CALIFORNIA
The Bakersfield Californian
BY MARK BARNA, Californian staff writer
e-mail: mbarna@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, May 16 2006 9:45 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 16 2006 10:06 PM
Pinpointing when something immensely popular becomes a cultural phenomenon is not easy. But in the case of "The Da Vinci Code," it's as simple as forecasting a sunny summer day in Kern County.
Friday.
That's when Dan Brown's novel, which has already sold more than 40 million copies, premieres as a Hollywood movie, with Tom Hanks as its star and Ron Howard as its director. ...
Why is a novel that portrays the Catholic Church as suppressors of a great secret -- that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child -- so captivating?
Clergy response mixed
Several local clergy members said the sexual abuse scandals and subsequent coverups by the Catholic Church have primed people to believe that the church is capable of going to extremes, including murder, as described in Brown's novel, to keep a secret.
Posted by kshaw at May 17, 2006 06:19 AM