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Monday, May 08, 2006

Intrigue Or Interest?

By Donna Olmstead/
For the Journal
      Maybe the records broken by sales of "The Da Vinci Code" are all about its cliff-hanging intrigue — or maybe author Dan Brown succeeds because his characters search for a sacred mother, Mary Magdalene, who went missing 2,000 years ago.
    Even if you haven't read the book and are waiting for the release of the movie later this month, it would be hard not to notice the publicity and controversy surrounding the book since it was published in 2003, including the recent verdict in the plagiarism suit brought against Brown, which was decided in his favor.
       Brown says on his Web site the overwhelming response to his book was unexpected, but he attributes it to a desire to know more about feminine spirituality.
    "Two thousand years ago we lived in a world of gods and goddesses. Today we live in a world solely of gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power. This novel touches on questions of how and why this shift occurred."
    "The opposition generally comes from the strictest Christian thinkers who feel the idea of a `married' Jesus serves to undermine his divinity," he writes on danbrown.com. "While I don't agree with this interpretation, this is immaterial because the dialogue itself is deeply empowering and a positive force."