Frontline and American Experience co-produced a two-part series which aired last night about The Mormons. They did a great job. The art, interviews, reinactments, music -- each so well interwoven. I think anyone, mo and non-mo alike, would have learned things and gained perspective from this film. That, alone, is amazing. I learned things -- Brigham Young's dream, how the historic events fit together before Joseph's death and around the MMM, what a mainstream polygamist looks like. Its not a story "we" would have told: Joseph Smith is imperfect and modern polygamists are forgiven.
My favorite line: "Revelation is everything." I realized that is what I had blogged that very day.
My brother-in-law points out that it makes Mormons look like we don't think. He's right. There is nothing that justifies the regular Saint. Even the section called "Saints" is filled mostly with Joseph Smith. Its not about the people, but the name. Obedient, mindless robots hoodwinked into following a nothing into the desert, who will kill on orders. The balance tips to negative.
My mom doesn't have a TV, and not having seen it, asked me last night what people would think. I told her I had no idea. The filmmakers knew their audience, and knew that we bring to this film some understanding of the Mormons. We, even those not in the church, have heard of them, have heard many words associated with them. There are a lot of holes in this film, that the viewers fill in. Not everything is explained. And that is what makes a great film--the right holes. So I'm left filling in what I will given my undesrtanding, and I cannot begin to guess what someone might think coming from outside.
It will be difficult to think about being Mormon outside the contructs of this film. It will take a while to shake the influence and go back to just being me. It may take even until tomorrow. That long.
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