The Vatican may be planning to help out the upcoming Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons with a boycott. Reuters reports that the Vatican newspaper ran a story on Friday in which they say the Church “cannot approve” of such a problematic film. Other sources say the Vatican may be gearing up for a complete Catholic boycott of the film when it’s released this summer.
That’s great news for Hollywood, mired like the rest of us in tough economic times. A Catholic Church boycott could mean big box office. The Catholic Church’s opposition to the first film, The Da Vinci Code had almost no effect on preventing people from seeing it. In fact their disproval may have helped. Boycotts like this are not only completely ineffectual, they often help raise audience awareness of the film. It’s free advertising for Angels & Demons, the second the Pope or one of this clergy opens their mouth. Now might be a good time to buy stock in Sony Pictures.
It’s strange that this only works with entertainment. If the Catholic Church bans a movie or a piece of music, it’s an instant hit. On the other hand when the Pope blames condoms for the spread of AIDS in Africa people stop using them and the problem gets worse. I get the need to only listen to the Pope selectively, after all he makes a lot of wacky, irrelevant, Dark Ages proclamations. But if you’re going to pick your spots, you’re probably better off following his advice on movies and ignoring him when it comes to the spread of disease. Anybody can be a movie critic but I’m pretty sure you need more than a fancy hat before you qualify as a doctor.
