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Popular Culture Review
many levels, specifically secrecy, womanhood, and guidance. At the end of the
novel, Langdon follows the rose line in Paris to find the tomb of Mary
Magdalene at the Louvre.
Langdon’s mini-lectures (sometimes several pages long) on the topic of the
sacred feminine obviously did not hurt sales of the novel. However, mini
lectures in films tend to slow the pace and make for restless audiences. Films are
called “moving pictures” for a reason. The mini-lectures could not serve the film
as they did the novel. In their place, the film relies on special effects and specific
visual images that reinforce the theory that Mary Magdalene was the Holy Grail
and the lost sacred feminine is the secret behind all the conspiracies.
In the film, Langdon himself does not have the “historical/scientific”
certainty that he had in the novel regarding Mary Magdalene and the child she
had with Jesus. However, the film (through the visual) strengthens the
importance of the sacred feminine. The audience can “see” the evidence in the
film while following Langdon’s journey to the realization of the secret truth.
Langdon’s first appearance in ѡ