# I am so feckin' sick of The DaVinci Code! (lame)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 28, 2005, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586 "2005-03-28T08:14:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/21 "2005-03-28T19:39:43Z")
Well _I’m_ sick of people _bashing_ DaVinci Code. If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it. It’s no better or worse than 90% of the books that make the bestseller list. I’m weary of people bashing Grisham, King, Crichton, and the like. Look - these guys write entertaining novels. They’re not great literature, and were never intended to be. Stop railing against people because they’re not up to _your_ intellectual standards. I have some musical training, and I happen to think that 80% of pop music today is vapid garbage. But I know that a lot of people like it. The difference is, I don’t start a pit thread about it every 5 minutes. Sheesh!
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/22 "2005-03-28T19:46:17Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> Well _I’m_ sick of people _bashing_ DaVinci Code. If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it.
Too late.
> [@blowero](#):
>
> It’s no better or worse than 90% of the books that make the bestseller list.
Oh, I’d argue that, but then we’d be arguing the subjective.
> [@blowero](#):
>
> The difference is, I don’t start a pit thread about it every 5 minutes. Sheesh!
If I started a pit thread every 5 minutes then (even assuming I take 12 hours off to eat and sleep and stuff) then that would be 60 per day wouldn’t it? This is the only Pit Thread I’ve started on the _Da Vinci Code_- please, don’t take my word for it, look for the other 59, I’ll give you a finder’s fee of $20,000 if you can find even 40 other threads I’ve started on the subject… I’ll wait…
Meanwhile, take your own advise and if you see a Pit Thread that you think you’ll disagree with and get irked at, don’t read it. It’s really really easy to pretend your Dionne Warwick and just _walk on by…_, and to the best of my knowledge you’re not likely to go into a convenience store or a bookstore or turn on cable television or see a CNN special or anything of the sort about “The Meaning of Sampiro’s Pit Thread” that will just really get on your damned nerves.
Shalom
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/23 "2005-03-28T19:55:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> If I started a pit thread every 5 minutes then (even assuming I take 12 hours off to eat and sleep and stuff) then that would be 60 per day wouldn’t it? This is the only Pit Thread I’ve started on the _Da Vinci Code_- please, don’t take my word for it, look for the other 59, I’ll give you a finder’s fee of $20,000 if you can find even 40 other threads I’ve started on the subject… I’ll wait…
I said I’m sick of PEOPLE bashing DaVinci Code. I didn’t say you PERSONALLY start a pit thread every 5 minutes. (And it was hyperbole anyway, not literally every 5 minutes.) You just happened to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
> [@](#):
>
> Meanwhile, take your own advise and if you see a Pit Thread that you think you’ll disagree with and get irked at, don’t read it.
No, take YOUR own advice and don’t read my response to your response to my response to your pit thread… :rolleyes:
> [@](#):
>
> It’s really really easy to pretend your Dionne Warwick and just _walk on by…_, and to the best of my knowledge you’re not likely to go into a convenience store or a bookstore or turn on cable television or see a CNN special or anything of the sort about “The Meaning of Sampiro’s Pit Thread” that will just really get on your damned nerves.
Wow, I’m really sorry that Dan Brown tied you to a chair and forced you to watch all those specials about the DaVinci Code.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/24 "2005-03-28T20:02:10Z")
> [@the Lady](#):
>
> Easter dinner at my mother’s was eaten in front of the tv so we could watch “The real DaVinci code” To my extreme delight, the presenter wandered around the world finding and explaining all the ways the book was completely fiction.
> Amusing, that.
Was this the one presented by Tony Robinson? I enjoyed that, especially the way he drew his ultimate conclusion towards Monty Python…
> [@MrO](#):
>
> Oh, I’ll admit that Eco can write, and even if I was annoyed sometimes, I enjoyed his stuff. He requires a little more effort to read than I enjoy putting forth, I guess… I had become a bit of a lazy reader by the time I came across Eco.
I’d suggest that he doesn’t necessarily _require_ effort, but he certainly requires thought, and possibly re-reading. And certainly he’s aware of the complexities of intertextuality in historical writing. (“_Don’t mention the Templars…_” 😉 )
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/25 "2005-03-28T20:07:46Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> No, take YOUR own advice and don’t read my response to your response to my response to your pit thread… :rolleyes:
How on Earth am I to know that you’re whining “they don’t like the same book I liked, meow meow meow Mr. Rogers…” if I don’t read your post, which as you said is in _MY_ Pit Thread?
