Just ban it?

Minister of Culture confirms that “The Da Vinci Code will be banned from Egyptian cinemas

CAIRO: The rumors that the blockbuster hit “The Da Vinci Code is to be banned from Egyptian cinema were confirmed by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, who made the announcement during a session of parliament on Tuesday.

No surprise there.

What caught everyone unaware was that the government went one step further and banned Dan Brown’s international bestselling novel. As of now, copies of the book will be pulled of the shelves, where they have been since 2003.

We ban any book that insults any religion … We will confiscate this book, Hosni stated to parliament.

The question of the release of the movie has caused quite a stir in the religious community in Egypt, especially among Coptic Christians, who have opposed the film because of its controversial religious content. The story revolves around the suspicion that Jesus and Marry Magdalen were actually married, and that there decedents continue to live.

“A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years – which could shake the foundations of Christianity. reads the plot outline.

Coptic writer and thinker Milad Hanna tells The Daily Star Egypt that he feels the concept should never have been written in the first place. “When it comes to fiction the domain of writing is so huge. Why come near such a sensitive issue? Jesus Christ is a holy, sacred personality. We do not play with creed, says Hanna.

In a rare act of camaraderie, the Deputy Head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hussein Ibrahim, voiced his support of the ban. He compares the perceived offense to Jesus Christ to the Danish cartoon insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

With a stellar cast – featuring Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou (famed for her role in “Le Fabuleux destin d Amélie Poulain ) and directed by Ron Howard – it was expected to draw a large audience had it been released in Egypt. It has been estimated that the film would have earned between $350,000 and $520,000.

This is not the first film to be banned for having sensitive religious content, this has been happening for decades.

In 1976, Mustafa Akkad’s film “The Message about the Prophet Mohammed was banned although it received global success elsewhere.

In 1997, the Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino blockbuster “The Devil’s Advocate was actually released in theaters. However, the last scene of the film, where Pacino gives his infamous speech about being the devil – the peak of the film – had no Arabic subtitles. Eventually the film was pulled out of theaters, causing much controversy at the time.

Egyptian government censorship director Aly Abou Shady, in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly in 1999, said he felt the viewers themselves were unable to handle such content. We are in a country were there is severe conceptual confusion. The conservative atmosphere enforced by the fundamentalists still predominates, he said.

Apparently it was still the case in 2003 when another Reeves film, “The Matrix Reloaded was never released in local cinemas because of their explanation of a higher power, which the censors interpreted as a personification of God.

The country’s senior film committee at the time released a statement explaining the rationale behind their decision. Despite the high technology and fabulous effects of the movie, it explicitly handles the issue of existence and creation, which are related to the three divine religions, which we all respect and believe in.

I feel that people who censor art are either afraid of something, or hiding something. Censorship builds walls covering people s ideas, and it is walls like these that we need to tear down, not erect, says Ismail Naguib, an Egyptian businessman who is disappointed at the general attitude towards restriction.

Other films, like “Kingdom of Heaven and “The Passion of the Christ, were accepted by the censors and were screened in cinemas for several weeks, much to the audience’s surprise. The lack of consistency in enforcing censorship, leads us to believe that the authorities are simply giving in to pressure rather than abiding by a set of guidelines.

According to an AFP report, The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights EOHR believes that judging literary and creative works from a religious or political perspective threatens to impose religious or political tutelage over human thought.

Banning theses films from the Egyptian market may avoid some problems, but it only encourages others. According to black market film distributors, films banned by censors are always the highest sold pirated DVD’s.

“The Da Vinci Code has already made $643,915,967 global and ranks at number 26 in the all time worldwide box-office grosses despite, or due to, the controversy.

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