I received this email from one of our church attenders today. My guess is that this email is working its way around:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAY 19TH?
May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor. What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I'm going to offer you the usual choices -- and a new one.
Here are the usual suspects:
A) We can ignore the movie. ........
The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood's point of view, you don't count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.
B) We can protest. ........
The problem with this option: It doesn't work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)
C) We can discuss the movie.
We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated bythe movie. ........
The problem with this option: No one's listening. They think they know what we're going to say already. We'll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because the power of story always trumps the power of facts (why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood's choices regarding what movies to make.
But there's a fourth choice.
On May 19th, you should go to the movies. Just go to another movie. Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st --that's the day the ballot box closes. You'll get a vote, the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend. Use your vote. Don't throw it away. Vote for a movie other than DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won't have a choice. The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let's all go see it. Let's rock the box office in a way no one expects -- without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let's show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too. May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge's opening weekend. Buy a ticket. And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And let's all go to the movies.
I sent an email back. Here's what I had to say about it:
May I offer an option "E"?
E. Go see the movie! Put yourself in a position where you can speak knowledgably to others about it...instead of just being "the Christian who's opposed to everything. I say go see it, learn about it, find out what they're saying about Christ...and then REDEEM the movie. Maybe as Christians we should be about to say to our friends, families, and coworkers, "Yeah, that was a great movie! If you're interested in learning more, well, our church is going to talk about the movie on weekends. And they're not going to slam it, or put it down...they're just going to investigate things more thoroughly...with an open mind...they'll probably even talk about some stuff that the movie hasn't even thought of.
I believe we have an incredible opportunity to take something that the Devil intended for evil and turn it around. This is a time when many people are going to be asking questions and exploring spiritual matters...let's redeem it! I don't want the church to be a bunch of fuddy-duddies who alway disapprove of everything. The movie is a fictional piece, and needs to be understood that way. I could go on and on but I won't. Anyway...I say we embrace it, and then we redeem it.
--JB
P.S. (and that doesn't stand for Princess Sophie either--you'll have to have read the book to get that)...Where did this email originate? My guess is that it MAY be from the marketing staff for the "Over The Hedge" movie. Just a thought.
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