The Da Vinci code flies directly in the face of modern Christian beliefs, attempts to undermine the Catholic church—bringing about admonitions from Catholic leaders, and fosters cognitive dissonance in the minds of viewers.
The suspense thriller, released in 2006 stars Tom Hanks and Aubrey Tautou, and is a result of the popular books written by author Dan Brown. The Da Vinci code unravels a mystery dating back to the origins of Christianity by interpreting symbols encoded in Leonardo Di Vinci's paintings. It also involves cracking a secret held by religious sects for centuries. The last scene in the movie portrays Tautou's character, Sophie Neveu discovering that she is a blood descendant of Jesus Christ. (1)
The basis behind Christian beliefs is the life and teachings of Jesus Christ that can be found in the new testament. (2) Many Christians believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God; however, the Di Vinci code challenges that creed and presents the idea of secrets of the Holy Grail, as kept by the Priory of Sion, that Jesus is not the divine son of God, but a human prophet of God. (3)
Such a perspective may cause one to undergo cognitive dissonance which is " an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The "ideas" or "cognitions" in question may include attitudes and beliefs, and also the awareness of one's behavior." In what could be an attempt to reduce the dissonance, many have spoken out against the film. (4)
Critics include Catholic church leaders. "Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone used a Vatican Radio broadcast to urge all Catholics to boycott 'The Da Vinci Code'. 'My appeal is as follows,' he said. 'Don't read and don't buy 'The Da Vinci Code,'' and called the book 'a sack full of lies.'" (5) Such a statement fits the definition of Religion and Popular Culture in Dialogue found in chapter 2, "When church leaders become involved in the debate about whether portrayals…in movies and television are harmful to society." (6)
Perhaps these leaders are giving too much power to the media and are falling subject to the third person effect which includes, "perceiving others as more vulnerable increases support for restrictions on mass media." (7) Perhaps they are of the opinion of the "hypodermic needle theory" implied mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences. (8) However, considering the dozens of books written in an attempt to "crack" the Di Vinci Code. Maybe their concerns are justified. (9)
If you were in a leadership position in a church and something like this happened would you take a similar stance?
If people had access to space ships would they look for Darth Vador or the Death Star?
1. http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/da_vinci_code/ .
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/ .
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_vinci_code#cite_note-6.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance .
5. http://newsblog5000.blogspot.com/2005/04/dan-brown-hurt-by-vatican-criticism.html .
6. Forbes, David. Religion and Popular Culture in America. University of California, 2005.
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-person_effect.
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model
9. http://www.faithfulreader.com/features/0405-da_vinci_debunkers.asp
The suspense thriller, released in 2006 stars Tom Hanks and Aubrey Tautou, and is a result of the popular books written by author Dan Brown. The Da Vinci code unravels a mystery dating back to the origins of Christianity by interpreting symbols encoded in Leonardo Di Vinci's paintings. It also involves cracking a secret held by religious sects for centuries. The last scene in the movie portrays Tautou's character, Sophie Neveu discovering that she is a blood descendant of Jesus Christ. (1)
The basis behind Christian beliefs is the life and teachings of Jesus Christ that can be found in the new testament. (2) Many Christians believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God; however, the Di Vinci code challenges that creed and presents the idea of secrets of the Holy Grail, as kept by the Priory of Sion, that Jesus is not the divine son of God, but a human prophet of God. (3)
Such a perspective may cause one to undergo cognitive dissonance which is " an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The "ideas" or "cognitions" in question may include attitudes and beliefs, and also the awareness of one's behavior." In what could be an attempt to reduce the dissonance, many have spoken out against the film. (4)
Critics include Catholic church leaders. "Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone used a Vatican Radio broadcast to urge all Catholics to boycott 'The Da Vinci Code'. 'My appeal is as follows,' he said. 'Don't read and don't buy 'The Da Vinci Code,'' and called the book 'a sack full of lies.'" (5) Such a statement fits the definition of Religion and Popular Culture in Dialogue found in chapter 2, "When church leaders become involved in the debate about whether portrayals…in movies and television are harmful to society." (6)
Perhaps these leaders are giving too much power to the media and are falling subject to the third person effect which includes, "perceiving others as more vulnerable increases support for restrictions on mass media." (7) Perhaps they are of the opinion of the "hypodermic needle theory" implied mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences. (8) However, considering the dozens of books written in an attempt to "crack" the Di Vinci Code. Maybe their concerns are justified. (9)
If you were in a leadership position in a church and something like this happened would you take a similar stance?
