History YMMV / AMatterOfFaith

* CriticalResearchFailure: The debate ticks pretty much every box on the list of long-since refuted creationist arguments, from "evolution claims life created itself out of nothing" to "evolution hasn't been observed":
** Evolution makes no claim about how life came into existence: that field is called abiogenesis. Evolution explains how life exists the way it does now and how it changed over time into its current state.
** Evolution has been observed, not just by examining the available evidence in the fossil record, but also by observing the change of species in the present. Examples include insects becoming resistant to pesticides, and the Italian wall lizards who were introduced to the island Pod Mrčaru from a neighboring island and changed radically in just a few decades.
** During one of his classes, Kaman cites the fact that athletic records today are higher than they were decades ago as a proof of evolution changing us genetically. No real biology professor would chalk that up to evolution since humans don't change that much genetically from one generation to the next or the one after that; several other factors affect athletic records. Modern running tracks, for example, are made of synthetic carpets specifically designed to allow runners to move as fast and unhindered as possible, while older running tracks, [[https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger/transcript?language=en like the one Jesse Owens set his Olympic record on]], were made of soft cinders that stole a lot of energy from the runners' steps and slowed them down. Then there's changes in rules of the different sports, advancements in technology and the differences in mentality between athletes then and now. Genetics do play a part as well, but only in the sense that an average build used to be considered ideal for all sports, but now professional sports tend to pick athletes with better suited physiques, such as extremely tall people for professional basketball and smaller people for professional gymnastics.
** One of the debate topics is the claim that both evolution and creationism is "[[TitleDrop a matter of faith]]". Faith is defined (here) as a belief without evidence. Evolution has ''mountains'' of evidence to back up its claims whereas creationism only has the Bible or other books that heavily use the Bible for its "evidence". This is the main reason why evolution is accepted in the scientific community as it constantly withstands the test of time and evidence, whereas creationism hasn't changed since its original hypothesis.
*** In addition, defining "faith" as "belief without evidence" is a critical research failure by itself. Or, at the very least, a definition that only the most fundamentalist of fundamentalists could accept. Not even then usually either-they mostly claim the evidence shows that their faith is correct (more specifically here, that creationism is true). Believers will largely define faith as something like "trust in God based on the evidence they have for him".
** One of Rachel's classmates mentions Kaman teaching that humans came from apes. Evan interrupts him and starts asking him if his mother, grandmother or other recent relative "looked like an ape" and "which of them was a monkey". While it's presented as an ArmorPiercingQuestion that shoots the other student clean out of the sky, it is a tired creationist argument that fails for a couple of critical reasons:
*** Nobody is saying a monkey-like species suddenly started giving birth to humans just a few generations ago. The transition into humans from ''ape-like ancestors'' such as ''Australopithicus afarensis'' and ''Homo erectus'' happened over millions of years.
*** While apes and monkeys are both primates, they are ''not'' the same thing; they are separate suborders within the primate order and have very different physical characteristics. Humans are a branch of apes that shares common origins with the others, not descended from an extant type.

*** Is he NotSoDifferent from Tyler, based on the former's actions most likely having the same ultimate goal with Rachel than the latter's?

** Also the Young Earth Creationists constantly attacking the professor throughout the film. The film tries to portray them as finding things that reveal the professor is not who he appears to be and is really just trying to corrupt students away from God, yet it ignores all of his actions that proves he is simply just trying to teach biology as it is accepted by the scientific community.

* DesignatedVillain: While Kaman is meant to be the "villain" of the story since he represents the side of evolution, it's hard to feel any actual antagonism towards him.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The subplot involving Tyler abruptly ends without any real resolution. It goes along with TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter.

** He is set up as the villain since he advocates evolution, but he doesn't really do anything the average viewer would consider outright evil or even mean. In fact he seems to be one of the nicest characters in the film and shows far more tolerance to the creationist father, Stephen, than any RealLife professor would display.
** He seems to make genuine efforts to make his classes interesting and seems well-liked by students.

*** Was Evan telling the truth when revealing the ForgottenFirstMeeting or was he just making it up to get closer to Rachel? Mind that revealed it to her ''after'' Stephen told him about the incident of the kid who took her coin.

** During one of his classes, Kaman cites the fact that athletic records today are higher than they were decades ago as a proof of evolution changing us genetically. No real biology professor would chalk that up to evolution since humans don't change that much genetically from one generation to the next or the one after that; several other factors affect athletic records. Modern running tracks, for example, are made of synthetic carpets specifically designed to allow runners to move as fast and unhindered as possible, while older running tracks, [[https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger/transcript?language=en like the one Jesse Owens set his Olympic record on]], were made of soft cinders that stole a lot of energy from the runners' steps and slowed them down. Then there's changes in rules of the different sports, advancements in technology and the differences in mentality between athletes then and now. Genetics do play a part as well, but only in the sense that an average build used to be considered ideal for all sports, but now professional sports tend to pick athletes with physiques better suited for the sports, such as extremely tall people for professional basketball and smaller people for professional gymnastics.

