When a Work of Fiction Threatens your Religion

Why does a work of fiction threaten their beliefs so much? I just don't get it. As an aside, Angels and Demons was a much better book than The Da Vinci Code. Indeed, The Da Vinci Code movie was much better than the book, and that typically doesn't happen often. I won't tell you why, because it would spoil the story.

At any rate, the Catholic Church had to throw a hissy fit and not let them film in all the places they wanted to because it wasn't the "correct" view of Catholicism.

Ron Howard: Vatican obstructed 'Angels & Demons'

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ROME (AP) -- Director Ron Howard claimed Sunday that the Vatican interfered with efforts to get permits to shoot certain scenes of his "Angels & Demons" religious thriller in Rome - a charge the Vatican said was purely a publicity stunt. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and is based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, has its world premiere Monday in Rome...

At a press conference Sunday, Howard said he hadn't sought cooperation from the Vatican based on the opposition he encountered filming "The Da Vinci Code," another Brown novel that angered many Catholic leaders. But he said the Vatican nevertheless exerted influence regarding his filming permits, and he was told it would not be possible even to shoot scenes in Rome that had churches in the background.

"When you come to film in Rome, the official statement to you is that the Vatican has no influence," he said. "Everything progressed very smoothly, but unofficially a couple of days before we were to start filming in several of our locations, it was explained to us that through back channels and so forth that the Vatican had exerted some influence."

"Was I surprised? No. Am I a little frustrated at times? Sure," he said.

Nevertheless he said he felt that he was able to preserve the overall "Angels & Demons" experience despite the restrictions by recreating scenes on sets. For the Sistine Chapel alone, some 20 members of the production crew - posing as tourists - took photos of all the frescoes, floor mosaics and paintings of the tiny chapel where popes are elected - until they were told to stop, the film's Web site says...

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, refused to comment on Howard's allegations about church interference, saying his charges were purely designed to drum up publicity for the film. Last summer, Rome's diocese confirmed it had barred producers from filming inside two churches because the movie didn't conform to the church's views...

The 2006 film "The Da Vinci Code" took in more than $750 million worldwide. It prompted calls for boycotts by church leaders worldwide with the idea that Jesus married and fathered children and by depicting the conservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, as a murderous cult. Reaction from church leaders to "Angels & Demons" has been more muted, though one Italian bishop, Monsignor Antonio Rosario Mennonna, said Saturday the film was "highly denigrating, defamatory and offensive" to the Catholic Church, the ANSA news agency reported...

You know, I have to ask if Monsignor Antonio Rosario Mennonna has even read either book, or for that matter even seen the movie that he is talking about. Because quite frankly, I don't see Angels and Demons, the book anyway, as any of the adjectives he uses to describe it, but whatever. I'm just a heathen so what do I know?

I will definitely go see this movie, if only because Ewan McGregor is in it. You know, going from a heroin addict in Scotland to an important official in the Catholic church is a big step. Or maybe it was just the logical progression of things. Lulz.


For those of you who don't know, Ewan McGregor played the part of a heroin addict in Scotland in the movie Trainspotting, and as far as I know, isn't actually a heroin addict himself.