Posted on 08/08/2005 4:55:49 AM PDT by Antioch
THE film version of The Da Vinci Code is attempting to reduce the offence that the best-selling book caused to Roman Catholics.
Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen, is reported to have been so concerned that it has consulted Catholic and other Christian specialists on how it might alter the plot of the novel to avoid offending the devout.
Film officials have held talks with Catholic groups and other organisations despite Dan Brown, the author, insisting that “it’s only a novel and therefore a work of fiction”, The New York Times reported yesterday. The Catholic League is calling for Ron Howard, the film’s Oscar-winning director, to include a disclaimer acknowledging that the movie is fiction. The Da Vinci Code, which is being filmed this summer with locations including Winchester Cathedral and Rosslyn Chapel, near Edinburgh, is based on a novel that has sold 25 million copies worldwide. Among its more controversial claims is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute, and that she bore him a child. This has been denounced as virulently anti-Catholic and a risible hoax.
Opus Dei, the Catholic organisation, is particularly concerned about its own depiction, because it is a central villain in the book. Its members are depicted acting unethically for the sake of God, the Church or Opus Dei, whereas the organisation is a Roman Catholic institution that adheres to Catholic doctrine and condemns immoral behaviour. “The novel portrays Opus Dei in a completely inaccurate way,” Brian Finnerty, a spokesman for the group, said. “We wrote to the studio, expressing our concern. They sent back a reply that was polite but non-committal; but Opus Dei is completely unlike the portrayal in the novel. “It is about ordinary people trying to find God, not about searching for the Holy Grail. It’s ordinary Catholics trying to come closer to God in their day-to-day activities and it is a mainstream part of the Catholic Church. It’s been blessed by all the Popes since the earliest years.”
The studio has been asked to consider whether the central premise — that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene — could be more ambiguous and whether the name of Opus Dei could be removed.
Condemnation of the book has been widespread. Last month the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales denounced it as logically and historically flawed. In March the Vatican appointed a top cardinal to rebut what it dismissed as lies, distortions and errors.
Carl E Olson, a Catholic and co-author of The Da Vinci Hoax, a book rebutting the The Da Vinci Code, predicted that many religious people would be offended unless the film bears a pale resemblance to the book — which, he accepts, would risk alienating fans. Dismissing the novel as “trash” and “poorly written”, he said that its historical claims could be torn apart. Sony declined to comment .
Culture matters. The only people that downplay that with it's only fiction nonsense are liberals. It's funny how 30 second cigarette commercials and marketing in all its forms is too influential but entire movies and books have no affect on anyone. That type of atomistic approach to a cultural ethos is the problem.
Not true.
Advertising, like any other type of fiction only effects fools.
Think of it as evolution in action.
SO9
No, its fictionalized reality. Fiction is where things are entirely made-up. DISTORTION would be the correct word here given that various things like Opus Dei and Mary Magdalene and Constantine the Great are certainly real, and what is said about them here is presented as truth.
Like say, the fiction of Ayn Rand that is quoted so often here on FR?
Like say, the fiction of Ayn Rand that is quoted so often here on FR?
Yes.
No one but a fool would accept Rand's version of libertarianism based on her badly written novels.
So9
You know, if they were going to make his other two books into movies - Deception Point and Digital Fortress - FR would be the complete opposite. Those two books are completely against the government and what happens when they get too much power. But guess what, they are also fiction...If the people here actually read his books, you'd find that they are just fun with nice plot twists.
Think of it this way:
Someone writes a fictional "history" of your family, yet writes it in such a way that people are mislead into thinking it's accurate. It contains many lies and distortions which present your family in a very negative light.
You would be angry. Would your anger change your knowledge of the facts? No. Would being angry mean that you secretly doubted the validity of your own experiences? No.
Would you want to set people straight? Yes.
For a Christian, this IS their family.
THeres one problem with what you're saying, Dan Brown acknowledges that his book is fiction. He says there are certain things that are facts, like the fact that the Illuminati were real, but that they dont exist any more. After that, he says everything else is fiction...
