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Da Vinci Code reference in Penn & Teller: ********! ?

jay.tarnoff said:
I have no "problem" with it. I was just surprised that P&T would play off a a novel that claimed to be true and yet had no (or extremely little) scientific support.

With the title of their show, you would think they wouldn't use a BS book to drive home the point IMO.
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I suspect it was meant to be a pop culture reference that mocked "The DaVinci Code" within a segment mocking someone else.

P.S. I, too, nominated Robin's post.
 
boloboffin said:
Many things done on the Show Not To Be Named are done with an eye to how many people they can hack off by so doing. More Christians to hack off than Dan Brown fans. Dan Brown naysayers other than Christians probably didn't enter in their calculations, and the BS of Dan Brown should speak for itself.
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In other words, it would be like suggesting Jesus was gay, to hack off Christians, rather than to butter up the guy who made The Last Temptation of Christ?
 
I told my dad it would be great to watch that show when it first came out. We watched the first episode together, plus the next two.

I had told my dad they were skeptics and it should be entertaining, despite the unfortunate title of the show.

Ten minutes into show one I was embarrassed that I was subjecting my father to it. P&T make skeptics look like dicks.
 
Magnifico2.0 said:
I told my dad it would be great to watch that show when it first came out. We watched the first episode together, plus the next two.

I had told my dad they were skeptics and it should be entertaining, despite the unfortunate title of the show.

Ten minutes into show one I was embarrassed that I was subjecting my father to it. P&T make skeptics look like dicks.
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That's funny. I think the first episode was the best one they ever did. It was on psychics. P&T weren't obnoxious and they really showed how those frauds destroy innocent people.

It's been very hit or miss ever since. I thought last night's was well done (organic food) but I still can't get over the episode on hair.
 
MikeSun5 said:
I couldn't use the word BS in a post where I quoted Randi himself.

As far as Penn & Teller, I'm sure the reference was just supposed to be funny.
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Yeah, it was Penn trying to do "The Life Of Brian", and failing.
I admit I am not a big P and T fan anymore. I am tired of his increasing attempts to shove his Libertarian politics down our throats, and think a couple of episodes of The Show That Cannot Be Named are full of What Cannot be Named themselves..the Global Warming episode in particular.
I don't think P and T are exactly outstadning examples of rational thinking anymore.
And I think the attempts at T and A humor are just plain tired.
 
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Ocelot said:
To give Dan Brown his due, he's a terrible writer, his research is lazy, it's a mystery why his da Vinci code was such as sucess but I don't think he ever claimed any part of it to be true other than the existence of the Opus Dei.

However your argument still stands (though reads a little more clumsy) "...that P&T would play off a novel who's idiot fans - claim to be true..." or if it were "Holy Blood + Holy Grail" in your sights.

Though one of the most amusing parts of the whole "Holy Blood + Holy Grail" copyright battle was Baigent and Leigh having to admit that their historical research was purely and simply the reporting of uncopyrightable truth but at least to a certain extent a creation of their imagination. That said, they lost so they're probably back to claiming it as the truth.
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Dan Brown has several times claimed TDC is based on actual history,and then backtracks with "It only a novel" when called on it.
 
dudalb said:
Yeah, it was Penn trying to do "The Life Of Brian", and failing.
I admit I am not a big P and T fan anymore. I am tired of his increasing attempts to shove his Libertarian politics down our throats, and think a couple of episodes of The Show That Cannot Be Named are full of What Cannot be Named themselves..the Global Warming episode in particular.
I don't think P and T are exactly outstadning examples of rational thinking anymore.
And I think the attempts at T and A humor are just plain tired.
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I think they're funny. Not high brow by any means, but it's definite entertainment. Although, tiresome is a good description. I wouldn't watch a marathon of the show.

the other thing is that they are fairly honest with their views. Like in the global warming episode, they admitted to not knowing if it's real. That's honest. I actually agree with thier carbon off-set issue. I think it's easily something taht can be a scam.
 
Interestingly enough, and not totally unrelated, I have read that, the Renaissance painters had a set of standard and such when representing the various saints and apostles (I guess so that they could be recognized).
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I like late medieval/early renaissance religious art because I can play "Name that Saint". The big name ones all have identifiers, usually related to their martyrdom: St. Stephen always has rocks, St. Catherine has a wheel, St. Lucy carries her eyes on a plate, St. Lawrence totes around a gridiron, St. Margaret has a reptile on a leash, and my new favorite, St. Peter Martyr (not to be confused with The Saint Peter, who was a martyr, but carries keys) who goes around with a hatchet embedded in his skull.
It's also a way to get boobies onto the show.
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An old magician's trick: distract your audience so they don't see the sometimes specious reasoning. Doesn't work for me, though.
 
I've just watched the episode and if you think Penn and Teller were basing the female actress on the Da Vinci Code, which book did they get the black guy, the mexican and the dwarf from??
 
Magnifico2.0 said:
I had told my dad they were skeptics and it should be entertaining, despite the unfortunate title of the show.

Ten minutes into show one I was embarrassed that I was subjecting my father to it. P&T make skeptics look like dicks.
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What's unfortunate about the name?

P&T don't make anyone other than themselves look like anything.
 
Robin said:
Oh my God! I never even noticed that.

Now come to think of it "Ray" Teller. A ray is something that comes from the sun and "sun" is a well known medieval and Renaissance double-entendre for the "Son" Jesus Christ, for example George Herbert's The Temple "Then by a sunne-beam I will climbe to thee."

The "beam" is a reference to the Cross and "Ray" is another word for "beam".

Their names are just packed with references to Jesus Christ.
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And how could I have missed that "Raymond Teller" is an anagram for "My Eternal Lord"?
 
CynicalSkeptic said:
What's unfortunate about the name?
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Well, for example, I wanted to introduce my dad to skepticism as a tool for wide examination of ideas. The show's title was something I had to work around, and told him it'd be cool. He wasn't too keen on the title of the show, and like him, I think it turned off a few people who'd otherwise have watched at least once.

P&T don't make anyone other than themselves look like anything.
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Actually, no. Since skepticism is something not widely represented in the mainstream, their show is one of the most accessible ways to see how skepticism is used. And I must say they use it to their own convenience issue by issue. Randi is gentle and doesn't seek to offend, P&T do, and IMO it's the wrong road to take.
 
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