From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: [AML] re: Elijah Abel Memorial Date: 28 Sep 2002 23:13:03 -0600 Thanks for making us aware of the Elijah Abel memorial. We were so glad = that we could be a part of it. It was nice to see some list people = there. A blessed event to be sure. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Center Street Theatre (Daily Herald) Date: 29 Sep 2002 08:26:06 -0600 Bill and I saw MY TURN ON EARTH last night at the Center Street Theatre. The energy and personalities of the players was wonderful. And personally, I love the show. Hats off to Thom and Scott for their extroadinary perseverence! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 30 Sep 2002 00:07:42 -0600 > Behalf Of Clark Goble > The problem is that there > actually is a great deal more diversity in the church than we > think, but we > feel like instead of loving and accepting others as they are, that we must > somehow hide ourselves and then are frustrated because others aren't us. > > I don't really know how to put into words what I want to say. But I think > there is a real problem here. But I don't think it is what I've always > thought it was anymore. > Once in a while I say exactly what I think in church meetings. People will come up to me after church and say thank you for saying what everyone else was thinking but didn't have the courage to say. So to me the problem is a kind of subtle self-censoring that we do because we think we can't challenge the dominant norms. Gae Lyn Henderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: [AML] Re: _My Turn on Earth_ at Center Street Theatre Date: 28 Sep 2002 23:02:08 -0600 I have to be honest. When I heard that Center Street Theatre was doing = _My Turn on Earth_ for their premiere performance I was disappointed. I = saw the show in Texas 20+ years ago and although I liked the music I had = no desire to see it again. BUT, knowing something of Thom's and Scott's = work I assured myself that if anyone could make a success of this show, = they could (I still had a lingering doubt). Five minutes into the show = all doubts vanished. It was a delight. I hate an ensemble cast that is = uneven. Not so with this cast. All were delightfully talented actors = and very good musicians with no ego problems. The voices and everything = else blended beautifully. I don't always like audience interaction, but = this was easy, comfortable and very personal. The simplicity of the = show made it for me. Thanks for not encumbering it with props, costumes = and excessive choreography. The blackboard and chalk worked well. The = acoustics were surprisingly good. We could hear even the whispers. My = husband loved the comfortable chairs (another pleasant surprise). We = liked the easy, comfortable post-play atmosphere. We could visit with = the actors, the director, or the owner in a friendly way. When I first = saw one of the actors after the show I embarrassed myself by getting = emotional. She said "Are you OK?" and hugged me. I was moved by the = sweetness of the entire experience. Who could ask for more. Thanks and = congratulations to Thom and Scott, the crew and a marvelous cast. =20 Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] NELSON & LARSON, _Soft Shoe_ at BYU Date: 30 Sep 2002 09:18:53 +0000 BYU Press release Pardoe Theatre season opens with premiere of "Soft Shoe" PROVO, Utah (September 23, 2002)=97The 2002-2003 Pardoe Theatre season at Brigham Young University will begin Friday (Oct. 4) with the premiere of the musical comedy "Soft Shoe," with book, lyrics and direction by BYU theatre and media arts faculty member George D. Nelson and lyrics, music and musical direction by BYU senior Daniel Larson. Performances will run through Saturday, Oct. 19. Tickets at $12 for the general public and $9 with a student or faculty ID are available in the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 378-4322 or at www.byu.edu/hfac. Half price preview performances will be Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 2 and 3). A warm and tender new musical comedy set against the backdrop of vaudeville's fading days, "Soft Shoe" is a story of dreams, hope and young love blossoming among the thorns of the secret past of an estranged father According to Nelson, three metaphors are used in this production to represent the human struggle to overcome adversity. "Dancing and the need to learn the proper steps represent the struggle to understand real love, in all its forms," he said. "Light represents the source of truth and human fulfillment, while the vaudevillian acts represent both the facades we construct to shield us from the realities of failed dreams and the effort needed to make our dreams come true." "Each character's musical journey is an attempt to learn, relearn and even unlearn their vaudevillian acts in order to master the steps to a new dance that will allow them to break from their dysfunctional= =20 past and start again," Larson added. "Soft Shoe" focuses on three characters longing for fulfillment in their lives. "These people have come from dysfunctional families, but have the power to overcome the situations they have been put in," Nelson said. Larson, a BYU senior with a double major in theatre education and music, will graduate in April 2003. Looking to study musical theatre composition, Larson was interested in learning how to write musical scores. After talking with Nelson, Larson was given the opportunity to write music for "Soft Shoe." In an address to the faculty members, Nelson recalls, BYU President Merrill J. Bateman encouraged faculty members to take an interest in students and to step into meaningful projects with students. "It has been the joy of my life to work with Danny and to see this project grow into fruition," Nelson said. Members of the cast include Marvin Payne as Oliver, Tom Every as Tate Welch and Tia Marie Majeroni as Leslie Moore. Scenic designer for the production is Eric Fielding, costume designer is Janae Judd, lighting designer is Brent Pritchett and choreography is by Amy Lives. The stage manager is Jennifer A. McCall. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: LDS Film Festival 2002 (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] LDS Film Festival Newsletter 6 Date: 01 Oct 2002 14:46:57 -0500 MAILBOX NEWSLETTER #6/2002 http://www.ldsbox.com feedback@ldsbox.com IN THIS ISSUE: 1. HISTORIC FESTIVAL LOCATION FOR 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2. LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT FILMS AND SCREENPLAYS 3. MANY NEW PROGRAM FEATURES FOR 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL 4. "JACK WEYLAND'S CHARLY" OPENED IN UTAH AND IDAHO 1. HISTORIC FESTIVAL LOCATION FOR 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL LDSBOX has teamed up with the Provo City Library at Academy Square to present the 2nd LDS Film Festival 2002 at this historical location. We are very happy with this new venue and look forward to an exciting second festival year. The festival will be held November 13-16, 2002. 2. LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT FILMS AND SCREENPLAYS Tuesday, October 1, is your last day to send in your films and screenplays. Feature-length screenplays are now also accepted. We have already received more films and screenplays than last year and look forward to an exciting 2nd festival year. Thanks to all who have submitted their work! You can download the entry form at: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/trevor.php For more info on the festival: http://www.ldsbox.com/cgi-bin/festival.php 3. MANY NEW PROGRAM FEATURES FOR 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL The program for this year's festival is currently in development. We have several new ideas that we would like to add to the festival program. One goal of this year's activities is more interaction between filmmakers and the audience. We also plan on having a "Female Filmmakers" program to introduce a growing number of LDS women who love to express themselves through film. And we will introduce the 24-hour-filmmaking-marathon. More details will follow soon... 4. "JACK WEYLAND'S CHARLY" OPENED IN UTAH AND IDAHO "Jack Weyland's Charly" opened September 27 in Utah and Idaho. The film is the latest LDS-themed film to be exhibited in theaters nationwide. "Charly" was directed and produced by BYU grads Adam Anderegg and Micah Merrill. Micah was a panelist at last year's festival. The filmmakers will again be invited this year to talk about their motion picture experience. If you want to fall in love all over again, go and see "Charly" at a theater near you. For more information, visit http://www.charlythemovie.com You either signed up for our newsletter or were recommended to us by a friend. If you would like to unsubscribe from future LDSBOX mailings, simply reply to this message with the word REMOVE in the subject line. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel Monument Dedication Date: 30 Sep 2002 10:20:47 -0600 I know it wasn't a literary event, but I just wanted to say how neat I thought the Elijah Abel monument dedication was and how it shows once again the many and different ways that Mormons find community both with each other and with those outside our culture. There were speakers from a wide variety of organizations (the Church, the Missouri historical foundation that started the effort, one of Utah's historical foundations). We heard from the presidents of organizations, a civil rights activist, an apostle, a historian, and a branch president. We glimpsed a tiny portion of the extraordinary faith of a man that transcended race and time to reach into heaven itself and find communion with God, His angels, and His righteous children. That little gathering did what I expect of the best literature--it educated me, it expanded me, it brought me closer to people with backgrounds radically different from my own, and it brought me just a little closer to my god. It's caused me to rethink some of my assumptions, and it's shown me the hope and promise that's possible when good people overcome the things that separate us and focus on the things that bind us. At the risk of sounding like a commerical for Deseret Book, I just want to suggest that learning more about the history of black members of the Church is one of many ways that we can grow together, can find unity and combined hope. If you can, read the series of books written by Margaret Young and Darius Gray that present that history (The Standing on the Promises series). Learn about who Elijah Abel was and what he did. Learn of the extraordinary faith of good Mormons who dealt with many different kinds of resistance--both from within and without. Not always easy stories to hear, but good and important stories to know. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see more of those kinds of stories on bookshelves...(hint, hint) Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 30 Sep 2002 09:40:07 -0600 D. Michael Martindale wrote: > _Singles Ward_ is more popular than _Brigham City_. (This may very well > be the most biting cultural indictment of all.) ...and... > (And the number one reason to dislike LDS culture:) > > The most popular event in LDS publishing since the Book of Mormon is > _The Work and the Glory_. This is one of the oldest arguments in literature, and is far from being unique to the Mormon publishing industry. It's the essential dissonance between artistic quality and economic success. (I listened to the top sf editors in the field scream at each other over this question at the World Sciece Fiction Convention, except they were using Michael Crichton as their example of good selling, low-quality fiction, rather than _The Singles Ward_ or Gerald Lund.) I think _Brigham City_ was a very, very good film and is artistically superior to _Singles Ward_ in pretyy much all ways. But I'm not surprised that BC sold fewer tickets. Comedy is nearly always more accessible to a broader audience than drama. It requires less of us (unless it's very, very well written), and thus challenges us less. A lot of Mormons are so tired of their daily battles with "the world" that they want something that will give them a nice, silly escape rather than something that will harrow up their souls. A safe little laugh that ultimately tells them it's okay to be Mormon. And yet... BC did well enough to enable Dutcher to make his next film. It got good critical reviews not just within the Mormon press, but in the general press. It awakened larger studios to the possibility of a set of good, small market films that directly address the social or moral issues of a larger audience through the specific examples of a semi-exotic cultural subset. It expanded the minds of filmmakers and viewers. It expanded the market. It succeeded. I wish it had succeeded better, because I want Dutcher to make more films and a good box office is the best way to assure that. But it succeeded enough and it's generated a buzz and lit the creative fires under a whole lot of people. I suspect if we analyzed the numbers we'd find that nearly all of SW's ticket sales were in heavily LDS geographies, where BC reached a more widely distributed audience. And it'll prbably kick BC's but when it comes out on video. So what if _Singles Ward_ made more money--BC made enough. George Lucas has outsold Coppola, DePalma, and Kubrick combined, yet it would be hard to claim that Lucas produced artistically superior work to those three. Still, Lucas touched something basic and important in a *lot* of viewers. So rather than berating the audience for its style blindness and simplicity, maybe we ought to look more carefully at what chord Lucas touched in those viewers--then see if our vaunted artistic integrity can honestly incorporate some of that in our "art." We need to get over the fact that bestsellers are often not the best literature, and that the best literature often doesn't sell well. That's just the way it is, and raging against the audience for not having your good taste isn't going to change their minds. The only thing you can do is produce more of the kind of literature you'd like to see and accept the fact that most authors don't make a lot of money at it and don't garner a lot of fame. I hear that among Mormon authors a lot. We're all being cheated because New York hates us and Deseret Book and Covenant are too narrowly defined to allow for the more challenging kinds of stories, and Signature is only playing at being a fiction publisher with its one or two titles a year. Horizon died, as did Cornerstone. Gibbs Smith seems focused on children's work and Granite is hard to get your finger on (in addition to publishing only a few fiction titles a year). Cedar Fort requires most authors to pay for their own printing costs and has no detectable marketing push. American Book is pretty much incomprehensible to ordinary humans. In other words, the corporate machine of Mormon pop refuses to let we dedicated litterateurs onto the playground, and when we do break through the wall they don't play fair. We're locked out; oh woe is me... So what are we going to do about it? Whine at them? Scuff our feet and cast vicious glances at the twin heads of the Great and Correlated Publishers? Attack them from behind with harsh language? Abandon our hope and go to New York with the festering desire to expose the narrow, provincial Mormons in poorly disguised polemic masquerading as fiction? What about keeping our hope on our way to New York? As much as I hate the idea of vanity press, maybe that's a legitimate option--The Christmas Box rode that pony all the way to an $8M contract with Simon and Schuster. Better yet, how about a third Mormon publisher that's willing to publish not only challenging works but will still go with other kinds of Mormon lit from teen morality tales to angry diatribes and everything in between (in different imprints, of course). Can we pull a United Artists and buck the major publishers by our own power, redefining the Mormon market and expanding it in a fundamental way? The books probably won't sell huge numbers of copies--not at first. But the Mormon public can't know what it's missing until it sees the product and word of mouth takes over. If the major publishers won't offer the product then we have to go around them as best we can--either by playing by their rules at first then slowly expanding the market from within, or by taking our lumps and poor sales figures with alternate publishers and small market presses until enough readers demand our new literature and the major houses are forced to expand or lose market share. Paris Anderson is willing to hand press ten books at a time to get good titles out to the market. Who else will join the effort? If enough off-brand books appear on shelves we'll either prove our salability or prove that Mormons really don't want that kind of fiction. It's better to know for sure. Maybe the reason so many people like Gerald Lund's books is that he takes our foundation stories as true and focuses not on exposing and exploring the foibles and failures of our early leaders, but rather simply celebrates the marvelous work and a wonder that they performed in restoring the fullness of the gospel. I don't think people are reading him for his sparkling prose, so maybe they're resonating with his unabashed acceptance and presentation of the epic nature--and truth--of our foundation stories. His sentences may clink, but Lund never blinks or shies away as he tells the tale. I know, Lund has already poisoned the market; anyone who writes dramatized Church history is just derivative of Lund now. Yet Dutcher is retelling the Joseph Smith story--again. And I suspect he'll bring something powerful and new to the telling and reach audiences that were not touched by Lund. So why can't we do the same? (And please, not another polygamy expose or recreation of Mountain Meadows; neither one of those stories qualifies as subversive any more. Why not try the Mormon Battalion or the Mexican colonies? Maybe the Canadian colonies or the Utah War? We've seen successful work with WWII and with black pioneer history; why not Mormon Gulf War experiences (something as close to a holy war as we've had recently--at least for those fighting on one side) or the history of the Church in Africa, Japan, or Brazil? There's been some, but why not more? Is there a Mormon _Platoon_ or _Full Metal Jacket_ to be written?) As one of the chief snivelers on this subject I find myself getting restless. Complaining hasn't worked, and neither has wheedling the editors as the large LDS publishers. It appears that the only chance I have of seeing more of the kind of work I like on bookshelves is to buy a cheap printing press and do it myself. It's the slow road to success, and right now cash flow is a problem. But it's better than waiting around doing nothing. It's better to fail while trying than not to try at all. Scott Parkin (who feels that cheerleading is as much an integral part of the whole literary development process as writing and editing and publishing; if you can't write, cheerlead; better yet, do both) -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: [AML] Elijah Abel: Fact and Fiction Date: 30 Sep 2002 10:15:21 -0600 Normally, I try to tell people how historically accurate _Standing on the Promises_ is. Each book has required enormous research, and I feel I have done three dissertations--seriously. However, the truth is, the series is historical FICTION. I'll speak about the writing in first person here, though I know list members understand that Darius Gray was a vital component in the process, providing voice, cultural awareness, and much of the material to document the various pioneer/slave stories. But I was in charge of structuring it, and did the brunt of the research, so I know exactly what we had in documented form and what we didn't. I am in a rather awkward position today of seeing what I recognize as my own conjectures about Elijah Abel (used to further the first novel's plot) touted as facts about his life, and of having a quote I made up attributed to him on the Elijah Abel monument program, and on the TV news. I feel pretty strongly about truth, so I want the facts straight. So here they are. In the _SL Trib_ article by Tim Sullivan, it says Abel was born a slave in Maryland in 1808 and at age 23 fled to Canada and obtained free papers. The truth is, the birthyear is a little unsure (likely either 1808 or 1810) and we DO NOT know when he went to Canada or even if he was born a slave or if he obtained free papers. Research by Lester Bush suggests that he MAY HAVE used the underground railroad. Because Elijah happens to be the character of whom we have the least documented material (all of it from other sources, since Elijah, who we know was illiterate in Nauvoo [we have a Nauvoo document which he signed with an "X"] left no record of his own life, I used Bush's suggestion as a plot thread and had Elijah take the underground railroad at age 23 or thereabouts. But there is a logical problem, of course. If someone has taken the underground railroad, why would he need free papers? Well, he'd need them if he were to return to the U.S. I used the historical context of Ohio's Oberlin College, about to be constructed in 1832, to move Elijah back to the US and give him a motive to get to Ohio. I provided a way for him to have free papers, which also revealed a historical truth: that he was indeed a skilled carpenter. This we also know from historical documents, since Elijah is listed as a founding member of a Nauvoo Carpentry society. The _Trib_ article states that he worked on the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati. Well, he might have, but I