Angels and Demons

by Pa Rock
Movie Critic

This wasn't a great weekend for really devout Catholics. President Obama gave a kick-ass commencement address at the University of Notre Dame to numerous standing ovations - and Angels and Demons opened in theatres across the nation. The President didn't hide from the issue of abortion, but addressed it head-on in his speech, while three dozen pitiful protesters were arrested outside of the venue. Dan Brown, the author of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, sees the Catholic Church as being two millennia of shadowy conspiracies. All in all, it was probably a good weekend for most Catholics to hit the beach!

I first read Angels and Demons several years ago, just a few months prior to the death of Pope John Paul II, and well before the election of his successor, the decrepit and intellectually dishonest Benedict XVI. That is significant, because this story centers around the election of a new Pope. Dan Brown, in the novel, goes into intricate detail about how the new Pontiff is chosen, and that portion translates well to the screen.

Angels and Demons was written before The Da Vinci Code, and it is the better of the two books. I read them in the order that they were written, not a must, but there are references to things in the latter that occurred in the former. Ron Howard, the director, brought them to the screen in reverse order, due undoubtedly to the fact that The Da Vinci Code sold like gangbusters and had the whole world talking. (According to Amazon.com, it is the number one selling adult hardback of all time.) People were so taken with Brown's book and his clever take on history, that they then went back and "discovered" Angels and Demons.

Both tales paint the Church in a bad light, undoubtedly the reason that the Vatican refused to provide any assistance to this current movie. The villains in The Da Vinci Code were members of Opus Dei, a secret order within the Church that Brown implied has enormous influence over the Church's operation. Brown put forth a tale of how the pregnant wife of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, was smuggled out of the Holy Land and to the safety of France, and that descendants of Christ were possibly still alive. The Knight's Templar became aware of this unknown royal line during the Crusades and hustled to protect the secret and the descendants. The Church rounded up the Knights Templar and murdered them for their wealth, but, according to Brown's version, a few survived. His Opus Dei, of course, was hellbent on finding these threats to the Church and snuffing them out.

The villains in the other tale, Angels and Demons, were the Illuminati, a secret order that were driven underground a couple of hundred years ago by the Catholic Church because they were too open to the notions of science. In this story, the Illuminati have returned and managed to infiltrate the Vatican where they are killing off the Cardinals most likely to become Pope and threatening to level Vatican City and much of Rome with a small vial of "anti-matter."

The hero of both stories is Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon, who was adequately portrayed by Tom Hanks. He had a quest in each movie that was accompanied by breath-taking action, pulsating music, and the obligatory pretty girl. Both movies are well worth the seven or eight dollars that it costs to see them, if for no other reason than the tours of Rome and (in The Da Vinci Code) London. But, sadly, neither movie captures the full magic of Dan Brown's work.

There is a scene toward the end of Angels and Demons (the book) where an evil priest, who happens to have a parachute, bails out of a helicopter a mile or so above Vatican City, leaving Robert Langdon and the chopper pilot to deal with the anti-matter bomb that is aboard the helicopter. In the book Langdon jumps from the helicopter, sans parachute, and uses his jacket like a parachute to guide his fall into the Tiber River. Apparently there were no stunt men in the stable willing to tackle that one, and the movie kept Professor Langdon safely on the ground.

Another thing that I found disappointing was that Langdon was flown to Rome in the book via a new experimental aircraft, one that I suspect exists, but Ron Howard left that alone and flew him to Rome in a Vatican jet.

I like Ron Howard, and have since he was running the streets of Mayberry, but I kept wondering what Steven Spielberg would have done with this material. Howard translated the basic stories to film, and he did so in a way that will sell tickets and popcorn, but he definitely did not push any boundaries or break any new ground.

And as for the Vatican's continuing displeasure with Ron Howard and Dan Brown - suck it up, boys. Brown's follow-up to these two fine tales, The Lost Symbol, another Robert Langdon thriller, will be in bookstores on September 15th - and the movie won't be far behind. (Maybe this one will explore the Nazi influence over the Church - that would certainly be timely!)

