The Da Vinci code

Spoiler alert

Yesterday I watched the DaVinci Code. Technically, it would have been today, because the movie started a few minutes before midnight. Therefore, it finished around 3:00am.

While booking the tickets, there was a warning sign on the information screen that there is a limited number of tickets available. We were lucky, we came early, so we hoped we could make it and get the all three tickets. The queue was not long; actually we were so early that people were buying tickets for other films. “- How many seats are left; about thirty, that’s why it’s blinking” we were told while buying the tickets.

Fast forward to the show time. Apparently only 30 people got tickets for the late night screening. There was capacity for over 100 people.

I read the book last year and the storyline was quite fresh in my mind. The one thing I disliked from the book was that the ending was a bit of a let down.

The movie was fast-paced, and it appeared that if you had not read the book, you would struggle to follow the story line. Evidence for this the frequent dozing off of both my friends.

One of the outcomes of the movie was that there is a bloodline originating from Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and there are people that try to preserve it while others want to break it at all costs.
This notion of the importance of a bloodline, in this case originating from Jesus, is rather old-fashioned, like a legacy. What significance would it make to a person if someone really descends genetically from Jesus and Mary? Is there information carried in the genetic material other than genetic traits (colour of hair, colour of skin, etc)?

There is a long tradition that prevails until today, that information other than genetic traits are passed genetically through generations.
Herodotus talks about a story he heard that during the reign of Psammetichus I (664-610 BC) in Egypt, the king was interested to find the origin of all languages, that is which language a person can speak innately. Yes, the belief was that there is a default language that everyone can speak. Therefore, for the experiment, he gave two new-born children to deaf-mute shepherds that they would raise away from civilisation. The first words the children would utter, would be the origin of all languages.

The story continues that the children uttered becos, a Phrygian word for bread. Instead of checking the experiment parameters, the Egyptian king accepted that Phrygian was the root of all languages (with all respect to Phrygian).

I would recommend to read the book before watching the movie, so you get the full picture. If reading is not your thing, you can also get an audio version for your music player. Another movie that makes a significant difference when you read the book first is A Beautiful Mind.

Simos