I was interviewed for this New Yorker piece on marketing DVC to Christians, but didn’t make the final cut – ah well. It’s a good article written by the dependable and perceptive Peter Boyer, who is delight to talk to, as well:
If, in retrospect, Hollywood seems to have been oblivious of the risk of the film’s arousing religious ire, it was only reflecting the attitude that had greeted the publication of the book. Reviewers had generally praised the novel, calling it a brainy entertainment and, as sales piled up, marvelling at its broad appeal; somehow, the provocations at its heart were almost uniformly overlooked. Brown’s puzzler plot proceeded from a thesis that Christianity as we know it is history’s greatest scam, perpetrated by a malignant, misogynist, and, when necessary, murderous Catholic Church. “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false,” one of the book’s main characters declares.
Two developments soon brought that aspect of “The Da Vinci Code” into sharper focus, and changed the dynamic of the Sony project. One was the realization by Church leaders that Dan Brown’s legion of fans included many of the Christian faithful, and that a large proportion of them believed that some—or, perhaps, even all—of the book’s assertions were true. The other development was unfolding just a few miles west of the Sony studios, in an editing room in Santa Monica, where Mel Gibson was fashioning an early version of his sanguinary vision of Christ’s Passion.
Grace Hill Media, which is leading Sony’s marketing to Christians, also promoted Disney’s "Narnia," "The Lord of the Rings" movie series and "Kingdom of Heaven" from 20th Century Fox — all with heavy Christian themes. Jonathan Bock, Grace Hill’s president, declined an interview request.
Thedavincidialogue.com — also created by Grace Hill — includes a series of essays by leading Christian academics, scholars and theologians, including Gordon Robertson, "The 700 Club" co-host. None of the essayists was paid. There are few Catholics among the Web site’s contributors, in part because the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has created its own anti-"Code" site, jesusdecoded.com.
Not even the essay on thedavincidialogue.com about Opus Dei is written by a member of the group. "Just by setting up a Web site, Sony cannot absolve itself of responsibility for producing a $100 million movie that treats Christianity and the Catholic Church in an unfair way," said Brian Finnerty, an Opus Dei member and spokesman.
An interesting piece from Pittsburgh, by the excellent religion writer Ann Rogers:
The Rev. John Skirtich said he had 100 students for a three-week class on the novel at St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills. Readers who lack a background in church history struggle to separate fact from fiction, he said.
"I knew I had a problem when an elderly woman asked me a year ago, in all sincerity, if Jesus really married Mary Magdalene," he said.
Parishioners who read it "had a vague idea that the theology wasn’t correct and that the history wasn’t correct," but didn’t know enough about those subjects to pinpoint the errors, Father Skirtich said.
Exactly.
And do check out Michael’s 26-minute podcast on Jesus’ Bride.
Utah’s Catholics are taking a different approach [to DVC], said Molly Dumas, director of development at Juan Diego High School in Draper. "We’re telling our students – ‘Go see it, do your homework and think about it.’ "
The school isn’t planning any formal discussion of the film, Dumas said, but will answer questions as the students raise them.
For the same reason, a Juan Diego humanities teacher took students to "Brokeback Mountain," a love story about two gay men, she said. "It is important for kids to explore their faith."
Read Previous Post