I saw the headline, "Hanks Blasts Da Vinci Critics." I thought, "Oh great, one of my favorite actors--a family man, for crying out loud--is going to lash out with half-baked accusations against the Catholic Church." Then I read it:
Oscar-winner Hanks said objectors to The Da Vinci Code are taking the film too seriously, telling the Evening Standard: "We always knew there would be a segment of society that would not want this movie to be shown.
"But the story we tell is loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense."
Well, amen. If Dan Brown and Random House merely had the decency to say the same thing a long time ago, people wouldn't have gotten so upset. It is a good story. It's just total bunk when it comes to historical value, but Brown and Co. wouldn't admit it. If they had, many Christians would've still been insulted, but the fury would've been dulled considerably.
I don't know why Hanks made the statement. Perhaps he has been sent as a peace maker. Perhaps he's simply sincere: he doesn't see why a fictional piece of baloney is upsetting Christians everywhere. Who knows. It's Hollywood. From its accounting practices to everyday morality, it plays by entirely different rules.
Aside: If you can't bring yourself to boycott the movie ("I just haaaafta see it" squeal), try to stay away opening weekend. According to Amy Welborn, that's the weekend Hollywood looks at most closely when determining a movie's success . . . and determining whether to make another Dan Brown book into a movie.
