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Rock the box office! (Fri 19th to Sun 21st May)
Instead of expressing disapproval at blasphemy
by protesting and boycotting, (and thereby falling into the trap
of creating free front page hype and lead story controversy for
Sony Pictures to sell more tickets) some Christians who know how
Hollywood works have a different suggestion. What reads below
came by way of Barbara Nicolosi at Act One, an organization for
Christians in Hollywood.
pass this on!
WHAT ARE WE DOING MAY 19TH?
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 honour.
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:
we can ignore the film...
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.
Or 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.)
Or we can discuss the film. We can be rational
and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point
refutations of the lies promulgated by the film. ...
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...
Just go to another film!
Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later
than Sunday, May 21st -- that's the day the ballot box closes.
We'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 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
rancour. 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. | 
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