California Conservative

"I have often thought that the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying, ‘THIS IS FICTION’.  I mean, walking on water?  It takes an act of faith."

Ian McKellen issued this statement last year from his website:

20 April 2005

The Da Vinci Code is a publishing sensation. The world seems to be divided between those who have read it and those who have heard about it and then again between those who think it’s a work of genius and those who think its theory is heretical balderdash.

The story, it can be no secret, concerns the Holy Grail — what it is and where it is. The Catholic Church is upset by the suggestion that Jesus Christ was married and that his bloodline survives to this day. As an atheist I am indifferent. As a reader I couldn’t stop turning the pages of Dan Brown’s book.

Now there is to be a film and with Ron Howard directing and Tom Hanks starring all will be well and exciting too. I am thrilled to be working with them both for the first time. An extra delight is that this Hollywood studio movie is being filmed in Europe and for most of the shooting this summer, I shall be able to live at home in London. I start rehearsing at Shepperton Studios on May 3rd.

McKellen said yesterday:

“When I put the book down I thought, ’what a load of potential codswallop’.

“That’s still going on in my mind. But I’m very happy to believe that Jesus was married.”

 “I know that the Catholic church has problems with gay people and I thought that this was absolute truth that Jesus was not gay.”

Some reviews of The DaVinci Code at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday:

"I didn’t like it very much. I thought it was almost as bad as the book. Tom Hanks was a zombie, thank goodness for Ian McKellen. It was overplayed, there was too much music and it was much too grandiose."   — Peter Brunette, The Boston Globe.

"At the high point, there was laughter among the journalists. Not loud laughs, but a snicker and I think that says it all."   — Gerson Da Cunha, The Times of India.

"People were confused, there was no applause, just silence.   I have only read half the book, and then I got bored. It’s terrible" — Margherita Ferrandino, Italian television Rai 3.

"It was really disappointing. The dialogue was cheesy. The acting wasn’t too bad, but the film is not as good as the book."   — Lina Hamchaoui, British radio IRN.

"At Cannes, one scene during the film, meant to be serious, elicited prolonged laughter from the audience, and when the credits rolled, there was no applause, only a few catcalls and hisses. Things were no better Stateside, where the film screened for critics in New York."  — CNN Entertainment

"No chemistry exists between the hero and heroine, and motivation remains a troubling sore point."  – riewer Kirk Honeycutt.

Looks like this anti-Christian film will go the way of the blasphemous The Last Temptation of Christ in which a confused Christ loses his virginity to Mary Magdalene and struggles on the cross with homosexual tendencies. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, however, a blow by blow depiction of the last 12 hours of Christ’s life before the crucifixion, was an overwhelming success.  The message?  People don’t want to see a virtuous figure like Christ, whether one believes He is who He claims to be or not, slandered.

Time magazine’s Richard Corliss said of The DaVinci Code:

"Beneath the chases and crashes, the chalices and cilices [hair shirts], it denies Jesus’ divinity. … And further still: the film challenges the belligerence that too often adheres to religious believers, the wars and atrocities perpetrated in His name."

That’s why the movie will be a flop.  Hollywood just doesn’t get it; there are some things you don’t mess with.  Jesus is one of them.

Cross-posted at Amy’s Blog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 at 10:05 am and is filed under Author: Amy Proctor, Culture, History, Hollywood, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.