made that up. I was trying to understand why he left Nauvoo and moved to Cincinnati around 1842-3, and decided that since Cincinnati was a major port of the underground railroad, he may well have helped with it. My fictionalizing. I have absolutely no evidence that he worked with the Underground Railroad, though we do know he moved to Cincinnati, since he was told to preach to "only the colored population" there, and there is a record of that particular instruction. Finally, the quote in the monument program and read as Elijah's words about his dedication to the faith despite difficult circumstances indicate his attitude, I hope, though I made them up. Darius and I tried very hard to capture the man we IMAGINED Elijah Abel was. I am grateful to have the monument there in the Salt Lake Cemetery. I frankly was disappointed that the talks addressed the priesthood controversy more than Elijah's remarkable life. I did not feel that particular time or place was the right one for grandstanding. Still, the monument is in place. Good people donated their hard-earned money to memorialize Elijah and his family. I am grateful to all of them for that. [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: [AML] Anyone from Seattle? Date: 30 Sep 2002 11:42:18 -0600 On Oct. 19, I will be participating in a _Sunstone_ conference in Seattle, representing my other book (_Heresies of Nature_) rather than Deseret Book. However, since Darius has family in Seattle, we went ahead and scheduled a book signing/night-with-the-authors for that same night at the Seattle Deseret Book near the temple, where we will display pictures of many of the black pioneers and talk about them and about _Standing on the Promises_. We would like to do a fireside the following day, Sunday 10/20. Are any of you AML listers in that area? Can you help us arrange a fireside or put me in touch with someone who can? If we're going to be out of Utah, we really like to put the time to good use. We've had requests to do firesides in Seattle, but I have no name to refer to to organize one. Obviously, we need to get on this immediately. Thanks for your help! [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] Review: The Nauvoo Theatrical Society Date: 30 Sep 2002 12:19:45 -0600 Last Friday I went to see the first general performance of the first play offered by the Nauvoo Theatrical Society at its new Center Street Theater in Orem, Utah. The show was "My Turn on Earth" and I've spent all weekend trying to figure out how to write this review. Before I go any further let me remind everyone that I'm a pop literary critic, not a trained theater critic. I can tell you how I feel about things, but my opinion is backed up only by my individual sense of what works. If my use of terms is off, I apologize; if I misrepresent the Nauvoo Theatrical Society, its motives, or its intents I hide behind the defense that "this is how *I* feel about my experiences there." The problem is that there are two completely different things at work here. There's the play itself, which I quite enjoyed and which I will comment on in different review. But there's also this whole idea of a "Mormon theater" whose intent is to produce only plays by, for, or about Mormons. So this review will focus on the idea of a Nauvoo Theatrical Society and the specific implementation of the Center Street Theater. This is a great idea. Mormon playwrights have become quite good, and are producing a much larger body of quality work than most of us are aware of. It seems to me that most Mormon plays get one good performance at BYU or the Mormon Arts Festival then seem to vanish. This is a shame, because some of the most interesting work in Mormon letters is being done in drama right now. The problem has not been whether Mormon playwrights are producing worthy material--they are. The problem is whether Mormons are willing to plunk down ten bucks and spend an evening to watch those plays. And the second problem is like unto it: will the paying audience get good value for their time and money, or will they just get a roadshow with an attitude? The Place =========== The Center Street Theater is a converted tent warehouse two doors down from Chuck E. Cheese's just off the corner of Center and State streets in Orem. It consists of four areas--the lobby, the theater proper (also known as the "black box"), the dressing/mingling area, and the shop. The lobby is small, simple, and well done. It features a clean, elegant look that put my initial fears to rest--this *is* a professional theater, not another half-baked homespun semi-scam that relies on peoples' goodwill in accepting that Mormon things aren't quite ready for primetime. The owners of the Center Street Theater have pretentions--they see themselves as real professionals producing real plays worthy of real consideration. It's about time. Thank you for taking this seriously. The black box is rectangular and is painted black on every surface, including floor and ceiling--thus the name. Kitchen-type chairs are set on wooden risers that step up and away from the stage area on the floor. For the play I saw it was configured with the stage against one of the long walls and the risers against the other three walls. This left a large functional stage area where the front row was only eight inches above the floor, creating a very intimate, somewhat informal environment. Seating was relatively limited, and seemed to top out at about 130 seats. In some ways the transition from the lobby to the black box is quite abrupt and is a change from elegance to informality. Of course the play being performed was "My Turn On Earth," a very informal play. Still, the free standing chairs seemed more like dinner theater than Broadway and my mediocrity detectors started to hum--but only for a moment. The creators of the Center Street Theater made some choices--they've chosen reconfigurability over traditional formality. They've chosen keep the focus on the stage, not the house. They've chosen to put that stage in the midst of the audience, not to keep audience and players isolated from each other in physically separated areas. They've given up a backstage and the ability for elaborate set pieces in favor of a setting that focuses on the actors and their craft. The result is something that feels more like an experimental playhouse. Rather than trying to hide the fact of live actors behind a proscenium and curtain, they've chosen to celebrate the medium and expose both the actors and the processes. It's choice that they've made, and it's one that I like. If you go to the Center Street Theater expecting Broadway size, style, and budgets you're going to be disappointed. If you go looking for a good, solid, working professional's theater I think you'll like what you see. The dressing/mingling area is smallish but is decorated in a very neat recreation of Nauvoo-era details. The sunstone motif that makes up the Nauvoo Theatrical Society logo is repeated here, along with faux marble, old books, ceramics, and ironwork. There are two small dressing rooms and a single green room, along with just enough space for an intimate mingle with about half the capacity of the house. It's clean and thoughtful, and reinforces the understated elegance of the lobby. Restrooms are grouped together along the right wall. The shop opens right off the back of the mingling area. It's...well...a shop, with tools and wood and wire and lights and partially built set pieces and piles of scraps and buckets of paint and lots of storage space. There's not much of a break between the public area and the shop, but instead of looking tacky or incomplete I thought it reinforced the idea of being directly and intimately involved with the play, its players, and its subject matters. As with pretty much everything else about the Center Street Theater, it was a choice; I liked that choice. I have to mention that the theater is not quite complete. They're still building parts of the rear public area and parts of the theater still needed a coat of paint or a couple of extra nails. For the next month or so I suspect you will still see some of the seams in the walls or bits of primer poking through the finish coat. But that's trivial stuff that will vanish as the city finally stops making inspections and requiring changes. Sure, I would have loved to see the theater completely finished before they opened. In this case, the promises made by the finished areas eases my concerns and suggests only that the one and true constant of the universe is that nothing goes quite as planned and that no schedule can survive the realities of city inspectors. The Experience ================ I had a very pleasant experience with both the play and the playhouse. As I've already said, the Center Street Theater makes some promises about its levels of professionalism; it promises to give you a good, solid, working pro's theater experience worthy of its ticket price. I believe that the theater succeeds in that promise. Not only does it deserve our support as patrons, it has earned that support with solid conceptual design and a powerful vision of Mormon theater as being worthy of serious consideration and respect. Before the first act was over I had already turned to my wife and asked her if we could scrape together enough cash to buy season tickets. The Promise ============= The Nauvoo Theatrical Society has set a fairly aggressive schedule with plays by AML Award winning playwrights Tim Slover, J. Scott Bronson, and Eric Samuelsen as well as Thom Duncan, Marvin Payne, and Carol Lynn Pearson. In its first season it will explore both serious and comedic subjects, will offer drama and musical comedy and maybe even some readers' theater. The Nauvoo Theatrical Society seems bent on proving to Mormons that the age of Mormon theater has arrived and has something for every kind of patron. I think they're right. And while it's a little early to declare the venture a success after seeing only one performance of one play, all the signs point to a worthy idea conceived well and executed with both pride and professionalism. The quality is there; now the question is whether Mormon theater-goers will find this tiny jewel nestled between an office supply store and a children's pizza paradise. And having found it, will we overcome our reserve and attend, because the only way to make good theater available that addresses our unique culture and heritage as Mormons is to reward the worthy contendors with our patronage. If people will attend plays mounted by the Nauvoo Theatrical Society at their new Center Street Theater (currently, their only theater), they will find a thing that is virtuous, lovely, and of good report and praiseworthy. Which is all anyone can ask. I look forward to seeing you all there. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] Nauvoo Theatrical Society: _My Turn On Earth_ (Review) Date: 30 Sep 2002 13:57:57 -0600 When I went to see _My Turn On Earth_ at the new Center Street Theater of the Nauvoo Theatrical Society, I went with more than a little bit of trepidation. I'm friends with Thom and Scott and Eric, three of the general partners in the venture. I helped in the demolition of the old tent warehouse to make room for the new theater. I helped in some last-minute finish work to meet the inspection requirements of the City of Orem. In other words I had an investment in the success of this thing. I wanted my friends to do well. I wanted to kick off the new age of Mormon theater with a bang. So why did they have to pick _My Turn On Earth_ as their first play? Why couldn't they have hit with a good literary piece like Margaret Young's _Dear Stone_ or Eric Samuelsen's _Gadianton,_ or at least a solid musical like _Trail of Dreams_ with its powerful message of Mormon communal unity? Why did they have to dig out the very icon of fluffy, big-haired, doctrinally dubious, 70s pop kitsch? Why, why, WHY? You could'a been a contender. You could have produced pretty much anything and done it well. But you chose...that! You know I won't give a good review to a bad play, no matter how much I like you guys as people. Why did you put me in this predicament by specifically inviting me to see the show? If I hadn't seen it I could have remained silent on the issue. But you had to invite me... Let me say, for the record, that I am more than happy to eat my hat and my preconceptions on both the play and the production. This is a good play, and it was well produced. I heartily recommend both the play and the playhouse as worthy additions to the ever-expanding world of Mormon culture. See it. See it now. Bring the family. It's worth it. The Play ========== This is the play that kicked off the fad, the one that actually broke out of a few small theaters in Utah County and made money across the country. It spawned copies and knockoffs. It generated both musical and merchandising empires. It made people feel good about being Mormon back in the days when Donny Osmond was a national hit, disco still seemed cool, and we were all trying desperately to find something good to believe in in the wake of Vietnam, Watergate, and the oil embargo. But that was then. We outgrew that. We know better now. It was a roadshow with a perky soundtrack, not real literature, not real theater. That was our childhood; now we're adults. We've grown beyond simple kitsch. Baloney (or "bologna" for the highbrow among us). This is a good show that's well written and well conceived. It tells a story that is intimately familiar to Mormon audiences in a fun, energetic way that still had the power to both touch me and to educate me. It provoked me to think about what I believe and what I hope for, as well as how I make choices. But most importantly, it entertained me. I understand that playwright J. Scott Bronson was given permission to do some light rewriting to update some of the 1970s pop references (though most of them are making a comeback in the broader American culture as we speak). I understand that director J. Scott Bronson chose to leave out a song and combine two scenes into one. And maybe that was the difference. Maybe that light but skilled touch turned this play from a work of humiliatingly trite Mormon kitsch into a fun reminder of some of the joy we must have felt when given the chance to come to earth and gain a body and experiences--and the joy that we can yet feel in being judged worthy of re-entry to God's presence. But I don't think so. Or at least I don't think that fully explains it. A good book and magazine editor once suggested to me that he would buy any story that succeeded on its own terms, whether he personally liked it or not. What mattered was that the story was complete and honest to its own soul; after that it was just a matter of figuring out which audience would respond to it and marketing it correctly. _My Turn On Earth_ succeeds on its own terms. It promises to tell a story that most audience members already know, but it also promises to offer a few surprises that put familiar ideas in odd contexts, that force one to think again and make sure they know what they believe. It leads to a happy and arguably sentimental conclusion, but it never once promised that it would do otherwise. Yes, it's a simple story. That's exactly what it promised to be, and I can only applaud a play that succeeds on its own terms. This is not a literary heavyweight. Then again, it never claimed to be. This is a straight, simple, fun retelling of the most important story Mormons know. I'm sorry that I've let other peoples' opinions sour me on wanting to see it before now, because I had a great time and found the story to be both entertaining and uplifting. The Production ================ As I mentioned above, the Nauvoo Theatrical Society production apparently took a few small liberties with some of the pop references and updated them into modern idiom. But that's what a good theater company does--they adapt the play in subtle ways to the current audience. The actors did a nice job and had generally strong, pleasant voices. But when they sang together, their blend was excellent. No microphones were used which made a few of the lyrics a little hard to hear, but it also kept the audience from being blasted out when the players sang together. Sets were quite minimal--a couple of platforms set up against the wall. Most of the action took place in the open floor space in front of the tiny stage. The small dimensions of the theater made this a perfect presentation. Five actors were able to fill the space as they sang and danced without either being dwarfed by empty space or overattenuated by too small a space. Choreography was good, and the actors regularly interacted with the audience, effectively making them a part of the play and increasing the intimacy of the story. While there were no set pieces, the Nauvoo Theatrical Society had a novel and effective means of creating a complex theater space for both the actors and the audience. The walls of the black box had been painted with chalkboard paint and the actors actually used colored chalk to drew pictures, words, and furniture on the walls as needed during the play. In some cases the words or pictures were comments on the play itself, offering a sort of dual-action presentation with both a foreground set of events and an explicit inline interpretation of some of those events. Each actor carried a handkerchief that served both as a chalkboard eraser and as prop. Because most of the images drawn on the walls persisted from scene to scene and from act to act, the end effect was of a complete story offered all at once--a sort of dramatization of our own memory over time. When the play was over, people were encouraged to add their own words or images to the walls of the black box. This kind of innovative, interactive staging made this play an absolute joy to watch--and participate in. The acting was campy but that's what the script called for, and when they chose to be serious they did just as well. This show was well written, well acted, well choreographed, and well directed. I enjoyed it despite my strong inclination not to, and I think you'll enjoy it too. The Conclusion ================ If you've seen this play before, try seeing it again. The pacing is excellent and the Nauvoo Theatrical Society production is quite well done in a directly interactive, innovatively minimalist sort of way. If you haven't seen it before (as I hadn't) make sure you see this production. The play is much, much better than you may have heard. Or at least this production of it is. Do yourself a favor and see it. The show runs September 27-October 26. Performances are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 ($8 with student ID). The Center Street Theater is located at 50 West Center Street, Orem, Utah. For more information call the Nauvoo Theatrical Society at (801) 225-3800. [Scott Parkin] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric Russell" (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 15:15:41 -0500 Amelia Parkin wrote: > dislike: > BYU, in almost every one of its aspects. and I studied there so I am not speaking > without foundation. It is unrigorous. It coddles its students both intellectually and > spiritually. Especially spiritually. There is a spirit of fear there, fear that somehow > someone who is teaching something that may be perceived as contrary to the gospel > will cost a student his or her testimony. For that reason it is difficult to teach theories > such as feminism or marxism or psychoanalytic theory in a humanities type class-- > because teaching it in a realm where it could be mistaken for a moral or ethical > statement might shake a student up too much. This is ludicrous! I am currently a senior English major at BYU and while I cannot speak for all of BYU, nor for how BYU used to be, I can say that this is stretching it when it comes to the BYU English Dept. I have recently taken classes where feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis and post-structuralism were all taught in detail and often in ways that could be perceived as contrary to church ideas. I have also taken classes in gothic literature where sexuality was the standard for daily discussion and classes where BYU policy and Mormon culture were criticized on a regular basis. Never once in any of these cases did any of the students have a problem with what was being discussed. But there are a few who come from an ultra conservative bubble, the type who almost seem to enjoy being offended, and unfortunately these are often the ones who speak up the most. There aren’t that many of these at BYU, but of course there are many more than are found outside it. I think it’s this minority that gives a name for the character of BYU as a whole. And it’s these few people that necessitate BYU catering to the lowest common denominator. This idea extends to many of the comments made about Mormon culture so far. Many of the comments apply to less than 5% of the Mormon population, or even the Utah population; but that as many as 5% adhere to actions or attitudes so peculiar, it makes it seem like “everyone” is like that. For example, we can laugh at “The Single’s Ward” because for every peculiarity that is poked fun at, we can say we know someone who does that or is like that. But that is also the point. It is usually just some one. The fact that there is one in almost every single’s ward makes it seem like a cultural attribute. But the reality remains that it’s usually just one or two out of a hundred. This can become dangerous in literature of a more serious nature, when a character is characterized by an attribute or attitude that really pertains to a slim minority of his or her culture. I can see all of the pros and cons of Mormon culture mentioned on the list so far being used effectively in Mormon fiction. But I think it’s important that these idiosyncrasies aren’t represented as characteristic of the group as a whole. Eric Russell ---------- Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: <<'http://g.msn.com/1HM1ENUS/c144??PS>Click Here -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Dewey Remy Subject: RE: [AML] Feeding Your Inner Gnostic Date: 30 Sep 2002 18:12:18 -0700 John Dewey Remy wrote: "Then he might sit back and think about how that nice, sensible Mormon accountant who does his taxes believes in a god who lives on a planet called Kolob" To which D. Michael Martindale responded: "We don't believe that. The PofGP says that Kolob is "nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God," not that God actually lives on it." Thank you--I stand corrected. At the same time, perhaps the "We" in "We don't believe that" needs to be qualified. It may not be correct doctrine as interpreted by some, but this doesn't change the fact that many run of the mill Mormons do believe this (including at least one institute director and perhaps a number of his students :^). John Remy UC Irvine -----Original Message----- Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2002 1:12 AM John Dewey Remy wrote: > > Then he might sit back and think about how > that nice, sensible Mormon accountant who does his taxes believes in a god > who lives on a planet called Kolob We don't believe that. The PofGP says that Kolob is "nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God," not that God actually lives on it. