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by Jim Holman.
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TALK ABOUT MOVIES
July/August 2006
THE DA VINCI CODE
Directed by Ron Howard; starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tatou, Ian McKellan; 149 minutes, color, USA, English/French/Latin, 2006. Now in theaters.
Matthew: The basic premise is that the pagans had it right in worshipping the sacred feminine, and they did it by having ritualistic sex, seeking communion with the divine through sexual ecstasy. That was the ritual that poor teenage Sophie saw her grandfather partaking in when she came home from school early. That's what got her so upset and "confused." The mean old Catholic Church wasn't into the sacred feminine, so they forbade the use of temple prostitutes and told folks to cut down on the orgies and stick to the marriage bed. Basically, the Church upheld the same notion that the Jewish Jesus and Mary Magdalene would have subscribed to -- sex outside of marriage is adultery. The two become one flesh and all that.
Ernie: The whole film had an identity crisis. At times, it was making its pitch for the whole sacred feminine/pagan goddess worship thing. At other times, it was busy trying to be a modern-day Arian apology: Christ was a great man, but just a man. Who said he was one with the Father. Oops, that's in the canonical Gospel that the nasty old Church made everyone read. At still other times, it pushed for a sort of deification of Mary Magdalene -- kneeling at her tomb and all that.
Matthew: That was just weird. Whether or not Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, whether or not he intended her to rule over the newly born Church, they were still both Jews. As Jews, they would have believed in the one God -- as opposed to the God and Goddess. So why all the fuss over Mary Magdalene? Why would pagans care who led the Catholic Church, which would carry on that One God stuff regardless of who led it? Why protect the bloodline of Jesus, who was just a man, after all, and a man who detested their beliefs and practices? I'm getting a headache.
***
Ernie: Opus Dei sure takes it on the chin. The clear implication is that anyone who practices physical penance is a damaged nutjob.
Matthew: And Fache, while sincere, is a dupe with a heavy and malformed conscience. The bishop, meanwhile, is a soft monster -- he doesn't want to do bad stuff, but darn it, he's just got to. Still, he's wretched enough to give that interview full of calculated spin, the one that makes an ass of every sincere believer in the work of the Order.