have asked a few more questions:

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

Complete article at: http://www.avclub.com/article/star-treks-kate-mulgrew-says-she-was-tricked-narra-203216

See also: http://www.mercurynews.com/celebrities/ci_25523416/kate-mulgrew-narrating-film-claiming-sun-revolves-around

The film, which will be released this spring, was partially backed by a well known anti-Semitic and far-right conservative, Robert Sungenis, who runs a blog called "Galileo Was Wrong." Scientists such as Michio Kaku, Lawrence Krauss, and Max Tegmart all appear in the trailer, talking about the Earth's unique characteristics that allow it to sustain life.

So explain this to me, because I am a Blue Dog of little brain: How would somebody trick you into narrating a film that says the sun travels around the earth?

16 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Money
	8 (50%)
	Alcohol
	0 (0%)
	Very clever digital editing
	4 (25%)
	She wasn't tricked!
	1 (6%)
	What...you mean the sun doesn't revolve around the earth?
	0 (0%)
	OK wait..a solar eclipse is when the moon comes between the earth and the sun, so a LUNAR eclipse is when the sun comes..no wait..
	1 (6%)
	Who is Kate Mulgrew and why does she look like Captain Janeway?
	0 (0%)
	It's clearly Obama's fault
	0 (0%)
	Other...and if you chose other, you'd better explain
	2 (13%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[DavidDvorkin]

1. They could blind me with an enormous check.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. Enormous checks are responsible for lots of otherwise unexplainable actions...

...like the 2000 election.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Indeed.

[Skittles]

41. you want I should kick your money-loving ass, DavidDvorkin?

LEMME AT YOU!

[DavidDvorkin]

57. Bring a big check.

[Skittles]

61. after just one, you'll be paying ME

[Scootaloo]

3. Other: I heard there was cake?

[rudolph the red]

6. The cake is a lie.

[Scootaloo]

10. I'm making a note here.

[Aerows]

33. Please don't tell me

that the steak is a lie, too. It's the only reason I showed up.

[chrisa]

48. The steak is a fake

[Skittles]

42. I am pondering kicking Rudolph the Red's ass

I do not care for his tone; no INDEED

[rudolph the red]

62. the cake is a lie

It's a reference to an old video game, I was trying to make a funny. If I offended you somehow, I'm sorry. Please don't kick my ass. Lol

[Skittles]

66. awwwww I kid you, rudolph the red

you're hilarious!

[sakabatou]

13. Yep. Valve said so.

[rudolph the red]

21. :)

[Aerows]

36. I'm just disappointed by the steak being a lie.

I guess that rules out a nice salad and a loaded baked potato too, huh?

[rudolph the red]

37. After all that work, the whole party was a big disappointment

[Aerows]

38. Bummer. n/t

[NuclearDem]

44. What?! GLaDOS wouldn't lie to me!

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. Maybe Tiramisu -- soaked in lots and lots of Amaretto

... or Reine de Saba

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/reine-de-saba

[Aerows]

34. No, I swear I heard *steak*

That steak would be here. Juicy, delicious steak.

[Duer 157099]

4. Perhaps "sun" was spelled "son"

I could possibly be tricked into saying that my son traveled around the earth.

[FSogol]

8. Other: Benghazi!

[OmahaBlueDog]

11. Clearly people are way to focused on science and not focused enough on Benghazi

Global warming, evolution, astrophysics -- none of this matters to real Americans.

[IDemo]

9. You left out: It's turtles all the way down

[johnp3907]

25. Yes!!!!

[Blue_Tires]

12. It's quite possible...

But that would assume Mulgrew recorded her lines in a separate studio, and was misled about the true nature of the film she was narrating for...

I know it's not quite the same situation, but these kinds of shenanigans have happened before:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021330348

[OmahaBlueDog]

14. I remember like 25 years ago, Jacqueline Bissett claimed similarly trickery in a lowbrow teen comedy

I can't remember the name of the film. Basically, they shot scenes with her, and used stand-ins for "ahem" other scenes.

