Posted on 05/17/2006 6:31:30 PM PDT by ND-Mystery
Religious activists call for boycott of Da Vinci Code film
WASHINGTON Religious activists are calling for a boycott of "The Da Vinci Code" movie. Three Catholics, two Protestants and a Jew took turns denouncing the film at a news conference in Washington. They called it misleading, blasphemous and deeply insulting to Christians.
The Reverend Thomas Euteneuer (EYE'-tun-ow-ur) said that if a movie treated Muhammad and Islam the way "The Da Vinci Code" treats Jesus and Christianity, "the whole world would be up in arms."
Ted Baehr of the Christian Film and Television Commission said people don't need to see "The Da Vinci Code" to feel informed about it. In his words, "You don't have to put your foot in the trap or in manure to know that it's manure."
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
LOL Snow White was living in sin with those dwarfs. And I that witch in Handsel and Gretel was a wiccan. It doesn't matter that they are bedtime stories. If Michael Moore had made Fahrenheit 911, called it fiction, and had George Bush living with seven Taliban dwarfs, two fat German kids and a wiccan building an oil pipeline made of candy, it is the same as making a "documentary".
#####I'm going to buy 10 tickets on Fandango just to do my share in giving a few wackos high blood pressure.#####
#####We will all be converted to gnosticism!!! Dan Brown will rule the Earth!!! Oh the humanity!!!#####
Speaking of high blood pressure....
I thought I was the only person with that thought. It is for entertainment value, it is about a fictional conspiracy of the "highest" order. What is wrong with that? I am a devout Christian and this book/movie will not make me dump it all. Give me a break. I have faith in God, Jesus and the Bible, it sounds like these people have no faith in me.
I was kind of worked up over the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That's like somebody remaking the Godfather. How could you possibly make the original any better?
The re-make was somewhat more true to the spirit of the book. But the truly hysterical thing was Depp's portrayal of Wonka. Basically a merciless skewering of fashion editor Ann Wintour the fashion editor for Vogue.
Here is a picture of Wintour in her trademark glasses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Wintour
...and here is a picture of Depp as Wonka
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/charlie.html
LOL!
There are better pictures of both on the net, if I could I'd put them side by side for a real laugh.
Here's the real secret. People like getting worked up over anyone who exercises their free speech rights to criticize a movie. They love to hysterically rant and rave about how criticism is censorship, as if certain media are sacred and can't be critiqued. It makes them feel sophisticated. "Oh Claude, I'm soooo tired of those whackos criticizing your film for depicting the Virgin Mary as a lesbian prostitute who had no children. Don't they realize you only meant it as an elaborate psycho-sexual fable? And surely they realize that their right to speak is inferior to your rights. How dare these peasants judge you!"
It really goes beyond that. The likes of Claude et al live for criticism and arguing about movies. The issue is with what a lot of folks call Hollyweird, etc. They are offended by the lifestyles of actors (as if actors ever had normal lifestyles) and offended by movies that increasingly cater to either an international market or high density major markets based in major metropolitan centers.
####The likes of Claude et al live for criticism and arguing about movies.####
They may enjoy debating about whether Fellini is more relevant this year than Bergman, but they don't much care for the common folk offering an opinion on their projects. They think their right to free speech is superior to ours, and that they're above being critiqued by us.
That may be true. Claude & Company have refined their tastes in film to an almost ridiculous degree.
But what I most often read on conservative boards is outrage for a film that hasn't even been released yet, calls for boycotts, and joyful predictions of Hollywood's demise.
BTW -- I've always maintained that the portrayed (not the reality) of the actors' lifestyles was a kind of mirror of the American id -- the seemingly effortless job that pays an obscene amount of money, the giant house in the sun, the beautiful sexually available women, the fancy cars with odd names, the wild parties and a lot of travel.
Right now, because of the media, we're in overdose on that stuff and people are beginning to get sick of it. It's 24/7 on MTV cribs, People magazine, the entertainment show, etc. etc.
####But what I most often read on conservative boards is outrage for a film that hasn't even been released yet, calls for boycotts, and joyful predictions of Hollywood's demise.####
It may surprise you, but I'm a HUGE movie fan and I have a quite sizable DVD collection. I have silent films, classic films from the golden age, lots of Asian films (including my favorite, Kurosawa), and a decent number of modern films. And yes, I have several Fellini and Bergman DVDs. I'm not in the least hostile to movies.
But that doesn't mean I can't criticize a film if I find it offensive. Criticism is a far cry from censorship, and is protected speech, just as much as the criticized film is protected speech. I find THE DA VINCI CODE to be an offensive film, and I have every right to say it's offensive. I don't have to see it to know what's in it. SNAKES ON A PLANE hasn't been released yet, but I know what it's about.
I'm not calling for a boycott of THE DA VINCI CODE. It's not worth going to that much trouble, plus it's pretty bad reviews thus far assure it won't have much of an audience beyond the cultish fans of the book. You're correct that boycotts can even sometimes be counter productive. But boycotts sometimes work (e.g., the Dixie Chicks) and are themselves an exercise in free speech.
As for Hollywood's demise, I don't really much care. There are a few decent movies per year nowadays. I enjoyed the LOTR Trilogy, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and a few other films. I'm not totally down on today's product, but there's a lot of garbage being churned out, and unlike old-fashioned schlock, it's often offensive. If Hollywood insists on peddling stuff like BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, V FOR VENDETTA, and DA VINCI CODE it's their right, and my right to critique it.
Actually, you haven't been particularly hostile to Da Vinci Code. Basically you said, "I find the subject matter offensive. I ain't gonna see it." That's reasonable. I don't particularly find the subject matter offensive (yes, it's fiction) but I'm still not going to see it because it looks dumb and I dislike the acting of Hanks. That "every man" act works the nerves.
So, I guess I was directing my thoughts at another segment.
BTW -- the last movies I really liked were The Aviator and Capote. There really isn't much out there these days.
Your right to critique a movie is never questioned. I thought the book was so inaccurate in its portrayal of background facts that it ruined the entire story. Anyone with the slightest historical knowledge of the scriptures, the gnostic texts, and the "Priory of Scion" can't take this book seriously and the people who do are sad. However, the level of outrage at the book and movie and the calls for a boycott gives substance to the story in the minds of the misinformed, i.e. "If people are getting so upset, there must be something to this." This is doing more harm than good to their cause. Instead of dismissing the Da Vinci code as you would the ramblings of any lunatic, they are giving credibility to Brown's story.
What bothers me is the tone of the critiques. Like I said, the Dan Brown thing is just the latest in a long line.
Debunking it is different from outrage. Outrage is the reaction to a credible threat. Debunking it as the Discovery Channel and many other media sources have is the best way to approach it.
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