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 30 Sep 2002 18:33:50 -0700 [MOD: This is a logical outgrowth of the conversation so far, but at this point I think we're talking about Mormon doctrine pretty purely, and have moved pretty far away from Mormon letters. Unless someone has a literary tie-in, I'd prefer to let this part of the thread pretty much die here.] > From: "D. Michael Martindale" > Interesting how Robert's list parallels mine. I have one comment on what > he wrote: > > Robert Slaven wrote: > > * Believing that any church authority (certainly our general authorities, > > often our area authorities, and sometimes right down to bishop/EQ pres./RS > > pres. level) is completely infallible in every way, not just in the sphere of > > their calling. > > I don't believe they're infallible even within the sphere of their > calling. Is there some doctrine that requires I should? Or is that more > culture? > Well, for many Mormons, it's a very short leap from 'whether by my voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same' to 'we should treat everything every GA says as if Jesus himself said it.' This can vary from 'if they said it in General Conference, it's gospel' through 'if they said it in the Ensign or in any Deseret/Bookcraft book, it's gospel' through to 'if they ever were rumoured to say it to my great aunt Fanny, it's gospel.' And, since we as a church are about the least shy Christian denomination when it comes to destroying any wall between spiritual and temporal things, it's yet another very short hop to 'anything any GA says about ANY topic is gospel.' This mindset, of course, is more ovine than divine. I see it as a major problem with missionary work sometimes. New members should be taught to believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true scripture cheek-by-jowl with the Bible, and that the Church is the vehicle of the restored gospel in these latter days. Period. Instead, they can get burdened by a lot of other junk -- much of it not even particularly doctrinal -- by well-meaning members. I saw a lot of it as a new member in Victoria BC back in the early 80's. I think the growing diversity of church members has led to a bit of an easing-off in that area, but if you told me the problem persisted in the AZ-UT-ID-southernAB corridor, say, I wouldn't be a lick surprised. Anyhow, Michael, my point is that I agree with you. I don't often see eye to eye with how (not so much 'what'), say, President Packer and Elder Scott say things. (They speak truth, but I sometimes wonder how many flies their occasional vinegar scares away.) And I certainly don't think they're infallible, whether on the podium or quoted by whoever. Worthy examples, with authority to teach and preach and exhort, and a healthy dose of the Spirit to help them get it right, yes; but unerring spiritual robots, no. Robert ********************************************************************** Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.ca ...with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin too 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.389 / Virus Database: 220 - Release Date: 2002/09/16 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mary Jane Jones" Subject: Re: [AML] ANDEREGG, "Charly" (Newspaper features) Date: 30 Sep 2002 19:44:55 -0600 D. Michael Martindale wrote: >Now isn't that exactly what I said before? Those who owned the rights to >Charly sat around wondering when LDS films could be successful in real >life theaters. Richard Dutcher went out and made it happen. Why couldn't >Kaleidoscope Pictures have created the same distribution system that >Dutcher created? I hope this isn't picking on too small a detail, but the publicist in me = can't resist... Richard Dutcher had the guts and the vision and the chutzpah to make a = movie in the first place. Excel Entertainment Group, specifically Jeff = Simpson and Dean Hale, then joined forces with him in creating the = distribution system that made later films possible. Excel is finally = being recognized for its role in helping create and grow this industry = (see the Tribune article from Monday, Sept 24). =20 Without a doubt, Richard is the father of LDS cinema. Maybe Excel can be = thought of as the pediatrician that keeps it growing (and hopefully = healthy....) Mary Jane Jones Media Relations, Excel Entertainment Group -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Tree-of-Life Stone Date: 30 Sep 2002 20:31:23 -0700 The stone is Stella 5 from Izapa (which is right on the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala). I'm not sure where you can find copies, but several books on Ancient American archaeology should have it. Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Lisa Turner (was: Mormon Themes in National Market) Date: 01 Oct 2002 02:49:48 +0000 While I don't have any answers for Lisa Turner's question, I do want to welcome her to the list. I enjoyed _Pray Away Pounds_ (Hatrack River, 1993) when I read it years ago, funny stuff. Lisa published at least one other book, _The Twelve Disasters of Christmas_ (Bookcraft, 1997), which I haven't read. What have I left out? Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan > I've just had the same experience with the novel I just finished. I felt I could write more honestly and I think the novel is better as a result. However, now I'm wondering if it's publishable in the national market. The characters are Mormon and faith is one of the themes of the novel; however, it is one of several themes. What experience have any of you had with publishing stories, essays, novels, etc. with Mormon themes outside the Mormon market? (You've probably discussed this before I signed onto the list - sorry if it's old stuff.) Lisa Turner _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paul Pehrson" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 30 Sep 2002 22:07:25 -0600 I disagree with Eric about the novel _Charly_. I think that when you evaluate a piece of literature, like _Charly_, you have to try to consider what the author has accomplished (or was attempting to accomplish). Evaluated from that perspective, I believe _Charly_ deserves more credit than it has been given. In many aspects, the book _Charlie_ reminds me a lot of _Added Upon_ by Nephi Anderson. The writing isn't reminiscent of Milton, but maybe that wasn't the effect the authors were going for. _Charly_, like _Added Upon_, can seem preachy at times, but I think it works because of the audience the author is trying to reach. (Perhaps Gideon Burton's favorite example from Anderson's book is found on page 91 of _Added Upon_: "It was a new experience for Rupert to hear a fair lady expound such doctrine. The whole thing charmed him, both the speaker and that which was spoken. A new light seemed to dawn upon him. What if this life was but a school, anyway, into which eternal souls were being sent to be proved, to be taught. "'Have you any other quotations on the subject?' "'Oh, yes; it is full,' said she. 'When you get time read Heb.12:9, Jer 1:4-5, Eph. 1:3-5, and John 9:1-3. I do not remember more now.'") Even Eric will admit that _Charly_ isn't THAT preachy! Why, then, do I think Charly works? What did Jack accomplish with the book? Thousands of LDS teens read and loved the book (peachiness and all). Brother Weyland spoke a language that his readers could understand. During the process, he was able to teach them about the gospel and the Plan of Salvation in a humorous, memorable way. Maybe it even helped a struggling member of the Church find their way. Did Brother Weyland accomplish something great? I believe that he was able to influence the lives of people for good, helping them grow spiritually. In my book, that is a success. Jack Weyland planted a seed with _Charly_, a seed which blossomed, and whose fruits we all reap today. Was Jack the first? No. Did he play an important role? I think so. No, Weyland isn't a Milton or a Chaucer. _Charly_ might not find its way into the cannons of "great literature," but like _Added Upon_, I bet _Charly_ will be in print for years to come. I'm glad. N. Paul Pehrson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Marie Knowlton Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good and Bad Date: 30 Sep 2002 23:09:06 -0700 (PDT) As an outsider to the "Zion Curtain" (I'm a convert to the Church and have= spent most of my life living in places other than Utah), I can't help but= be struck by the contrasts between what we teach and what we live here in= "Happy Valley."=20 For example, we teach that we should be of one heart and mind, and also that= we should love everyone unconditionally. When we translate that into= everyday life, what we often get is a proclivity to stick our noses into= our neighbor's business to make sure he is living up to our version of the= Gospel. When we encounter others not of our faith, we simultaneously try to= avoid associating too closely with them (so we don't pick up their "wordly"= lifestyles and opinions), but still fellowship them into the Church. How do= you really get to be friends with somebody unless you actually respect= their right to have their own values and opinions (which may be very= different from yours)? You can't, which is why we have such a hard time= with the idea of fellowshipping non-members without actually associating= with them.=20 We also have a wonderful habit of insulating ourselves in our own warm fuzzy= culture so that we can be "in the world" but not "of the world." This means= that we tend to ignore great literature that wasn't written by LDS authors,= pass by excellent art or music that didn't come from the proper venues, and= eschew deep thought on subjects that can't be simplified down to answers= like, "Fasting, prayer, and family home evening." Not only does this make= us seem even more out-of-touch to the rest of world, it keeps us= out-of-touch with our own intellectual development as well.=20 I'm a full-time student (not at BYU), and I have a lot of friends who don't= share my religious beliefs. Most of them have vented on me their= frustration about living in a culture that glorifies intelligence but= ignores intellectual diversity, preaches brotherly love but won't associate= with them unless they're interested in joining the Church, and generally= tries to make everything just as bland and homogenous as the green Jell-O= salad they serve at those ward dinners.=20 It's amazing how different things look from the "outside." It wouldn't hurt= us any to see things from that point of view occasionally. And it might= even help if we as a people were able to take our peculiarity less= seriously, and break down a few of those "Zion walls" that keep us from= understanding those who are different from us.=20 [Marie Knowlton] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Steve Perry" Subject: [AML] Reach the Children (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 01 Oct 2002 09:04:07 -0600 Hi Listers, In the area of the good in Mormon culture, here's a chance to change the world. This week. Deseret Book is providing a special opportunity for folks to be of service to "Reach the Children," an organization providing education, nutrition, and vocational training to children and families in Africa. It happens on "Ladies Night," the night of LDS General Priesthood Meeting and it will enable "Reach the Children" to change the world for hundreds of children. If you go to: http://www.deseretbook.com you'll see a picture and link letting you know what items you can bring to any Deseret Book as contributions. A little goes an incredibly long way. I could go on and on with personal stories of the children benefitted and their families I've interviewed and visited with personally, but there isn't room here. I've been a volunteer with RTC for two years and have gone on volunteer trips to Kenya and Uganda. My wife, Johanne, leaves next week for Ghana. We love this organization for several reasons, but mostly because 100% of donations -- whether in kind or in cash -- reach the children. Last spring I recorded several of the school choirs for a fund-raising CD to be released later this year. You can hear the children singing at: http://stevenkappperry.com/rtcsongs.html You can learn more at www.reachthechildren.org. :-) Steve -- skperry@mac.com http://www.StevenKappPerry.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kathy Fowkes" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 01 Oct 2002 10:49:40 -0700 Rich Hammett: > > I have to disagree with him to some extent, even though I > > think what those companies do is pretty _silly_, I don't > > think it should be illegal. For me, it isn't silly at all. I watch my teenage sons struggle to stay faithful, stay morally clean and "peacemakers" in a world full to the brim with explicit sex and violence on tv and in movies. We want to still be able to enjoy what is good, worthwhile, fun and interesting without certain scenes tearing down the budding spiritual strength my children (both boys and girls) are developing. Explicit sexual scenes replay in the mind long after the movie is over. To put it in a more anthropomorphic (and I think realistic) way, Satan just LOVES it when kids and adults have these scenes in their minds so he can then whisper in their ears or whatever he does to get them (us) to think of these scenes at inappropriate moments and encourage dwelling on the feelings these scenes bring up when they can do nothing righteous to satisfy those desires. There isn't a person on this list that hasn't experienced the powerful force of sexual feelings, and isn't aware how easily the feelings can be channeled into inappropriate thoughts and behaviors. I can throw out the TV and VCR or DVD player and never allow my children to set foot in a movie theatre, and keep them entirely wrapped up in cotton wool, completey ruining any chance of them fitting in with their peers (which I would rather not do, because I love movies) or I can have the benefit of enjoying with them the films of the day, edited for family viewing, without concern that their growing sexual feelings are being encouraged toward action by what they are watching. If it is never put in their minds in the first place it gives the adversary fewer tools to use against them later on. And to be totally frank, I find that this is necessary for myself as well. Am I advocating a repression of all sexual feeling? No. Not in the least. I'm advocating a purity of mind and heart to allow the full expression of these God-given feelings in the manner God ordained to give a fulness of joy to a married couple, and to allow strength for no expression of sexual feelings in a manner in which they should not be expressed. Being able to rent or buy edited movies allows me more freedom to enjoy modern movies and still maintain that purity for myself and my children. It allows us all to maintain the armor of God against all the wiles of the adversary. Jim said something that resonated with me in his post in the thread on the Hays Code (though he may not have meant it the way I'm choosing to apply his words): "I believe that the idea that that talking everything out openly is good at all times in all cases is a deliberate deception perpetrated by the psychiatric community. Some things are far better left unsaid. I'd give just about anything to unlearn some of the things I've learned. Ugh! I don't want to know how rotten people can be. The old standard was bad enough, it doesn't help a bit to know that it was only half-way to the bottom." I don't need to see every breast, and every stroke of the hand, lips or other parts in a scene to know that the two people are about to or did have sex. I find the old movies where the bedroom door closes on the camera to be far more evocative, without leading me into the viewing of the sex act between characters (and actors who are rarely married in real life, which ends up meaning I'm viewing an adulterous act for the sake of "art") which I believe to be against nature and against the commandment to cleave unto my spouse and unto no one else. Sex is sacred. It's holy when it is enjoyed within the bounds the Lord has set. I love the way the Kabbalah describes sex. Talk about powerful. That's how I want sex to be in my life. Edited movies allows me to aim for both -- a clean, holy, fun sex life, and excellent movie entertainment. Ultimately, if it comes down to a choice, I'll choose the better sex in my real life over the "full artistic expression" in a movie. But I'm hoping the edited movies are here to stay so I don't have to make that choice. Kathy Fowkes -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 01 Oct 2002 12:41:43 -0700 On Thu, 19 Sep 2002 10:14:51 -0600 "Eric R. Samuelsen" writes: > 1) Teach students to overcome the handicaps their culture imposes on > them, to work actively to purge from their minds parochialism, i.e. > cultural practices likely to hold them back. > 4) Teach students that they are children of a culture that's frankly > pretty hostile to art and that will hold them back if they let it. What fascinates me is that all the discussion of Eric's list assumes that the word 'culture' refers to LDS culture. I thought it referred to American culture. I can think of a lot of handicaps American culture imposes on a lot of people, including a polarizing political rhetoric that frames public and political debate in simplistic divisive terms that don't reflect the diversity of our students' lives, but may well affect the conditions under which they live. I especially think that phrase "a culture that's frankly pretty hostile to art" describes American culture. Think about this: Suppose there was a huge defense contractor, North-crock Grubmoney, for example, that was involved in a huge overcharging scandal. Would anyone in Congress be making speeches about how we ought to slash the budget for the National Endowment for Arms because it was funding immoral and corrupt companies? Actually, the phrase, "Teach students that they are children of a culture ... that will hold them back if they let it," is also a pretty apt description of American culture. AML-List includes people from all over the country, and I'll bet every one of us has heard, "How are you going to make money as a writer?" asked as a rhetorical question rather than an invitation to think about a business plan. Suppose you have a really talented high school student who is both a really good writer and a really good football player (a bit like the main character of Eric Samuelsen's Playing the Game). If she says, "I'm going to college on a football scholarship," no one will say, "What are you going to do with a degree in football, teach?" The irony is that the closest the vast majority of college athletes will ever get to paid involvement in sports after college is high school or league coaching. There simply are not enough slots on professional teams to absorb even a sizable fraction of all college players. But we're more likely to encourage the talented high school athlete than the talented writer, who statistically (the professional statistics for athletes and writers are in the Statistical Abstract of the United States in the table on "Writers, artists and entertainers") has a much better chance of becoming a professional than does the athlete. Good night. It's too late. Harlow S. Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 30 Sep 2002 22:06:36 -0600 Interesting that "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is associated with Mormons! I associate it with all Christian Churches, and with Gettysburg. I always see slaves being emancipated when I sing it. It IS a bloody song, but it inspires me in ways I can't possibly justify. I see the chains of Hell being loosed as the chains of slavery are, and prefer the lines "As He died to make men holy, let us DIE to make men free" to the revision. I truly am in awe of the commitment of those who sang the hymn over a century ago. Regardless of how the Civil War began, it ended up being about slavery, and those men going to battle knew they were dying for something beyond the political, for the cause of Christ himself: liberty. And I love "Lead Kindly Light"--written by the courageous Cardinal Newman, who left the safety of the Protestant [Anglican, in this case] Church for the "Romans"--or Catholics. A man of tremendous conscience. I love the song. I wonder if any Baptists sing hymns written by apostate Mormons. [Margaret Young] Tony Markham wrote: > > I also threw in that since "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and > it shall be answered..." that I couldn't see why we kept praying these prayers > filled with violence and hostility, especially "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" > with all its talk about trampling, wrath, and terrible swift swords." I would > never say a prayer like that and don't know why it has become the cultural > trademark of the Mormon church. I much prefer "Lead Kindly Light." ( -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 01 Oct 2002 14:42:38 -0600 I really liked what Scott Parkin had to say. We should stop moaning and get our act together. If you're not getting published or your scripts aren't getting produced, then go out and do it yourself. It's hard, as Scott Bronson and I have learned in launching the Nauvoo Theatrical Society. I've spent my share of sleepless nights wondering if we could ever pull this off. Would we have enough money? Would people come see our stuff? I don't know the answers to all these questions: I may in a couple of months. All I know now is that the agony has been worth the ectasy of seeing this marvelous cast sing their hearts out and the appreciative audiences clapping and crying and laughing. We're doing Mormon Theatre, by cracky! There is finally a voice for the Mormon artist who's chosen theatre as his/her medium of expression. It hasn't been easy. I've looked at our experience thus far as taking one step forward and two (sometimes three or four) steps backward. But we've trudged along, we're open and we have a great first show. Now, to address another point: Is My Turn on Earth artistic? I wouldn't call it that. Personally, I couldn't write a show like it without a case of Pepto-Bismal by my side. I don't do cute. And that's what My Turn on Earth is: cute. It's a family show, full of fun songs, funky dancing, and funny faces. Its principle emotional hook is pathos. (I have to admit that because of certain things that have happened in my life over the last year, a couple of songs actually bring a lump to my throat.) As Scott and I contemplated opening the LDS theatre, we quickly realized that a full season of Neil Labutesque Mormon drama (the kind I prefer) wouldn't get us the audience we would need to make this venture self-perpetuating. Not being made of money, and having a limited supply of same for building the theatre, we had to make concessions of a commerical nature. Did we cave into the Man or did we instead make a business decision to do the occasional My Turn on Earth so we can make enough money to do Heubner. Obviously, I think the latter is the right decision. Let's not forget that for every Levi Peterson we have writing quality LDS fiction, we have fifty Shirley Sealys or Jack Weylands who've paved the way for others of more literary bents. That's how Scott B. and I have chosen to look at the Mormon Theatre world. I've ripped Saturday's Warrior apart on this very list but if it didn't exist, Mormon theatre would be in far worse shape than it is now, if it existed at all. Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "John Williams" Subject: RE: [AML] Feeding Your Inner Gnostic Date: 01 Oct 2002 22:13:19 -0700 I am in John Remy's ward, and I heard his testimony (or "doubtamony" if you prefer). I was in the nursery, playing with kids when John's voice came over the speaker. It wasn't your normal testimony--to be sure, but you know, it certainly didn't strike me as "intellectual." John expressed some doubts about the "basic tenets" of Mormonism, which he said kept him from getting his temple recommend, but there was nothing particularly *intellectual* about it. In fact, John came across as so completely humble about the whole thing that it sounded to me like he was apologizing for not being "smart" enough, at least in the sense that he "lacked" a testimony. There were no reinterpreted scriptures, no quoted scholars, nothing even resembling the sort of academic jargon some Mormons like to vilify as liberal intellectualism. It was just a simple apology (in the remorseful sense, obviously, not the academic sense), as if to say, "look, I'm not sure I buy all of this, but I'm here, and I'm trying to learn, and I love you all the same." So that John, smart as he is, has been accused of "intellectualism," seems pretty funny to me. On the other hand, such an accusation isn't all that strange, or uncommon. When one who is part of a community of believers begins to question his or her beliefs, and announces those questions publicly, it is hard for some believers (Mormons included) not to feel accused of naivety. That is, many Mormons misinterpret openly declared skepticism as a kind of agnostic proselytization (as if the doubter is saying, "I have doubts, so you should to, or else you're a simpleton"). Thus, a kind of angry defensiveness emerges wherein the Mormon feels the need to either justify his faith, or else take on the doubter as a kind of spiritual "special project," someone ripe for re-conversion, someone otherwise just outside the gates of hell. So when we speak of Mormon anti-"intellectualism," what we really mean is Mormon defensiveness (and we all know how brash that can be at times). In other words, it has nothing to do with how "smart" or "intellectual" the doubter is, because all skepticism is perceived as a kind of elitist erudition, something that the believer should have but does not. In truth, I was surprised that John didn't anticipate a defensive reaction to his testimony. It seemed pretty inevitable to me, and perhaps John, in admitting that the pulpit might not be "the best place" for such doubts, already knew he was asking for trouble. On the other hand, perhaps he thought his expression of doubt would provide a kind of vicarious cathartic cleansing for other closet doubters--and maybe for some it did. My own reaction was one of delight. How wonderful, I thought, to hear something besides the same old scripted monologue. It really made the meeting much more interesting. Inside I was thinking (as were many others, I'm sure), "Yes, John, of course, we all have doubts." On the other hand, I do have a temple recommend, which means my "doubts" are probably not on the same doctrinal level as John's. And in many ways, I think John's recent conversion to the enlightened skepticism of Sterling McMurrin may be a bit naive. I can remember reading a Dialogue interview with Sterling McMurrin (Spring 1984) wherein he basically denied ever having believed the Joseph Smith story, the divine nature of the Book of Mormon, or in any type of "heavenly" manifestation. The interesting thing about him, of course, was that he remained genuinely committed to fulfilling his "cultural," "social"and "ancestral" connection to the church. I respected his decision, and was happy to learn he could remain active in the church. I even envied, for a moment anyway, his liberal rejection of anything not provable within his own sphere of experience. It seemed SMART. A few weeks later, just by chance, I happened to be reading Eugene Englands _Why the Church is as True as the Gospel_, and I came across this passage: "In an interview, Sterling McMurrin, one of the brightest people I know and truly a great post-Enlightenment rationalist, bore his testimony as follows: 'I came to the conclusion at a very early age, earlier than I can remember, that you don't get books from angels and translate them by miracles.' I find that a remarkably _un_questioning assertion, one that manifests much greater faith than I am capable of--a faith, that is, in a dogmatic and quite limited view of the world. I am inclined to believe what Shakespeare has Hamlet remind us--that there are stranger things than are dreamed of in any of our philosophies. Joseph Smith seems to have been more willing than Sterling McMurrin to question the most basic things" (121). So, yes, I agree with John, we should be more willing than anyone to question even the "most basic things," but that these questions necessarily lead us away from belief in the Church, I don't buy it. Of course, maybe that is John's point, but if it is, then I'd sure like to see John standing with me in the Newport Beach Temple dedication next year. John Williams UC Irvine. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Not All Bad in Mormontown Date: 01 Oct 2002 09:39:21 -0700 > Thanks for sharing your family's story with us. > Can you please clarify what you meant when you referred to "abuse"? Are you talking about sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, or verbal abuse? > > All of the above. My mom and my sister were physically abused (strangled, punched, heads bashed into walls, that type of thing). My other sister probably was too, but I don't know. She went crazy and it was impossible to tell when she was telling the truth and when she was hallucinating. My nieces were physically and sometimes sexually abused, although I don't know the details. The verbal and emotional abuse just goes along with it. I myself was never abused. I tend to joke about my family a lot, it's hard not to, there's so much craziness. What I shared was just the very tip of the iceberg. I have a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles, and every single person in my family has a crazy story. You may wonder if I'm exaggerating, but the truth is, I'm probably understating it. I'm the only member of the church in my family. My parents are Lutheran. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners Date: 01 Oct 2002 09:28:56 -0600 (MDT) AML Friends: I am looking for narratives of any length on the experiences of LDS m= edical practitioners and how their religious perspective is an essential par= t of their work. If you know of any LDS medical practitioners working on a book = about their experiences, I would especially like to talk to them, but I will look= at anything of any length on this topic. The idea of =93medical practitioners=94 is not limited to just doctor= s and nurses, but should be understood in its broadest meaning to encompass anyone = involved in the healing arts and sciences. This would include physicians=09 surgeons fire/police/EMTs nurses and assistants=09 psychologists =09 therapists=09 dentists veterinarians=09 undertakers chiropractors anesthesiologists Sometimes we hear stories about miraculous cures in cases which baffl= ed the physicians. The humble elders are called in and the patient is cured= , while the physicians and their science are made to look foolish. While this ma= y be so in some cases, I believe that LDS practitioners more frequently find the= mselves working with the guidance and inspiration of the Lord day in and day = out, using their skill and training in conjunction with their spiritual training= to heal the sick and afflicted. After all, the D&C talks about the need for = appropriate medical care in treating the sick, and it reminds us that not all hav= e the faith to be cured.=20 Here are some suggestions and things to talk about:=20 1. Talk briefly about your background. Where are you from? Why and = how did you decide to work in medicine? What religious issues and concerns did y= ou consider in making your decision? 2. How do you see the relationship between your profession and your = religion?=20 What role does religion play in your practice? How does it influenc= e your professional decisions? 3. Can you talk about specific stories and incidents from your exper= ience which have a distinctly spiritual dimension? For example,=20 A. Have you been guided by inspiration in your care for a patient? B. How have you worked in conjunction with priesthood blessings?=20 C. Have you been distressed by individual cases? D. What are some memorable cases in which your religious perspective = was particularly important? E. How do you feel about the role and function of priesthood blessing= s in the healing process? Who makes the decision about when and where it shou= ld be done? F. How have you dealt with apparent failures of both science and reli= gion; in other words, what do you do when people die on you who should have li= ved? G. Have you ever been a patient and been on the receiving end of medi= cal care?=20 Has this changed your perspective on things? H. How have you managed the demands of family, church, and other responsibilities? I. How have non-members patients, colleagues and clergy responded to = your religion? J. Do you know other LDS medical practitioners who have had interesti= ng experience?=20 K. Have you seen other LDS practitioners in action and learned from t= hem? In addition, if you have had some interesting experiences being in th= e professional hands of LDS practitioners, I would like to see those na= rratives as well.=20 Some people are unsure of their writing skills and wonder if they can= actually produce a publishable essay, but you should be aware that, for me, wh= at you say is more important than how you say it. Writing problems are easy to = fix, but individual experiences are unique.=20 Please call me at (801) 225-5401 or send me an e-mail message fcp@ema= il.byu.edu. Thanks! Fred C. Pinnegar Ph.D. Owner, FCP Publishing and Sharpspear Press -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 09:41:01 -0700 I used to live in a ward that was in a small town with a very small LDS population. We were greatly outnumbered by JW's. It was a retirement community. The ward had a spirit about it I've never encountered in any other ward. I don't know if it was because most of the ward were converts, or if it was because they were mostly elderly, many of whom went to the temple weekly. It was a humble ward--all the young families had no money. Kids would regularly attend church in jeans and sneakers. I never felt any of the negative aspects of Mormon culture there. Then we moved to a suburb of Seattle, into a nice ward, but it just couldn't compare to the small town ward we had lived in. My husband and I would complain about it every Sunday after church, then we'd admit that if the new ward wasn't up to our "standards" it was as much our fault as anyone else's. One Sunday in RS the teacher asked what it meant to be--what was the word...something negative. I can't remember. That's going to drive me nuts. Anyway, the bishop's wife spoke up and said that what came to her mind was tattoos. She spoke disparagingly of people with tattoos. I was quick to jump on that. I mentioned how the previous weekend I had visited my old ward in a small town, and I saw a man at Sacrament meeting who was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, had long hair, and tattoos up and down both his arms. And how happy it made me to see him at church. So the teacher was quick to point out that we should have different standards for those who are raised outside the church. I guess I could've pointed out that my husband had a tattoo, and he was raised in the church, but to be honest, I'd completely forgotten he had one. I just left it at that. And you know, no one spoke up about tattoos as part of a culture (Polynesian, for instance). I think this is what bothers me most about the LDS culture. The judgemental attitude that is so easy to fall into. I've done it myself, I'm not condemning these sisters. It's just much too easy to fall into. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel Memorial Date: 01 Oct 2002 16:15:20 -0400 At 11:13 PM 9/28/02 -0600, you wrote: >Thanks for making us aware of the Elijah Abel memorial. We were so glad = >that we could be a part of it. It was nice to see some list people = >there. A blessed event to be sure. > >Nan McCulloch > It was interesting that our in our High Priest's group, the instructor began the lesson (really discussion) by reading three different news accounts of the Elijah Abel memorial. Led to an our of really interesting discussion. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "ROY SCHMIDT" Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel: Fact and Fiction Date: 01 Oct 2002 14:55:27 -0600 Margaret, Thanks for all of the clarifications. I love your books, and can't wait for #3, but you outline a very real problem. That is, so many of us are more than willing to take a work of fiction and accept it as fact. (The Steed family comes at once to mind.) This despite the fact that you are very emphatic about your work as fiction. My memory being what it is, I can't recall if you list a bibliography of nonfiction works in the books or not. If not, do you have plans to do so in #3? Or are the written records just too sketchy or scattered as to make this a practical thing? Roy Schmidt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Stephen Carter Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 13:13:42 -0800 John Dewey Remy wrote: >It is these members, and the Hugh B. Browns and Sterling McMurrins and the >Sunstones and the AMLs of the world, that give me hope and keep me hanging >on when the bludgeon-wielding anti-intellectuals would drive me away from >the church and its culture. Reading this reminded me of a discussion I had with the Elder's Quorum president in my ward. He's a great guy, in fact, he's in the writing program I'm attending right now. So we're both trying to be writers. We had a discussion about what the purpose of classes at church was. I contended that they should be places where true feelings: faith, doubt, despair, redemption, could be expressed and explored. I said that I was fine with sacrament meetings being based completely on faith promoting stuff, but when we got into small groups, it should really be time to talk. He and his wife brought up an interesting idea at that point that I am still wrestling with. They said that the Church should run on the "weakest saint principle," meaning that we should tailor all of our meetings and interactions to the people who are weakest. They suspected (though they were still very open) that my idea of what should go on in classrooms would go against that principle. If we discussed hard questions, without the safety net of a textbook answer, we would hurt the weak saints. So then I read what John Remy wrote: >It is the ... Hugh B. Browns and Sterling McMurrins and the Sunstones and the AMLs of the world, that give me hope and keep me hanging on when the bludgeon-wielding anti-intellectuals would drive me away from the church and its culture. I too feel driven from the Church. I feel like a vagrant who gets citizenship because he is willing to teach the 12-13 year-olds. And suddenly I wondered if I was the weakest saint: the saint who reads too much, the saint who critiques the Ensign talks too closely, the saint who realizes he has let prefab answers buffer him from a well lived life and is trying to fight his way into a real life. A saint who wonders what he can really believe. I wondered if their argument meant that they considered me (reread the characteristics above) one of the strong saints. If I'm strong, who's weak? By the way, I'm very suspicious of that weakest saint principle. It sounds like it's full of holes. I wonder if there is a way for the Church to foster the doubt and searching of the "weak"? Or do we have to leave the garden in order to gain experience in the lone and dreary world? Stephen Carter Fairbanks, Alaska -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] New Sugar Beet Date: 01 Oct 2002 11:12:48 -0600 The idea for an Elizabeth Smart story is a good one, if we could find the right angle at this point. Maybe a Mormon-style seance that echoes all this "Lovely Bones" hoopla? By the way, I've been meaning to stop sending Sugar Beet announcements to AML-List, just because we've already taken our share of post space. (Since the project originated on AML-List, I thought it was more applicable than just something I started on the side, but enough is enough.) There, I just deleted the e-mail address. If you personally want to continue receiving Sugar Beet announcements, simply send a blank e-mail to sugarbeet-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com or use the new "Breaking News" signup link on the Sugar Beet site. Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 01 Oct 2002 15:57:34 -0600 (MDT) The sad thing is - for most films, a cleaned up version readily exists that could easily be put on any DVD release with no hassle - the Airline versions. Those are (usually) edited to a "general broadcaast TV" standard. SO there is no extra work involved - and if the directors, etc. truly felt that there was only one version and editing would have been bad, then they wouldn't have allowed a airline version in the first place. --Ivan Wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 01 Oct 2002 16:16:05 -0600 > >Am I advocating a repression of all sexual feeling? No. Not in=20 >the least. I'm advocating a purity of mind and heart to allow=20 >the full expression of these God-given feelings in the manner=20 >God ordained to give a fulness of joy to a married couple, and=20 >to allow strength for no expression of sexual feelings in a=20 >manner in which they should not be expressed. Being able to=20 >rent or buy edited movies allows me more freedom to enjoy=20 >modern movies and still maintain that purity for myself and my=20 >children. It allows us all to maintain the armor of God=20 >against all the wiles of the adversary. How does renting the CleanFlicks version of Titanic do this? All they do is cut out the seven second scenes of Kate Winslet's breasts but you still have the scene where she's naked and posing for him. Are we supposed to believe that no mental image will form as to what Leonardo may be seeing, even if we don't see what he's drawing? And if the image is there anyway, then NOT showing it accomplishes nothing. =20 >"I believe that the idea that that talking >everything out openly is good at all times in all cases is a=20 >deliberate deception perpetrated by the psychiatric community.