[Ex Lurker]

65. Bill Murray did Garfield because he thought it was a Coen Brothers film nt

[markpkessinger]

15. My answer is a combination of "money" and "she wasn't tricked"

She did it for the money, thus wsn't "tricked" into doing anything. I mean, at the very least, shouldn't the content of what she was asked to read have tipped her off?

[Starry Messenger]

16. What's odd to me is that her publicist had not heard anything about this project before yesterday

A journalist contacted them and got "wtf?" basically as an answer. I'd like to believe that selective script-editing concealed the fact that this film is pseudo-science, but it still makes me wonder what the hell she was thinking. If she was truly duped, I hope she sues and has a strong word with her agent.

[eShirl]

17. maybe they implied it was for a weird fiction movie

[AverageJoe90]

18. That might be possible, I suppose.

[RainDog]

19. other: her agent didn't do due diligence

on the nature of the project - or Mulgrew didn't know it would be a bfd - but, oops - we live in "atheists will challenge you" times now.

[rrneck]

20. Probably a temporal disturbance.

We should have Data run a level one diagnostic.

[KatyMan]

59. If they fire a tachyon burst

from the deflector dish they could go back in time and she could refuse the job.

[PoliticAverse]

22. Not sure how that got past Mrs. Columbo. n/t

[Humanist_Activist]

23. This type of thing has happened before:

Usually by documentary producers with no ethics

http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2007/09/dawkins-tricked-into-appearing-in-pro.html

Another example:

http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2009/09/15/this-seems-fishy-to-me/

[brooklynite]

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

Slate:

A month or so ago, and again last night, my email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts began to buzz about clips of me appearing in some purported new documentary film promoting … wait for it … geocentrism! The notion that anyone in the 21st century could take seriously the notion that the sun orbits the Earth, or that the Earth is the center of the universe, is almost unbelievable. I say almost, because one of the trials and tribulations of being a scientist with some element of popular celebrity is that I get bombarded regularly by all sorts of claims, and have become painfully aware that ideas as old as the notion that the Earth is flat never seem to die out completely.

Nevertheless, even after being inured to such things, I was surprised to learn of the premise of the film, until I learned that its producer also apparently questions the Holocaust. It is tempting to say that both claims are obscene nonsense, but I believe that does a disservice to the word nonsense.

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.

[Johonny]

26. Hasn't this happened before?

I think it is rather common to lie to people to get an interview and then selectively edit so you get them to appear to support an idea that they don't support. There was a stupid movie about Physics about a year or two ago that did pretty much the same thing. People pay you and you do a voice over and before you know it the voice over turns out to be something completely different than what they pitched to you. It isn't the first time you've heard a scientist or actor complain about this.

[Motown_Johnny]

27. Contract signed before the theme of the movie was articulated.

It would be fairly easy to be vague about what the movie was really about. Then when the script was read it was to late.

[winter is coming]

28. Hey, that sort of thing just happens when you forget to reverse the flux capacitors.

Given how abysmal the science was on Voyager ("Captain, the tech is teching!&quot , I can't imagine why anyone would care about this.

[Recursion]

29. I've done voiceover work. It's just a job.

You don't have to agree with it; your job is just to get it on the track.

[Motown_Johnny]

30. About that "who is Kate Mulgrew" option....

The real question is.... Why does Kate Mulgrew look like Patricia Neal?

[Aerows]

32. And why didn't she end up being the one

married to 7of9? Chakotay is a hair less wooden than Mitt Romney.

Please, Chakotay????

I'll always ship Janeway/7. It's just a fact in my head canon.

[Motown_Johnny]

43. Because 7 was emotionally stunted from her time with the borg.

She needed someone with a similar level of emotional development.

[eShirl]

45. exactly

and their voices are kind of similar

[Motown_Johnny]

46. I still think there may be a portrait stashed in her attic.

You know.. one that grows old for her.


