Is "The Da Vinci Code" Right or Wrong?

Okay, I am really getting annoyed over the controversy surrounding Dan Brown’s novel “The DaVinci Code.” Mind you, I’m not talking about whether or not you believe in the alternative Biblical history depicted in the book (although I find the subject of the whole thing fascinating).

I’m talking about why people are so adamant about attacking Brown and the book’s premise as being “false.” I have repeatedly heard or read the phrase “Dan Brown is wrong.” That particularly irks me as a writer. Is the premise false? YES. IT IS A NOVEL. By definition it is false. Brown is neither right nor wrong. He is an author, a storyteller.

Does no one out there know the definition of “novel?” Do people not realize it is fiction? And is the Catholic Church (and Opus Dei and whoever else he mentions in the book) the first real organizations to be featured in a work of fiction? I don’t hear MI6 worried about their depiction in the James Bond films, or the L.A. Police Department causing an uproar every time a police officer in L.A. is portrayed as being corrupt.

Sure, Brown is hitting upon a sensitive subject. I can also, to some extent, understand Opus Dei being concerned that they will be viewed in a negative light since they are depicted as villains in the novel. However, among the results of being a secretive group is that you risk being misunderstood. And Opus Dei, “good” or “bad,” is a secretive group (at least until now). Hopefully most intelligent readers will realize the Opus Dei characters, as well as ALL THE CHARACTERS, are fictitious.

Of course what many people are concerned about is that readers will get fact and fiction confused and form opinions based on the novel. And sure, there are plenty of people out there who have a problem separating fact from fiction. That’s nothing new. It sure didn’t start with this book. What I think is even worse, and quite ironic, is that by “arguing” with Dan Brown’s fictional premise, these same people are forgetting the difference themselves.