The Greater Good (film)

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The Greater Good is an anti-vaccination propaganda film.[1][2] It debuted at the Dallas International Film Festival on April 2, 2011,[3] and began playing in Los Angeles, California on October 14, 2011.[4] The film was endorsed by controversial doctor Joseph Mercola on his website, as part of "Vaccine Awareness Week", a joint venture with the anti-vaccine organization National Vaccine Information Center.[5]

The conjecture presented in the movie that vaccines might cause autism[6] is not supported by scientific evidence,[7] and originated in a fraudulent research paper.[8]

Critical reception

The New York Times criticized the movie, calling it "emotionally manipulative," and "heavily partial."[9]

Variety's John Anderson reviewed the film, saying that it is "swimming in ethical contradictions." Anderson also stated, with regard to the film's potential bias, "Admittedly, it would have been difficult for the filmmakers to show the other side of those scenes; how do you focus on subjects who haven’t died from smallpox, diphtheria or pertussis because they were immunized as children? But that would require an approach that doesn’t take advantage of the audience’s emotions."[2]

David Gorski criticized the movie,[6] lamenting that the film "which could have been a provocative debate about current vaccine policy based on asking which vaccines are necessary and why, in the end opts to be nothing more than pure anti-vaccine propaganda of the lowest and most vile sort."[5]

LA Weekly's Veronika Ferdman wrote that "Though there are pro-vaccine interviewees, this film has a clear agenda in encouraging skepticism toward vaccination."[10]

References

  1. ^ Gorski, David (November 7, 2011). "The Greater Good: Pure, unadulterated anti-vaccine propaganda masquerading as a "balanced" documentary". Science Based Medicine.
  2. ^ a b Anderson, John (October 16, 2011). "The Greater Good". Variety. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Anthony (April 3, 2011). "Film Seeks to Spur 'Rational Discussion' On Vaccine Safety". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  4. ^ "The Greater Good (2011) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  5. ^ a b "Anti-vaccine propaganda lands in New York City this weekend". ScienceBlogs.
  6. ^ a b "The Greater Good: Pure, unadulterated anti-vaccine propaganda masquerading as a "balanced" documentary – Science-Based Medicine". sciencebasedmedicine.org. November 7, 2011.
  7. ^ Doja, A.; Roberts, W. (November 2006). "Immunizations and autism: a review of the literature". Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 33 (4): 341–346. doi:10.1017/S031716710000528X. PMID 17168158. S2CID 4670282.
  8. ^ Peter J., Hotez (October 30, 2018). "Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad". JHU Press. ISBN 9781421426600. OCLC 1020295646.
  9. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (November 17, 2011). "The Fight Over Vaccines and Autism, Continued (Published 2011)". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Ferdman, Veronika (October 13, 2011). "The Greater Good Review". LA Weekly (published October 13, 2011).