theda vincispin

Posted by Kimberly Field May 21, 2006

News of another protest has hit the airwaves. Is it issues of immigration, Iraq, Women's rights? Not exactly, this protest is about a man named Da Vinci and a code that dispels teachings of Christ and the Bible. Sprinkle in director Ron Howard and actor Tom Hanks and you've got a full blown religious fuming propaganda touting GOP Catholic Church show down.

The greatest irony of this movie is not the movie, rather the spin around it. The conservative right with familiar voices such as; Pat Robinson and Carl Rove, to the mighty Catholic Church, have become movie critics rallying the protesting forces to stomp out the evil movie, while silently endorsing conservatism just in time for the 2006 elections. After all, religion and state should remain as one for the good of America, right? Then you have the other crew made up moderate Republicans and Democrats who just don't know what to make of it, yet know they'll have an opinion with a pending debate, later. In the meantime, Americans are debating and watching.

Putting all the propaganda aside, The Da Vinci Code is a Hollywood shinning star blockbuster that is based from the novel written by Dan Brown. The base of the novel is that Jesus married and fathered a child. The Catholic Church then hid this information from the public.

Opposition from Rome is getting stronger. In the past several weeks Vatican cardinals have urged everything from full-blown boycott of the film by Catholics to legal action against both the novel and the film. I wonder if anyone sued Mel Gibson for The Passion of the Christ.

"What I'm concerned about is that decent people who do not have the proper religious education will take this nonsense for the real thing, "said Cardinal Paul Poupard, leader of the Pontifical Council for Culture since 1988.

All of the protesting, national and international news has benefited this film. With 65 million books sold and a box opening of $29 million in it first week, the only dispelling that has been done is this release being a slow summer box office hit. Who knows what next weeks box office numbers will be, but if you want to forgo the protesting, and help the ailing Tom Cruise, I hear MI3 is a political religious free blast!