> [@](#):
>
> Wow, I’m really sorry that Dan Brown tied you to a chair and forced you to watch all those specials about the DaVinci Code.
I don’t recall saying that he did or that said specials ruined my life, but I did say they are annoying. Most people would gather that I didn’t like the book or its inexplicable popularity by the fact that this is a **PIT** thread, and by the fact that it’s name is _I am so feckin’ sick of the DaVinci Code_ and know that "if you are a fan of the book Da Vinci Code, then this probably isn’t the thread for you to meet like minded people, but then again the people capable of grasping that probably aren’t Da Vinci Code fans. Ciao (which is a word in Italian used as a greeting [explication courtesy of Dan Brown]).
;j
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/26 "2005-03-28T20:09:45Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> Well _I’m_ sick of people _bashing_ DaVinci Code. If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it.
You have to read it to know it sucks. It doesn’t quite work like the shit on the radio, which you ignore if you know what’s good for you. (And that’s what I do with pop music.) I read the book because I was curious what other Dopers were complaining about. I expected it to be bad and it was. Is there some reason this means I shouldn’t join the fun when other people post about it? It’s not a point of obsession for me, but it’s fun. Whether it’s better or worse than other best-sellers, which I don’t read, is immaterial - just like it doesn’t matter if any particular pop song I happen to be subjected to if I go somewhere it’s playing is good or bad relative to other chart-toppers. If it sucks, it sucks.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/27 "2005-03-28T20:36:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> I expected it to be bad and it was. Is there some reason this means I shouldn’t join the fun when other people post about it?
It’s just that you guys do it TO DEATH. Yeah, we get it - you don’t like The DaVinci Code. Can we move on with our lives now?
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/28 "2005-03-28T20:38:39Z")
It’s called **The Tom of Finland Code**.
A murder in the silent after-hour stalls of the men’s room at Barney’s New York reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since about 1964 or so. The victim is a fierce queen from the East Village who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave clues at the scene, written on a mirror in Victory Red nail polish that only his grandson, noted cryptographer and female impersonator Lemon Verbena, and Phranck, a famed butch dyke and symbologist, can untangle. The unlikely duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Lemon Verbena’s grandfather’s murderer but also the stunning (and _fabulous!_) secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere high-heel steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Lemon Verbena and Phranck on a breathless and giddy flight through Provincetown, San Francisco, and history itself.
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### Author:  [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/29 "2005-03-28T20:41:58Z")
Ahhhh, the irony of opening a thread which bashes the book and whining about how nobody has to read anything they don’t like.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/30 "2005-03-28T20:42:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> I don’t recall saying that he did or that said specials ruined my life
Oh, great - you’re one of these tedious, “sarcasm doesn’t exist” people. :rolleyes:
> [@](#):
>
> Most people would gather that I didn’t like the book or its inexplicable popularity by the fact that this is a **PIT** thread, and by the fact that it’s name is _I am so feckin’ sick of the DaVinci Code_ and know that "if you are a fan of the book Da Vinci Code, then this probably isn’t the thread for you to meet like minded people, but then again the people capable of grasping that probably aren’t Da Vinci Code fans. Ciao (which is a word in Italian used as a greeting [explication courtesy of Dan Brown]).
It’s highly ironic that you would start a whole thread to bitch about people who talk about the DaVinci Code too much, and then _defend_ your right to talk about The DaVinci Code. 😕
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/31 "2005-03-28T20:44:07Z")
Oops, Finn beat me to it. 😉
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/32 "2005-03-28T20:48:15Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> Well _I’m_ sick of people _bashing_ DaVinci Code.
And _I’m_ sick of people who can’t handle it when people disagree with their subjective opinions. Dan Brown created a work of art and marketed to the public. This gives each and every member of the public who takes the time to engage with the work the right to express their opinions about the work. Some of these opinions will not be the same as yours. Fuckin’ deal.
> [@](#):
>
> If you don’t like it, don’t fucking read it.
But if he doesn’t read it, how will he know he doesn’t like it?
> [@](#):
>
> It’s no better or worse than 90% of the books that make the bestseller list.
Which is pitworthy in and of itself.
> [@](#):
>
> I’m weary of people bashing Grisham, King, Crichton, and the like. Look - these guys write entertaining novels.