=20 > Some things are far better left unsaid. =20 I don't usually agree with the Laird, but I do in this case. The restrictions imposed by the Hays Commission meant that film makers who wanted to explore dark themes had to find a way to do it that wasn't explicit. Richard Dutcher did a similar thing in Brigham City. Dark themed movies don't have to be explicit. That being said, I still think it is the moviemakers right to make the movie anyway he wants. If he wants to use a robotic Ray Liotta in Hannibal for the brain-eatging scene, that's his right. It could have been done better, imo, but I'm not the film maker. But I did read enough about the film ahead of time to know I would see this scene, and made a concious decision to see it anyway. >I'd give just about=20 >anything to unlearn some of the things I've learned. Ugh! I=20 >don't want to know how rotten people can be. The old standard=20 >was bad enough, it doesn't help a bit to know that it was only=20 >half-way to the bottom." Given time, I think we can unlearn bad as well as good stuff. I don't believe that once seen, a film stays in your mind forever. At least it doesn't in mind. Heck, I can't remember all the details about my own fiction, let alone someone else's. I remember someone told me that a film I had seen had two mouthings of the F-word (not don't tell me that by using this euphemism, you're NOT thinking of the word itself -- so what's the use anyway?) I had already seen the film and had been more interested in viewing the piece as a whole than counting the swear words and didn't remember even one use of the word. How was I harmed, if I either don't remember it, or never heard the word in the first place? >I don't need to see every breast, and every stroke of the=20 >hand, lips or other parts in a scene to know that the two=20 >people are about to or did have sex. I find the old movies=20 >where the bedroom door closes on the camera to be far more=20 >evocative, without leading me into the viewing of the sex act=20 >between characters (and actors who are rarely married in real=20 >life, which ends up meaning I'm viewing an adulterous act for=20 >the sake of "art") which I believe to be against nature and=20 >against the commandment to cleave unto my spouse and unto no one else. The hottest scene in modern theatre in my opinion is the seduction scene in Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom never touches his lady love but the song is so emotive and the movement so sensual that you'd swear they were making love right there on the stage. No, you don't need to see the sex act. It's getting pretty hard nowadays to film them without going clich=E9. But nevertheless, if you wanted to do a film like that, = I believe you would have the right, just as I would have the right to choose not to see it, =20 >Sex is sacred. It's holy when it is enjoyed within the bounds=20 >the Lord has set. I love the way the Kabbalah describes sex.=20 >Talk about powerful. That's how I want sex to be in my life. =20 >Edited movies allows me to aim for both -- a clean, holy, fun=20 >sex life, and excellent movie entertainment. Ultimately, if=20 >it comes down to a choice, I'll choose the better sex in my=20 >real life over the "full artistic expression" in a movie. But=20 >I'm hoping the edited movies are here to stay so I don't have=20 >to make that choice. Why don't you want to make that choice? I personally wouldn't have it any other way. The ability to make choices is also a god-given right, and I'm not about to abdicate that right to some nameless committee in Hollywood of Pleasant grove. =20 Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Amy Chamberlain" Subject: Re: [AML] New Sugar Beet Date: 01 Oct 2002 16:37:57 -0600 Since I wrote that editorial, let me give you a few of my thoughts on it. My intent with it--and I know that intentions do not always come through clearly--was NOT to make fun of the 9-11 victims, as Debra assumes it was. It was, instead, to make fun of the Tammy Millers of the world--those Mormons who don't know the details, don't want to know the details, and insist on viewing everything as "God's will," no matter how horrible and tragic the situation. I tried to make clear that Tammy was the subject of my satire and not the tragedy itself by having her say such lines as "I bet some of the people in the towers died. I'm not sure because the news reports that day made me feel kinda blue, so I turned off the TV and sang some hymns instead." Tammy, to me, represents the worst kind of Mormon out there: those who refuse to live in the world but create a rose-colored bubble for themselves and don't let anything touch it. BTW, I've actually heard people say many of the things that Tammy says. The underlying attitude makes me cringe--so I wrote the piece to get it out of my system. Amy -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marianne Hales Harding" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good and Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 17:26:51 -0600 >We also have a wonderful habit of insulating ourselves in our own warm > >fuzzy culture so that we can be "in the world" but not "of the world." > >This means that we tend to ignore great literature that wasn't written > >by LDS authors, pass by excellent art or music that didn't come from >the >proper venues You know, folks, this is an oft-repeated concept here on the list and I have to say that I don't think LDS people are any more prone to ignore great literature and/or pass by excellent art than the rest of the universe. Sometimes I get tired of the picture we paint of the general LDS population: ignorant country bumpkins. Maybe so. But then we're all ignorant in one way or another. And we're not any more ignorant than the rest of humanity. So let's put away the suffering artist whine of "if only the whole world could be as enlightened as me." (FYI, this is not an attack on this specific post, but it made me think.) Curmudgeonly, Marianne Hales Harding _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Sept. 27 02 Date: 01 Oct 2002 16:53:03 -0500 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of September 27, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 15 City by the Sea 764,416 1034 24 Eliza Dushku (actress) 21,629,419 30 Master of Disguise 166,396 370 59 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 39,417,739 31 Possession 155,506 292 45 Neil LaBute (director) 9,945,634 Aaron Eckhart (lead male actor) 36 Minority Report 109,927 158 101 Gerald Molen (producer) 131,719,843 47 Jack Weyland's Charly 56,900 36 3 Adam Anderegg (director) 56,900 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 50 The Divine Secrets of the 42,142 101 115 Ya-Ya Sisterhood 69,542,820 72 The Believer 14,171 9 136 Ryan Gosling (lead actor) 406,035 74 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 13,741 5 878 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,012,357 78 The Singles Ward 12,970 12 241 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,222,696 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Cody Hale (composer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Gretchen Whalley, Sedra Santos, etc. 90 ESPN's Ultimate X 6,837 13 143 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,166,616 92 Galapagos 5,321 4 1067 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,717,347 98 China: The Panda Adventure 4,233 4 430 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,855,987 118 Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars 740 2 82 Mick Ronson (2nd billed actor) 107,811 119 The Other Side of Heaven 701 3 290 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,712,637 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) 122 Mark Twain's America 3D 571 2 1550 Alan Williams (composer) 2,269,925 CHARLY SETS RECORD: "Jack Weyland's Charly" earned the highest-ever total opening weekend box office gross for a non-Dutcher Latter-day Saint-themed feature film. The weekend's box office gross for "Charly" was $56,900, a bit more than the opening weekends for "The Other Side of Heaven" (55,765) and "The Singles Ward" (46,649). But "The Other Side of Heaven" opened in just 2 theaters, and "The Singles Ward" opened in just 11, so "Charly", which opened in 36 theaters, had a lower per-theater gross. Richard Dutcher's "God's Army" and "Brigham City" both had higher grossing opening weekends than "Charly." Dutcher's movies also remain the best-reviewed movies in the genre, both by the local reviewers as well as by national reviewers. Title (Year) OpWknd Theaters God's Army (2000) $ 88,584 3 Brigham City (2001) 103,629 51 Other Side of Heaven (2001) 55,765 2 The Singles Ward (2002) 46,649 11 Out of Step (2002) 7 Jack Weyland's Charly (2002) 56,900 36 "Jack Weyland's CHARLY" is the 6th feature film in the "LDS Cinema" niche i.e., theatrically released feature films featuring Latter-day Saint characters, made for the Latter-day Saint market). Some industry insiders expect "Charly" to exceed the box office gross of "The Other Side of Heaven" to become the top-grossing film in the genre to date. Here are some other existing records or benchmarks to keep an eye on: Top-grossing movie: The Other Side of Heaven $4,711,000 Best Box Office Gross-to-Budget ratio: God's Army 8.8 ("God's Army" grossed nearly 9 times its production budget. In order to beat that ratio, "Charly", which cost a reported $800,000 to make, would need to gross more than $7,008,000) Best Reviewed movie: Brigham City: 75% favorable reviews at RottenTomatoes.com Star/grade numerical average: 68.8 Best weekend: The Other Side of Heaven, Weekend of April 12, 2002: $688,762 (After several weeks in release primarily in Utah and Idaho, "The Other Side of Heaven" opened around the country, playing in 306 theaters. It was ranked 19th nationwide that weekend, the highest national rank achieved by an LDS cinema movie and the only time that an LDS Cinema movie has broken into the national Top 20. A similar nationwide release is planned for "Charly" after the holidays.) It is interesting to note that the record-setting movies mentioned -- God's Army, Brigham City and The Other Side of Heaven -- were all distributed by Excel Entertainment, the company that is also distributing "Jack Weyland's Charly." ------ HANDCART JUST AROUND THE CORNER: Kels Goodman's historical epic "Handcart" opens in just 10 days. This is the first theatrically-released feature film made by Latter-day Saint filmmakers about the pioneer era. How will it do at the box office? Leave your prediction in our online poll at: http://www.ldsfilm.com/polls.html Just as with "Charly", you can also send in an exact amount. Whoever comes closest to guessing the actual box office gross for "Handcart" (as of the first weekend box office report of February 2003) will not only earn accolades for their prognosticative acumen, they'll also receive a free "Spirit of the Sabbath" CD from film composer and ldsfilm.com co-webmaster Thomas C. Baggaley. (The CD is now on sale at Deseret Book and other stores where LDS music is sold.) But send in your prediction now, because we won't accept any more predictions (for the contest, at least) once the film hits the theaters. Send your contest entry predictions to: ldsfilm@baggaleymusic.com SINGLES WARD ON DVD AND VIDEO: Today (October 1st) is the official release date for "The Singles Ward" on DVD and video (although I actually saw displays up in stores yesterday). Kurt Hale has promised a very entertaining commentary on the DVD, so we're sure you'll want to check it out. INSIDE INFO ON "THE RM": The comedy feature film directed by Kurt Hale and produced by Dave Hunter: Everything is on track for a January 2003 premiere. Returning crew members from "The Singles Ward" are Director of Photography Ryan Little, composer Cody Hale, and film editor Wynn Hougaard. The Production Designer is new to HaleStom Entertainment, however: Doug Ellis, who designed "Out of Step" (and was a long-time art director for the Michael J. Fox TV series "Spin City"). One of the most exciting aspects of the production, of course, is that it marks the acting debut of Canadian pop star Maren Ord. She also cut a new song for the soundtrack. Maren, playing the sister of the lead character, is featured prominently. Hers is a supporting role, NOT just a cameo. This marks the first time an established, major label recording artist has had a major role in a Latter-day Saint-themed feature film. Who knows... Maren might be the next Will Smith. On the other hand, on Maren Ord's own website she said, "Keep your eye out for the upcoming 'RM' so we can all make fun of my horrible acting skills!" She's probably just being overly modest. She may have felt intimidated about her own talents after working with celebrities such as Orrin Hatch and Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner, who also appear in "The R.M." (If you've ever seen Sen. Hatch on television, you know he is extremely convincing as a senator. He should be on "West Wing.") LITTLE'S NEW SHORT: Ryan Little (director of "Out of Step", Director of Photography for "The Singles Ward" and "The R.M.") has a new short film out, which is being shown at festivals but can also be ordered on video. The 20-min. short, "Freedom on the Water", stars Lincoln Hoppe (Handcart; Singles Ward; In Time of Need; The Last Good War). The co-star (playing Lincoln's little brother) is Mike Tanner, who appeared opposite Tayva Patch in the short film "4:53." Andree Peterson also co-stars. There is a description of the film, photographs, and a trailer for the film on Lincoln's website: http://www.lincolnhoppe.com/freedom/freedom_on_the_water.htm JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND: More on the DeVore/Johnson/Swofford movie about Lehi (with photos) can be found here: http://www.ldsmag.com/arts/020925yemen.html LYDE'S FIELD IS WHITE: The DVD version of John Lyde's missionary-themed "The Field is White" is now in stores. I just finished listening to the director's commentary. This is really something to check out if you're a filmmaker disparing, thinking you'll never be able to get something on shelves. Lyde spent less than $100.00 on this film, and it's in LDS bookstores stores all over the country. This can provide a certain type of "well if he can do it" inspiration to anybody who has the willpower and drive to make a movie. And for what it is, "The Field is White" is not a bad film. Don't buy it expecting "God's Army 2." But my wife and I enjoyed watching it when it first came out, and I found the new director's commentary fascinating -- a real glimpse at shooting an entire feature-length film an absolute bare-bones budget. The DVD also includes John Lyde's short film "Turn Here." It's a serious film, but we really laughed at how young the lead actor -- playing a police detective -- was. This was an earlier John Lyde film. His casting was much better by the time he made "The Field is White." ANNE BRADSHAW MOVIE: I knew this was coming, and I'm glad that it's here... plans for an Anne Bradshaw movie. When I first read about Bradshaw's novels I was impressed at how fresh and distinctive they were, breaking new ground in Latter-day Saint literature. I also thought they would make great movies. Then one sees Bradshaw all over the internet, interviewing film people and hanging out with budding screenwriter Jeanne McKinney... Not hard to do the math. Will their movie actually be made or not? I don't know. But I hope so. Details can be found at http://www.annebradshaw.com/ NOT FILM BUT THEATER: Here is a full-length article about the new All-LDS theater -- Center Street Theatre in Orem, Utah. I'm pretty familiar with the work and writing of theater founders Scott Bronson and Thom Duncan, and I have to say that this is a really exciting development. This theater will provide excellent opportunities for actors, writers and directors to do the most cutting-edge, high-quality, interesting productions anywhere in the state. http://www.harktheherald.com/article.php?sid=60798&mode=thre ad&order=0 LABUTE'S SHAPE OF THINGS: For LaBute fans, a very worthwhile review of a new prodution of LaBute's play "The Shape of Things" has been published on www.sfgate.com. "The Shape of Things" has already been filmed as a feature film by LaBute, using the original New York cast, and will open in theaters probably early 2003. NEW BOOK ABOUT HOLLYWOOD LATTER-DAY SAINTS: Check out a new book about the Jacobs family, written by Kimball Jacobs and Shane Lester. At one time, the three children, Rachel Jacobs, Christian Jacobs (now lead singer of the Aquabats), and Parker Jacobs were all appearing in regular roles on network TV series -- on three different networks. The book is titled "Faith and Fortune: A Mormon Family In Hollywood", and can be purchased here: http://www.booklocker.com/books/632.html HOGUE QUOTES HUNTER: You can currently read the 3-page article by RuthAnn Hogue about LDS films in the premiere issue of the print publication LDS Living. Hogue quotes LDSFilm.com's webmaster extensively. There is a separate but related article about breaking into LDS films, which is the subject of Hogue's upcoming book, at: http://deseretbook.com/mormon-life/entertainment/one-article ?article_id=2232 UPDATED LIST: Top 10 Latter-day Saint Feature Film Directors (who are currently working) Numerically Ranked by Critical Response 1. Sterling Van Wagenen 2. Neil LaBute 3. Richard Dutcher 4. Bruce Neibaur 5. Ryan Little 6. Blair Treu 7. Kurt Hale 8. Adam Thomas Anderegg 9. Don Bluth 10. Richard Rich NOTE that these rankings are in flux, especially when new movies come out. The newest addition to this list is Adam Thomas Anderegg, whose ranking is currently based only on 4 reviews. That number will rise significantly (and the ranking may go up or down), as the movie opens in additional cities and additional reviews are written. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 01 Oct 2002 11:58:02 -0600 This semester, I've been teaching a class on sitcoms. Our goal is to = write and produce a pilot, and possibly a couple of episodes, of a new, = LDS oriented BYU television situation comedy, as a educational exercise. = Anyway, I'm involved in the writing end of things, and it's been fun. But = the thing is, it's the fall, which means all the networks are bringing out = their new fall shows, and so, again as an educational exercise, my = students and I have been taping, watching and discussing all the new ones. = Which means, I have seen at least the pilot of every new fall sitcom. =20 Sitcoms have painted themselves into an interesting corner. The stakes = are very high and the odds unbelievable. Each network produces fifty to = seventy five pilots; 5 air. Of those five, most of them will be cancelled = within the year. To survive one full season is a miracle. To get to the = point that your show can move into syndication is a bigger miracle. But = if you manage it, everyone involved in the series starts really raking in = the big bucks. =20 So sitcoms have a tremendous need to be immediately, instantly funny. = They must grab your attention, and keep it. And, of course, in addition = to being funny, they also need to create interesting and compelling = characters and storylines, within a basic framing situation that has = further story potential. So the imperative is to build the show around jokes, and hope a character = emerges. From what we can tell, an average sitcom will have 3-5 jokes per = minute. Set up set up payoff, set up set up payoff, a minimum of 66 times = in 22 minutes. That's a tough standard to meet. And there are relatively = few subjects about which you can crack wise 66 times in 22 minutes. Sex = is one such subject; where are we, in mortality, less dignified? So most = sitcoms rely very heavily on sexually oriented humor. At the same time, sitcoms are also built around a single situation, one in = which people spend large amounts of time, in which they might be expected = realistically to converse. So most sitcoms are either set in a home, a = domestic situation, or a workplace, or both. But the reality is, work is = not a place in which people, in real life, actually spend much time = talking about sex. Mostly, at work, you talk about work. And home is not = a place, ordinarily, where sex is a frequent topic of conversation. In my = home, the main topic of conversation is who's turn it is to unload the = dishwasher. Hence the dilemma. Sitcoms are the most artificial of = artforms. But because they're generally set in fairly realistic looking = homes or workplaces, with signifiers reeking of domesticity or industry = abounding, we inevitably compare their reality to our own homes or = workplaces. Usually to the detriment of the sitcoms. We may be aware = intellectually of the artificialilty of the artform, but we react as = though we're seeing realism. We say 'no kid in my family would talk like = that, not if he hopes to live.' And so, for many of us, sitcoms are = regarded as repugnant. Such at least has been the reaction of most folks = when I tell 'em I'm busy watching sitcoms. "You poor thing," about sums = it up. So the dilemma. Set up set up payoff, set up set up payoff, relentlessly = marching from chortle to guffaw, and yet you also need to create characters= who