Fabricated truths

A recent news item caught my attention simply because it reminded me of the worn out gimmick on how to promote movies and insure their box office success. The timing of the item somehow gives validity to my observation. I am not sure if it is one of the few rare ideas originating in this part of the world that is copied elsewhere but I know that the ploy has been used here several times. The ploy consists in conjuring up controversies about the film a few months or weeks before its release. The issues raised look valid and serious enough to attract media attention. And to ensure maximum exposure these issues also find their way in court where the issuance of a temporary restraining order for its initial showing appears to be a much welcome development for the producers as interest in the movie is heightened even more. It may just be a coincidence but I cannot help but notice the similarity of this gimmick with that used in the forthcoming movie based on the best selling religious thriller, "The Da Vinci Code". The news item says that its author Dan Brown has been sued in London England for plagiarism. Two historians, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh have accused Brown of hijacking and exploiting their own 1982 work of historical conjecture, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". Brown said that he had already credited the work of Baigent and Leigh in the novel. So it would seem that there was no reason at all to still file the suit except to drum up more interest in the film.

Apparently the producer and Brown himself thought that a movie based on one of the best selling novels in contemporary times and with star studded casts headed by Tom Hanks still needs more publicity before it can be a real blockbuster. Perhaps they were disappointed that the novel did not spark the same kind of outrage displayed by the Muslims over the cartoon of Muhammad. So they thought of reviving the initial shock and kindling an outrage from a lot of people especially Catholics by focusing on a theory that would generate a lot of publicity. Hence this London case about plagiarism of the previous 1982 book, "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail". The said book and "The Da Vinci Code deal with the theme of Jesus marrying and having a child by Mary Magdalene and their bloodline being protected by the mysterious "Priory of Sion". To Catholics this is a serious case of blasphemy. Yet they did not react as violently as the Muslims did when a cartoon about Muhammad was published. This is the real beauty of the Catholic Faith. Its strength lies in one of its most basic teaching to "love your enemies" to be compassionate and understanding to them. Indeed, as Father John, an American priest of the Opus Dei said: "the half baked notions tossed around the Da Vinci Code about Jesus and Mary Magdalene should not be terribly shocking to anyone. When Dan Brown’s fictional characters say that Jesus is not the immortal son of God but merely a man, they are only saying what most of the non-fictional people on the planet – the Muslims, Jews, Unitarians and Non-Christians of all stripes – have always believed. In short, if Dan Brown’s characters are blaspheming on this point, then so is most of the world".

But our Catholic Faith also taught us that even as we have to be compassionate to the sinners, we still have to denounce their wrong doing. It is the sin, not the sinners. Thus Fr. Wauck further said: "The book’s numerous factual errors about Christian history all work together for a single purpose: not to defame Jesus Christ or Opus Dei, but rather make the Roman Catholic Church – "the Vatican" – appear to be an evil, misogynistic, power-hungry blight on world history". Using a work of fiction as a guise, Brown’s fictional characters are allowed to utter falsehoods and make frequent references to "historical events that never happened". The tremendous impact of the novel and an entire two hour movie conveying the impression of a Church as "a massive criminal enterprise organized to defend a fraud" is unimaginable indeed considering the millions of dollars businesses pay for a few seconds of advertisements, continued Fr. Wauck.

So what’s wrong with the Da Vinci Code? To answer this question Fr. Wauck uses an analogy. He asks us to "imagine what your reaction would be if a novelist were to tell you: ‘I am going to write a novel about your family, in which you will be portrayed as a band of criminals and perverts. I am going to use your real name and the names of your parents and grandparents. All the information regarding your family – a fair bit of which will, in fact, be true – will be presented as if it were the product of careful historical research. But–not to worry – it’s only a novel, and afterwards I’ll give you a chance to respond to the falsehoods in my book’. This is the condemnable stuff in the "Da Vinci Code", the book and the movie. Boycotting it is the least we can do to express our protest.

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