The Da Vinci Commode

Wow. What a weekend. Suddenly the whole country is 'affected' by Code Mania. Figuring out what is truth and what is fiction is the imperative. Historical fiction is an interesting genre. Creating a fiction around God is another matter. Has it ever been done before? Has anyone other than Dan Brown come along and said blasphemous things like "Satan is really our president," or "Dick Cheney is demon" for the sake of entertainment. Most Op/Ed pages in local newspapers invoke this priviledge. Does that give a writer the privilege, in the name of capitalism, to do the same thing for personal, monetary gain? I think not. I saw the movie, and I will acknowledge it made me think about issues that are extremely relevant to our day and time. The history of Catholicism jumps to mind. I can understand why their religion may be somewhat "up in arms" over the movie. Well, I have always felt a religion that worships Mary and does not believe in contraception is a little off. I enjoyed the analogy though that Mary Magdalene was a vessel, or better her womb is a vessel worth respecting. Procreation is important to the human race. Whether it should be worshipped above God, that is another question. I also am not provoked by the notion that Jesus has a wife or a lover. My upbringing in the Episcopal church tells me it is not really true, but being single at age 43 gives me a slightly different perspective than most. I grew up with girlfriends. In my youth there was rarely a time I did not have the company of a young woman. Things change as you get older, and somehow I missed the marriage boat. I missed the children boat as well. I also feel strongly my wait is not over. This reality has forced a scenario upon me and my parents that has at times been excrutiating. My life as a single adult is severely different than their lives, so much in fact that they have difficulty understanding I can be a full functioning human being in "my" situation. I, when I am lucid and rested enough, use it as a platform to suggest we do live in a different world than ten years ago. It seems as if everyday I wake, there is a pantheon of challenges that never existed prior to now. What are these? They may be more in my mind, and they may be exaggerated as a result of situation, but it seems like every major institution in our country's infrastructure is being challenged. It seems as if there is no intelligent, moderate, politically successful leadership in our American governmental system. It seems as if every major component of everyday life is different in a way I do not understand. (I thought today, who would want to live in a time tumultuous enough to contemplate the success or failure of the automobile, gasoline, and petroleum as key elements of American society) Am I over reacting? We went through an energy crisis in the 70's, and I stood in line at gas stations with my parents. Then, no extreme religious sect had flown high-jacked airliners into downtown Manhattan. That must be what truly has changed the United States. Other than our own plights of war trudging out the history of a very young, rebellious country, we have been free from bloody violence with the "world" on our ground until now. Osami Bin Lauden, with his wealth and vitriol, successfully punished us for Desert Storm. The "Invasion of the infadels" was punished, and the punishment has had long-lasting and negative consequences on our country. We have not recuperated, because energy before preserved for domestic/social programs have been diluted by the "War on Terror." We, again, are beginning to fall behind other countries as a super-power. I myself have no interest in living in a super power. I only want to live in a nation safe from death, murder, corruption, and dishonesty in government. I truly do not see success in Capitalism. Since high school my instincts have never bought into the idea that a free market can actually work. I have always known the rich control the economy and therefore jobs, and if you do not fit into their scheme of live, you are screwed. Capitalism has always been painted as "The American Dream." That is rosey, and maybe some few people really do rise from their dismal, poor, roots and become magnificently successful. I just don't buy that it. It infuriates me that pop icons (although I love cinema as a want-to-be film composer) constantly use TV as a vehicle to thank God for their many blessings. What about the rest of us, the majority of us? What about the misplaced residents of New Orleans, the birth place of our ONLY true American art form, jazz? This is a question our country is having difficulty answering at the moment. What is our country and who are it's people? Is it, as it once was, the common man? The Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth? Is it the Jews, as Al Quida seems to think? Is is millions of new, Mexican immigrants fleeing over their border for a new chance at employment? Is it Scotch/Irish or Italian or Russian immigrants fleeing a ruthless dictator such as Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, or the Queen of England? This in reflection seems to be a common link, that Americans seek refuge here. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free." I don't see that message being reinforced anywhere in the America today. I see a new tax cut for the rich. I see pork barrel spending injected into every bill trying to skim our hard-earned money for personal gain. I see every radio station in America bought by the same company with a short playlist and an agenda that I do not support or understand. I see MP3's and Steve Jobs dismantling the recording industry in a few short years. I see Sony fusing a Japanese bred idea of video games with American cinema. I see real estate creating a bubble of inflated home prices that is destined to pop. I see television glamorous the common man, gently massaging his chain to gain his support. Musica Reservata, the good of the group over the integrity of the art. I see CMT pitching a lack-luster, metrosexual, bleeding heart, guitar strumming music that would make Chuck Berry laugh. If the Da Vinci Commode makes the American people try to understand our own beliefs it is a good thing. It, for me, does nothing for the state of cinema in the new millennium. "Rumor Has It" to me has been the most humane and watchable film I have seen in years. Wine country, a rich bachelor, a pretty young girl. Those are all thing that once were rather paramount in the pursuit of the American Dream. A job, a home, a two car garage, and a couple of kids. Without a country to live in, might as well out source that too.