are likeable, interesting, amusing, and a world that looks at least = vaguely real. Very very few manage the whole package. Far and away the worst sitcom we've seen this semester was this horror = show called Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, on ABC. = John Ritter stars as a father who has precisely the same relationship with = his two teenage girls as an astronaut, returning from a ten year stint on = Mars, would have with his daughters. He can't believe the fact that, = somehow, without his ever noticing, they've grown breasts. He is = incapable of disciplining them, incapable of talking openly with them = about anything, incapable of even defending himself from their open and = overt rudeness. And most of the show, he obsesses about their sex lives. Ritter and wife (a nonentity so far), also have a teenage son; the kids go = maybe 18,16, 14, F F M. The son has two habits so far that make up his = entire character. He paws through his sisters' underwear drawers, and he = likes to hide in their closets. Dad thinks sonny boy is just fine, as = does his wife. In the pilot, the wife poignantly suggested to Ritter/Dad, = 'before long you'll be able to do father/son things with him, like take = him to Hooters and hit on waitresses." "Yeah," says Ritter longingly. =20 I have a teenage daughter. She can be infuriating, and she can be = wonderful. I enjoy the time I get to spend with her. But I'm the Dad; we = have family rules, and consequences when they're disobeyed, and she = doesn't get to be rude to me or to her mother. So I look at this = terminally disfunctional Dad played by Ritter, and I think, 'that's not = funny.' The show gives me the willies, frankly. It's a sitcom about = incest, not that anyone's doing anything, but they're sure thinking about = it. Creepy creepy creepy. =20 Quick aside; I'm a liberal Democrat, and as such a firm believer in market = economics, and I'm not worried about Eight Simple Rules, because it's = lousy, and will fail, probably before the end of October sweeps. I'm not = even going to suggest that you not watch it, because if you do happen to = watch it once, you won't watch it a second time. ABC has hyped it to the = sky, but it's terrible; man has ABC lost its way. No, sorry, Disney; = that's whose fault this thing this. Okay, there are others just as bad. Hidden Hills, on NBC, has potential, = all of which it squanders. Married two career couple, early thirties, = with kids, and their lives are insanely busy, what with work and child-ferr= ying. There's potential there for some comedy. But the only two issues = the show chose to deal with in the pilot were, A) they're so busy, Dad's = not getting any, and B) he's also obsessing about their neighbor, a = gorgeous blonde who has a porn site. Promising premise, awful show. =20 ABC has given a sitcom to Bonnie Hunt, and it has a chance. Bonnie Hunt = is so good, even though the pilot did everything wrong, the show could = relax, find it's own rhythm , and succeed. It was far too manic, and it = felt desperate, but Bonnie Hunt is so appealing, I'd watch her show again. = She's likeable. That's huge. =20 Good Morning Miami is big and loud and aggressive, and I didn't believe a = word of it. It could be funny, I guess, to have a talk show on which the = weather person was a nun. So, given the nun, why not have a nun who talks = dirty! =20 The In-Laws, on the other hand, has Dennis Farina, and he's very good. = He's sort of vaguely mafiosoish, and has invited his daugher and her = husband to live with him and his wife, while son-in-law goes to cooking = school. The key relationship is between Farina and son-in-law, and they = do have some sparks. But this is true of nearly all sitcoms; the women = are given nothing to do. Most successful sitcoms feature an interesting, = compelling and funny female leading character, and yet in the pilots we = watched, none of the women were very interesting or funny. And sexism = abounds; these shows may spout progressive jargon, but they're amazingly = sexist; all female characters are objectified. =20 I'm not going to review 'em all; they're not worth it. The WB's sitcoms = clearly suffer from low budget-itis, but they're not bad. ABC's are all = desperate, and most of them are disgusting. =20 So what are we learning? Well, we have to start ours with an entrance; = all pilots do, and for good reason. It's very very difficult to write = that many jokes that quickly. We're determined to make our female = characters strong and compelling. And we're discovering how difficult it = is to find that many funny things to say about LDS culture. The one thing = that's working for us is an insider/outsider dynamic. Our leading = character is a recent convert to Mormonism, who is able to comment = bemusedly on what she sees. That's been working for us. But it's hard. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 18:07:10 -0600 Rob wrote: What should we do? We give. For me, this is a double-edged sword, because day by day as I struggle to learn to be charitable, to live a life of giving, the rewards and washes of spirit come back so manifold that it's a total spiritual high whenever I do it. The immense shock of joy, learning to live a life of giving, is enough to keep you trying to do it. At present, my daily work with troubled teens has amplified this again and again, because I experience huge and wonderful rewards every day. And the backwash of all this is then sitting through meeting after meeting which unfortunately don't thrill in the same way. It makes going to church even more frustrating and bland. This doesn't mean I have any particular issues with any particular people in my ward--on the contrary, I love them all so much. It's just that the experience of the meetings seems pretty inconsequential much of the time. Of course, it's not *always* unrewarding. I remember my most recent good experience in church. The main speaker was a man who'd been a patriarch much of his life and now was too old to serve in that position but still highly honored. He was so old that much of what he said didn't make any sense at all. But the spirit! It was so powerful that we came out of the meeting a mile high, hardly having understood a word! Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Amelia Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 01 Oct 2002 21:01:53 -0400 Eric Russell wrote: "I am currently a senior English major at BYU and while I cannot speak for all of BYU, nor for how BYU used to be, I can say that this is stretching it when it comes to the BYU English Dept. I have recently taken classes where feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis and post-structuralism were all taught in detail and often in ways that could be perceived as contrary to church ideas. I have also taken classes in gothic literature where sexuality was the standard for daily discussion and classes where BYU policy and Mormon culture were criticized on a regular basis. Never once in any of these cases did any of the students have a problem with what was being discussed." I hope that BYU has changed to allow the openness of discussion that Eric points out. I, too, studied English at BYU. What dominates my memories of discussions of Marxism, feminism, and sexuality in literature is not the openness Eric discusses. and most of the professors who openly criticized either BYU or church culture in class did so accompanied with plenty of backside-covering. I did take one class in which we studied both Marxism and feminism in depth. And the students were very open to talking about the ideas. It was an amazing class and very much changed me as a student. But it was evident from the teacher's attitude that he was frightened that he could get in trouble because of what he taught and believed. And as far as sexuality goes, yes it was discussed. It was discussed more maturely in some classes than in others. But it was almost always accompanied by snide or embarassed snickers coming from different areas of the classroom. Perhaps the problem here is one of temporal distance. I'm looking back at classes I took more than three years ago (I graduated in 99) and Eric is looking at classes he is currently enrolled in. And I'm also looking at BYU from the perspective of having attended another, academically far superior university (boy that sounded cocky--it wasn't meant to--UVA simply has a much better and much more rigorous English department than BYU does). So I'm probably approaching this with an unfair comparison in my head as well as the temporal distance. I would love to be wrong in my opinion on BYU because I think it has the potential to be the best academic and spiritual environment possible. But that will only happen when fear is not a dominating motivation behind what is and is not taught in the university and when both professors and students alike approach their studies with openness and honesty. [Amelia Parkin] _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 02 Oct 2002 04:22:33 EDT I have to think that there is (or should be) space in our Latter-Day world for all types of literature/art. If we only had a diet of steak, life would become monotonous very quickly...as well as unhealthy. There is value in variety--even in having an array of fluffy desserts as a change of pace. While our writing talents are as varied as our life experiences, so are our preferences for various types of literature, film, plays, music, etc. Some of the material out there is thought provoking, some of it is pure escapist. I enjoyed "My Turn on Earth", just as I also enjoyed the opera "Pilgrim's Progress", but for totally different reasons...and I have learned a few verses from "My Turn"'s songs, where I never learned any of the score from "Progress." My level of ability in music is very much related to that fact. If the Nauvoo company can provide a variety of material to potential customers, more power to them. If in the process, they can expand the tastes of some folks, even better. I only wish they were closer. (Do you suppose we could find a way to eliminate Wyoming & most of Nebraska so they would be?) Giving people things that they enjoy isn't bad, any more than a person having a variety on the dinner table is bad. If we're so concerned about quality, then we need to make sure the fluff parts of the buffet have some intrinsic value as well as the meatier items. Cheers for those who did a good job on "My Turn." May the successes continue, and may it be possible to provide a smorgasbord of material to potential customers...and keep them coming back for more. We'll all be winners in the end. Karen Tippets -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 02 Oct 2002 09:41:31 -0600 I appreciate N. Paul Pehrson's positive take on Charly. I completely agree = that Jack Weyland, like most popular novelists, understood and succeeded = in communicating with and moving his audience. The gist of my review was, = however, that if you liked Charly the novel, you'd like Charly the movie, = and if you didn't like the novel, you wouldn't like the movie. For me, = when I read the novel, I didn't like it. It's not my kind of novel. I = thought the sad bits were funny. Lots of people loved it. I didn't. And = I correspondingly didn't like the movie much, though I did like it better = than the novel. =20 So my opinion of Charly is absolutely correct in every particular. I = think it's an awful novel. I'm not part of its audience, I wasn't moved = by it, and it would be difficult for me to enumerate the tortures I would = submit myself to rather than read it again. As far as the issue "does = Eric Samuelsen like this novel" goes, which was the issue I was addressing,= my opinion is completely and everlastingly right. What I did not say, = and would never say, is that those who liked it are wrong for doing so, or = are inferior to me in judgment, intelligence, etc. I wouldn't say that, = because it isn't true. =20 Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 02 Oct 2002 11:59:24 -0600 Your "word of mouth" hasn't had its chance yet, Scott. At Cedar Fort and Salt Press, we're doing what you are talking about. Also, Horizon is not dead, but very healthy. And Cedar Fort gives new authors an opportunity without breaking the publishing company. New authors pay about half. However, Cedar Fort does publish some works (like Rachel's) without requiring money. They do 24 unpaid projects a year. And YOU ARE RIGHT, the books are not selling huge numbers of copies. And you are RIGHT, the Mormon public doesn't know what its missing as long as we don't put any meaty stuff out. So we're trying to do it! However, Signature does put "meaty" stuff out and always has, and the sales aren't huge there, either. I feel your frustration, but it seems even insiders (literary people, people in the know) aren't paying any attention to the progress that is being made. Kudos! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 02 Oct 2002 17:01:00 EDT In a message dated 10/1/02 2:25:12 PM Mountain Daylight Time, paul@abinidi.net writes: << Jack Weyland planted a seed with _Charly_, a seed which blossomed, and whose fruits we all reap today. >> The seed turned out to be a weed, and it choked out all the wonderful variety of other plants and seeds that were beginning to grow. The danger of works like CHARLY: when they succeed financially, publishers want more of them (and very little, if any, of anything else). In my opinion, rather than being a great blessing to LDS fiction, CHARLY and its spawn have proven themselves to be the enemy. More than two decades after CHARLY's publication we have shelf after shelf of market-censored mediocrity to choose from. And it's our own fault, as a people, for buying it. We've created a marketplace where works like Scott Bronson's as yet unpublished THE WHIPPING BOY have no place. Shame on us. My anxiety for the infant Mormon Cinema is that our people will spend their entertainment dollars on movies like CHARLY and THE SINGLES WARD and will withhold their support from films like BRIGHAM CITY. And then, twenty years from now, we'll have shelf after shelf of empty-headed, false-hearted, and mediocre movies based on mediocre books and lousy screenplays. If so, we will surely "reap the fruit," but it will be a bitter fruit, the accurate expression of our culture's tastes and the shallow thoughts in our Mormon brains. Feeling a little cynical today, Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 02 Oct 2002 17:17:29 EDT In a message dated 10/1/02 1:59:17 PM Mountain Daylight Time, scottparkin@earthlink.net writes: << BC did well enough to enable Dutcher to make his next film. >> Thanks for the good PR, Scott, but the truth of the matter is: because of BRIGHAM CITY's financial failure, I'm having a bugger of a time trying to get another film financed. I may be forced to direct SINGLES WARD 2 just to put food on the table. Richard -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] NELSON & LARSON, _Soft Shoe_ (Daily Herald) Date: 02 Oct 2002 08:51:06 +0000 Good things come... Playwright finds creative partner after 20-year wait ERIC D. SNIDER The Daily Herald Wednesday, October 02 PROVO -- Relationships, love and, yes, a little song-and-dance are at the heart of "Soft Shoe," a new musical comedy opening this week in Brigham Young University's Pardoe Theatre. "There are three characters in my play, and all of them have come from quite dysfunctional settings," said BYU theater professor George Nelson, 47, who wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics for the show. "It's that mess of trying to deal with love and life and what it takes to be happy." And it's all set against the backdrop of vaudeville's fading days, during the 1930s. One of the characters, unwanted by his mother, has been dumped off as an apprentice at a theater; another character has come to town looking for her father, whom she never knew. Despite the heady subject matter, Nelson said the play is a comedy, and a romantic one at that. "I think a lot of musicals have pretty light characters," he said. "I've tried to write deeper characters, dealing with deep issues, but in a romantic- comedy way." His composer and co-lyricist is Daniel Larson, 24, a BYU senior and one-time student of Nelson's. His collaboration with Nelson came 20 years after Nelson began writing the play in the hopes of one day finding a songwriter. Nelson had approached several composers, some of whom were interested but none of whom could commit to the project. Then came Larson, a theater education and music double-major who sought advice from Nelson on writing for musicals. "I've always wanted to write a musical, and I was frustrated because they don't have a program at BYU for that," Larson said. Nelson said he "felt inspired" to show his script to Larson. "I gave the caveat that if I didn't like his music, we wouldn't have a relationship, and if he didn't like my play, let's not waste time," he said. Three months later, in December 2001, Larson came back with rough versions of several songs. Nelson said, "After having waited close to 20 years to hear these characters sing, I literally burst into tears." Recalling the incident, Larson said, "It was kind of funny, because I didn't know if he hated the songs or loved them. I didn't know what was going on." Larson wound up using bits and pieces of lyrics Nelson had sketched out, adding to them and changing them where necessary. Through the collaboration process, no songs were scrapped entirely, though most were rewritten, as is usually the case with a musical. The show makes it debut tonight, with Nelson as director and Larson as musical director. "I really asked to (direct)," Nelson said. "I knew that we'd taken it through the reading phase, but it still needed a lot of rewriting. I've taken 24 pages of dialogue out of it in the rehearsal=20 process. I felt like I needed to be there all the time anyway." Nelson and Larson have nothing but praise for each other and for the collaboration process. "It has been amazing," Larson said. "George= =20 is so open to ideas. I want people to tell me exactly what they feel, and that's the way I like to work, too. We're both like that, so it worked out well." Of his student and prot=E9g=E9, Nelson said, "He so brilliantly took what I had scratched out and made it work. I think his work is stunning." Nelson directed BYU's production of the opera "Tartuffe" last year and the Joseph Smith-centered play "Burdens of Earth" the year before that. "Soft Shoe" stars Marvin Payne, Tom Every and Tia Marie Majeroni. Copyright 2002 by HarkTheHerald.com _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 02 Oct 2002 17:32:29 EDT In a message dated 10/1/02 2:49:58 PM Mountain Daylight Time, ThomDuncan@prodigy.net writes: << I've ripped Saturday's Warrior apart on this very list but if it didn't exist, Mormon theatre would be in far worse shape than it is now, if it existed at all. >> I beg to differ. SATURDAY'S WARRIOR did to Mormon theatre what CHARLY did to LDS fiction and what movies like THE SINGLES WARD and CHARLY may be doing to Mormon cinema. They are the weeds that reproduce so rapidly and grow so big they choke out the other plants. All the writers and aspiring theatre producers out there, at least those who want to be successful, try to duplicate De Azevedo and Stewart's SATURDAY'S WARRIOR instead of building on Duncan's MATTERS OF THE HEART or Samuelson's THE SEATING OF SENATOR SMOOT, which they probably have never even heard of. Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "S. Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 02 Oct 2002 20:45:18 -0400 I hope you give us updates as things progress with your class! I was raised by television. I still watch it like it's my surrogate mother. I saw most of the John Ritter sitcom. Thought it was pretty boring, but you can never expect a show to be as good or as bad as the pilot. (Pilots are always horrible.) One gripe I have with sitcoms is how the fathers are always portrayed as stupid, bumbling goofs. It works on the Simpsons (probably because every man really is Homer). But it gets irritating on sitcom after sitcom. Anyway, I know a television writer, and when I went to LA last month was talking to him for a few minutes on the phone. Asked him about what he had going on--it was the week everyone was pitching pilots for next year's season, and he had a few he was pitching. He mentioned that American Idol filmed in his building, and that no one expected it to be such a big hit. We discussed how television/Hollywood works--someone stumbles onto a successful premise, and then everyone else rushes around trying to copy it. Nothing original ever seems to happen by design. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kathy Fowkes" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 02 Oct 2002 18:18:05 -0700 Thom: How does renting the CleanFlicks version of Titanic do this? Me: Titanic isn't on my list of worthwhile films. I think it was a serious piece of garbage (story line) with great special effects. I wouldn't buy it, edited or not. Now the similar sketching scene in "As Good As It Gets" was powerful, beautiful and lovely, IMO, but I don't remember it well anymore. I just remember it made me want to cry, the way the artist character treated Helen Hunt with such kindness and made her feel truly beautiful, and the kindness and love she showed him as well. And there wasn't even sex! Imagine that. ;-) The language throughout the movie made me cringe and I can do without it (hearing profanity brings all that back to me and I find myself swearing again after seeing movies with heavy profanity, and I *hate* that), and I'd rather not see nudity even in a sketch, but this was done so tastefully that I wasn't uncomfortable as I would have been if it had been intended to be erotic and steamy. I wouldn't watch it with my kids yet, though. The adult themes of this movie are not yet something I want to discuss at length with them beyond what we already discussed and have already lived through in our lives together. Thom: That being said, I still think it is the moviemakers right to make the movie anyway he wants. But I did read enough about the film ahead of time to know I would see this scene, and made a concious decision to see it anyway. Me: That's great. I agree. A moviemaker should be allowed to make a movie any way he wants. What I want is to choose to see a movie edited. You want to see it unedited. I think we should both be allowed to see a movie the way we each feel comfortable. If I paid for it, why can't I do what I want with it, and edit it to my preference? As long as I'm not going around showing it to audiences, how does it hurt the artist for me to do this? Thom: But nevertheless, if you wanted to do a film like that, I believe you would have the right, just as I would have the right to choose not to see it. Me: I'm not arguing the right of the filmmaker or playwriter to create what they want. I'm only arguing my right to do with it what I please after I've purchased it. Thom quoting me: >Ultimately, if >it comes down to a choice, I'll choose the better sex in my >real life over the "full artistic expression" in a movie. But >I'm hoping the edited movies are here to stay so I don't have >to make that choice. Thom: Why don't you want to make that choice? I personally wouldn't have it any other way. The ability to make choices is also a god-given right, and I'm not about to abdicate that right to some nameless committee in Hollywood of Pleasant grove. Me: I'm not abdicating my rights to a nameless committee. I can't even figure out how you arrived at that idea. I don't want to have to choose between a purity of mind and heart that I'm trying to achieve, and giving up movies altogether. If I watch movies Hollywood's way, I give up any chance at that purity -- for me, sex scenes very much affect me that way. I feel slimed and my ability to feel/hear the Spirit is diminished. But I don't want to give up seeing movies. I love movies. I love stories. I always have. I was saying that if Hollywood gets their way and causes the demise of businesses that edit movies for content, I will have little choice but to pass on most of Hollywood's offerings these days. Where in that am I abdicating my right to a nameless committee? [Kathy Fowkes] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Laird Jim Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 02 Oct 2002 18:44:21 -0700 on 9/26/02 9:05 AM, David Hansen at hpalaw3@wasatch.com wrote: > I'm not sure I was the one Ivan was directing his culture post, but being a > pessismistic cynic by nature (one of my worst faults), I don't agree that you're a cynic. Pessimist maybe, but cynicism is a really really harsh self-condemnation. Most people who claim to be cynics are merely disappointed idealists affecting a pose, and from the rest of your post (and many others) I don't think you're nearly enough of a poseur to be so roundly condemned even by yourself. Cynicism is about as evil as one can get, and unless you're all fake and no real you can't really be one. The Unabomber is a cynic. Lenin and Stalin were cynics. There are a few in Baghdad right now, and quite a few in Europe--and some in Congress, too. Cynicism (in the modern sense) is not to be claimed lightly. If you mean to lay claim to Diogenes-style of cynicism (which I suppose would have to be the "real" cynicism) then it wouldn't be so bad, but you ought to differentiate between then and now. Wandering through Athens with a latern looking for an honest man isn't quite the same as believing that since everyone is wicked, there's no point in trying to do anything good. That's the modern kind of cynic--pure pragmatic selfishness. Ugh. Jim Wilson aka the Laird Jim -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lee Allred" Subject: re: [AML] Mormon Themes in National Market Date: 02 Oct 2002 20:28:41 -0600 Lisa Turner asked: >>What experience have any of you had with publishing stories, >>essays, novels, etc. with Mormon themes outside the >>Mormon market? Lisa, I write for the national sceince fiction/fantasy market and have sold a number of Mormon themed short ficiton pieces (novella, novelette, and short stories). The national SF market, while not anxiously engaged in seeking out Mormon themed work, isn't adamantly opposed to them either, as attested by the data on SF and Mormonism/SF Mormon Authors compiled at www.adherents.com. Several LDS authors --including, most famously, of course, Orson Scott Card-- write for the market and they include LDS themes, sometimes LDS-specific story elements as well, in their stories/novels. Perhaps the most movingly Mormon (but utterly un-overtly Mormon) SF piece I've ever read is M. Shayne Bell's "And All Our Banners Flying," reprinted in last year's SF issue of AML's IRREANTUM magazine (list members gladly can tell you how to subscribe!). For a more complete picture of Mormon SF and a suggested reading list, see Marny Parkin's Mormon SF Bibilography http://home.earthlink.net/~marnyparkin/index.html .) If you like SF/Fantasy, you owe it to yourself to check out Susan J. Kroupa, Dave Farland, Alan Lickiss, Diann Thornley, and other SF writers cataloged there. Other national genre fiction markets boast LDS authors; Anne Perry in the Mystery field (check her interview in IRREANTUM--subscribe now!); Brenda Novak, Elizabeth Lane, and several others whose names I'm blanking on at the moment in the Romance field. Simply being written by an LDS author doesn't neccessarily mean a particular novel/story will have LDS themes, but often they do. And since they're speaking to their larger audience, there often is not only a Mormon resonance, but one hetrodyned with the resonances of the larger outside culture. Since part of this list's purpose is to allow us writerly types to occasionally promote ourselves, and I've been very silent of late, I'll go ahead and list my Mormon-themed contributions: "For the Strength of the Hills" (reprinted in IRREANTUM--subscriptions available!), an alternate history specifically about Johnston's Army and the 1857 Utah War; "The Greatest Danger," in which Mormonism --and Lorenzon Snow's couplet "As Man Is, God Once Was/As God Is, Man May Become" plays a key role in the main character's decision to stand up against the evil society he was born into; "Hymnal," where an old 1950 LDS hymnal (via an LDS couple) save the universe from final entropy--the story ends with the congregation singing "The Spirit of God Like A Fire is Burning," no less. A short story of mine due out in a forthcoming fiction anthology edited by Harry Turtledove is an allegorical look at Mormonism's radical take on Adam and the Fall. Another story due out in ASIMOV'S magazine, while having no overt Mormon references, will resonate with those who thrilled in days of yesteryore to that old Seventies Bookstore classic, "The Fate of the Persecutors of Joseph Smith." --Lee Lee Allred -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 02 Oct 2002 20:59:43 -0600 On Tue, 01 Oct 2002 21:01:53 -0400, Amelia Parkin wrote: >I hope that BYU has changed to allow the openness of discussion that = Eric=20 >points out. I, too, studied English at BYU. What dominates my memories= of=20 >discussions of Marxism, feminism, and sexuality in literature is not the= =20 >openness Eric discusses. and most of the professors who openly = criticized=20 >either BYU or church culture in class did so accompanied with plenty of=20 >backside-covering. >Perhaps the problem here is one of temporal distance. I'm looking back = at=20 >classes I took more than three years ago (I graduated in 99) and Eric is= =20 >looking at classes he is currently enrolled in. I doubt that it's a matter of temporal distance, because I graduated from that program in '94 and had any number of classes in which we openly discussed feminism, Marxism, sexuality and the like. The only classes in which there was any reluctance or tittering were the large literature = survey courses, and I think that was because many of those students were being exposed to that kind of discussion for the first time. (And in some = small part that was the professor's fault, much as I admired and respected = her.) All that really means is that Amelia and Eric and I all had different experiences. I graduated during all that fuss about English professors being fired or losing tenure, and while I have no idea what actually happened, most of the students I knew believed that it was mainly due to = the political beliefs those teachers were expressing publicly and in class. = So I can easily imagine later professors being very reluctant to go near certain subjects, if they shared that suspicion. It's been ten years since I officially entered that English program, and = I read other people's impressions of it with...ambiguous feelings, I = suppose. It's clearly not the university I attended, and yet it still is, in some ways. I no longer feel qualified to say "this is how BYU is" because in every case--most of which are not related to the English department--it turns out they don't do it that way any more. If I dwelt on it too long, I'm sure it would be rather depressing. But I don't. Melissa Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 02 Oct 2002 18:28:32 -0600 >One Sunday in RS the teacher asked what it meant to be--what >was the word...something negative. I can't remember. That's >going to drive me nuts. Anyway, the bishop's wife spoke up and >said that what came to her mind was tattoos. She spoke >disparagingly of people with tattoos. I pity da foo' that says tattoos are evil in my presence. My daughter has one and she was raised in the church. The last time I addressed this issue in a class, I reminded folks that if our bodies are temples, isn't adding a tatoo a lot like painting the wall of the temple? Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lisa Tait" Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 02 Oct 2002 20:17:55 -0500 Eric, This is interesting. I've heard it before--why doesn't "the church" produce "clean" TV shows for the BYU channel (usually from the same people who want the church to start a private school system for their kids). But I'll confess, I've thought the idea might have some merit. Your comments about the scarcity of material really make sense. It's why I've all but stopped watching sitcoms in recent years. (Raymond is the only one we see very often.) So keep us "posted" (sorry for the pun). I can't be the only person interested to see what you come up with. I wish I had some ideas. Wait--here's one. I can see the recent convert asking, skeptically, "Didn't anyone's pioneer ancestor get baptized during the summer?" (All the ancestor convert stories I've heard, including my own family's, begin with somebody getting baptized in a freezing river in winter, and these things have a way of one-upping each other when told in groups.) And what about the crazy dating antics that go on at BYU--the "heart attacks" and other elaborate rituals that so much of the dating game centers around? You could build an entire episode on that one--or maybe a running gag. And maybe one of the characters could work at the MTC so you could show some of the characters that come through that revolving door. Okay, well, never mind. There's a reason I'm not a comedy writer. But do let us know, especially if you do get a pilot produced that we could see. I've seen the Student Filmmakers' feature on BYU TV a few times. Y'all must have a shot at something like that, at the very least. Lisa Tait -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Covell, Jason" Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 03 Oct 2002 13:57:16 +1000 > I was raised by television. I still watch it like it's my > surrogate mother. I saw most of the John Ritter sitcom. > Thought it was pretty boring, but you can never expect a show > to be as good or as bad as the pilot. (Pilots are always horrible.) I'd love to be a fly on the wall of Eric's class and see how all they all turn out (thanks once again, Eric, for hitting the Zeitgeist button with another lively dinner-party topic!) You're right - pilots are often, for one reason or another, horrible. Too much exposition, can't find their rhythm, or just want to get onto that nice happy formula treadmill. So here's a pop quiz to throw into the mix: what pilots do you remember as being particularly bad that went on to be quite good (or very good) in the series? For me, the number one would have to be _Northern Exposure_. It debuted a good year or two in Australia after it had become a cult hit in the States. Expectations were running pretty high, and I remember vividly getting together with some friends to watch the pilot episode. And I hated it. What a lumpy, poorly strung-together, mistimed, cues-out-of-whack mess it was. Hopelessly unfunny - the sense of timing was as good as the bada-boom-crash guy who always comes in halfway through the next gag. And I loathed the lead character and wished him a quick, unhappy death. But then I loved the show - so I can only assumed someone got fired or off the booze after that. What's your pick? Jason Covell ************************************************************************** This message is intended for the named addressee(s) only. It may be confidential. If you receive this message in error please notify us immediately by return mail and delete the message (and any attachments). Neither the NSW Department of Community Services nor the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care are responsible for any changes to this message, or the consequences of any changes to this message. ************************************************************************** -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 02 Oct 2002 22:29:55 -0600 >Susan M.: >Anyway, I know a television writer, and when I went to LA last month >was talking to him for a few minutes on the phone. Asked him about >what he had going on--it was the week everyone was pitching pilots >for next year's season, and he had a few he was pitching. He >mentioned that American Idol filmed in his building, and that no one >expected it to be such a big hit. We discussed how >television/Hollywood works--someone stumbles onto a successful >premise, and then everyone else rushes around trying to copy it. >Nothing original ever seems to happen by design. This has always been my beef with the way Hollywood thinks, in TV and to some extent in movies. A show comes along that's well-done and it becomes popular, and the TV people say, "Oh, people must want more shows like that!" And they rush out imitations. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" scores, so they figure we want game shows. "Friends" is popular, so they think we want sitcoms about a gang of friends. "Survivor" is a hit, so they think we want reality shows. What they never seem to grasp is that what people want is GOOD shows. We don't care what the genre is. Even people who say they don't care for sitcoms would like one if it were funny. People who don't like heavy, hour-long dramas will change their minds if they see a good one. I think it is rare that the sudden success of a show indicates Americans were unconsciously craving for something of that genre. Eric D. Snider -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 02 Oct 2002 01:16:56 -0700 Great points, Scott Can't quibble with what you other than to add that Paris Anderson has at least been covering The Mormon Battalion angle in Middle Reader/ YA fiction with his excellent series on "The Recollections Of Private Seth Jackson, etc." Guess we'll have to take the Jean Luc Picard model and "Make It So" if we want to see our own stories and other works published. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Campy New Film Date: 02 Oct 2002 15:56:33 -0500 A couple weeks ago AML listers were bemoaning the absence of new campy feature films. This may be just what the doctor ordered. LDS filmmaker Joshua D. Smith wrote us to tell us about his new feature film "Zombie Campout", which premiers in a few weeks here in Texas before making going to other festivals... It has a great website, by the way, which is where the following info is from. A lot of you folks seem to think "Brigham City" is pretty cool. Or "God's Army." But you know why those movies didn't go to the next level? They had NO radioactive zombies! http://www.zombiecampout.com/ Two friends, Bunny (Misty Orman) and Steve (John M. Davis), plan a weekend camping trip to try to get their two close friends Tammy (Tiffany Black) and Trevor (Jeremy Schwab) together. They hit it off, stay up late, and watch the meteor shower, then enjoy a fun filled day on a boat. They have plans to attend a happenin' lake party that very evening with their new bikini clad friends, Lora (Alecia Peterman), Lizzy (Cheryl Dallas), Leslie (Danni Tkacs), and Pam (Stacy Heart). Things couldn't be better for the new couple, but they definately could get worse. Radioactive meteorites from the metoer shower that first night crashed into a nearby cemetery causing the dead to rise as flesh-eating zombies. Armed with only their wits and few camping supplies, can the attractive teens get out with their skin? Or will they become another midnight snack for the rapidly growing mass of zombies? This Zombie Campout will be one they'll never forget!! Joshua D. Smith Born in the college town of Provo, Utah, Joshua has spent most of his youth moving around the country, living on both coasts, and traveling the world at a young age. "Everyone I meet, when I tell them I've lived in Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, and more, they always ask me if I was an ARMY brat," jokes Joshua. "The truth is, I just have very loving parents who've always wanted the best for me, and my family, and we were lucky enough to have an opportunity to live in different parts of the country." Early in his career Joshua developed as a stage actor performing in various small productions honing his acting ability. Receiving more than five awards for acting in his brief career, he turned down a small scholarship to private university, to pursue a pre-medical degree at Sam Houston State University. "After my first semester in college I knew quickly that medical school wasn't for me and I decided to transfer to UNT (the University of North Texas) to pursue my true passion." In only three more years he graduated with a degree in film. No novice to the filmmaking scene, this young award winning director/producer has taken on all kinds of responsibilities in this project, which he jovially refers to as his "baby." Not only did he write the screenplay, but he also produced, directed, acted, and worked in all other aspects of the production. "I'm out here to have fun and make a movie," says Joshua, "it's very important that everyone on the production has a great time, so I'm not one of those directors who feels he is too good to boom or slate the camera. Yeah, we have folks who can do that, but I want to get my hands dirty in this production." -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] "Suddenly Unexpected" Press Release Date: 02 Oct 2002 16:25:49 -0500 Press Release from M Potter Productions Press Release: Houston, Texas September 30, 2002 M Potter Productions is pleased to announce the beginning of principle photography on its upcoming feature length movie "Suddenly Unexpected". Filming will begin in Houston, Texas on October 7, 2002. The film will be released in the spring of 2003. Jerald Garner of Katy, Texas, and Michael Judd of Sandy Utah, will be playing the leads, Elder Jones and Elder Smith. Mr. Garner will be the first African American to play a lead in a Mormon Genre film. In a somewhat ironic and humorous twist, Mr. Garner is drawing on his early childhood experiences as a Jehovah Witness. He went door to door with other members of his faith. Although he is no longer active in that faith he can clearly recall the many experiences he had during that time. Jerald s stepfather is a Latter-day Saint and Jerald said he would talk with him for additional input to add further depth to his character. Michael Judd was cast for his ability to bring both humor and compassion to the character of Elder Smith. The two female leads are Clara Susan Morey II of Salt Lake and Junie Hoang of Houston. Ms. Morey is a veteran of numerous Utah theatrical productions and was most recently seen in the movie "Little Secrets" and also has a part in the movie "Charly". Ms. Hoang is a versatile actress based out of Houston. She has been in numerous independent films and television productions.. Benjamin Ellis of Orem, Utah also has been cast in a supporting role of Elder Sayers. Mr. Ellis was a host of the LDS show "Center Street". Also attached to this project is Tucker Dansie of Salt Lake City. Mr. Dansie, a Utah based filmmaker, will be the director of photography for "Suddenly Unexpected". PLOT: Mormon missionaries wake up to find themselves evicted from the house, where they had been renting a room from a now deceased widow. Unbeknownst to the Elders, the widows daughter has come to settle the estate, evict them and have an estate sale all in one day. The two missionaries awake to find people rummaging through their belongings asking Is this for sale? The day takes some twists and turns as Elder Jones and Elder Smith ride their bikes to pick up a Birthday package for Elder Smith. The elder s bikes are unfortunately backed over at the post office and they end up bumming a ride with an older but kindly man and his wacky dog, Batty. The Elders hope to return home quickly but their new friend has other plans. They are soon off going from one strange adventure to another. The elders wonder what on earth they have gotten themselves into but before the day is out their view of the old man and themselves changes. We live in world of sorrow and pain but all it takes is one person unafraid to make a difference. The Elders are surprised and delighted when they learn this lesson first hand. For additional information, you can check out their web site at www.suddenlyunexpected.com. