NOTE: I decided to republish this post just to remind y’all of a very effective means of protesting the opening of The DaVinci Code this weekend. Read on! –MA
Got plans for May 19, the day that the movie The DaVinci Code is slated to open? If not, go to the movies. If so, then go to the movies sometime that weekend before May 21. Just don’t go to The DaVinci Code.
That’s the advice being given to Christians by Christians who know how Hollywood works and know the best way to get the bean-counters in Hollywood to listen:
"May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.
"What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I’m going to offer you the usual choices — and a new one.
"Here are the usual suspects:
"A) We can ignore the movie.
"The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood’s point of view, you don’t count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.
"B) We can protest.
"The problem with this option: It doesn’t work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)
"C) We can discuss the movie. We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated by the movie.
"The problem with this option: No one’s listening. They think they know what we’re going to say already. We’ll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because the power of story always trumps the power of facts (why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood’s choices regarding what movies to make.
"But there’s a fourth choice.
"On May 19th, you should go to the movies.
"Just go to another movie.
"Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st — that’s the day the ballot box closes. You’ll get a vote, the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend.
"Use your vote. Don’t throw it away. Vote for a movie other than DVC. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won’t have a choice.
"The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let’s all go see it.
"Let’s rock the box office in a way no one expects — without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let’s show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too.
"May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge‘s opening weekend. Buy a ticket.
"And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And let’s all go to the movies."
Spread the word. And go to the movies on May 19.
(Credit note: I received notice from an email forward originally sent by Barbara Nicolosi of Act One. The campaign was originally started by Quoth the Maven.)
Does anybody know for sure that buying a ticket online for a different movie, but not actually showing up for that movie will have the same affect as going? I would love to “cast my vote” for something else, but I don’t want to waste my money and I refuse to take toddlers to the movie theater. I really would like to find out for sure how they count the box office sales. Anyone? What I want ot know specifically is do they count the number of tickets sold (in person, online, etc.) or the number of tickets collected on those days?
C.M.W.
I believe you must pick up the ticket at the box office or the ticket machine at the theater to be counted in the viewership statistics. That would complete the sale.
Also, you may not want to have your toddlers (or young kids) watch “Over the Hedge” since for some reason, it’s rated PG!! What’s up with that?
As I stated in my original response to the first posting of this article, I don’t understand how paying to see Hedge is a slap in the face to Da Vinci. Da Vinci will rise or fall on its own ticket sales, regardless of how well Hedge does. The fact is, they are targeting two different audiences. Therefore, just because someone buys a ticket to Hedge, that doesn’t mean they are making a conscious choice to not see Da Vinci. In other words, I could take my kids to see Hedge at the 1:00 matinee showing and come back to the theater at 8:00 to see Da Vinci with my wife.
A better solution would be to boycott Da Vinci and to advise others to do the same. There is no need to push viewers to Hedge.
BTW, I confidently predict that “Over the Hedge” will beat “The Da Vinci Code” this weekend at the box office. You read it here first!
C.M.W.
I believe you must pick up the ticket at the box office or the ticket machine at the theater to be counted in the viewership statistics. That would complete the sale.
Also, you may not want to have your toddlers (or young kids) watch “Over the Hedge” since for some reason, it’s rated PG!! What’s up with that?
As I stated in my original response to the first posting of this article, I don’t understand how paying to see Hedge is a slap in the face to Da Vinci. Da Vinci will rise or fall on its own ticket sales, regardless of how well Hedge does. The fact is, they are targeting two different audiences. Therefore, just because someone buys a ticket to Hedge, that doesn’t mean they are making a conscious choice to not see Da Vinci. In other words, I could take my kids to see Hedge at the 1:00 matinee showing and come back to the theater at 8:00 to see Da Vinci with my wife.
A better solution would be to boycott Da Vinci and to advise others to do the same. There is no need to push viewers to Hedge.
BTW, I confidently predict that “Over the Hedge” will beat “The Da Vinci Code” this weekend at the box office. You read it here first!
sorry for the double post!
With ticket prices at $9.00/person I’m not going to go see anything.