No, they don’t. They write trite, repetitive crap with forgettable characters and dull stories. There’s nothing remotely entertaining about any of them. Well, I shouldn’t really say that about Grisham; I’ve never read anything by him. I have read just about everything King and Crichton wrote up through the mid-nineties, though, and it’s a literary wasteland, devoid of novelty or interest.
Of course, YMMV. That’s what makes art interesting: that one work of art can produce such a fantastic variety of responses. It is, in fact, just that quality that makes all art intrinsically valuable, even if it’s art that I, personally, see no other value in. I may hate Michael Crichton’s books, but they can lead to interesting and productive discussions with people who do like his books, and that alone makes the time I spent slogging through drek like _Congo_ worthwhile.
> [@](#):
>
> They’re not great literature, and were never intended to be.
I think that virtually all “great literature” was written with no other intent than to entertain. Shakespeare had no other agenda than to get butts in seats at the Globe. Dickens never expected his novels to be taught in colleges. Melville started his career writing _travelouges_, for the love of God. Literature only becomes “great” because it is able to consistently entertain, generation after generation, long after the author and his original audience have gone to dust.
> [@](#):
>
> Stop railing against people because they’re not up to _your_ intellectual standards.
Where has anyone done that in this thread? Or is this more of that “If you say something I like is stupid, you’re calling _me_ stupid” bullshit? Because that’s just dumb.
> [@](#):
>
> I have some musical training, and I happen to think that 80% of pop music today is vapid garbage. But I know that a lot of people like it. The difference is, I don’t start a pit thread about it every 5 minutes. Sheesh!
Well, yay for you, I guess. Personally, I’d rather have more posters who are able to express their opinions in interesting or amusing ways, like **Sampiro** , and fewer posters who throw a tantrum when someone dares to criticize something they like, like… certain other posters.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/33 "2005-03-28T20:55:13Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> It’s called **The Tom of Finland Code**.
>
> A murder in the silent after-hour stalls of the men’s room at Barney’s New York reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since about 1964 or so. The victim is a fierce queen from the East Village who, in the moments before his death, manages to leave clues at the scene, written on a mirror in Victory Red nail polish that only his grandson, noted cryptographer and female impersonator Lemon Verbena, and Phranck, a famed butch dyke and symbologist, can untangle. The unlikely duo become both suspects and detectives searching for not only Lemon Verbena’s grandfather’s murderer but also the stunning (and _fabulous!_) secret of the ages he was charged to protect. Mere high-heel steps ahead of the authorities and the deadly competition, the mystery leads Lemon Verbena and Phranck on a breathless and giddy flight through Provincetown, San Francisco, and history itself.
Work in a cover-up by Ikea and write parts for Anthony Hopkins and Dan Hedaya and I think you’ve got something. I can totally see it as a Michael Pitt/Christina Ricci summer project, perhaps with some Rosie O’Donnell money thrown in behind it. (And I don’t think Tom of Finland ever drew a picture that didn’t seem to have an “arrow” of sorts pointing to some point on a compass rose.)
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### Author:  [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/34 "2005-03-28T21:01:37Z")
1. George W Bush
2. Liberal
3. Dan Brown
4. Ann Coulter
5. Tom Hanks
6. FOX News
7. Ron Howard
8. Some Moderator or Administrator
9. The Vatican
10. The Freemasons
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Bianca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Bianca)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/35 "2005-03-28T21:10:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> If I started a pit thread every 5 minutes then (even assuming I take 12 hours off to eat and sleep and stuff) then that would be 60 per day wouldn’t it?
Well, I, for one, wish that you _would_ start a pit thread every 5 minutes, because your pit threads amuse the hell out of me. It doesn’t even matter what the topic is, although the fact that I always seem to agree with you is definitely a bonus.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/36 "2005-03-28T21:14:40Z")
> [@Miss Bianca](#):
>
> Well, I, for one, wish that you _would_ start a pit thread every 5 minutes, because your pit threads amuse the hell out of me.
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 71
The silent majority speaks out!
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/37 "2005-03-28T21:14:49Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> And _I’m_ sick of people who can’t handle it when people disagree with their subjective opinions. Dan Brown created a work of art and marketed to the public. This gives each and every member of the public who takes the time to engage with the work the right to express their opinions about the work. Some of these opinions will not be the same as yours. Fuckin’ deal.
See, that’s ironic. The WHOLE POINT of this thread was to complain about people who _like_ the DaVinci Code. People whose “subjective opinions” differ from yours. So you need to get over the fact that they do.
