{"id":2722,"date":"2005-07-08T21:35:00","date_gmt":"2005-07-08T21:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/07\/much-ado-about-downplaying-da-vinci\/"},"modified":"2005-07-08T21:35:00","modified_gmt":"2005-07-08T21:35:00","slug":"much-ado-about-downplaying-da-vinci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/07\/much-ado-about-downplaying-da-vinci.html","title":{"rendered":"Much ado about downplaying Da Vinci"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The New York Daily News<\/a><\/i> reports that the film version of The Da Vinci Code<\/a><\/i> may downplay the book\u2019s anti-Catholic elements:<\/span><\/p>\n

In Hollywood, as the old adage goes, bad books often make great movies. In fact, the pulpier the fiction, the better the final result (think \u201cThe Bourne Identity\u201d or \u201cThe Bridgesof Madison County\u201d), because then the movie adapters feel no qualms about making significant improvements.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019ll be fascinating to see how closely the team behind the 1995 smash \u201cApollo 13\u201d \u2013 star Tom Hanks, director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer \u2013 will hew to Dan Brown\u2019s \u201cThe Da Vinci Code,\u201d which started production in Paris on Wednesday. . . .<\/p>\n

Word is that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (\u201cA Beautiful Mind,\u201d \u201cCinderella Man\u201d) is making plenty of changes \u2013 and that downplaying author Brown\u2019s anti-Catholic theme is one of them.<\/p>\n

For example, the Catholic organization Opus Dei will not play a significant role in the movie, according to one of the select few who have read one of the carefully numbered scripts. \u201cThey\u2019re not out to make a religious movie,\u201d he says. . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople felt that \u2018The Passion\u2019 was the expression of deeply held religious belief,\u201d says one of several high-powered publicity consultants who have been hired by Columbia to help manipulate the expected \u201cDa Vinci Code\u201d controversy. \u201cNo one is saying that about [this] movie. It\u2019s an entertaining what-if thriller.\u201d<\/p>\n

Controlling that controversy will be the key for Columbia in protecting its investment. That\u2019s why its team of PR experts are sending the message that it will be an enjoyable \u201cpopcorn\u201d fiction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmmm. Given that at least one publicist with ties to the Christian community has been hired in connection with this film \u2014 not necessarily to \u201cpromote\u201d it but to, as it were, bring Christians to \u201cthe table\u201d (but whose table? who\u2019s setting the places? who\u2019s in charge of the menu?) \u2014 it could be really<\/i> interesting to know who the anonymous \u201chigh-powered publicity consultant\u201d is.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a sidebar<\/a> speculates that the Catholic church will not risk drawing more attention to the film by mounting protests against it, though it has raised concerns in the past that people might take the novel\u2019s truth claims literally (as indeed many do, if a poll taken in Canada two weeks ago<\/a> is any indication).<\/p>\n

But with regard to both sides of this debate \u2014 the filmmakers and the clerics \u2014 and whether they\u2019ll be toning everything down when the film comes out, all I can say is, We shall see. I mean, the film won\u2019t be out for another year, so it\u2019s a little early to say.<\/p>\n

(Side note: the main article says the Catholic church has \u201cattacked\u201d the Harry Potter<\/a> books \u201cfor promoting pagan sorcery,\u201d but I, for one, have never heard of such an attack, and I\u2019ve been writing about the Harry Potter debates for several years now.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Daily News reports that the film version of The Da Vinci Code may downplay the book\u2019s anti-Catholic elements: In Hollywood, as the old adage goes, bad books often make great movies. In fact, the pulpier the fiction, the better the final result (think \u201cThe Bourne Identity\u201d or \u201cThe Bridgesof Madison County\u201d), because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMuch ado about downplaying Da Vinci<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New York Daily News reports that the film version of The Da Vinci Code may downplay the book's anti-Catholic elements:In Hollywood, as the old adage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/07\/much-ado-about-downplaying-da-vinci.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Much ado about downplaying Da Vinci\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Daily News reports that the film version of The Da Vinci Code may downplay the book's anti-Catholic elements:In Hollywood, as the old adage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/07\/much-ado-about-downplaying-da-vinci.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-07-08T21:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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