Friday, June 09, 2006
The Da Vinci Goad
There's one thing I don't get about 'The Da Vinci Code'. Shouldn't it just be called the Leonardo Code, since 'Da Vinci' simply means 'Of Vinci', and calling something 'The Of Vinci Code' doesn't make much sense?
Anyway, to other matters. I see that the Chinese are the latest nation to decide to ban the film. They join Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and - you'll love this - the Solomon Islands, despite the fact it has no cinemas! Why? Well, the official explanation is to forcibly make way for Chinese films. Let's hope banning foreign films in China helps the quality of the film industry there in the same way banning foreign car imports helped the quality of transport in the USSR.
The real reason, however, is that China's miniscule Christian population were actually going to see it, and the Chinese government's position relating to Christianity is 'if we don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist'. This statement failed to convince my GCSE English teacher when I didn't hand my coursework in.
I really do fail to see why 'The Da Vinci Code' has drawn the ire of so many foreign nations with miniscule Christian minorities. Are they really worried about a film that is hardly Christian propaganda? Yes, I can really see it being a revolutionary text. Bah!
Oh, and another thing. The Chinese decision is clearly preposterous, but lest we forget, they aren't the only nation to restrict foreign imports in order to cultivate their own industry - the French do it too. I was somewhat annoyed at Wossy today who has suggested that we should follow this example. The French system is a double-sided coin, but we only ever hear about one side of it. On the one hand, it causes a load of homemade product, quite a lot of which is of a very high quality. On the other, that product itself doesn't fill up all the time the tariffs empty, so there is quite a lot of French films that are complete dross. The only reason we never hear about them is because they aren't good enough to limp across the channel. Further, since American blockbusters are always booked in French cinemas, and a significant chunk of their foreign percentage is used in this way, the films that suffer are independent films from other countries. Give me the choice of a decent foreign indy, or a British TV hack making a travesty like 'Sex Lives Of The Potato Men', and I know what I'd choose, as I've indicated before.
The Da Vinci Gone.
Anyway, to other matters. I see that the Chinese are the latest nation to decide to ban the film. They join Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and - you'll love this - the Solomon Islands, despite the fact it has no cinemas! Why? Well, the official explanation is to forcibly make way for Chinese films. Let's hope banning foreign films in China helps the quality of the film industry there in the same way banning foreign car imports helped the quality of transport in the USSR.
The real reason, however, is that China's miniscule Christian population were actually going to see it, and the Chinese government's position relating to Christianity is 'if we don't acknowledge it, it doesn't exist'. This statement failed to convince my GCSE English teacher when I didn't hand my coursework in.
I really do fail to see why 'The Da Vinci Code' has drawn the ire of so many foreign nations with miniscule Christian minorities. Are they really worried about a film that is hardly Christian propaganda? Yes, I can really see it being a revolutionary text. Bah!
Oh, and another thing. The Chinese decision is clearly preposterous, but lest we forget, they aren't the only nation to restrict foreign imports in order to cultivate their own industry - the French do it too. I was somewhat annoyed at Wossy today who has suggested that we should follow this example. The French system is a double-sided coin, but we only ever hear about one side of it. On the one hand, it causes a load of homemade product, quite a lot of which is of a very high quality. On the other, that product itself doesn't fill up all the time the tariffs empty, so there is quite a lot of French films that are complete dross. The only reason we never hear about them is because they aren't good enough to limp across the channel. Further, since American blockbusters are always booked in French cinemas, and a significant chunk of their foreign percentage is used in this way, the films that suffer are independent films from other countries. Give me the choice of a decent foreign indy, or a British TV hack making a travesty like 'Sex Lives Of The Potato Men', and I know what I'd choose, as I've indicated before.
The Da Vinci Gone.
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It needed to be banned for reason of Tom Hank's hairstyle.
Is Mexico nbanning it? It Italy? How about the Germans? My underpants? My Cat? My job? My Ford Focus?
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Is Mexico nbanning it? It Italy? How about the Germans? My underpants? My Cat? My job? My Ford Focus?
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