What’s that racket in the distance? It sounds like a tired old brass band playing a crusty march badly out of tune.
Oh, I know! It must be the Da Vinci Code publicity machine, getting ready for the DVD release of the movie. The trumpeter’s lip is numb and the cymbal player’s knuckles are all bruised and bloody, but the band has just this one more number to play. Then everyone can go home and rest, at least until the network television premiere.
I still haven’t seen the movie, and I can think of a lot of things I’d rather spend money on than a DVD copy of it. A book, for example. I could recommend a humdinger if you asked me.
Or marbles. You can have a lot of fun with marbles, and you can practically fill your parlor with marbles for the price of one new DVD release.
Or how about a good movie? There are plenty of better movies on DVD, many of them at very reasonable prices. Plan 9 from Outer Space, for example, can be had for less than $10 if you shop around.
Meanwhile, we can expect the same round of tired old hoohaw about the “controversy” surrounding The Da Vinci Code. (There’s no controversy about the book’s—and movie’s—historical claims, any more than there’s controversy about the existence of the Tooth Fairy.) It will all be more muted this time around, though. The band doesn’t have the breath left to blow really loud, and anyway most of the parade-watchers have gone home.
But when all the noise has died down and the street sweepers are picking up the confetti, the medieval romances of the Holy Grail will still be as fresh as they ever were. Then you’ll see the difference between a sensation and a masterpiece.
