A senior Vatican official has called for a boycott of "The Da Vinci
Code," while the Council of Churches in Jordan and Roman Catholic
activists in India want their governments to ban the film altogether.
But what's notable in the U.S. where the film's release next week has
believers of many denominations nervous and angry is that boycotts
are taking a back seat to anti-"Da Vinci" books and teaching sessions
about the Gospels.
Some religious commentators figure that movie boycotts make
Christians look bad and don't accomplish much. Even Opus Dei, the
Catholic organization that's villainously portrayed in Dan Brown's
story, is going for educational outreach.
"It seems that boycotts are becoming less and less effective," said
Bob Waliszewski of the conservative Focus on the Family, whose
pluggedinonline.com media guide draws 1 million visits a month.
The practical problem with boycotts, and even harsh criticism of a
film, is that it winds up drawing more attention to the movie in
question, they figure.
An Opus Dei leader cited attacks on Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the
Christ" as one reason his community was bypassing a boycott. And
while the gay-themed "Brokeback Mountain" irked some conservative
groups, commentator Dick Rolfe of the Dove Foundation, which
encourages production of family-friendly films, cautioned last year
that: "If Christians protest too loudly, they can end up making the
mistake of calling attention to a movie that otherwise may not do
very well at the box office."
Another problem, said Christian media consultant Phil Cooke, is that
so many entertainment offerings denigrate faith that believers would
need to "set up a permanent boycott office underneath the Hollywood
sign."
Movie boycotts basically don't work, says Bob Waliszewski of Focus on
the Family, though protests can sometimes kill TV shows because
advertisers don't want to offend consumers.
What has believers across the theological spectrum upset about "Da
Vinci" is the idea that the film will echo Brown's novel by having
scholarly characters dismiss the Bible and church teachings about
Jesus as fraudulent. The plot also revolves around Jesus marrying
Mary Magdalene, and a conspiracy to cover their union. "Da Vinci"
director Ron Howard has rejected pleas for an on-screen disclaimer
labeling the tale as fiction.
Advocates of a box-office boycott include Archbishop Angelo Amato,
No. 2 in the Vatican's doctrine office, and India's Catholic Secular
Forum. Jordan's Council of Churches said "Da Vinci" contradicts both
the Bible and Islam's Quran.
In America, one person suggesting an alternative is Barbara Nicolosi,
whose Act One trains Christians in entertainment careers. She's
promoting an "othercott" through her "churchofthemasses" blog:
Believers are to purposely attend Disney's "Over the Hedge" to bump
"Da Vinci" from first place in opening weekend box office.
Otherwise, church groups are sponsoring an unprecedented avalanche of
pre-emptive Web sites, broadcasts, sermons, books, pamphlets, panel
discussions, news conferences and ads.
Retired University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Gregory Black
says boycotting was once a more potent threat. His book "The Catholic
Crusade Against the Movies" recounts the story of the Catholic
bishops' Legion of Decency, founded in 1934.
The group controlled sexual and other offensive content for more than
two decades by monitoring forthcoming films and threatening to direct
millions of parishioners to shun unacceptable fare.
These days, cultural changes and new channels of movie distribution
make boycotts much more difficult, he said. Besides, "boycotts
generally have driven people to the box office."