PRINTGood grief, Dan Brown
May 14, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, was unaware that his books would be controversial because they centered on topics that have been around for years. Or so he says on his Web site. Brown’s threshold for debate seems pretty high. But something must be up if the Vatican, people with albinism and Brown’s colleagues don’t like him.
The Vatican
It’s never good when the Vatican gives the movie adaptation of your book a papal thumbs down. Claiming both of Brown’s books and movies spread misconceptions about the church and Christianity, many Catholic organizations around the world called for the movies to be banned. The Vatican declared a Catholic snub.
The National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation
The Catholic church boycotting popular culture is no shocker, but the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation? Apparently, the group is not a fan of Brown’s albino assassin character, Silas, or the fact that he is described as having red eyes, which is a myth. The albino community is concerned with the amount of albino characters being unfairly portrayed in film. According to Skinema.com, a Web site dedicated to tracking such things, 24 films have been released since 2000 featuring albino characters who often play the role of the villain.
The Jealous Colleagues
In 1982, Random House published a book exploring the idea that Jesus had a family with Mary Magdalene. That sounds like another Random House book, one written by Dan Brown. At least Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, thought so and sued Random House in 2006 for using their ideas for the basis of The Da Vinci Code. Alas, the judge liked The Da Vinci Code better and ruled in Brown’s favor.
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