The Catholic Church No Longer Influences Hollywood

As evidenced by "The Da Vinci Code" movie, the Catholic Church, which once had great influence over what came out of Hollywood, has little if any ability influence today. Thomas Doherty writing in the Washington Post puts it this way:

Confronted with "The Da Vinci Code," the motion picture version of Dan Brown's best-selling update on the ripe tropes of 19th-century Know-Nothingism (the Vatican as conspiracy central, the priesthood as perverse hit men), a previous generation of American Catholics would have raised holy hell -- flooding the streets with pickets and boycotting not just the film or the studio but all films, in an impassioned nationwide campaign to bring Hollywood to its knees. Yet this weekend, as the much-hyped example of sacerdotal noir finally premieres, Catholics will be queuing up alongside Protestants, Jews and secular humanists. The religion that once put the fear of God into Hollywood now has less influence over motion picture content than People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Interesting. Read the whole thing.

Speaking of the movie, which has now been called "Dull Vinci Code", "Dud Vinci Code" and "Da Vinci Toad", here are some sample reviews courtesy of The Corner:

Newsweek: "The Roman Catholic Church can rest easy. Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman struggle mightily to cram as much as possible of Dan Brown's labyrinthine thriller into a 2-hour-28-minute running time, resulting in a movie both overstuffed and underwhelming."

Detroit News: "Here's the gospel on "The Da Vinci Code": It's a total snore. It's so boring it could be called "The Dull Vinci Code." It's so dumb it could be called "The Duh Vinci Code." It's the worst film ultra-reliable director Ron Howard has ever made. It turns the most likeable actor in America, Tom Hanks, into a stodgy cipher. It makes the most charming actress in Europe, Audrey Tautou, about as appealing as gum surgery. Together they have the chemistry of buttermilk.

Washington Post: "The most controversial thriller of the year turns out to be about as exciting as watching your parents play Sudoku."

New York Times: "I certainly can't support any calls for boycotting or protesting this busy, trivial, inoffensive film. Which is not to say I'm recommending you go see it."

Variety: "An oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material; result is perhaps the best thing the project's critics could have hoped for."

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