The Da Vinci Code

Remember when the Da Vinci Code came out? I was in college and it was a hotly contested book. First off-it's a good page turner than I finished in a couple of days. The characters are over the top, the setting is foreign and romantic, and Dan Brown tells a good story. Sadly though it's not based in reality and if you think it's "good literature" you need to take a basic, basic class in what "good literature" is.

I remember someone who I used to work with in one of the many odd jobs I've had. She was a self described 'aging hippy'. Like I usually do, I was talking with another co-worker and mentioned that the Da Vinci Code was a good book based in fiction. The "aging hippy" said she "begged to differ with me". I remember her snotty look and everything. I didn't respond to her, but she taught me a wonderful lesson.

People choose what to believe and they defend it, delusional or not. Mona Lisa is widely thought of to be a woman named "Lisa del Giocondo". In 2005 it was provided conclusively by a note that was found written by a government clerk stating that Da Vinci was working on a portrait of Lisa.

However, people like my former co-worker to this day still believe in whack job conspiracy theories, like the ones talked about in the Da Vinci Code that have broken into pop culture. No, the Mona Lisa is not Da Vinci in drag. It never was-yet people still believe it.