Public Enemy frontman Chuck D's line "don't believe the hype" is up there as an aphorism which cuts to the quick and right down to size. With this in mind, approach if you will the unbelievable buzz surrounding the launch of the Da Vinci Code film. Branded Eurostar trains, 'on the trail of the Da Vinci Code' coach tours, and now this – a note left by Tom Hanks, who plays protagonist Robert Langdon, which looks like it's written in code!
Ah! Croydon! Film-making! The 3 go together. Tom Hanks. The Da Vinci Code, Oct 7, 2005.
The Bucks Free Press reports that Hanks apparently wrote said cryptic message last year, when filming at Croydon's Fairfield Halls.
Seems pretty straightforward, with no explanation of the meaning of life or any other mind-altering innuendoes. Right?
Wrong. The newspaper reports that fans of Dan Brown's best-selling novel reckon the "oddly-worded doodle" has a hidden meaning.
"It doesn't seem to make much sense," a source said.
The three is underlined and written as a number, as if to imply by putting the words Croydon, Fairfield Halls and film-making' together a new meaning is revealed.
Aficionados with perhaps a little too much time on their hands tried to crack the code and came up with the anagram, 'Ah, if droll con film makes failing fairy hardy'.
There may just be some truth to that.