If people had access to space ships would they look for Darth Vador or the Death Star?
1. http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/da_vinci_code/ .
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/ .
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_vinci_code#cite_note-6.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance .
5. http://newsblog5000.blogspot.com/2005/04/dan-brown-hurt-by-vatican-criticism.html .
6. Forbes, David. Religion and Popular Culture in America. University of California, 2005.
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-person_effect.
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model
9. http://www.faithfulreader.com/features/0405-da_vinci_debunkers.asp
I feel like with the starwars' deathstar, it is clearly presented as entertainment...the problem here with the divinci code is that it is presented as something that is alleged to be true... this one more truth is what I see as the problem for many people.
ReplyDeleteI had a roommate last semester who had many strange fears. She jumped at loud noises, avoided being alone at night, and (one of the more strange) she was legitimately concerned her brain was creating her reality. I can remember having my roommate in nursing explain how some aspect of your blood pumping works, and the response being- I had no idea there were so many other things I should be afraid could go wrong!
I think the divinci code and my roomate's discovery of fears both remind me of Acts 17:23where the athenians worshipped the unknown God, basically just to cover their bases. Alright, so it may not be that the, '"hypodermic needle theory" implied mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences' but just the fact the davinci code presents another thing that these masses feel the need to think about and consider, which makes the work of a religous leader that much harder to straighten out.
Honestly, before the divinci code, did you stop to think whether you should be afraid of Christ as a prophet, or mary as his wife?
I thought the way this movie presented the traditional Catholic faith was very unique. In turn, it posed many questions to the world. Not only ones of doctrine, the divinity of Jesus, or other principles that devout Catholics believe in, but it also provides itself as an example of the cultivation theory.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a faithful Catholic leader, I would also feel the need to ban "The Da Vinci Code." From my personal experience, a large percentage of Catholic followers do not know the central doctrines and principles of their religion. Therefore, a movie or book such as this might confuse the unwary Catholic and members of other churches.
I love the semiotic storytelling of the book. But symbols don't make them true, nor does Leonardo da Vinci. But I can easily see how someone who is not very studied in their faith can fall victim to its appeal.
Finally, people love secrets. Even if they aren't true, they're still cool! The Catholic's ban on this work makes sense to me. No one wants to be unfairly represented or have their faithful followers begin to doubt.
We seem to live in a day where everyone wants to avoid being judgemental and where tolerance is confused with compromise. Nowhere was this more evident to me than with proposition 8. Many memebers of the church and people in general were uncertain about where to come down on the issue, even after the chruch released a statement that should have made the position clear. People don't seem to want to take a stand anymore. A movie like Da Vinci Code is yet another example to me. People want to believe there is room for discussion with everything. Maybe Jesus was just a good man and not a God. Maybe this and maybe that. No one is forced to take a stand. President Hinckley said we don't appreciate the power of our postion. Either it's all true, or it isn't. There is nothing in between. There is no compromise. It's like the game or bargining theory in economics that says we look to maximize our benifits while simulatneouly minimizing our cost. If we can explain some of the holes in history while at the same time answering our doctrinal mysteries and ignore conflicts with existing doctrine, we think we'll be better off. We can let our imaginations be tickled with fiction from time to time, but let's not forget what is real here. We need to come down on a side, otherwise we are luke warm.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an interesting question. When this movie came out I was working at Deseret Book. I don't remember hearing any particular point of view on the movie from the LDS Church, but they did come out with a book called, "What Da Vinci Didn't Know." In this they talked about some of the supposed accusations of the book, and what the churches view on the doctrinal issues. About Christ being married, about Christ being the Son of God. I listened to the book on CD and I remember thinking, "Who was troubled by this? Who would read a murder mystery book as religious fact?"
ReplyDeleteI was met with an answer to this question. A distraught mother came into the store asking for this book, because her son lost his desire to go on a mission after reading "The Da Vinci Code." I personally was surprised that it would have that big of a religious impact. But, religion is a touchy subject and when something is said about religion that we don't understand it must be false or evil.
As with the space ship question and Darth Vador, I think there will always be people that look for the bad or impossible, no matter the situation and there will always be those who believe them. They will believe what is convenient or maybe they will question belief so they don't have to take a stand.