Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Meridian on Mobsters and Mormons

This Meridian review of Mobsters and Mormons was right, I thought, except it didn't take it far enough. It says the film's criticism of Mormon culture went "a bit too far" - but I thought the film went way too far! It presents Mormons as going to great measures to avoid contact with outsiders! Okay, some of the Mormons include the Mobsters, but the ones that don't - that just doesn't happen in Mormondom. That is a completely incorrect depiction - Mormons are the most inclusive people and embrace everyone and everything, so you should not see this movie, and you should make sure no one else sees it, either!

6 Comments:

At 11:47 PM, September 13, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, someone sure lives a delusional life. Yes, this movie was a farce, just like the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was a farce about a certain society. We are human. We laugh. But what is the biggest farce is the fact that you actually think that "Mormons are the most inclusive people and embrace everyone and everything." OMG. What planet do you live on? My experience living in Utah for 7 years now has been the exact opposite. I say go see the movie and enjoy a comedic perspective and leave your "righteous judgements" to yourself and your relief society leaders.

 
At 6:01 AM, September 14, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know what bubble you're living in but Mormons are not very inclusive. While serving a mission a learned that it takes twisting a member's arm to get them to help with non-memners and Provo is no different.

 
At 6:14 AM, September 14, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, I haven't seen the movie yet, (and I do plan to) but I have to agree with 'anonymous'. In my experience as a mormon, it seems that as a people we say we are inclusive and embrace everyone and everything, but in reality I find that we make friends with 'outsiders' out of guilt and because we have this overwhelming need to bring everyone and everything into the waters of baptism. Don't get me wrong, I love my church, but this is the experience I have had my whole life when it comes to seeing how we generally treat 'outsiders' as a people. And I'm not particularly proud of that.

Anyhow, when it comes to mormon cinema--we have a long way to go before our movies will be generally acceptable viewing material. And I don't mean because of their content, but rather because of the general idea that we must bring 'everyone and everything' into the waters of baptism. Here is a thought: how about we start makeing movies about mormons as real people in real everyday situations? Or, what about a science fiction involving mormon characters, or a horror movie with the three nephites as the monsters, or a mafia movie involving mormon neighbors? Oh, wait.....

So get off your high horse pal.

 
At 11:34 AM, September 14, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No dunking of outsiders going on in this movie, thar.

 
At 11:59 AM, September 14, 2005, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Either this blogger is NOT from Utah or he has the nasty habit, as a lot of Mormons do, of putting members of the church on a pedestal. I've been a member of the church, a convert, for almost 23 years. As a transplant into Utah, I can honestly say that many of the members here are not very outgoing to non-members. It's a very us vs. them attitude that is not as prevalent in Mormon communities OUTSIDE of Utah. As an LDS filmmaker myself, my goal is to depict Mormons in real situations and depict them for what they are, fallible and flawed human beings who make mistakes just like everyone else.

 
At 5:02 PM, September 14, 2005, Blogger Pseudonymous Flog said...

lol

You have flogged on behalf of Pseudonymous Flog. For this was my cunning design of my.. self.. adversary. I am actually for this film - I think Mormons can be very judgemental and isolationist - I was playing dumb. In my previous entry on fear of cultural exposure in LDS films, I comment that there is always wrong among Mormons because they are human like everyone else, and that we stand to benefit by exposing our human flaws in a "we don't want this" light. Which I think the film Mobsters and Mormons does - and that I think pretty accurately; there really are Mormons that outrageously dumb and bland. A lot of them. But there are good ones too, and the film has them in it too.

 

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