| Chapter 1: | The Da Vinci Code Controversy |
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His is an albino character, quick with a handgun and working through a powerful and secretive church cult to protect the integrity of the Holy Grail.
Whereas it is true that certain former members of Opus Dei (literally, “the work of God”) have accused the organization of cultish behavior, and while it maintains a deserved reputation for secret tradition, the success of The Da Vinci Code caught the organization by surprise, and they soon “realized they had an image problem on their hands” (Goodstein, 2006). When group leaders learned that the movie was being produced, they tried to persuade Sony Pictures to omit any mention of Opus Dei or at least to implant a label within the film suggesting that it distorts the reality of the actual organization. Ultimately, their effort failed (Goodstein, 2006).
Opus Dei is also depicted as a handmaiden of the Vatican, with conspiracies spiraling into the ranks of certain bishops and the Pope himself. According to Brown’s tale, there has been a type of “Vatican-gate” going on for centuries. When confronted with a question about whether the Roman Catholic Church could be responsible for a certain murder, Da Vinci character Sir Leigh Teabing replies (Brown, p. 287),
Teabing goes on to say that “the Church’s version of the Christ story is inaccurate” and that should the truth come out, the Vatican “faces a crisis of faith unprecedented in its two-millenium history” (p. 288).