The Da Vinci Code Issue is ‘So Yesterday’
"You asked what would be worth killing for. Witness the biggest cover-up in human history."
- from The Da Vinci Code motion piture
I think banning 'Da Vinci' is a form of a cover up... the church and devout Christians’ actions upon the film justifies it.
The film was actually a fiction, as many people are saying these days. The film may bear controversial facts about Jesus that some people doubt that were verifiable. The fact is, the book is actually said to be poorly researched. The book claims that the places and people in the story were based on reality. Some people in the devout Chritian Nation from the US released a documentary, which analyzed and exposed some inaccuracies in the novel. Personally, I am convinced that the novel was fiction but people criticize details on the story which were claimed by Dan Brown to be factual which people doubt.
When it comes to the motion picture adaptation of the movie (self-titled), banning it on the mainstream cinemas is I think a bit of an over-reaction. Even in the first place rating it unfairly as R18 is I think an action of a desperate hypocrite. In most countries populated by almost Roman Catholic, like France, US, UK, etc., the film was rated at least R14. They say the film would be even more appropriate for children. Moreover, how about academics – people who work for knowledge? For me, in my point of view, it is a form of media repression. They want to cover up the film, which actually do not directly attack the faith but history – considering it is fiction.
What I want to pursue here is that the issue of the Da Vinci Code film is a outdated and not timely to discuss encourage strict censorship. It is because more people have already read the book for a few years from the present. If it really takes offense on the religion, why not ban the book. This is not the time to talk about this and be strict about it. It is really a very OA, Over-reacting (or whatever we may call it) issue to debate about on this time. People are aware of the Novel. They are not stupid to believe everything they see. The issue had already gone a long way and it is not right for the Filipinos to be divided because some hate it. The novel was praised because of its art to weave events together to form a clever story rather to attack religion. People did not want it to be read or to be viewed on screens just because they hate the Christians or the church. It is the talent and courage of the writer or filmmakers, which is taken significance here, not religion. Some people are just too shallow-minded. Come on. Banning films is so desperate… cheap. Anyway, banning it will cause the film to be over-talked-about and will heighten curiosity among people who actually never did plan to watch the film. Weird. Lame.
I understand that it might bring a negative icon to the church for the populace and young viewers of the country. Why is the church afraid? Would Filipino Christians sell their faith for two and a half hours? What happened to their job to ensure their people have good faith of the religion they are proclaiming? Did they fail to do the job? If only they assure that people will not turn back on the faith after the film, the church and devout Christians would not be acting crazy on the issue. It just proves that we have many hypocrite brothers. People do not allow themselves to see daemons can never distinguish one from the not. Being good and holy doesn’t mean you avert doubt or having reservations on the faith. Come on! Faith is faith. Religion is religion. Should religion and the church always come our way? I suggest instead of banning anti-Christ films or media, why not focus on doing their job effectively so that wherever their people can be, a film same as the Da Vinci Code will not bother them so bad.
