Tom Hanks Defends The Da Vinci Code -- Kind Of

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Tom Hanks, the star of the forthcoming movie version of The Da Vinci Code, has responded to critics of the book and movie. According to Mr. Hanks, "the story we tell is loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense."

Let me first say that I agree with this sentence with the exception of the word "fun." It is full of hooey and nonsense. But it is not fun to use hooey and nonsense to demonize and discredit the Christian faith.

Secondly, it is likely that a lot of the bad faith generated by The Da Vinci Code would have been avoided had Dan Brown's prologue said, "This book is filled with a lot of hooey and nonsense," instead of saying, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

As any historian will tell you, Mr. Hank's opinion of the accuracy of the movie is much more on target than Mr. Brown's.

Comments

BK said…
I was watching a program on the Discovery Channel last night that did a really, really good job of demonstrating how far from the truth TDC actually strays. What was interesting was that they pointed out that Dan Brown is a believer in the Holy Blood, Holy Grail conspiracy theory (despite that being a load of hooey and nonsense). Hence, I believe Dan Brown when he says that it is truthful, but it is truthful only to him and other conspiracy theorists of his ilk. (Which is, of course, another reason that I don't find truth to be relative).
5/15/2006 07:16:00 AM
Layman said…
I caught some of that too and was rather amazed at how much the conspiracist inferred from the most bland of evidence. There is a report that some Cathar priests escaped a siege and smuggled some boxes out. Ah, must be the secret blood lines of Jesus and Mary! Not a shred of other evidence about what they might have had, but it must have been that blood line info because why else would the Catholic Church have waged war against the Cathars? Hmm. Can't imagine the medieval church reacting violently against heretics.

Then they cut to a real historian who points out that since the Cathars disparaged any sex, even that between a man and a woman, they are unlikely custodians of a secret blood line about Jesus's offsprint with Mary Magdalene.
5/15/2006 09:54:00 AM
BK said…
That was a great show. I personally found it to be really interesting when they talked about the minister in the South of France who TDC claims found some documents that proved that he was alive and came back from France with lots of money -- of course, the money actually (and demonstrably) came from the fact that he was engaging in simony.
5/15/2006 11:10:00 AM
Layman said…
BTW, it is probably obvious but I meant to say "husband and wife" instead of "man and woman."
5/15/2006 12:04:00 PM
BK said…
I thought it was so obvious, I didn't even notice that you "misspoke" in a sense.
5/15/2006 12:41:00 PM
slaveofone said…
Eh, historical accuracy is not familiar to film anyway.

On a slightly different note, I wonder if all those people who complained about the historical inaccuracy of Pilate in "The Passion of the Christ" were as vocal about Titantic's vast historical inconsistancies...

I'll try some psuedo prophecying and say that unless a large percentage of people are bored out of their minds, that the Code is going to flop big time.
5/16/2006 08:55:00 AM
Janell Price said…
It won't flop with the patrons of my hair salon. I just got a hair cut and the buzz about the opening of The Code was widespread, enthusiastic and positive (and the small town in which I live is hughly Christian).I was able to make some points with my own stylist, using information I learned here on the Cadre. Thank you for the excellent research and writing on this issue.
5/16/2006 10:13:00 AM
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