** One of the debate topics is the claim that both Evolution and Creationism is "[[TitleDrop a matter of faith]]". Faith is defined (here) as a belief without evidence. Evolution has ''mountains'' of evidence to back up its claims whereas creationism only has the Bible or other books that heavily use the Bible for its "evidence". This is the main reason why evolution is accepted in the scientific community as it constantly withstands the test of time and evidence, whereas creationism hasn't changed since its original hypothesis.
*** Defining "faith" as "belief without evidence" is a critical research failure by itself. Or, at the very least, a definition that only the most fundamentalist of fundamentalists could accept.

* DesignatedHero: The father is presented as the usual Christian Hero fighting against the evil of "The Myth of Evolution". However, he goes behind his daughter's back to question her teacher, something she is incredibly embarrassed by, tries to enforce his belief into a class that has nothing to do with it, and practically guilt trips his own daughter to fully accept his religion again based on feelings rather than facts.

* TheScrappy: It's ''extremely'' hard to root for Evan for his continuous [[AllLoveIsUnrequited (unwanted)]] advances towards Rachel, and his obnoxious hostility towards Professor Kaman. He supports Stephen's Creation vs Evolution debate, despite ''knowing'' how much it's embarrassing poor Rachel, and how she wants her dad to have nothing to do with it.[[note]]Keep in mind that Rachel is a student in Kaman's class and a Biology major, so this debate could potentially damage her reputation as a student and her chances of passing the class.[[/note]] Instead of showing the tiniest bit of empathy for Rachel's dilemma, Evan smugly questions her belief in Jesus (which she never lost) and goads her into supporting the debate. Most would find Rachel's angry reaction to this entirely justified.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Unless you subscribe to the same Young Earth Creationist beliefs the film espouses, which is a minority even in the United States, where it's most prominent, you'll probably find it pretty difficult to root for Stephen for wanting it taught in college.
** Also the Young Earth Creationists constantly attacking the professor throughout the film. The film tries to portray them as finding things that shows that the professor is not who he appears to be and is really just trying to corrupt students away from God, yet it ignores all of his actions that proves he is simply just trying to teach biology as it is accepted by the scientific community.

** Is Evan NotSoDifferent from Tyler, based on the former's actions most likely having the same ultimate goal with Rachel than the latter's?
*** Was Evan telling the truth when revealing the ForgottenFirstMeeting or was he just making it up to get closer to Rachel? Mind that he revealed it to her ''after'' Stephen told him about the incident of the kid who took her coin.

** One of the debate topics is the claim that both Evolution and Creationism is "[[TitleDrop a matter of faith]]". Faith is defined (here) as the belief without evidence. Evolution has ''mountains'' of evidence to back up its claims whereas creationism only has the Bible or other books that heavily use the Bible for its "evidence". This is the main reason why evolution is accepted in the scientific community as it constantly withstands the test of time and evidence, whereas creationism hasn't changed since its original hypothesis.

* DesignatedHero: The father is presented as the usual Christian Hero fighting against the evil of "The Myth of Evolution". However he goes behind his daughter's back to question her teacher, something she is incredibly embarrassed by, tries to enforce his belief into a class that has nothing to do with it, and practically guilt trips his own daughter to fully accept his religion again based on feelings rather than facts.

** Kaman also takes Stephen's requests for him to teach creationism with remarkable tolerance, even though any college-level biology teacher worth their pay could give a bunch of reasons why the Young Earth teachings Stephen wants him to teach have no place in a biology class.

** In the past, Kaman got a biology professor, Portland, fired for teaching creationism, an incident meant to characterize him as a villain. However, it was completely reasonable for him to do so, not just because creationism is considered a pseudoscience at best, but also since Portland wouldn't have been constitutionally allowed to teach it in the first place due to its religious origin.
** Kaman accurately summarizes Stephen up as "a religious dad who doesn't like his little girl thinking for herself."

** Kaman accurately summarizes Stephen as "a religious dad who doesn't like his little girl thinking for herself."

* TheScrappy: It's ''extremely'' hard to root for Evan for his continuous [[AllLoveIsUnrequited (unwanted)]] advances towards Rachel, and his obnoxious hostility towards Professor Kaman. He supports Stephen's Creation vs Evolution debate, despite ''knowing'' how much it's embarrassing poor Rachel, and how she wants her dad to have nothing to do with it [[note]] Keep in mind that Rachel is a student in Kaman's class and a Biology major, so this debate could potentially damage her reputation as a student and her chances of passing the class. [[/note]]. Instead of showing the tiniest bit of empathy for Rachel's dilemma, Evan smugly questions her belief in Jesus (which she never lost) and goads her into supporting the debate. Most would find Rachel's angry reaction to this entirely justified.

