Da Vinci Code

I just watched the Tom Hanks' movie Da Vinci Code last night via DVD.  When the movie was showing in theaters and everyone was talking about the implications of the film's plot on the growth of Christianity as a religion, I wasn't able to comprehend what the brouhaha was all about.  I remember reading a film review that noted the enormous amount of research time that Dan Brown, the author of the book, must have done in order to weave the complex storyline (it's a work of fiction, by the way).  Yet the plot is quite simple.  Tom Hanks' character solves a series of puzzles coded by Leonardo Da Vinci in order to determine the location of Mary Magdalene's corpse.  Why is Mary Magdalene so important?  Because she bore a child sired by Jesus Christ, and the last remaining descendant of thier union actually lives in 21st century France.  The tomb of Mary Magdalene has been closely guarded by the Priory of Sion, a secret society that has been in centuries-long conflict with some of the more sinister factions within the Opus Dei, a conservative sect of the Roman Catholic Church.  A DNA comparison of the corpse and the last remaining descendant of Jesus Christ would establish some proof that will shatter the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church--the primacy of Peter as the first Pope.  In other words, Mary Magdalene lost the political pole position of her child as successor and heir of Jesus's church to Peter, and the power struggle continues to this day, with the Priory of Sion championing the cause of Mary Magdalene against the ultra-rightists in the Vatican.  What struck me was the part in which the character of Ian Mc Kellen describes the manner in which Emperor Constantine puts his "Roman" stamp on the "Jesus" ideology, calling for the Council of Nicea, and giving political clout to the newly organized "Roman Catholic Church."  At that point in the debates, Jesus became elevated from prophet to God.  Yes, as such, we forever will debate on whether God created Man or Man created God--the phenomenology of an idea whose time has come.  Truly a thought-provoking and poignant movie, the film ends with a question thrown by Tom Hanks' character--what do you believe in?  In the end, this question we all face, we all must answer.  Nice to think of it ahead of time...