PBS Documentary "The Mormons"

[firehotemily]

It re-aired just recently, and i didn't know that the church did the documentary. But i was suspicious of the title because our church leaders like to call ourselves LDS not mormons.

so just a little iffy on the title.

I tried to watch a few minutes of it and i got a horrible feeling from the whole thing. First off, it made Brigham young look like he forced women to come into polygamy. It was subtle but the words made the viewer mad at the prophet. So i instantly turned it off.

It was scary how that thing just attacked LDS and made you angry at them.

they slanted the story.

my advice is not to watch it.

[prisonchaplain]

Never question the Spirit, if it's causing you to turn away. On the other hand, BYU's paper seemed to anticipate that it would be mostly fruitful: BYU NewsNet - PBS Documentary Explores LDS Church

[carlimac]

I remember that show. I thought it was about the best someone who was outside of the church could do at trying to be unbiased and paint both adherents and critics in the most charitable light.

One thing I think they did goof up on, was some of the artwork. For the life of me, when I think of the Angel Moroni coming to visit, I really don't have this image in my mind:

Me neither. I thought it started out rather spooky. I didn't get a good feeling about it from the get-go. And didn't like them spending so much time on modern day polygamy when it isn't even part of our church anymore and hasn't been for so long. That part was just distracting from the true message of the church.

I thought it portrayed much more controversy than was necessary. For me, a typical life long member, my life and activity in the church have very little to do with all the deep, dark questioning and negativity they showed. I think they only followed one typical, happy LDS family through a day or week, whatever, I can't remember the details.

Here's a small sampling of what they didn't show-

The joy I or anyone can get out of teaching little kids in Primary each week. All th funny comments and the cute prayers they offer and the beautiful singing voices they develop from singing so much in Primary

The strength and fortitude our teenagers get from seminary every morning.

The quiet (well depending on how many toddlers there are in the ward LOL) peace of renewing our faith and committment to Jesus Christ every week while taking the sacrament.

The moments of pure guidance and inspiration from the Holy Ghost

All the cool things our 8-12 yr old daughters learn in Activity Days

All the cool things our 12-18 yr old daughters and sons do on youth nights

The rigorous goals our kids reach

The protection they and we get from living a high moral standard

The blessing of being sealed together as a family for eternity

Generations of righteous, productive, fun loving, clean, wholesome family members enjoying each other's company at a family reunion

I could go on and on. Too bad they felt the need to focus so much on the ones who have intellectualized themselves out of the church and out of the warmth and protection of the Holy Ghost. Just sad.

[marshac]

I think they only followed one typical, happy LDS family through a day or week, whatever, I can't remember the details.

A few months ago I checked up on the girl from that family- the one with pulmonary hypertension... turns out that while she's still doing fine, the father of the family has since passed away.... really sad.... they had 11 kids.

[Maureen]

...my advice is not to watch it.

It's a good thing not everyone took your advice.

Press Reaction

Vince Horiuchi, The Salt Lake Tribune

"... n the new PBS documentary 'The Mormons' -- perhaps the biggest national documentary about the church ever televised -- filmmaker Helen Whitney has combed through rapture and rants about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to get to the simple truths.

"She has produced a comprehensive look at the church's violent and tumultuous history and its modern-day popularity with objectivity -- no pious declarations from church leaders or venomous attacks from anti-Mormons.

"And it's riveting. ..."

Matt Zoller Seitz, Time Out New York

"On paper, The Mormons sounds about as thrilling as mandatory Bible-study class. ... Don't be daunted: This joint venture between two PBS series, Frontline and American Experience, merges the former's muckraking candor and the latter's knack for capturing history's complexities. It's meticulous and addictive -- the TV equivalent of a thick nonfiction book that you start reading after dinner and finish at dawn. ..."

Jonathan Storm, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"... Filmmaker Helen Whitney, who made John Paul II: The Millennial Pope and Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero, and won a Peabody Award for The Choice '96, about the 1996 presidential election, directed her work into neutral territory, little-charted land in a world where point-of-view documentaries are the norm. ...

"Whitney's documentary is the opposite of audacious. No entertainment masterpiece, it is a peerless explainer, outlining just how the Mormon beliefs got to be so bold, and how they can be a pillar of strength for the righteous while seeming loony and threatening to those who don't buy in."

Hal Boedecker, Orlando Sentinel

"... Whitney has found first-rate speakers and assembled the material with style. She achieves balance by interviewing believers and skeptics, church insiders and the excommunicated. Most crucially, she provides respect that has often been denied the religion. ...

"To its great credit, 'The Mormons' goes beyond public relations to ask important questions in an intelligent way. All religions should be so lucky on television."

Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

"...'The Mormons' is the first joint production of 'American Experience,' the history series, and 'Frontline,' the public-affairs program. The history side, which dominates tonight, is the strongest.

"The installment would be interesting enough if it merely related the fascinating story of the founding and evolution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints … but it also manages to mix in, through some well-chosen talking heads, an intriguing discussion of what faith is, what religion is and what the Mormon story has in common with Judaism, Islam and early Christianity. ...

"Part II opens with a promise to explore how the church went from being denounced by American presidents in the 1880s to having its famed singers, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, perform at presidential inaugurations a century later. But the promise isn't really fulfilled. ...

