Meet the Mormons

[Anonymous]

Our local library had this in the “Young Adult” section so we checked it out (literally and figuratively ).

I was impressed with the movie. Couple thoughts.

I had to sit close to the screen to read the tiny print titles for the various people that were speaking. Since nobody was speaking authoritatively, I suppose it didn’t matter what their titles were but I wanted to know how those commenting fit into the narrative. (At one point they referenced a quote from GBH about controlling anger but they left the image of the framed quote out of focus. I assume this is because they wanted to not focus on what differentiates us as a church.)

I liked the missionary mom the most. All the others could have very well done what they are doing without the church. The missionary mom’s life seemed to change trajectory in a significant, positive way when she joined the church.

As someone who has a special interest in storytelling and how narratives are crafted I recognize that this was a deliberate message by the church. I wondered somewhat what steps the producers took to keep the message focused. How much did they tell the people before hand about what they wanted them to say? There were no references to JS, Prophets, temples, WoW, forever families, or anything else that one might expect when mormons talk about their faith. How much coaching went on behind the scenes or was it more careful editing? Regardless it was deliberate. Which makes me think about the evolution of church PR.

At one point we were seen as bearded religious fanatics living in the deserts of Utah with multiple wives. Then we made a haphazard effort to normalize ourselves. We took a counter culture stand against the hippy movement and portrayed ourselves as uniformly conservative, patriotic, traditional family values, down home country pie american – perhaps a little naive or stiff in a lovable way. Have we been too successful in this effort?

Now this and the I am a Mormon Campaign paint us as a globally diverse religion with acceptance of blacks in leadership positions and lady MMA fighters. This is so interesting. This certainly does not seem to be my typical aggregate experience of a lifetime among the Mormons. Is this what we want to become and promote? or is this just the public face that we wish to present to the world? (as a side note – some other churches where I participate have pictures/posters of the missionary efforts they support in different countries. It helps the congregation to feel connected to what is happening in other nations and a kinship with those from diverse cultures. What I see in the LDS church is monoculture). In some ways our uniformity has been our strength. I’ve heard it boasted that you can go to an LDS meetinghouse anywhere in the world and the meetings are the same. Exactly how much diversity and honoring of local and hereditary culture are we going to allow? Is it ok to sing different hymns/religious songs in our meetings in certain areas? Is it ok for Maori to get tattoos? The questions are endless.

And why the need to change anyway? What was lacking in the message of conservative, religious, family values centered, good neighbors that we were so adept at? Is that no longer a compelling message? Is our own uniformity a turnoff for investigators? And what is the message that replaces that? That we are all different? That we believe in doing good and helping others? What are the risks associated with being presented as just another good natured Christian faith? What are the benefits? So many questions…I am just curious. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the church PR department.

Insead of “Meet the Mormons” the movie could have been titled “question your stereotyped assumptions about Mormons.” Other than offering examples of individuals that break the Stereotype mold – The movie didn’t seem to offer any information as to what the Mormon experience is like or what you should expect from Mormons (other than that we are good guys). What should the world expect from Mormonism? Perhaps it should expect the unexpected!

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

I wondered somewhat what steps the producers took to keep the message focused.

I have not had a chance to see it again, but I could have sworn that when the MMA fighter mom had a closeup of her, it looked to me like she had a second earring hole 😯 GASP! I thought at the time, “they made her take that off and she (living in Costa Rica) might have never heard about the “only 1 set of earrings” comment from GBH.

I wish this was a bit closer to what we might hear in fast and testimony meeting.

[Author]

Posts