Da Vinci's Codes

I recently posted a pic of Ian Tracey, one of whose roles was a detective on the Canadian series, Da Vinci's Inquest, about a coroner in Vancouver named Da Vinci.

Dan Brown's book, the insanely popular Da Vinci Code, also connects to the name of the great man. The book was awful in every way, IMHO. Don't get me started.

It seems that Opie, aka Ron Howard, is filming a prequel and the church authorities in Rome have refused him permission to film in any churches.

Good.

One of my hot buttons is traditional institutions of the West who lose all self-respect, especially if it is done under the guise of being "open" to some higher (aka progressive) value. I need not agree with those institutions, but if they are part of what makes the West cohere, I am, even if critical, supportive.

This decision by the Romans strikes me as sane. The attitude of the book toward the Roman Church is utterly negative. And it reminds me of the many scenes in popular TV programs and films which are shot inside churches. Almost every one of these is utterly fanciful, as if busy pastors spend all day wandering around inside candle-lit buildings, wearing rag-tag vestments, etc.

And the portrayed image of the church, and of the clergy in particular, in these films in the last decades is either hostile or condescending. (The BBC's Father Ted managed to be both.) How many priests or pastors have you seen who are not

a. heartless orthodox organization men bent on political power
b. the misunderstood (usually lefty) victims of the men in "a."
c. tortured but hot semi-believers having an affair
d. clueless old capons with all the testosterone of Barney the Dinosaur
e. nutcase exorcists or apocalyptic conspiracy freaks?

It just seems a matter of self-respect that you would not allow a film crew to use your consecrated place of worship to promote media that makes your religion look evil and/or stupid. But if it means being "open-minded" (or the money the studios pay?)...

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