Much Ado About Da Vinci Code
May 19th, 2006 at 8:31 am (General, National Politics, Media, Religion)
There is a very clear bias in this country.
When a Dutch newspaper intentionally, explicitly, directly and undeniably insulted our Muslim countrymen, the government did nothing to protest. I do not remember even one government official speaking out against it.
But now that the movie “Da Vinci Code” is out, several politicians and government officials have protested against the movie’s showing. The MTRCB even went as far as giving it an R-18 rating even though there was nothing explicitly objectionable in the movie. And the City of Manila has banned it from being shown in their city. They say that the movie insults Christians. Maybe it does but only those Christians who are narrow-minded and whose faith is weak.
Those who oppose to the movie’s theme, in my opinion, are only those whose faith is misguided and not based on knowledge and understanding. If their faith is strong, then a movie can certainly not change anything. In theology class, I was taught that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine. A theory that he had a wife and a child is not contrary to that. A real Christian would not be so easily threatened by it. Real faith may be shakened by the movie’s story. But rather than oppose to it or shun it, it should embrace it, investigate it and dig deeper. After all, the foundation for any faith, in my opinion, should be the truth and nothing else.
Beyond and above all those theories, myths and faith, Da Vinci Code is nothing but a work of fiction. No more, no less. It’s up to the reader or viewer to interpret it. And the state, the government, has certainly no right to censor or ban it. It might be well within the limits of the MTRCB’s powers to rate it as R-18, but I think they have been misguided by the controversy surrounding the movie.
There has certainly been much hullabaloo regarding the movie. But there hasn’t been much, if any regarding the insulting Dutch cartoons. Compared to the cartoons, the movie, I think is inconsequential. It is a work of fiction. Meanwhile, the Dutch cartoons were a political and religious attack. Is it because opposing the movie gives much more media mileage? Or is it because our government simply cares more about Christians more than Muslims?
Related Posts:- Davao City Shelter Code Finally Signed Into Law
- Davao City Council’s 20 Priorities
- Wrong Move, Sec. Defensor
- Important Issues for the 2010 Philippine Elections
- Davao City Targets 70% Reduction in Solid Wastes
brad said,
May 23, 2006 at 10:08 pm
wala na pag asa ang mga taong nasa govt…. like i sed sa blog ko..2 hrs of movie wnt shake my faith. ewan ko ba, may senator pa jan na naggigigil i ban ang movie… ang daming 220ng nangyayari sa bansa dedma lng sila.. pero itong movie c-rus sila atakihin…
Major Tom said,
May 25, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I fully agree with you. I want to say to all of ‘em opposing this movie to “Relax, it’s just another Tom Hanks film”. Its all pure entertainment. And its crap most of the time.
benj said,
June 16, 2006 at 1:52 am
fiction or not, the movie is blasphemous.
kudos to the church for sticking with their ridiculous and dated religion.
death to the church.
Jake said,
June 27, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I agree with you. Except for your comments about the cartoon publications that many find offensive to the muslim faith. My critisism is not regarding your opinion given on the cartoons itself, but on your knowledge on the origin of the cartoons. As you mentioned in your piece, the cartoons are Dutch publications to your knowledge, this is absolutely incorrect. The cartoon publications are published in Denmark, owned and made by a publishing company in Denmark. The Netherlands (its government) has nothing to do with its publications.
Just try to make sure you have the factual part of your writings accurate. For the remaining part of your article I agree with you though. A movie which claims to be fictional (a theory), should be treated as such, and therefore also should be given the thought it deserves. Furthermore, even if “The DaVinci Code” would claim to be 100% factual, then the church does not have the right to restrict showing, simply because they feel threatened (or they disagree) by things that does not put the christian faith in a favorable position. This is another example that the Church is a powerful and influential force in the Philippines, and I do not find this necessarily a good thing.
jake
mizcha said,
July 27, 2006 at 12:41 am
i respectfully agree with all your comments and criticisms… its jaz an another film entertainment and it was not required to believe in wat you see… thanks…
manu4strong said,
September 26, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I applaud for your strong opinion on this issue and I applaud you more for creating a medium that brought about this discussion.
The issue that you brought up… I would consider an another “nail amongst many” in the world, where we are living to be heterogenous in many facets (may it be faith, i.e. Christians, muslim, etc,. political leanings, etc., etc,), that should be remove before An Open ‘DOOR’ of dialouge and understanding can be brought about.
Friends…Forget about the attacks, the insuniating insults, or threats for that matter by individual or groups that may lobs around us. But instead, we want to focus on what should our reaction should be inspite of. I believe and still rings true to me on what the Good Teacher who once strolled this earth has told His student while he was teaching them on how to be a ‘good citizen’. He said, “BLESSED ARE THE MEEK FOR THEY WILL INHIRIT THE EARTH. And sadly to say, that virtue is so much needed for we do not have it in our generation.
Look around us, their so much violence that even a “slight” remarks, or an unwelcome “epethat” may provoke a mayheim in a society.
Let’s start within…right now… and practice Meekness and Tolerance…and all the BIASES in this our World community will eventually be marginalized…:)
adrian said,
February 13, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Dan Brown really has a habit of insisting that 99% of info in his works are fact. But then, why not just accept the fact that such issues on our faith exists? Kung talagang may pananalig sila sa Diyos, bakit sila nagrereklamo sa mga bagay na posible naman talagang totoo? Another one, bakit tila mas nakakalamang sa proteksyon ang pananampalatayang Kristiyano kaysa pananampalatayang Muslim? Don’t they realize na may mga kababayan tayong hindi Kristiyano na dapat ding pagtuunan ng pansin?