[the_old_crowd] Re: Hoy!

[Eileen Rebstock]

Oh god, now we're going to discuss *real* trash on list?

Ahem... 

I don't think the popularity of the DVC is *that* similar to HP, except to the extent that they both play off the mystery genre. DVC does play off the secret knowledge trope that drives conspiracy theories and certain aspects of religion, while HP (despite the usual attacks by that nut Michael O'Brien on the subject) doesn't. The allure of the DVC is stated on the front page where it's stated (incorrectly) that all the descriptions of art, rituals etc. in the book are *true*, even though the story is made-up. Whereas it's only the people who hate HP who see anything real in HP. 

I've heard more people than I count saying "Wow, I learnt so many things about the Catholic Church/Classical history/Opus Dei/the Templars/Leonardo da Vinci the Da Vinci Code!"

I've never heard anyone saying, "I've learnt so much about Witchcraft/Alchemy/Divination from HP!"

Plenty of people read DVC just for the fun of the story, but it definitely appeals on the Secret Knowledge basis.

And yes, the protest against both books probably aids their popularity, but in the DVC's case the protest was kind of built-in in the first place. It presents itself as a shocking tale of heroism prevailing against Christian oppression. The Christian protest is part and parcel of the package. Whereas with HP it seems rather accidental, that this particularly book was the focus of such a tempest, when other children's fantasy got off almost scot free. 

I've a very poor opinion of the DVC, though, and am restraining myself from turning this into a no-holds-barred DVC bashing. Can you tell? ;-)

Eileen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com [mailto:the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Of entropymail
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 8:02 AM
> To: the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [the_old_crowd] Re: Hoy!
> 
> --- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "davewitley" <dfrankiswork at ...>
> wrote:
> 
> > <snip>What's that?  You want something substantial to discuss?  OK,
> do you
> > think the popularity of DVC is for similar reasons to HP?
> 
> Funny how this ties in with everything that's going on here. My
> twelve year old's fascination with HP has been waning (whether it is
> due to the quality of the writing or the length of time between
> books, I'm not sure), so I suggested that he try out the DaVinci
> Code.  He's mature enough to deal with the sex and level-headed
> enough to work out the religious stuff on his own, so I thought he
> should give it a shot.
> 
> Well, he loved it, and I have to believe it is because of the same
> things that he so loved about HP, only moreso. The intrigue, the
> characters who are not what they seem, and the wonderfully
> infuriating code-breaking! What more could an HP fan ask for? Granted
> the "magical" world is missing, but the mysteriously clandestine
> world of Opus Dei is a great stand-in. He's now making his way
> through DVC's predecessor, Angels and Demons.
> 
> And, to answer your question on another level: yes, DVC's popularity
> has probably benefited greatly from the publicity generated by
> Christian protestations of blasphemy, as has HP.
> 
> :: Entropy ::
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