Director Ron Howard has recently come under fire from Catholic League president William Donohue because of his new film, “Angels & Demons,” based off the Dan Brown best-selling mystery fiction novel–the prequel to “The Da Vinci Code.” In a recent article on The Huffington Post, Howard adresses Donohue’s concerns and accusations. We’ve reprinted part of the article below with permission.
‘Angels & Demons’: It’s A Thriller, Not A Crusade
By Ron Howard
William Donohue of the Catholic League is on a mission. Whether it is a “mission from God,” as the Blues Brothers would say, only God knows, but the goal of his mission is clear: to paint me and the movie I directed, Angels & Demons, as anti-Catholic.
For a $5 donation to his organization, Mr. Donohue will send you his glossy new booklet (Angels & Demons: More Demonic Than Angelic), in which he writes that I and the people who made this thriller “do not hide their animus against all things Catholic.”
He’s been making these assertions for years, going back to the theatrical release of The Da Vinci Code. He stepped up his campaign more than a month ago with a series of press releases. And there he goes again, in a Daily News op-ed last Friday, saying that Dan Brown and I “have collaborated in smearing the Catholic Church….”
Let me be clear: neither I nor Angels & Demons are anti-Catholic. And let me be a little controversial: I believe Catholics, including most in the hierarchy of the Church, will enjoy the movie for what it is: an exciting mystery, set in the awe-inspiring beauty of Rome. After all, in Angels & Demons, Professor Robert Langdon teams up with the Catholic Church to thwart a vicious attack against the Vatican. What, exactly, is anti-Catholic about that?
Read the rest on The Huffington Post.
“Angels & Demons” hits theaters May 15.
For complete coverage of “Angels & Demons” visit Beliefnet’s “Angels & Demons” Page.
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posted April 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Once again the League is crying before they are hurt. The nice thing is they are giving Mr Howard and his little film even more publicity – something I am sure Mr Howard recognizes with some quiet glee. O well, many of us are looking forward to the movie – I think it was the better of the 2 books.
Even more I am looking forward to the next book. So, do you think it was a coincidence that the final publication date for Brown’s newest book just happened to be only weeks before the A&D movie is released. Nawh! NO one would be so crass and commercial to do that!
posted April 22, 2009 at 1:46 pm
“Mr. Donohue’s booklet accuses us of lying when our movie trailer says the Catholic Church ordered a brutal massacre to silence the Illuminati centuries ago. It would be a lie if we had ever suggested our movie is anything other than a work of fiction (if it were a documentary, our talk of massacres would have referenced the Inquisition or the Crusades).”
posted April 22, 2009 at 3:30 pm
The more Donohue rails against the movie, the more folks will go see it to find out if indeed it is “anti-Cathoic”. It’s a cotton pickin’ movie….and I would believe Ron Howard before I’d believe Donohue anyhow.
If indeed it was “anti-Catholic” and I seriously doubt it is…it is a mystery story, there is still freedom of the press and in most cases, freedom to make movies.
posted April 23, 2009 at 9:13 am
I love the Lord with all of my heart and I take what I say and do very seriously in an effort to prevent offending His good name. However, I am not in the movie or television business. I believe that it is more important to focus on the lack of morals and principles in our country than it is to focus on a movie we do not have to financially support. When we have a government that builds jails and prisons while they close schools and fire teachers I believe that we have a much larger problem than a movie. However, I do hope that all of the parties involved, especially the financier of the movie, acted in good faith and followed their own personal beliefs of what should be acceptable. But, it’s just a movie.