The DaVinci Code Crowd

Yesterday someone at work offered me a pass for two to see a sneak preview of The DaVinci Code at a theatre here in Portland. Through the miracle of high-speed photography, you could have captured me snatching the pass from the guy's hand. The chance to see the most anticipated movie of the summer--a whole DAY before the unwashed masses? Count me IN! The pass warned that they overbook and to be sure to be at the theatre well in advance of the screening. Since we knew this was going to be a biggy, we decided to get in line around 6 (the movie started at 7). We got there around 5:50, and I'm glad we did--there were already several hundred people in line in front of us. We weren't sure if we were going to get in, but decided to risk it, as we'd only be out some time if we didn't get in. The demographics of the line were pretty interesting. The last free sneak preview we went to was "She's All That" and that line had an average age of 16. This time, there were kids alongside grandparents. When we were in line at the same theatre to see Lord of the Rings, there were people dressed up as elves, but this time, there were no albino monks or evil Catholic Cardinals--how disappointing! When the line started moving, it was clear that we were going to get in, as they were showing the free preview on FIVE SCREENS! I guess that was pragmatic--they didn't want a bunch of fanatics storming the theatre in a desperate attempt to see the movie.

Not having read the book yet, myself, I had no idea why the Catholic church was so up in arms about it. Now I know why--to have the entire foundation of your faith put into question tends to make most religions a little fidgety. A couple of times during the film, I turned around and could actually pinpoint the instant when people in the audience lost their testimony of Christianity--it was pretty amazing. Actually, I was surprised that no one stood up at any point yelling, "BLASPHEMY!"

After seeing the movie, I wanted to visit France and solve some mysteries--and get a cool safe deposit box at the Bank of Zurich to put some cool artifact in--like my circa 1987 all-black Swatch. Since all my families millions were deposited in a Bureau of Indian Affairs' trust account, that money is looooong gone. In fact, if you've been reading this blog for long, you'd know that all that's left in that account is $0.16!

I really enjoyed the movie--it was much better than Mission Impossible, and the whole idea of a religious conspiracy of that magnitude is so intriguing. It made me pull out my temple recommend when I got home and put it under a black light to see if "so dark the con of man" was scrawled across the face of it. Unfortunately I couldn't see any hidden message because there was a big red "CANCELLED" stamp on it.