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May 26, 2006 Living up to all the fanfare and expectations, “The Da Vinci Code” opened in theaters last weekend to the tune of $77 million in domestic box office receipts. This is great news for author Dan Brown, director Ron Howard, and even the movie industry as a whole, which was desperate for a blockbuster. It surely, however, left some religious groups extremely disappointed. Ever since “The Da Vinci Code” was first published, it has been criticized by fundamentalist Christians as being a work of heretical fiction. In case you’ve been in a cave for the last year, the basic premise of the book is that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children and - fast forward two thousand years - the Catholic Church has a cadre of vicious, albino monks who will kill in elaborate ways to keep the secret. Throw in a few clues from Da Vinci’s paintings and some mysterious historical references like the Knights Templar, and you’ve got the recipe for one heck of a potboiler - and a popular one at that with 60-plus million copies in print. However, rather than take the work for what it is – escapist fiction – some groups have moved to block the film. The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) went so far as to file for a court injunction, accusing the film of "blasphemy" against the Christian faith. (They were denied.) I consider myself to be Christian, but this sort of reaction is way out of line: it’s a movie. Now, where Brown has been taken to task, and rightfully so, is for his freewheeling approach to the history upon which his story is based. Most scholars agree that Brown is at the very least guilty of cherry picking the bits of history that most fit his theory, adding liberal doses of artistic license, and serving the whole dish as ironclad, historical fact. (Oliver Stone pulled the same stunt with "JFK".) In his preface, for example, Brown states, “the Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization.” In fact, the Priory of Sion was established in 1956 by a French con-man. The entire outfit and its supposed ties to the Abbey of Sion, which truly dates from the Crusades, was essentially a hoax. Brown has been ripped three ways from Sunday for his coy obfuscation of fact and fiction. One could not flip down the dial last week without hitting some new expose debunking Brown’s theories: it seemed that every other channel was either “Breaking,” “Cracking,” “Behind,” “Revealing” or even “Sweating to” “The Da Vinci Code.” Numerous books and DVD's have done the same. All great press for Brown, to be sure. Nothing adds to a movie’s box office take like a little controversy. Which, of course, brings to mind another recent film about Christianity. Remember that Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” also faced an uphill battle and calls for a ban, in that case due to concerns about anti-Semitic themes. Granted, the strange rantings about the Holocaust from Poppa Gibson did not help his son’s efforts, but the point stands: what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Censorship swings both ways, so one has to be careful about trying to put the kabash on any book or film simply because the content might be uncomfortable – even offensive - to some. In a similar vein, if Christians are concerned that watching the movie or reading the book will ‘shatter’ their faith, it begs the question whether the faith was there to begin with. That’s like avoiding “Brokeback Mountain” because it might “turn you gay.” If you are a Christian, consider this: the Word will be around long after Dan Brown and Ron Howard are gone. It has faced, and survived, greater challenges than a work of pop culture. Neither “The Last Temptation of Christ” nor Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video brought on Armageddon, and neither will “The Da Vinci Code.” And curling up with a bowl of popcorn will never be a sin. ------------ About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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