 I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico last Friday, and there were middle-aged Catholic women with protest signs outside a downtown theater. They were expressing their opinions about The Da Vinci Code which opened that day. I came back a half-hour later, and the protesters were gone; in their place were Albuquerque Police squad cars. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of conscience mean nothing in America anymore, especially if there's a chance a business may lose a buck.
Like everyone else, I have been hearing a lot about The Da Vinci Code in the media. The book by Dan Brown has sold a gazillion copies and has spawned other books by Christians debunking The Da Vinci Code untruths. Frankly, I never got around to reading the original, so I certainly didn't have time for all the apologetical volumes either.
But I did make time to see the movie today. It took 2 hours and 29 minutes out of my busy schedule, but I was interested in discovering what all the hubbub was about.
Boy, was I disappointed. Even though the much anticipated movie had an opening weekend box office of $77 million, I found the movie rather talky and only mildly interesting. It had its moments of intrigue, but for a movie billed as a "theological thriller," it had little theology and even less thrill.
The plot revolves around the Tom Hanks character, a university professor who specializes in the study of symbols, who is pulled into a police murder investigation. With a policewoman played by French actress Audrey Tautou, Hanks seeks to unravel the mystery of the Holy Grail.
In the midst of all the talk, we discover that a religious order, the Priory of Sion, is trying to keep a deep secret so that the Most Holy Catholic Faith may be preserved. That secret is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and they moved to France where they raised a family. As the story unfolds, we hear all sorts of speculation about Constantine, the Council of Nicea, the origins of the Canon of Scripture, and other historical and theological topics, all conveyed in a manner that denigrates the Christian faith.
I expected a better movie from Director Ron Howard, and from Tom Hanks, one of my favorite actors. I think many fans of Howard and Hanks will be as disappointed as I was, not because the "history" portrayed is so insipid, but because of turgid pace of the story and the uneven acting by Hanks and his co-stars.
As I left the theater, I reflected on what I feel is the most important aspect of the book and movie, and that is, neither would have made a dime if the audience had any knowledge of history and theology. For those who do, it was more a comedy than thriller, but alas, people will think this film is important and controversial because they are totally ignorant of the facts of history and the place of Jesus Christ in it.
The Da Vinci Code book and movie are an indictment against our educational system, both at the high school and university level. No one would pay any attention to this drivel if they had a handle on the facts. But we live in a secular age, and many teachers and professors are anti-Christian, so there is a serious gap in the historical and theological knowledge of so-called educated people. Dan Brown and Ron Howard have merely capitalized on that ignorance.
Sadly, most people will think there is substance to Dan Brown's story. In reality, however, it is just a movie based on a novel. A novel is fiction, not fact, but when you are ignorant of that, fiction fills the void. That's the worst thing about The Da Vinci Code; it is just a yarn, but people are taking it seriously.
-DLH
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The Christian Life 
