Posted on 05/22/2006 1:42:29 PM PDT by JSedreporter
The Da Vinci Code, a New York Times Bestseller since it was published in 2003, is used in a class at Bowdoin College called “The Portrait of the Marys,” which emphasizes Mary Magdalene over Mary the Mother of God. If the movie flops at the box office, as current trends indicate it might, the film could become required college viewing as well.
On the 17th of May, the month in which the Catholic Church celebrates Mary, the Virgin mother of Christ, the newly formed Interfaith Coalition Against The Da Vinci Code called for a boycott of the film.
The Coalition has also found one of the most unlikely allies in the fight, the movie critic. The movie has been widely panned after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Critics have said that it is too long and becomes very boring; two key factors that might cause a decline in audience numbers. Critics have also said that the film will likely hit its goals for the first week or so, but will drop immensely after personal reviews of the movie spread through word of mouth.
Human Life International is boycotting Sony’s Da Vinci Code because it seeks to profit off bigotry, proselytizes Satanism, and undermines the dignity of women,” explained Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President of Human Life International.
Don Feder of the Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation said his reasoning for the boycott was because “The Da Vinci Code is an insult to my Christian friends and neighbors.”
The film, directed by Ron Howard and staring Tom Hanks, is based on the book of the same name by Dan Brown. The story is about a cryptologist who must find the Holy Grail and protect it from an evil force known as “The Teacher.” The story is filled with blasphemous conspiracy theories, including that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that she had a child by him and that the Catholic Church covered this up for over two millennia.
“This movie presents a real danger for the average person with minimal knowledge of Church history and Catholic teaching,” argued Patrick Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society. “The Da Vinci Code concerns more than historical truth—it toys with the religious faith of millions, the meaning of life, and man’s salvation. For that reason, most Catholics should go see another movie and avoid financially rewarding Sony Pictures for this one.”
The attacks on Christianity are nothing new. The media has always portrayed Christians as guilt-ridden people who must always push their agenda at all costs. In cinema, the Catholic Church in general has faced attacks including Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, in which the Devil offers Christ a new life in which he is married to Mary Magdalene. Most recently, Kevin Smith’s movie Dogma caused controversy over the heretical views expressed throughout the film.
“Why is it acceptable to slander Christians generally and Catholics specifically? If Sony profits from anti-Catholic bigotry this May, what can we expect in the future?” asked Fr. Euteneuer.
“Some have rightly argued that The Da Vinci Code offers a unique opportunity for teaching the public about Church history and the Catholic faith. Better late than never! But The Da Vinci Code also represents a threat, because for decades the Church has failed to adequately teach Catholics and the general public about the true history of Christendom and what Catholics believe,” argued Mr. Reilly.
When asked if they thought the boycott would really be successful, Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide.org pointed to boycotts of the past that were successful, including the boycott against CBS over the airing of a controversial mini-series about the Reagans.
Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute stated that he will go see the movie so that he can be completely informed. While he does not believe that the boycott is the best option, he does encourage what he calls a “slow-cott.” A slow-cott would be to see the movie in its third week rather than the opening weekend.
Matthew Murphy is an intern at Accuracy in Academia.
How long will it be before some "professor of religious studies", somewhere, shows this film to one of his classes?
It will probably be a staple on cable in short order.
It had a good opening weekend, though.
This past weekend I was thinking how much I would have enjoyed Chesterton's review of this book and film.....
Well said.
AMEN! I've been preaching this to all of my priest friends (and yes, I have quite a few) for years! We've had 2,000 years of Church history plus thousands of years of Jewish history before... do you think we can find 52 homilies per year in this?! Enough with the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons!
http://garyburger.blogspot.com/
Good information from a Biblical Perspective on
Da Vinci Code
Perhaps, but the word of mouth that I have heard is that the movie is long, boring, hard to follow, and the revelation at the end, brings a laugh.
You're whistling into the wind. If you persist you will be called a tool of Satan and every name in the book as I have.
Good luck.
and the revelation at the end, brings a laugh.
-------
Don't tell me its "Drink more Ovaltine"?
Well..........I wasn't going to say, not wanting to ruin the movie for you, but.........yup.
I loved Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom until the end as well ... then it just got into George Lucas's special effects. It, too, was fiction.
I wonder how the followers of that religion of peace would react if a similar movie were made about Mohammed?
Why the lie right out of the gate?
`Da Vinci Code' Takes in $77 Mln, Exceeding Estimates (Update2)May 22 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Da Vinci Code'' generated $77.1 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada in its first weekend, overcoming negative reviews to beat analysts' estimates.
Worldwide, the film took in $238.1 million, the second-best after last year's ``Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith,'' Sony spokesman Steve Elzer said.
``It's playing almost everywhere,'' Box Office Mojo.com President Brandon Gray said. ``It's not in the Middle East and India, but those aren't large markets, at least not for U.S. movies. It's everywhere that it's important to be.''
``The Da Vinci Code'' is the sixth Sony film this year to open at No. 1. The film, which cost $125 million to make, was helped by fans who bought more than 60 million copies of the Dan Brown novel it was adapted from, about a deadly conspiracy to hide the true origins of Christianity.
``Obviously this is a film with a built in audience,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of Boxofficeguru.com. The reviews ``didn't have a big impact.''
The animated feature ``Over The Hedge,'' opened at No. 2 in the U.S. and Canada with $37.2 million, said box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. ``Da Vinci'' exceeded the $59.8 million average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
``I think Sony is popping a lot of champagne right now,'' Pandya said. ``It proves that the built-in interest in the book superseded the opinions of the critics. There were millions of people who decided they were going to see this movie as soon as they heard it was being made.''
Allaying Concerns
``The Da Vinci Code's'' debut was bolstered by record international sales of $154.7 million starting on May 17 in some countries, Elzer said. The previous record was $145.5 million in sales for ``Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith,'' according to Box Office Mojo.com.
The film opened on a Friday in the U.S. and Canada, what Hollywood considers the ``domestic'' market. That prevents an exact comparison with other films that opened on a Wednesday or Thursday. When films with five-day domestic totals are considered, the 2003 release ``The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King'' is No. 2 worldwide, with a $250.1 million opening, Box Office Mojo's Gray said.
It is a work of fiction based on a blasphemous idea being presented as true, for which it is bad. It says scandalously bad things about a good religious organization. And it runs roughshod over real history and feeds the moonbats.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a work of fiction too.
Don't think fictions don't have impact for good or for ill.
The book was on the "summer reading list" for medieval history at my son's high school last summer. (He read another book, however.)
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