tourism strikes again

It was disappointing today to hear that the High Court has decided Dan Brown didn't plagiarise the Leigh et al book after all. Not that the fantasies aired in either book are worth defending, but, if they'd ruled that there had been plagiarism, it would have at least postponed the release of the film.

But here's an article on marketing Scotland as part of some sort of Da Vinci experience, because of how bits of it were shot in Rosslyn Chapel, outside Edinburgh. If only we could entice more wealthy Americans to come and visit, imagine how much income we could generate.

Pandering to tourists is something we're unfortunately getting good at, with tourism currently being made an excuse for controversial seven-day ferry sailings in the islands, for example. It's just a bit depressing that we're now hoping to make money out of something as untrue and scandalously pointless as the Da Vinci Code. (Maybe that should be pointlessly scandalous?)

Dan Brown is very readable and popular: it's just a shame that he wrote all this rubbish about people and things which there's no real doubt or confusion about whatsoever. Even when people read it knowing that it's not all true, bits of the misrepresentation always stick in your mind, and can't help colouring your perceptions about the persons involved. That's not something you can really afford, given who these persons actually are. And no, we don't want hordes of tourists turning up to celebrate their dubious ideas about bloodlines and whatnot. But come August, I'll probably have plenty more to say about the tourists at the Festival, so I'll leave it there for the time being.