All entries for Sunday 21 May 2006

Mired in controversy…...should it be???

In the long hours in between the sporadic revision, the BBCnews website has now become my favorite haunt, and their latest discussion topic is the Da Vinci Code! (surprise surprise).
After being delayed and censored in India, and booed in press screenings, the reaction to the film begs two questions…....Is the film really that bad??? Or is it soooo good that the church is now afraid it will create unnecessary doubt?

Personally, I think the church is right to object…and so are Christians in general, afterall one can't just take any old theory (written in what I admit is a good read) and then start questioning the morals of Jesus Christ….. Muslims were angry at the cartoons, and now Christians are angry at Da Vinci ….. it is in my opinion understandable.

On the other hand, it does generate a lot of interest in Christianity from followers and non–followers alike. Anyone reading the discussion on the BBC website will see comments ranging from "The Bible is a work of Fiction" to "The film is blasphemous!" but all would agree that it did generate a lot of interest. But is that a sufficient reason to not protest??? In some respects I say yes it is…..because even if the film has a disclaimer on it bing a work of fiction, it does promote a discussion of the history of christianity. And if someone does take the stance that Jesus married Magdalane, at least she would be accpeting that Jesus did exist. But as I have said before, it creates unnecessary tensions all around, especially when people start abusing each other for their views.
In my opinion what differentiates the Da Vinci Code from the cartoons of Mohammad is that it does not degrade Jesus Christ to being a terrorist, but rather questions the power of the church. Although I admit the focus has been on his relationship with Magdalane, which many people would find degrading.

At then end of the day I believe the film should be viewed as based on a very good work of fiction and should be enjoyed for its intoxicating story line, but I doubt it will be. After all we are all humans….and as is obvious nothing gets us going like religion…

: 21 May 2006 15:59 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem