“The Da Vinci Code” Movie stirs up
Critics before Opening Night
May 16th, 2006
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Dan Brown's
The Da Vinci Code |
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Ron Howard’s
movie, “The Da Vinci Code” which opens on May 19th has lots
of critics from religious leaders to historians that point out why they
believe it is more fiction than fact. The movie is based on Dan Brown's
bestselling novel with the same name.
“The Da Vinci
Code” is stirring up the Roman Catholic Church who is asking for a
boycott of movie goers to not pay to see this movie. They have asked
Ron Howard to put a disclaimer on the movie out of respect to
Christians. Howard has declined their request. A senior government
official wanted to ban the movie in the Philippines because it is
blasphemous.
NBC’s Today show
is traveling through Europe to view the paintings and locations that the
movie and novel have referenced. In their reports they are showing
special “Da Vinci Code” tours throughout Europe that will let you see
the clues from the story in person.
There are a few
historians and experts that believe the novel and movie are more
entertaining fiction than fact. Here are what some of the experts
believe makes the movie and book for entertainment and not a real
history lesson.
Jennifer Lee who
is an assistant professor of art history at the Herron School of Art and
Design on the IUPUI campus reflects on Da Vinci’s paintings and points
out some misleading ideas “The Da Vinci Code” uses to interpret the
symbols in the paintings. Lee has expertise in medieval art and
architecture, Italian Renaissance art, along with art of medieval
popular culture.
Lee states the
following that put “The Da Vinci Code” as a fiction versus fact
position:
“Leonardo da Vinci
is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating artists from the Renaissance.
Anyone who studies his paintings will find many things to wonder at.
However, the points that ‘The Da Vinci Code’ focuses on aren’t the real
questions. ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is a work of fiction. It’s a very
entertaining book, but it shouldn't be taken as history.”
“At the time
Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper, there was a long established
tradition of portraying John with his head resting on Christ’s shoulder
to indicate their close friendship. John was the younger man, and
artists traditionally represented youth with feminizing attributes.
Leonardo does do some unusual things with the placement of his figures
in The Last Supper, but by Renaissance standards, he isn’t doing
anything unusual with the characters themselves. It only looks
surprising if you approach it with modern eyes. To Renaissance eyes, the
figure on Christ's right wouldn't look like a woman as the book
suggests.
“The Vitruvian
Man’ is probably Leonardo's most famous drawing. It's called ‘Vitruvian
Man’ because it's derived from a first-century Roman architectural
treatise written by Vitruvius. Vitruvius is describing the proportions
of the human body with the intention of applying them to architecture.
By making the drawing, Leonardo was demonstrating his knowledge of the
ancient text. Architecture was part of the skill set that an artist like
Leonardo offered to his patron and employer, the Duke of Milan.”
“The Da Vinci
Code” could also represent the ideas of society and the mistrust that
people have toward religions in general.
Phillip Goff who
is the director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American
Culture and associate professor of religious studies and American
studies in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI believes it is a
reflection of society’s fears of religion.
Goff explains how
the novel and movie attract the interest of so many people.
“The phenomenal
success of the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and the likely success of the
movie owes a great deal to some of the prevailing religious attitudes of
Americans. For the past two decades millions of Americans have left
their historic religious traditions in search of truth in upstart
congregations and in alternative religious literature. The advent of the
World Wide Web only hastened the practice of finding religious knowledge
and alternative faiths outside traditional means. Various scandals in
the Church also heightened the suspicion with which millions of
Americans began to view institutional religion. The result is a culture
of mistrust of institutional religion that is beginning to look back at
the early days of the faith with suspicion as well. “The Da Vinci Code”
has been said to shake the faith of some believers, but ultimately it is
an exciting story that taps into an existing culture of mistrust of
religious institutions, both past and present.”
“The Da Vinci
Code” has undermined and convinced many people otherwise. Surveys by
Opinion Research Business (ORB) of people in Britain showed that the
book has affected their views and beliefs. The readers were twice as
likely to believe that Jesus Christ fathered children compared to those
that have not read the book. They were four times more likely than
non-readers of the book to believe that the Catholic groups, Opus Dei
are murderers. The survey was funded by certain Catholic Church groups;
however the survey company is a third party company which shows that the
book has impacted many people perceptions.
Will “The Da Vinci
Code” be the sell out of this summer? We will soon find out.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
DVDs
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