Local priest supports Angels and Demons movie

By Meagan Leonard

Many locals remain unmoved by the Vatican’s proposed boycott of the upcoming movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, Angels and Demons.
Controversy has been stirring since 2006, when the first film in the series, The Da Vinci Code was released. Vatican officials have called the stories an ‘offense against God’, but local religious leaders disagree, saying it’s pure entertainment, not to be taken at face value.
Father Timothy Shea of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Belleville, believes the biggest issue with any movie is distinguishing fact from fiction. Because of Brown’s talent to produce a complex story from a few facts, Shea assumes that the Vatican is simply concerned that people will not view the film critically. He disagrees however, and trusts the public can make that judgment.
“I think people are pretty smart,” he says. “I think if they want to have a night of entertainment and go see a Tom Hanks movie, then sure! Go ahead!”
Angels and Demons once again follows religious expert Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, as he tries to save the Vatican from a terrorist attack initiated by an underground organization called the Illuminati.
Loyalist TV and new media student Mitch Haigh, doesn’t think that it’s possible for a film to change a person’s faith. “If it did,” he says. “You would have to re-evaluate your commitment to whatever religion you’re with, because a Hollywood movie with Tom Hanks shouldn’t make you doubt your religion.”
Reverend Ed Bentley of Eastminster United Church in Belleville, believes that it’s actually healthy for a person to be uncertain in their faith every once in a while.
“A faith that is not questioned or challenged regularly ends up having very little meaning,” he says. “Eventually it will be challenged by circumstance, and you will realize it doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s like hiding it in your back pocket.”
As far as the boycott, both men agree that it is benefiting everyone but the church.
Says Bentley, “Ideas are never the enemy, and unfortunately it’s been demonstrated in all faiths that when leaders of the religious community try to force their people to avoid other ideas or question what they believe, the results are almost always negative. If people cannot hear opposing ideas without it compromising their faiths, they were never very strong.”
Shea speculates that a lot of the controversy that stirs around these films is provoked by the media. He says that church officials are simply too busy to sit around reviewing all potentially controversial items, but when asked, of course they’re going to voice an opinion.
“A lot of money has been invested in these movies as far as marketing,” he says. “Sometimes the promoters will stir up controversy on their own to get word out that this movie is coming out. I think every agent in Hollywood will tell you that even bad news is good publicity.”