** In the past, Kaman got a biology professor, Portland, fired for teaching creationism, an incident meant to characterize him as a villain. However, it was completely reasonable for him to do so, not just because creationism is considered a pseudoscience at best, but also since Portland wouldn't have been constitutionally allowed to teach it in the first place due to it's religious origin.

*** While apes and monkeys are both primates, they are ''not'' the same thing; they are separate suborders within the primate order and have very different physical characteristics. Humans did not evolve directly from either, but our relation is closer with apes.

** Evolution makes no claim about how life came into existence, that field is called abiogenesis. Evolution explains how life exists the way it does now and how it changed over time into its current state.
** Evolution has been observed, not just by examining the available evidence in the fossil record, but also by observing the change of species in the present. Examples include insects becoming resistent to pesticides and the Italian wall lizards who were introduced to the island Pod Mrčaru from a neighboring island and changed radically in just a few decades.
** During one of his classes, Kaman cites the fact that athletic records today are higher than they were decades ago as a proof of evolution changing us genetically. No real biology professor would chalk that up to evolution since humans don't change that much genetically from one generation to the next or the one after that; several other factors affect athletic records. Modern running tracks, for example, are made of synthetic carpets specifically designed to allow runners to move as fast and unhindered as possible, while older running tracks, [[https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger/transcript?language=en like the one Jesse Owens set his Olympic record on]], were made of soft cinders that stole a lot of energy from the runners' steps and slowed them down. Then there's changes in rules of the different sports, advancements in technology and the differences in mentality between athletes then and now. Genetics do play a part as well, but only in the sense that an average build used to be considered ideal for all sports, but now professional sports tend to pick athletes with physiques better suited for the sports, such as extremely long people for professional basketball and smaller people for professional gymnastics.
** One of the debate topics is the claim that both Evolution and Creationism is "[[TitleDrop a matter of faith]]". Faith is defined as the belief without evidence. Evolution has ''mountains'' of evidence to back up its claims whereas Creationism only has the Bible or other books that heavily use the Bible for its "evidence". This is the main reason why Evolution is accepted in the scientific community as it constantly withstands the test of time and evidence where as Creationism hasn't changed since its original hypothesis.
** One of Rachel's classmates mentions Kaman teaching that humans came from apes. Evan interupts him and starts asking him if his mother, grandmother or other recent relative "looked like and ape" and "which of them was a monkey". While it's presented as an ArmorPiercingQuestion that shoots the other student clean out of the sky, it is a tired creationist argument that fails for a couple of critical reasons:

*** While apes and monkeys are both primates, they are ''not'' the same thing; they are separate suborders within the primate order and have very different physical characteristics.

** Kaman also takes Stephen's requests for him to teach creationism with remarkable tolerance, even though any college-level biology teacher worth their pay could give a bunch of reasons why the young Earth teachings Stephen wants him to teach have no place in a biology class.
** Kaman even ''encourages'' Stephen to debate him so he can make his case. In RealLife, there are biologists, among them atheist author UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins, who refuse to debate Young Earth creationists because they feel that doing so gives them more recognition than their claims deserve.
** In the past, Kaman got a biology professor, Portland, fired for teaching creationism, an incident meant to characterize him as a villain. However, it was completely reasonable for him to do so, not just because creationism is considered a pseudoscience at best, but also since Portland wouldn't have been constitutionally allowed to teach it in the first place.

* RootingForTheEmpire: Professor Kaman is supposed to be the villain, but he does absolutely nothing villainous, shows none of the HollywoodAtheist Tropes, is the nicest character in the film, encouraged Stephen to keep believing if it makes him happy with not a bit of sarcasm, and correctly states that Stephen is merely "a religious dad who doesn't like his little girl thinking for herself". It's hard for anyone to not root for him.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Unless you subscribe to the same Young Earth creationist beliefs the film espouses, which is a minority even in the United States, where it's most prominent, you'll probably find it pretty difficult to root for Stephen for wanting it taught in college.
** Also the Young Earth creationists constantly attacking the professor throughout the film. The film tries to portray them as finding things that shows that the professor is not who he appears to be and is really just trying to corrupt students away from God, yet it ignores all of his actions that proves he is simply just trying to teach Biology as it is accepted by the scientific community.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The subplot involving Tyler abruptly ends without any real resolution. Goes along with TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter.

** Was Tyler simply a JerkJock who was only dating Rachel because of her looks, or did he genuinely begin to like her and only played up his chauvinistic behavior to impress to his friends?