DaVinci & Us

The DaVinci Code, as everyone who hasn't inhabited a cave in eastern Afghanistan knows by now, has been made in to a movie starring Tom Hanks (who purportedly sports some very funky hair in it). Tomorrow we'll be barraged by the blockbuster ticket 'take' and the opening-weekend numbers, and invariably, it will be compared to the previous week's 'blockbuster' numbers of MI:3. Whatever. What I am interested in, however, is the number of stories we will see, hear, or read in the next few weeks about how "religious" things are hot right now. As if ticket sales for a wildly-popular-book-into-movie is an accurate gauge of the country's spiritual temperature.

Or is it?

Maybe people *are* interested in this for more than just a thrilling read. And maybe they're interested in the movie for more than just Tom Hanks' latest role. Time will tell. What is apparent, however, is that the Christians of this country have an unparalleled opportunity to talk about Jesus to a population that wasn't all that interested in Him before the advent of this book/movie. And with accurate information (i.e., what is not in the book), we have the opportunity to convey the Message of God's Love like never before. I sincerely hope we don't flub this one and we use the time that has been given to us.

One thing that appears to be a lesson learned is to not boycott a movie like this. I think the fiasco that came about with Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ in the late 80s taught us well. That movie was destined for non-entity in the world of box-office ticket sales and artistic review--until a Christian community went up in arms and boycotted the dumb thing. All of a sudden it became something to see--if only to figure out what the uproar was about. I'm sure Scorcese was laughing all the way to bank on that one....

If you're looking for good information to share about the book or movie, check out this site The Truth About DaVinci . It's got great information and there's an amazing article by George Barna as well. Worth the time to look around and read, for sure.

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Today was the final production of KidStuf for the '05-'06 season. It went very well--and was a huge amount of fun. Of course, "fun" used to describe less than it does now....now it says that I'm tired and sore after doing something enjoyable. ;) We had a great script to work with (lots of fun), a great group of actors who were willing to strut their stuff on a phony catwalk (as models in a Bridal Fashion Show, nonetheless!), and one overly-ambitious young woman who thought that a bunch of white, non-dancers could actually pull off a coordinated dance routine. ;)

We ended the production with "We Go Together" from Grease instead of our typical "So Long." It worked well (that was the complicated dance) and was a huge amount of fun (see the definition inclusions above), but it also felt very much like the last day of senior high school. Our cast is changing this summer as one member joins the Navy and Mark and I anticipate a transfer from the area....so it really had a bit of a maudlin feel to it. But books end and new books begin--and whoever the leadership ends up recruiting for these roles will do a great job, of that I'm certain. And it's certainly been a great run for Mark and me--I've been able to stretch my directorial wings and scratch my acting-bug at the same time, and Mark has done amazing things with pocket protectors and pink socks. ;)

And with that, I'm headed to bed. I'm pooped from all the "fun" today! ;)