DaVinci Code

Parent Cafe
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<p>I work in Times Square and since last Friday there has been a group of protesters on 42nd Street. They hold signs saying “sacrilege,” “blasphemy” and other things while heckling movie-goers and blocking the street. Is there as much opposition in other parts of the country, and are CC members offended by the movie, as well?</p>

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<p>I suspect that the Catholic church’s highly publicized opposition to the movie is partly responsible for the movie raking in $229M world wide over one week-end.
<a href=“http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=davincicode.htm[/url]”>The Da Vinci Code - Box Office Mojo;

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<p>I’m pretty sure I remember picking the book up in the fiction section. I see it as a “what if” story. It doesn’t offend me.</p>

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<p>I agree with you Marite. Lots and lots of free publicity! I was happy to contribute my $11 to see the movie and everyone I saw it with enjoyed it very much. Saw no protesters here in Toronto, just hundreds of fans lining up. The theatre where we saw it on the weekend had 21 showings each day and every single one was sold out!</p>

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<p>Funny, I was talking to our rector about TDVC only yesterday. Not a big deal. Not such a great movie (and a badly written book), but not a big deal.</p>

<p>TheMom liked the Jesuit who was being interviewed by a reporter pressing for a provocative reaction and who responded, “Are you asking me if I realize that it’s fiction?”</p>

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<p>We live in an overwhelmingly religious and conservative part of the country (KS), and so far, we have had no similar protests. I saw the movie Saturday night and thought it quite entertaining. I am also presently reading the book. ~b.</p>

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<p>We had a letter from the pastor in our parish bulletin on Sunday (Catholic) reminding us that it is a work of fiction–but he did not say “You are forbidden to see it.” (and I do like our pastor) I had already seen it on Friday (no protesters), and really enjoyed it–though I liked the book better, as well as “Angels and Demons”, also by Dan Brown.</p>

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<p>I’ll add that while it’ll never be a favorite novel of mine, I think it’s a <em>great</em> airport/airplane book. (Whereas ANGELS AND DEMONS I wanted to throw into the fireplace, not because of any heresy but because it was Godawful.) Dan Brown is fairly mediocre as a writer but he does one thing well and one thing brilliantly.</p>

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<p>All the other novels (I read all 4) were pretty mediocre. Deception Point was somewhat better than the other two. Digital Fortress was hilarious.</p>

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<p>“Dan Brown is fairly mediocre as a writer but he does one thing well and one thing brilliantly.”</p>

<p>Yeah, shameless self-promotion:rolleyes:…</p>

<p>At least Truman Capote did it with actual writing talent.</p>

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<p>The promotion is more a product of his publisher’s PR department.</p>

<p>No, the one thing that he gets a 10.0 on is potboiler pacing. It almost <em>needs</em> to be so, because if a reader had time to think about something for any length before being yanked into the next chapter, she’d have too much time to examine flaws. Examine it structurally: it’s a little over four printed pages per chapter.</p>

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<p>I guess as a Williams alum, I should say he is the best thing that has come out of Amherst in a long time…(But I won’t. ;))</p>

<p>(Haven’t read the book, nor seen the movie - though when it comes out on rental… I’m too busy writing my own stuff on the True Story of What Really Happened to Jesus’ baby teeth.)</p>

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<p>I agree about the pacing. I used to feel the same about Robert Ludlum’s books. I would stay up half the night reading, unable to put the book down, and then be sleepy the next day. I would mention to a coworker that I had stayed up reading a book and they would ask "what was it called? "
"Uhhhh, I don’t remember, but it was something like “The Something Something. You know, a three word title.”
“What was it about?”
“There was this guy, and both the bad guys and his own government were out to get him. And there was this love interest who helps him out. The two are successful in the end.”
“You just described all the Ludlum books.”</p>

<p>At any rate I think I described Dan Brown’s books, as well.</p>

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<p>I’d still take Dan Brown over Tom Clancy. <ack! ptui!=“”></ack!></p>

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<p>I’ve met Dan Brown several times at his book signings. He is quite a humble, mid-mannered person, who seems totally overwhelmed by the clamor that his book has generated. I was there when he stated unequivocally that he would never let anyone make a movie of the DaVinci Code - he felt it would ruin the character for future books to capture it in a movie. But Hollywood has its ways with $$$.</p>

<p>He is quite a charismatic speaker, but unfortunately, he rarely appears in public nowadays. At the book signing after the DVC was released, he alluded to the fact that he had been threatened by certain factions. This is a shame, because it is quite interesting to hear the story of how he transformed from an English teacher to a writer, and is quite inspirational. </p>

<p>Anyway, in my opinion, the J.K Rowling books are much more ominous. They attract a younger crowd with topics of demonism, posession and spells. The obsession of younger children with this stuff is much more harmful than the mature audience for Dan Brown’s books.</p>

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<p>Do kids really believe in possession, spells, etc… What about the fairy tales we were brought up on? Did reading Sleeping Beauty (not to mention the story of Adam and Eve) stop anyone from eating apples? What about the Sorcerer’s Apprentice?</p>

<p>But the Catholic church does seem to believe that Da Vinci Code is up there on the list of BAD books. Interestingly, it did not make much fuss when scholars began discussing the gnostic gospels a couple of decades ago. So I have to conclude that what inspires the ire of the Vatican is not the contents but the popularity of the book/film.</p>

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<p>

I did a little Googling because I haven’t heard anything about Rome spearheading the protests.

Opus Dei seems much more miffed.

</p>

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<p>It depends on what source you use:</p>

<p>Vatican plots against ‘Da Vinci Code’
From Richard Owen in Rome</p>

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</p>

<p>Full article, with more quotes:</p>

<p><a href=“The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines”>The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines;

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<p>Good point. Different outlets put a different spin on the same story.</p>

<p>Anyway, I would hope that most people know it’s fiction, but the last part of that quote is probably more accurate…plenty think it’s true.</p>

<p>One of my college buddies read Angels & Demons just before a group of us went to Rome to visit an old classmate who was doing post-grad work over there. At almost every stop, he was wandering around, looking for the “clues” from the book. Surprise! They were never there.</p>

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<p>anymom99,</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing the comment re: Dan Brown’s desire not to sell the screen rights to TDVC.</p>

<p>I work in a small bookstore, and one of the visiting authors (can’t remember who) described selling movie rights as sending your favorite child to Charlie Manson’s Daycare. Carl Hiaasen, on the other hand, flatly stated he took the money, and didn’t really worry about the screen treatment.</p>

<p>Sounds like Dan Brown started in one camp and moved to the other.</p>