"Yet the portrait of the modern-day church, which the program says has 12 million members worldwide, is compelling nonetheless. ..."

Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter

"… [The Mormons] -- while comprehensive, well-researched, nicely balanced, thoroughly organized and fascinating to watch -- is far from seamless. ...

"If there is a weak point to this hugely informative and watchable series, it may be the amount of time allocated in the second night to the practice of Mormon missions and the church's heavy-handed approach to critics. Regardless, this is a brilliant work on an engaging topic."

Sam Allis, The Boston Globe

"... 'The Mormons' brims with informed talking heads -- church historians, journalists, church elders, and a constellation of happy Mormons. It would have helped to identify Mormon from non-Mormon, but never mind. ...

"The story is not particularly a visual one. There are recreations of seminal events and a full array of paintings and still photography, but this story needs little help. It is strange and compelling all by itself. ..."

Nancy deWolf Smith, The Wall Street Journal

"... 'The Mormons' is such a respectful biography of a religion that when some of its officials pointed out in advance that the church did not help pay for or have editorial input into the documentary, I first assumed that they were defending themselves in advance against possible criticism that it is a puff piece. ...

"Compared to the average media portrait of other religious groups, e.g. evangelical Christians, the treatment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints couldn't be rosier."

Scott D. Pierce, Deseret Morning News

"... Award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney doesn't take an advocacy position -- she neither promotes nor rails against the LDS Church. ...

"The documentary is built like a good news story: An issue is raised; people who come down on one side of the issue have their say; people on the other side of the issue have their say; the viewers are left to draw their own conclusions. ...

"There is no doubt that, simply because of its subject matter, 'The Mormons' will draw criticism from both sides. Which is probably an indication that Whitney has done a lot right with the documentary."

Gloria Goodale, The Christian Science Monitor

"... This is fascinating viewing for anyone interested in the growing pains of a new religion, although it has some serious flaws. Many sources, asserting important theological or historical points, are labeled only 'author' or 'writer,' leaving it to viewers to determine credibility or biases (some are church members, some are not). Also, while the film dwells at length on controversial church doctrines such as early polygamy and baptism of the dead, it gives surprisingly little time to laying out the full Mormon belief system and how it compares to other religions. Grade: B"

Kevin McDonough, United Feature Syndicate

"... While it is clearly the purpose of 'The Mormons' to offer greater insight into an often misunderstood culture, some of the participants' rapturous rhetoric about religious revelation and credulous observations about polygamy and blind obedience to theocracy seem well outside the realm of a history lesson.

"At the same time, 'The Mormons' does succeed in moving the conversation about the faith beyond the kind of one-dimensional stereotypes seen on the series 'Big Love' and elsewhere."

...Ellen Gray, Philadelphia Daily News

"... Though Whitney's version is perhaps less incendiary than that in Jon Krakauer's 'Under the Banner of Heaven' -- which juxtaposed the story of the rise of LDS with that of a double murder committed by members of a fundamentalist splinter group -- it's not a whitewash.

"Dissidents get their say on both the church's controversial history and on its present-day dealings. ...

"But what shines through 'The Mormons' is Whitney's enthusiasm for allowing people of faith to talk about that faith.

"And that's the kind of talk -- from people of all kinds of beliefs -- that it might be good to hear more of."

The Mormons . Press Reaction | PBS

M.

[marshac]

The New York Times' review was really quite glowing- the show came out before I joined the church, and I still to this day find it humorous that so many LDS see it as highly critical of the church. Check out these quotes from the Times' review

A proposition: If your beliefs are any good, you needn’t be afraid to bring them out into the light. The proof: “The Mormons,” a thoughtful two-part series tonight and tomorrow on PBS. The tenets of the Mormon church may not be to everyone’s tastes, but the church members and leaders who speak in this program are admirably forthright about their religion’s history, strengths and challenges. It’s great to hear people who believe in something and can articulate it without sounding crazy or defensive.

Not crazy or defensive? Pretty good so far... if there's one thing that turns people off quicker than....uh....something that's turned off quickly.... it's a religious zealot.

Yet the portrait of the modern-day church, which the program says has 12 million members worldwide, is compelling nonetheless. Some of its teachings — that marriage is eternal, that family is primary — have an undeniable beauty, and if the church isn’t shy about using excommunication to discourage deviance, even those who have been driven out speak of it with a certain affection.

There is a split personality at work here: Mormonism has clearly evolved — denouncing the polygamy it once sanctioned, for instance — but today seems determined to stand fast on issues like homosexuality. Marlin K. Jensen, a historian of the church, provides one of the program’s most compelling moments when he speaks to that subject head-on.

“If you’re going to live your life within the framework of the gospel and within the framework of our doctrine,” he says, “then you’ve got to choose to marry someone of the opposite sex, and if you can’t do that honestly, then your choice has to be to live a celibate life. And that is a very difficult choice.” Of those who have to make it, he says, “My heart goes out to them.” And you believe him.

That last line in particular makes me smile- it accurately articulates our stance on homosexuality, but tempers it with compassion for the individual- a fact that wasn't lost on the reporter writing the review. In a time where many view the church as a bunch of homosexual-haters, I really wish more people would see this part of the program.