(just kidding.... kinda)

[John1956PA]

51. Kate's and Patricia's voices are a bit similar, too.

The photo of Patricia looks like it might be a still from the movie Hud (1963).

[ecstatic]

31. If I were given a sci-fi movie script to read during an audition?

Or a context-free clip of me mocking geocentrsts?

[frazzled]

35. They tell you it's about cockfighting /nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. for 1 million dollars I would say it with a straight face. - 5 million I would say it and believe it

[Warren DeMontague]

40. "Morphine... with a Demerol Chaser"

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. The editing wouldn't have to be 'very clever' or 'digital'

(though I presume it would be digital, these days). You give her the sections you want her to read out, and don't put "the sun goes round the earth" in them. That bit comes from interviews with Sungenis. She doesn't see the whole film; I wouldn't expect genuine documentaries to show the whole film to a voiceover artist, unless it's an expert you're asking to write their own lines.

[CJCRANE]

49. Exactly. The director probably told her the video was about

how unique the Earth was.

You don't exactly come across Pre-Galilean cosmology every day, so I doubt the thought would have crossed her mind.

BTW I'm looking for a voice artist to narrate my documentary about the evidence for the Flat Earth theory...

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. I'll do it for you

It runs in my family ...

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=214&topic_id=54289&mesg_id=54335

[sakabatou]

64. Wasn't that used for Ben Stein's film?

[Nine]

53. yep. (nt)

[backscatter712]

60. This. She may have only been told that this was a "science documentary".

They probably didn't have her actually read lines saying "The sun revolves around the earth" - they just had a lot of lines about Exciting Discoveries and such.

Michio Kaku and Laurence Krauss are also in this picture, though it looks like it was from stock footage, and Krauss says he didn't give permission for that.

In other words, the producers of this nonsense are dishonest scum.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

52. It was Quark, that devious miscreant!

Oh, wait, wrong Star Trek spinoff. Sorry.

[Tsiyu]

54. "A voice for hire"

Sums up the state of our media as well.

Money will make some people do really stupid things.

They're always sorry after the fact....

[stevenleser]

55. Like this, even though I thought this was funny...

[workinclasszero]

56. Money...Money...Money

The awesome O'Jays - For The Love of Money

[JackRiddler]

58. Pay me enough, no problem.

See, if this was "anti-Semitic and far-right" propaganda, I wouldn't do it for any price.

But this is a joke. Even if it's meant seriously. Pay me enough, and as long as I'm not under gag order the rest of the time, I'll say the sun goes around the earth, no problem.

[sakabatou]

63. Money and...

Don't give them the real title of film or book. Have them say their lines or partial lines without context of other peoples' lines. There are also editing techniques that can be used too.

[Savannahmann]

67. Harry Potter

I saw an interview with Michael Gambon. He's the Actor who played Professor Dumbledore after Richard Harris died. The interview was conducted after all the movies were done and had already gone to video. They asked him if it was true what they had heard, that he had no idea what the Harry Potter movies were about.

He replied that he was clueless. He is given his lines, his costume, and his make up. He's told how the Director wants him to act, and then he does the job the best that he can. If it's true, and I find it very easy to believe, then actors are hired to play a part. Some they really love, like William Shatner in Star Trek. Some parts they take for the money, and they do the best they can, but the movie is doomed. Like Matt Damon in the Adjustment Bureau. Nothing could have saved that movie.

So I find it plausible that these people just signed one more contract, and read the lines without ever paying any attention to them. I'm sure that there are parts, like doing Shakespeare at the Royal Theater that stick with them, and they remember every nuance, every bit of the entire experience. Then there are parts that they knocked out in a day that are forgotten before they leave the building. Voice overs and introductions for example.

I'm not sure we should be mad at anyone about this. Because even if they knew what was going on, do we really expect that the idea of an earth centered universe is going to take off now? Perhaps they thought it would be more tongue in cheek. A sort of monty python version of science. It doesn't matter gang.

[joeglow3]

68. Other - people are lazy dipshits.