Posted on 05/17/2006 5:54:17 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
May 17, 2006
If the Da Vinci Code was already feeding the flames of controversy with its challenge to the basic tenets of Christianity, actor Ian McKellen managed to throw a refinery tank's worth of gasoline on the fire on this morning's Today show, asserting that the Bible should carry a disclaimer saying that it is "fiction."
Matt Lauer, on his second day "On The Road With The Code," was in Cannes for the film festival, where the Code will have its debut. It has already been screened to some critics, who have given it decidedly mixed reviews.
As I reported here yesterday, NBC reporter Melissa Stark timidly dipped a toe in the sea of controversy when yesterday she interviewed Code director Ron Howard, asking how he reacted to the controversy the movie has created . . . for the Church! Sounding more like the Delphic oracle than a Hollywood director, Howard offered up some ambiguous prose about it being healthy thing for people to engage their beliefs.
Lauer took the bull of controversy more directly by the horns when he interviewed the cast and director Howard today. Said Lauer:
"There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I'm saying is, people wanted this to say 'fiction, fiction, fiction'. How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?"
There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings], piped up:
"Well, I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they've seen it."
With the camera focused on McKellen, one could hear a distinctly nervous laugh in the background, seeming to come from either actor Tom Hanks or director Howard. McKellen's stunning bit of blasphemy is likely to test the adage that all publicity is good publicity.
Finkelstein, recently a guest on the Lars Larson Show, lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY, where he hosts the award-winning public-access TV show 'Right Angle'. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
No but according to Harry Knowles (of Aint It Cool News), Ian has been happy at seeing the faces of smiling boys when he makes public appearances promoting his roles in X-Men and LOTR.
Keeo this perv away from your kids.
Wow. A whole 9 posts before the obligatory "if your swayed by a movie you really had no faith to begin with" comment. What took you so long?
I think it must be.
I turned on a Phoenix station last night and they were bragging about giving away 50 tickets to Da Vinci Code. Is that what the theaters have to do to get people to go to this movie?
You are right in saying that the media is hoping to spin the controversy into ticket sales. They wouldn't be conducting a series of interviews with the filmmakers and cast if they weren't pimping the film.
Did Billy Zane or Gary Busey make any tv appearances to discuss their roles in the antiAmerican/antiIsrael Turkish film about the Iraq war? Gary Busey played an evil Jewish prison doctor who was stealing the organs out of jailed Iraqis for sale to wealthy Israelis and Americans.
But I guess that work of fiction doesn't have any impact on the muslim world either.
Very true.
Three words to define the position of the pro-Da Vinci Code crowd ("Fake but accurate").
Just do something else with family and friends besides watching any recent or new movies. Avoid all of it. Enough is enough.
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Exactly. If it's junk or morally offensive we will not waste our time or money. We attend the movies about every 2 years or so. Last movie we saw was "The Passion of the Christ", and, before that, it was "Black Hawk Down". We plan to see "Flight 93".
I never mentioned faith in my post. Perhaps you have me confused with someone else.
Did you think blasphemy was a fad that disappeared with the Renaissance? Granted, the charge does not enjoy the popularity it once had, but the whole progressive "we're beyond all that now" is the spirit of the age of modernism.
All you people who think its harmless should offer to buy a ticket for Katie and Matt and go see it with them. Birds of a feather and all that...
Christianity has survived 2000 years. Somehow, I don't think there is much of a threat from a movie that won't survive until this July...
If you'd like to read more about the topic from a Christian perspective, Dr. Erwin Lutzer's DaVinci Deception is a good read. Lutzer is the pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago.
Unfortunately, the movie will still gross $500 million domestically I'm sure. Howard, Brown and Hanks won't be getting a dollar of my money. As a Catholic, I'm offended by the premise and tired of the godless hollywood elite tearing down my religion.
Bashing Cathlicism and Christianity is the last form of acceptable bigotry in America.
Enough is Enough!!
Did you think blasphemy was a fad that disappeared with the Renaissance? Granted, the charge does not enjoy the popularity it once had, but the whole progressive "we're beyond all that now" is the spirit of the age of modernism.
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Perfect! Eloquent and succinct. I am so glad I read your answer instead of posting mine.
I watched the first half of the interview, and what struck me was the repetition of the word "Novel": the book is a "novel"; the film is a visual dramatization of a "novel"; what it was like to turn a "novel" into a film. So that's the talking point: no matter that the title page of the book lists a series of claims with the headline "FACT", the message is now that DVC is a "novel" and thus anyone who has a problem with DVC is, well, incapable of recognizing the plain literary genre known as "novel."
He's made some really boneheaded remarks lately. Probably the only thing he believes in is his pocketbook.
Everyone is entitled to his beliefs, certainly including McKellen. But it is simply stating a fact to observe that from a Judaeo-Christian perspective, calling the Bible 'fiction' is a quintessential act of blasphemy.
BTW Mark, did you see the absolute slobering Today Show interviewee Sharon Stone did over the Cannes Film Festival itself?
It was kind of sick AND funny at the same time.
Sharon Stonee: "As I walked the red carpet, the crowd began chanting my name. And by the time I reached the top of the stairs...I was a Movie Star!"
She uses the work "I", a lot.
He does choose the oddest folks for His "fan-club" doesn't He? Plus He throws in that rule about them all having to love each other....
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