Mon, May 15, 2006
Da Vinci Bashing—12:55 PM
The Chicago Sun-Times has convened a panel of authors and literary critics to pick apart what's worst about Dan Brown's immensely popular book, The Da Vinci Code. Plus, isn't Tom Hanks's hairdo weird?!
It seems like most of the criticism comes from underdeveloped characters, uninspired prose, diluted historical arguments, and treating the reader like a simpleton. Well, yeah. That's what makes it something less than a literary classic. But that's also what makes it hugely popular. People are idiots, and they don't like books that remind them of it. For most, books are highfalutin gibberish that waste hours when a TV show could say it more succinctly. Of course they're going to gravitate toward easy stuff that keeps them in the loop and involves enough intellectual material (in the background) to make them feel smart. Plus, its breakneck pace makes it almost as quick to read as if you're skimming it, which is what most of them do anyway.
I read it. I loved it. I can certainly understand why it's very popular, and I think it'll make a fun movie. Some books are intellectual exercises with fascinating topics and tantalizing questions about the human experience (and many of them suck). Some books are easy summer reading, just for enjoyment (and many of them suck, too). It's the same with movies: not every one has to be the high achievement of the art form. Merit is not based on how lofty a work's ambitions are: it's how well it achieves the ambitions it has.
In the case of The Da Vinci Code, there's also a fair amount of that pop culture backlash, where people start sniping that anyone who appreciates something so popular has "drunk the Kool-Aid." I prefer the Kool-Aid spit take.
Bee Boy — Fri, 5/19/06 11:53am
Yikes! The bashing continues! Damn these hipster critics and their pop culture backlash!
"Lauren" — Wed, 5/24/06 8:48pm
The movie was good. Not VERY good, not excellent, but totally fine, and even with some very good moments. I don't know what all the bitching is about. I agree totally with the Oregonian reviewer...another reason to move to Portland, I guess.