Erroneous on Both Counts

After a week and a half since its release, Ramble On was finally able to find time to watch Ron Howard's film adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. While the film was entertaining and fast-paced, it did not quite fulfill all the hype that its marketing campaign promised. What is of even greater interest however was the softening that took place between novel and film. What sparked such great controversy in the DVC (novel version) was the questioning of the divinity of Jesus. Howard's version however takes some liberties and attempts to play it safe, rather than being as forthcoming to challenge centuries of "traditional" Christian theology regarding the divinity of Jesus. Kelly Boggs points out some of this softening in his own blog,

The movie departs ever-so subtly from the book in a way that somewhat mutes the attack on Jesus’ divinity that Brown puts forth in his novel.

In the film, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, says, “History shows Jesus was an extraordinary man. Why couldn’t Jesus have been divine and still have been a father?”

While Christians will still have a problem with the line, it is not found in Brown’s book. Critics obviously felt that it softened the questioning of Jesus’ divinity. Also, contrary to rumors, the movie contains no scenes of Jesus and Mary Magdalene romantically involved, which I am sure some reviewers found disappointing.

Near the end of the movie the filmmakers further soften the question of Jesus’ divinity when they have Langdon say, "What matters is what you believe."

Had the movie remained true to Brown’s strong attack of Jesus’ divinity, the critics would have been falling all over themselves to praise the courageous effort. However, the muting of the book’s challenge to historic Christianity left most reviewers dissatisfied.

Overall the movie seemed to rush through the sequence of the novel, and left out many important details of the book that make understanding the DVC very difficult for those viewers who have not first read the novel. The mysterious sex rituals were never really addressed in Howard's DVC, as it was more clearly explained in novel form. The ending of the film was also disappointing, feeling much more rushed and wooden than in Brown's novel.
While the DVC will no doubt continue to make Mr. Brown and Mr. Howard extremely rich, the DVC has failed to live up to the hype, which accompanies the DVC bandwagon. Regardless of personal opinion, Ramble On encourages its readers to approach both the film and novel of DVC with an open-mind, but with knowledge that the DVC is no truer than other pieces of fiction such as Indiana Jones or Star Wars. A good understanding of our culture is essential to our ministry, and what better segway could one ask for to spark a conversation about faith than the DVC? While there are many resources out there about DVC, one of the best for the casual reader can be found at Westminster Theological Seminary’s website here. It offers a brief, yet thorough explanation into the historical and theological errors made by Brown and his cronies that will not take a weekend to read.