Reviews and links to blogs discussing the Da Vinci Code movie are a dime a dozen right now, and the biggest unanswered question now seems to be, “You mean after all that hype and controversy, now that the movie out everyone agrees completely that it’s a dud?” Uh, yeah. I thought I’d see it in the theatre, but looks like now I’ll just wait a few weeks and rent the DVD. Maybe from the not-so-popular 7-day rentals shelf.
On the other hand, some really good paradies are surfacing, such as The Norman Rockwell Code, which is a website, movie trailer, and complete movie short.
In any event, it turns out that Dan Brown’s story is no more dangerous than Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series. On this subject, Ed over at In a Mirror Dimly says The Church Had It Coming.
And let’s face it, Brown knows just as little about early church history as Lahaye and Jenkins know of about Revelation and its genre of apocalyptic literature. Both masterfully seized on compelling topics that gripped the public’s imagination, told stories that kept the pages turning, and played the marketing game well. They didn’t write literature, but they didn’t write boring novels either. I dare you to try reading The Rule of Four. It will make you appreciate Dan Brown’s ability to at least tell a good story.
In the end, the plots are vaguely familiar, generally unbiblical, and equally inflamatory, both pitting Christians against pagans. In the LBS, Christians are preserving God’s truth and fighting against evil, while in the DC, Christians are suppressing the truth and trying to hide a perfectly reasonable conspiracy theory. And so I think it’s fair enough to say that we’re even.
Christians 1
Gnostic/Pagan/Atheist Alliance 1Now we just need to line up, slap our hands together, and say, “Good game, good game, good game, good game, good game, good game.”
Christians should never have thought they could get away with the Left Behind Series. It’s too weird, too destructive, too accusing, and worst of all, too popular. We were due for a DaVinci Code. That has put us back in our place.
If you’re still thinking way too seriously about Brown’s book, maybe you need to see the photo that explains it all.
That picture is priceless! I’ll chuckle for several days over that!!
On the other hand, I liked the analogy the Real Live Preacher used … DVC is to biblical and church history what James Bond is to real secret agents! I think that about sums it up. It’s a good read, but not to be taken seriously.
Ah! Revelatory insight from Monty Python!
Expect nothing less from Brother Maynard.
Does this put Left Behind and Da Vinci on the same level as Spam?