DVC: I was wrong

The Da Vinci Code is no trifle to be poo-poo'd away and moved beyond. It must be answered.

I went to it with the calming glow of the the Cannes Film Festival's rejection of it on a "quality" basis, and the knowledge of its errors. I hate to walk into a conflict prepared, it somehow seems like cheating to me, but against my better laziness prepared I was.

The movie was entertaining. It was thought provoking. It did not need to be bullet-proof, or constantly filled with new directions and false clues. It was adequately fascinating because it challenges every assumption you've ever made about our culture.

You will not notice that the Xth clue is telegraphed, because you are too busy thinking about how Jerusalem was sacked to win back the "something". The crusades were not evil enough in their own right; no, the evil of the crusades was a cover for something vastly more sinister. You do not notice the alleged bad acting in the crucial middle of the movie, because you are busy learning that the last supper forms a "V", and that everything upon which Western Civilization is founded is a facade to keep Cardinals under the pope in power.

If you ever want to ruin a movie for someone, tell them it's the best, most important thing they will ever see in their lives. If they get there and it is any less than that, they will be disappointed. Then, your poor friend automatically holds this great movie to a standard so high it can't help but fail. They will walk out of a great movie wondering why they hated it.

If, however, you tell the world that a movie stinks up the joint, any ol' signs of life will be a pleasant surprise. I bet I'm not the only one "pleasantly" surprised by this movie.

What a shock. You put a good director, good actors, and a popular book together, and out koms a movie that's passable good. We Christians are setting ourselves up for failure when we criticize the movie for its lamenesses.

Technically, Dan Brown uses lots of techniques to good effect. For example, he uses the obvious tactic of making the hero of the movie the spokes[straw]man for Christianity. When the crucial argument comes, in which the patriarchy is exposed for concealing the truth of Mary Magdalene, the hero is offering the defense for our faith. He throws up little gems like, "You're only guessing!" and "That's just a theory!" and "You are seeing what you want to see!" During the impassioned moments, our hero throws up softball after softball for Gandalf to knock out of the park.

If was good enough for Plato, I guess it's good enough for Dan Brown.

The point is that it is effective.

Will it work on Josh MacDowell? No. Will it work on Joe Sixpack (or Joe Sixverse)? You bet. So many and varied and profound are the lies are thrown out in such a short time that it's almost impossible to believe that all of them could actually be false. Of course, all of them are not false. It's only the facts that matter that are actually lies.

A special note of recognition has to go out to the Gandalf actor. When he insults His Lord and Judge, there is a repeated twinkle of heartfelt joy in his eye. Every actor there was performing in direct warfare against the Lamb of God, but Sir Ian McKellen really seemed to relish his role.

May the Lord send His Spirit to teach His children the truth.

And may they take the time to get up and find the truth at places like The Christian Cadre, Cadre Comments and their DVC page.