Watch The Da Vinci Code and decide for yourself

Curtain-raisers:

• I got this text message yesterday from Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde: Hi, Ricky! I am now in Boston University, attending the graduation of my first grandson, Keith Ryan Monteverde Teo, who is graduating cum laude with an AB degree major in International Relations and minor in Economics. He’s pursuing Law in California and in two years he will serve you as international lawyer. I am very proud of him. My tears are falling as I watch him marching to the stage. It’s a blessing coming from God. Life is beautiful and I have so many blessings from Him.

• Happy birthday to PLDT and Smart’s marketing head Butch Jimenez, who turned 42 yesterday. Instead of holding a party, he donated Internet connectivity in computers in sari-sari stores using Smart’s latest broadband tech, the SmartBro.

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When – and if – The Da Vinci Code opens day after tomorrow in Metro Manila theaters, I will be first in line to watch it. There might be picket lines by those against the movie but I won’t mind them because I respect their right to express their opinion, pro or con, in the same way that I expect them to respect my right to choose what books to read and what movies to see. Being an adult, I like to think that I have a mind of my own and I have the right faculties and senses to make my own decisions without any group huffing and puffing on my back trying to make me toe the line.

I also like to think that I am a good Catholic and my faith is as strong as The Rock of Peter. Yes, I’ve read Dan Brown’s novel and – surprise, surprise! – it didn’t adversely affect my faith at all; not only has my faith remained intact, it has made it even stronger and firmer by the novel which some groups are protesting against to high heavens because they consider it blasphemous for claiming (which, personally, I believe is a big lie) that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had children, a bloodline that exists up to this very day, part of stunning secrets said to be hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and tightly guarded by a covert society (the Opus Dei?) all these 2,000 years.

Now, I can hardly wait to watch the movie and find out how director Ron Howard translated the 500-page-plus novel into a two-hour-plus "heart-stopping suspense thriller" (as it is described by Columbia Pictures, its producer) and how Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou fleshed out the main characters Robert Langdon (a symbologist) and Sophie Neveu (a police cryptologist). My curiosity has been whetted even more by the worldwide controversy generated largely by those who want the movie banned, even if, according to Columbia Pictures, it has been approved for exhibition in 36 countries, including predominantly Catholic Spain, Poland, France, Belgium, Japan, Romania, Finland, Norway, Israel, Turkey and China.

Any group has a right to call for a boycott of the movie (even if no group raised a howl against the publication of the novel), but no group has any right to encroach into the rights of other people (this one included) to exercise their right/freedom of choice.

Said Victor Neri, whose family is said to be Opus Dei, "I read the book and I found it entertaining and interesting. I guess we should just leave it as it is. It’s well-written, mixing fiction and non-fiction, hence you don’t know what is real and what is not. Let us try to enjoy books and movies for they are meant to entertain us. And I can’t wait to see the movie."

I agree with Victor. I read the book and I will watch the movie with an open mind, not missing the fact that the novel (and the movie) are works of fiction and, again I believe personally, shot through with questionable claims. But that won’t stop me from enjoying the movie, looking at it as pure fiction, a thriller and, as Tempo’s Ronald Constantino dismissed it, "a potboiler," not any different from the novels of John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon and other "thriller" novelists.

Asked by Newsweek how he would soothe the people who consider the story offensive, Tom Hanks said, "We’re all gonna keep saying the word ‘fiction.’ Fiction, fiction, fiction. You could probably do a two-second Google search and find dozens of books claiming stuff that’s much more damning and much more controversial than The Da Vinci Code – and state it as absolute fact. But no one pays any attention because they haven’t been on The New York Times best-seller list."

I asked Lea Salonga for her reaction to the Da Vinci controversy and here’s what she said:

"I have heard a few things about it. I don’t know why people are making such a fuss over it. It shouldn’t shake your faith. It’s a work of fiction and people should think of it that way. Even though there may be research to substantiate the author’s claim, it’s still a work of fiction.

"The more some people are rattled about it, the more they make other people curious. You know, what is the fuss all about? Why are you guys so nervous? It drives other people to say, ‘Mabasa nga ang libro; mapanood nga ang movie.’

"If you’re sure of your faith and sure of what you believe, whatever comes out shouldn’t affect the core of your belief. I don’t believe I would become a better or worse Catholic from reading the book or watching the movie.

"The book tackles a great mystery. Who could tell today what happened 2,000 years ago? Some of the claims made in the book were things that I felt would be interesting pieces of research to do on my own. You know, what if they are possible?

"At the end of the day, what matters is what you believe."

I agree.

The Da Vinci Code opens on Thursday, May 18, in Metro Manila theaters, pending the approval of the MTRCB (which, I guess, might give it a PG-13 rating – Parental Guidance, you know).

My well-meaning advice?

Watch it and decide for yourself.

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