All smears, libels and slanders are FICTION. That does not dilute their harm.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is fiction, too.
Actually, exactly that has happened with one 'notorious' member of my family.
It's amusing, and people's response to his name lets me cull fools from my acquaintance easily.
So9
And all fiction is a libel and smear of someone, implicitly or explicitly. Do you propose to bitch about all of it?
So9
No, we don't plan to bitch about all fiction, but when Hollywood takes it upon itself to slander the Roman Catholic Church and attack Christianity with a slimy film version of a scabrous novel-which a considerable minority of the American idiot population doesn't realize is fictional-I think we have a duty to raise a beef. The "entertainment industry" has repeatedly displayed its hostility to religion in general and Christianity in particular. Personally, I'd like to lock Dan Brown and the upper management of Sony Pictures in an old school bus, pour gasoline through the windows and toss a match. Now THAT'D be entertainment...
I didn't ask for a ban. I recommended boycotting. There is a difference.
I am sure the Novus Ordo will go for it, what do they care? When the Passion of the christ came out, they Ran when the Jews pressured them, and JPII hid out at St Peters and met with the Anti Catholic Zionist Foxman while Mel Gibson was getting blasted. And it was only the Evangelicals and the Traditional Catholics who stood up and made these radicals back down. The Novus Ordo priests even called the Movie anti semitic and against Vatican II! What a shame the New Church is today. How can anyone really follow what these pedophile priests and abusers really think and say any more? They dont care about the church, only ecumenism and Love Love and more Love.
I can only respect those who have led and earned respect, like Pope St Pius V who risked his life against the Moslem invaders. Today we are getting "invaded" by the Moslems. And what does the Vatican have to say? That we should love our "Moslem brothers" because they "honor Mary" (check your Vatican II documents, it is right there). Honor Mary? Are you for real?
So9, I've spoken to non-Christian colleagues who were working out of India. They believe that the book is true. seemingly many Hindus who like Christ's teachings believe it to be true -- ditto for Muslims. The book tells them that Christianity is a false religion, and they believe it. Yes, out of ignorance, but the book has still damaged the church.
L. Ron Hubbard's books are fiction, too. And Robert Heinlein. It doesn't stop fools from believing otherwise or turning them into cultic sources.
Dan Brown has proven that distortion is much more effective than fabrication- The DaVinci-Code has a plausibility to the gullible and a gnostic attraction to the reigning culture of narcissism. This book is peddled as fact and an arrow aimed straight at the heart of the Trinity. It achieves it's purpose to "de-grace" the church and reduce God to a gender identity phenomenon.
I recall something Fr. Malachi Martin said years ago, that we moderns, in times of peace and material prosperity, perhaps 10% of us really live up to God's covenant as Christians. In times of war and catastrophe, like the Blitz in London, or the darkest days after 9/11 those numbers creep up to 25% or so but they again settle down again to this eternal remnant of faith. Look how Christianity flourished in during the 10th-13th centuries-it was paralleled by the specter of disease and war and famine. And here we are today. People take refuge in materialism to distract them from what they know in their hearts: the devil is a unshakable reality, a personal intelligent evil roaming the world that hates humanity and is the source of this worldwide apostasy and all our troubles. We know it instinctively, just as we know we're hurtling toward something very bad which we're powerless to stop. They paper over the Islamic hordes gathering on the horizon with these "Mary is revered by Muslims" platitudes. It's too much responsibility for most people, too much of a burden, especially for the "princes" of the Church.
So if I agree with the garbage and or let it 'slide' I will have a stronger belief system (whatever that is)? What if I attempt to discredit other 'belief systems' or other members of 'belief systems' may suggest they let things slide -will this improve my 'belief system' quotioent?
LOL
So if I agree with the garbage and or let it 'slide' I will have a stronger belief system (whatever that is)? What if I attempt to discredit other 'belief systems' or other members of 'belief systems' may suggest they let things slide -will this improve my 'belief system' quotioent?
Is that supposed to be a reply to my post?
If so, you have a reading comprehension problem, or need a course in logic.
None of those propositions follows from mine.
So9
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.