> [@](#):
>
> No, they don’t. They write trite, repetitive crap with forgettable characters and dull stories. There’s nothing remotely entertaining about any of them.
The definition of “entertaining” is if it entertains people. And they do. They may not entertain _you_, but then there’s that “subjective opinions” thing again.
> [@](#):
>
> Of course, YMMV. That’s what makes art interesting: that one work of art can produce such a fantastic variety of responses.
Exactly. So let’s quit already with the “Waaaah! Stop liking DaVinci code. I hate it. Stop talking about it. Waaaah!”
> [@](#):
>
> Well, yay for you, I guess.
Hmmm…I think you entirely missed the point of my mentioning that.
> [@](#):
>
> Personally, I’d rather have more posters who are able to express their opinions in interesting or amusing ways, like **Sampiro** , and fewer posters who throw a tantrum when someone dares to criticize something they like, like… certain other posters.
You haven’t paid attention. This isn’t about whether _I_ like DaVinci Code; it’s about the overabundance of threads bitching about how people supposedly _talk_ about it too much.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/38 "2005-03-28T21:29:40Z")
> [@Eve](#):
>
> It’s called **The Tom of Finland Code**.
Actually, _That_ could be a great cash-in- a volume of parodies based on various art works. _The Tom of Finland Code_, _The Roy Lichtenstein Code, The Big-Eyed Puppies and Kittens From Big Lots Code_ (big in the 1970s, when the Bicentennial was in full swing, so there’s a _National Treasure_ tie in as well), _The Gasoline Alley Code_- you should develop that.
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### Author:  [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/39 "2005-03-28T21:58:07Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> Was this the one presented by Tony Robinson? I enjoyed that, especially the way he drew his ultimate conclusion towards Monty Python…
It was indeed. I was concerned when I saw that little egg-cup thing turn up near the beginning of the first hour, having suffered through a Discovery channel program about how this particular object was definitely, absolutely, no question the Grail…then I started paying more attention and realized that he was actually trying to debunk everything.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-so-feckin-sick-of-the-davinci-code-lame/296586/40 "2005-03-28T21:58:49Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> See, that’s ironic.
Actually, it’s not. There was no additional meaning to what I wrote. The sum total of the information it was meant to convey was contained entirely in the plain text of what I wrote. There was no irony involved. But then, I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to the word “irony,” and that’s not really germane to this discussion.
> [@](#):
>
> The WHOLE POINT of this thread was to complain about people who _like_ the DaVinci Code. People whose “subjective opinions” differ from yours. So you need to get over the fact that they do.
I don’t see a single comment made in this thread about the people who like the novel. I see criticisms of the novel, and criticisms of the various media tie-ins to the novel, but I don’t see anyone saying anything about the people who like the novel.
Well, okay, the OP said they probably don’t read Umberto Eco. It’s hardly a crushing condemnation, and if you compare the sales of the two authors, it’s pretty much indisputable fact.
> [@](#):
>
> The definition of “entertaining” is if it entertains people. And they do. They may not entertain _you_, but then there’s that “subjective opinions” thing again.
Am I not a person? I was not entertained by those authors. Therefore, they are not entertaining. Because, of course, “entertaining” is a subjective judgement. If the only stated goal of a book is to entertain, and I am not entertained by that book, should I not be allowed to voice my opinion that the book failed in its stated objective?
> [@](#):
>
> Exactly. So let’s quit already with the “Waaaah! Stop liking DaVinci code. I hate it. Stop talking about it. Waaaah!”
Why? If people don’t like the book, and don’t like the media circus surrounding it, why shouldn’t they express that opinion? Why is that a less valid opinion than, “This book is great! Let’s turn it into a movie/Broadway musical/erotic cookbook”?
> [@](#):
>
> Hmmm…I think you entirely missed the point of my mentioning that.
I rather doubt that I did.
> [@](#):
>
> You haven’t paid attention. This isn’t about whether _I_ like DaVinci Code; it’s about the overabundance of threads bitching about how people supposedly _talk_ about it too much.
I think it is _entirely_ about you liking _The Da Vinci Code_. You read a book you liked. That’s wonderful for you. Other people read the same book and didn’t like it. There’s nothing wrong with that. People not liking things you like is not a threat to you in any way. It’s not a commentary on your individual worth as a human being. It’s just people not liking a book. Get over it, already.
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