Some Religious Bias

(Warning: The following piece is somewhat critical of the Catholic Church. If you are a strident Catholic, easily offended, or dream in Latin, you might want to skip today’s blog and go have a beer – or three! --Pa Rock)

I have worn the mantle of several religions during my lifetime, but none have been as ponderous and burdensome as Catholicism. I became a Catholic during the 1960's at a time when the religion boasted a certain degree of coolness. It was a period of history when elements of the Church, primarily activist priests and nuns – and the occasional monk, were confronting segregation, the war, and social inequity. They were organizing and leading peace protests, boycotts, and campaigns to help the poor. They were ministering to those in need, and generally doing God’s work on Earth. The Catholic Church was also seen as a counter balance to the burgeoning right wing idiocy of the Christian fundamentalist movement.

The Berrigan brothers, Daniel and Philip, come to mind when I think of the Catholic Church in the 1960’s. They were both Roman Catholic priests and civil rights activists who gained fame for leading peace protests and occasionally destroying government property. Their artful lawlessness earned each brother a place on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.

The Catholic Church suffers from the same ailment that keeps the United States Supreme Court from being a positive force for change – seniority to the point of senility. Occasionally both institutions can be surprisingly progressive, but, far more often, they accede to the worldview of the elderly. The Catholic Church had two new Popes during the 1970’s. John Paul I held power for only a few weeks until his sudden death. His successor, John Paul II, assumed the Papacy at the very young age of fifty-eight and held tight to the throne of Saint Peter for over a quarter of a century. While John Paul II was not elderly when he became Pope, he aged fast and took the Church with him.

Robert Drinan, a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, was elected to the United States Congress from Massachusetts in 1970. He quickly established himself as an activist liberal Congressman and thorn in Richard Nixon’s side. Drinan was also noted for his pro-abortion stance, a position not in sync with the geriatrics who were running Vatican City. In 1980 Pope John Paul II tried to silence Drinan and others whom he regarded as malcontents by issuing a worldwide directive that barred priests from holding public office. The Pope seemed to be saying that governance should best be left to those from outside of the Church. Father Drinan gave up his seat in Congress, but, to his credit, he never did let his Church completely silence him.

During the 1970’s there was a fairly young Catholic Bishop running the Diocese of Springfield and Cape Girardeau in southern Missouri. I had the opportunity to meet this man of God on several occasions. His name was Bernard Law. Bishop Law flew to Rome to meet John Paul I and John Paul II. He was well attuned to the intrigues and politics of the Catholic Church, and was determined to move up in the Church hierarchy. Bishop Law was appointed Archbishop of Boston in 1984, and the following year elevated to the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Law was a man of immense ambition. Although he was careful not to say so, many believed that he envisioned himself as the first American Pope. Like many notorious politicians, however, his ambition became his bane. Cardinal Law “solved” the problem of pedophile priests by moving them from one congregation to another, sweeping them under the Church’s carpet until finally their sickness had needlessly contaminated thousands of innocent children. Cardinal Law was not the only one who turned a blind eye to the problem, to be sure, but he was clearly a significant player in the epidemic that almost destroyed the Church.

Today’s Pope was once a member of the Hitler Youth. He recently incited the Muslim world by quoting some arcane text that said Islam was spread by the sword. Whether that assessment was true or not, it is significant that the Pope thought it needed to be said while undoubtedly knowing that saying it would set off a worldwide religious and political firestorm. Why did he conveniently forget about the fine examples set by the Catholic Church with the Spanish Inquisition, the Rape of the Americas, and the Church’s collaboration with the Nazi’s during World War II? Oh, wait, he was a Nazi!

Yes, the Catholic Church did turn its back on its children. Yes, the Catholic Church has made bold moves to stifle dissent within its ranks. And yes, its leaders are still mired way back in the previous century – or the one before that. But the Church has had some bright points during this headlong rush into triviality. Mother Teresa walked the streets of Calcutta bringing comfort to the lowest of the low. Three nuns and an Archbishop were martyred while striving to aid the poor and forgotten in El Salvador. And every day priests and nuns and other frontline Catholics work hard to make life better for their parishoners. The flame is not out. The Church can once again become a major force for good in the world if it will stop behaving like a tyrannical government and get back to the basics of ministering to the needs of its people. And the Catholic Church must – MUST – protect its children from pedophile priests!

Now, don't even get me started on the concept of papal infallability!

Tomorrow night I am taking my daughter, Molly, to see the Phoenix Theatre’s production of Altar Boys and I felt like I needed to do some venting on this topic before we go to the play. If I have angered anyone, you are certainly free to pray for me.