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Feeding Your Inner Gnostic Date: 02 Oct 2002 23:41:39 -0600 John Dewey Remy wrote: > At the same time, perhaps the "We" in "We don't believe that" needs to be > qualified. It may not be correct doctrine as interpreted by some, but this > doesn't change the fact that many run of the mill Mormons do believe this > (including at least one institute director and perhaps a number of his > students :^). Good point. My "we" was an institutional "we." "We" the official doctrine of the LDS church as defined byt eh set of standard works and official pronouncements of the First Presidency, do not believe that God resides on Kolob, but that Kolob is the nearest star (or planet--who knows?) to the throne of God. I personally speculate that God does not reside within this universe at all, because everywhere we look we see the same telestial laws of physics operating that we have on Earth. Therefore, when the Pearl of Great Price says that Kolob is nearest to the abode of God, I believe it means that Kolob is nearest to the interdimensional portal that connects this universe with the celestial realm. See, I can believe lots more interesting things than your institute director. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:15:58 -0600 Thom Duncan wrote: > All I know now is that the agony has been worth the ectasy of seeing > this marvelous cast sing their hearts out and the appreciative audiences > clapping and crying and laughing. We're doing Mormon Theatre, by > cracky! There is finally a voice for the Mormon artist who's chosen > theatre as his/her medium of expression. My deepest congratulations to you and your colleagues. I've been holding up Richard Dutcher (perhaps ad nauseum in some people's minds) as a great example of someone who blazed a trail in an LDS genre that everyone was saying couldn't be done. I hope in a few months to be able to hold up the Nauvoo Theatrical Society as a new example of successful trail-blazing in another LDS genre: theater. > Did we cave into the Man or did we > instead make a business decision to do the occasional My Turn on Earth > so we can make enough money to do Heubner. Obviously, I think the > latter is the right decision. Isn't that the same business decision all theaters make that have to survive on their own finances? -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:07:24 -0600 > And then, twenty years from now, we'll have shelf after shelf of > empty-headed, false-hearted, and mediocre movies based on mediocre books and > lousy screenplays. If so, we will surely "reap the fruit," but it will be a > bitter fruit, the accurate expression of our culture's tastes and the shallow > thoughts in our Mormon brains. > > Feeling a little cynical today, Just to ease your cynicism today, isn't this pretty much the description of modern cinema period? Aren't most movies pretty crappy? What are there, maybe ten movies a year that are even worth watching? I think we pretty much reflect the world in our appreciation of the arts. We don't appreciate it. We prefer fluff. Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:21:40 -0600 Ivan Angus Wolfe wrote: > > The sad thing is - for most films, a cleaned up version readily exists that > could easily be put on any DVD release with no hassle - the Airline versions. > Those are (usually) edited to a "general broadcaast TV" standard. > SO there is no extra work involved - and if the directors, etc. truly felt that > there was only one version and editing would have been bad, then they wouldn't > have allowed a airline version in the first place. The thought of having my artistic work edited makes me want to puke. Yet I also acknowledge the free market concept, that a market exists for it and the studios are morons for passing up such a ripe market. And the fact that these airline versions exist just shoots hell out of their sanctimonious artistic objections. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:21:17 -0600 > Thom: > That being said, I still think it is the moviemakers right to make the > movie anyway he wants. But I did read > enough about the film ahead of time to know I would see this scene, and > made a concious decision to see it anyway. > > Me: > That's great. I agree. A moviemaker should be allowed to make a movie any > way he wants. What I want is to choose to see a movie edited. You want to > see it unedited. I think we should both be allowed to see a movie the way we > each feel comfortable. If I paid for it, why can't I do what I want with it, > and edit it to my preference? As long as I'm not going around showing it to > audiences, how does it hurt the artist for me to do this? I don't see a thing wrong with this. It's like if you own a book, you can cut the pages up and make confetti out of it. But what you can't do with a book is to go through black out all the bad words and sell it to someone else. But that's what CleanFlicks and their ilk are doing. It would be okay if the owner of the copyright did this or permitted it to be done, as they do for airline films but it is not all right in my opinion to do it to someone else's work. Scott Bronson directed My Turn on Earth at our theatre. He wanted to change some lines. He had to get permission to do this because it's a copyrighted work. The owners said it was okay so he made them. That's where the problem lies with what CleanFlicks is doing. > > Thom: > But nevertheless, if you wanted to do a film like that, I > believe you would have the right, just as I would have the right to > choose not to see it. > > Me: > I'm not arguing the right of the filmmaker or playwriter to create what they > want. I'm only arguing my right to do with it what I please after I've > purchased it. Fine. No problem with that. As long as you're not suggesting that films be cut and resold without the owner's permission, I have no problem with that. > Thom quoting me: > >Ultimately, if > >it comes down to a choice, I'll choose the better sex in my > >real life over the "full artistic expression" in a movie. But > >I'm hoping the edited movies are here to stay so I don't have > >to make that choice. > > Thom: > Why don't you want to make that choice? I personally wouldn't have it > any other way. The ability to make choices is also a god-given right, > and I'm not about to abdicate that right to some nameless committee in > Hollywood of Pleasant grove. > > Me: > I'm not abdicating my rights to a nameless committee. I can't even figure > out how you arrived at that idea. I don't want to have to choose between a > purity of mind and heart that I'm trying to achieve, and giving up movies > altogether. If I watch movies Hollywood's way, I give up any chance at that > purity -- for me, sex scenes very much affect me that way. I feel slimed and > my ability to feel/hear the Spirit is diminished. I can understand this, I suppose, even though they don't have that same affect with me. I am affected, or slimed, when I see gratuitous niceness or insipid comedy, or plot holes the size of Anna Nicole Smith's behind. My personal limit is based entirely on whether something is done well and creatively. If it's done poorly than I lose interest. > But I don't want to give up seeing movies. I love movies. I love stories. I > always have. I was saying that if Hollywood gets their way and causes the > demise of businesses that edit movies for content, I will have little choice > but to pass on most of Hollywood's offerings these days. Where in that am I > abdicating my right to a nameless committee? Hollywood will get their way unless the Copyright laws have changed since the last time I read them. You may to read more reviews ahead of time. BTW, this is one of the reasons I have chosen to never see American Pie or its sequel. I've read enough reviews of it to know that I don't want to see it. No one had to edit the film for me. Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:52:48 -0600 Brown wrote: > > Your "word of mouth" hasn't had its chance yet, Scott. At Cedar Fort and > Salt Press, we're doing what you are talking about. Also, Horizon is not > dead, but very healthy. And Cedar Fort gives new authors an opportunity > without breaking the publishing company. New authors pay about half. > However, Cedar Fort does publish some works (like Rachel's) without > requiring money. They do 24 unpaid projects a year. And YOU ARE RIGHT, the > books are not selling huge numbers of copies. And you are RIGHT, the Mormon > public doesn't know what its missing as long as we don't put any meaty stuff > out. So we're trying to do it! However, Signature does put "meaty" stuff out > and always has, and the sales aren't huge there, either. I feel your > frustration, but it seems even insiders (literary people, people in the > know) aren't paying any attention to the progress that is being made. Not paying attention, or don't know about it? One of the 22 immutable laws of marketing states that the quality of your product doesn't matter--only the marketing does (how else could McDonald's survive?) If good stuff is going on and nobody notices, it isn't being marketed well. Signature Books is an excellent example of this. They wouldn't know how to market fiction to save their soul. And surprise surprise--they're fiction doesn't sell. On the other hand, Covenant, for all the criticisms about it, definitely knows one thing--how to market books to the LDS audience. And they're fiction sells. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 03 Oct 2002 03:37:06 -0600 Richard Dutcher wrote: > > Thanks for the good PR, Scott, but the truth of the matter is: because of > BRIGHAM CITY's financial failure, I'm having a bugger of a time trying to get > another film financed. I may be forced to direct SINGLES WARD 2 just to put > food on the table. I stand corrected, and I'm very, very sorry to hear that. I had understood that while BC was not a staggering success (and certainly not what you had hoped for) it was still successful enough to earn back the 2x of cost that put it into the "investor success" category and made you a good investment risk for future efforts. I don't recall where I got that impression, but I thought it was from you. Which underscores some of my concern. How could that film fail to do well--or at least well enough? Is it because of an unfortunate confluence of misdirected marketing and a long, slow fade in the economy that's kept dollars in people's pockets? Is it the ordinary difficult growing pains of a largely new and undefined Mormon art form? Was it simple name confusion? (The name confusion thing may seem odd, but a good friend of mine recently told me that was the only reason he hadn't seen the film--because he wasn't interested in a story filmed in Mapleton but alleged set in Brigham City. An odd response, but it stuck in his craw and wouldn't come out, so he skipped the film despite my nearly constant recommendations that he go see it.) Or is it because the boo-birds got it right and Mormons can't accept a difficult story whose resolution can be debated, whose "moral" can't be definitively offered in a pithy epigram? Is BC both too full of hope *and* too full of struggle, thus landing squarely between the known poles of the modern American (as well and Mormon) spectrum of taste? This is the kind of story I want to see more of; is there just no market for such things? I think there is, but I also think it's a market that needs to be developed quite a bit. I troll for discussions on whether we're telling enough of our true stories precisely in order to expand thought on stories like BC. But Mormon readers have been told (and have learned through their own reading experiences) that violent or difficult stories nearly always end up with morally ambiguous conclusions--or else with a clear statement that hope futile and faith is a waste of time. But there's a new kind of story that's neither cynical nor hopeless, yet still accepts that life is often full of struggle and difficulty and doubt. A story that is unflinching in depicting ugly experience but that still assumes both hope and possible redemption. A story that allows people to both seek and find grace despite an often treacherous path. One that neither mocks hope nor worships pain, but accepts both as very real and part of a whole and healthy experience. I'll stop now before this digression gets too far advanced. But the question remains--did BC fail to live up to its financial expectations because of a Mormon cultural inability to accept it? Can that be overcome? How? Or was it just identity confusion from a belated acceptance of _God's Army_ that set (Mormon) public expectation at the wrong place to accept a film that was so different in scope and tone from GA? Unfortunate timing and not quite enough exposure of your name as a trustworthy--and diverse--filmmaker? Obviously I hope it's more of the latter, because I believe the public is ready for stories that are both challenging and faithful, that embrace conflict but still assume hope as a good thing. A kind of story that modern Mormons are especially well-suited to offer. The only question that remains is whether we're willing to buy that kind of story, because in the end that's the only way to assure that more such stories will be offered. I hope so. My literary sanity very nearly depends on it, because I'm becoming increasingly weary of both the excess of easy cynicism and meaningless violence, and the excess of blind hope and insultingly simplified faith in fiction. I celebrate all stories, but I personally seek something quite different than the majority of what I'm seeing. Stories more like _Brigham City._ Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Wicks Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 03 Oct 2002 10:01:13 -0400 Richard, Just thought you'd like to know... In a recent Sacrament Meeting talk I used the characters from as examples of devotional diversity within the LDS community. Afterwards several members of our branch rented the film. They loved it. BTY, two copies are currently available for rental from Movie Gallery right here in Oxford, Ohio. I, for one, will continue to spread the word about this fine film. Bob Miami of Ohio -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: [AML] AML 2002 Writers Conference Date: 03 Oct 2002 04:02:34 -0600 The 4th Annual AML Writers Conference will be held Saturday, November 2, 2002, in the Thanksgiving Gardens Visitor Center at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. For further information, check the website at: http://www.wwno.com/aml.htm If you are interested in doing a one-hour presentation on some aspect of LDS literature, film, music, or theater, please contact me at: dmichael@wwno.com Presenters are offered a half-price admission to the conference. Last year space filled up fast, so contact me as soon as possible. We may have to be selective. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Rose Green" Subject: re: [AML] Mormon Themes in National Market Date: 03 Oct 2002 10:43:52 -0500 >Lisa Turner asked: > > >>What experience have any of you had with publishing stories, > >>essays, novels, etc. with Mormon themes outside the > >>Mormon market? This is the area I'm most interested in with regards to Mormon letters. I have a review that I'm planning to post of a recent book by Kimberly Heuston, but I've got to sort through some computer update problems first. However, in just the past year or so, I've seen several YA books by LDS authors show up on the new book shelf at my public library in Illinois. Heuston's _The Shakeress_ was published by Front Street and DOES have overtly LDS themes. Michael O. Tunnell's _Brothers in Valor_, by Holiday House, is about Helmut Huebner. Lois Thompson Bartholomew's _The White Dove_ was published by Houghton Mifflin ("a long time ago" sort of genre--not strictly fantasy, since there's no fantastical elements, and no explicit LDS themes). Then there's the one whose name slips my mind at the moment--I want to say that the author is a Turner Tingley or Tingley Turner or something, a BYU grad, and the book is about a daughter of Alfred the Great. And I'm sure there are others we don't know about. What matters is that first of all, it's a good story, and second, that any LDS elements are personal enough and substantiated enough to be believeable for the character. Even if a reader doesn't subscribe to LDS doctrine, if the character's motivations are well-supported, a reader can still be sympathetic within the bounds of the story. (Just as we can appreciate Chaim Potok's explicitly Jewishness without feeling like we have to believe in all the doctrines of being an Orthodox Jew.) I know we've had this discussion before, but I'd be interested if anyone could come up with any such books since then that fit into this classification. Rose Green _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "dorothy" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 10:50:42 -0700 I have to add to Richard's cynicism. I have a novel that earned a second place in Marilyn Brown's novel contest a couple of years ago that is now with an agent who is trying to get it into the national market. The agency has told me they consider it a fine piece of work. All the Mormon publishers have had an opportunity to publish it and all have rejected it, and guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: It is TOO LITERARY for their readership. One Mormon publisher used those exact words. What does that say for the Mormon reader? Thanks for the opportunity to sound off. Dorothy W. Peterson http://www.lds-index.org dorothy@lds-index.org -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 15:05:46 -0400 I have to agree with Richard Dutcher's opinions about books and films such as CHARLY. He signed off on his post by writing that he was "feeling a little cynical today." I certainly understand those feelings. (I've been dealing with them since 1977.) Nevertheless, keep on fighting the good fight, Richard. BRIGHAM CITY, profitable in it's first release or not, now exists independent of you and will outlive you. It IS a VERY GOOD FILM--a VERY MORMON work of art! None of us may be able to "keep food on the table" by producing only Mormon art, but let us not lose faith in our vision--or lose sight of our accomplishments. Remember IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE did not find an audience until three decades after it was produced. The high quality of your work will speak to future audiences when they disocver it. All is well! ROB. LAUER _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 03 Oct 2002 15:05:26 -0600 (MDT) > on 9/26/02 9:05 AM, David Hansen at hpalaw3@wasatch.com wrote: >=20 > > I'm not sure I was the one Ivan was directing his culture post, b= ut being a > > pessismistic cynic by nature (one of my worst faults), The only person I had in mind was myself, fro a period of about five = years ago where I found myself very, very cyncial. I'va already written on thi= s extensively (check the archives) but basically I found being cynical = about Mormondom didn't make me happy, and that I actually enjoyed being Mor= mon when I wasn't being cynical. So, the only person I had in mind when I wrote= that was myself. Jim Laird wrote: > Cynicism is about as evil as > one can get, and unless you're all fake and no real you can't reall= y be one. > The Unabomber is a cynic. Lenin and Stalin were cynics. There are= a few in > Baghdad right now, and quite a few in Europe--and some in Congress,= too. > Cynicism (in the modern sense) is not to be claimed lightly. If yo= u mean to > lay claim to Diogenes-style of cynicism (which I suppose would have= to be > the "real" cynicism) then it wouldn't be so bad, but you ought to > differentiate between then and now. Wandering through Athens with = a latern > looking for an honest man isn't quite the same as believing that si= nce > everyone is wicked, there's no point in trying to do anything good.= That's > the modern kind of cynic--pure pragmatic selfishness. Ugh. >=20 > Jim Wilson > aka the Laird Jim The old joke is that "an optomist will lend you money, a pessimeis wo= n't, and a cynic has." =20 I don't really buy your definition of cynicism because in general use= it still has what you listed as the old Greek meaning (which would also includ= e performing lewd acts in public, but I won't go there). Popular usage= of cynicism doesn't fit your extreme definition. Here's a dictionary definition: cyn=B7ic=20 n.=20 1. A person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness.= =20 2. A person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative= .=20 3. Cynic: A member of a sect of ancient Greek philosophers who believ= ed virtue to be the only good and self-control to be the only means of achievin= g virtue.=20 I was cynical for a few years if you go by definitions 1 and 2. I do= n't see "evil, terrorist mastermind" in there. --ivan wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "kumiko" Subject: [AML] Re: [AML-Mag] Sitcoms Date: 03 Oct 2002 07:30:47 -0500 I love the idea of BYU class(es) producing a narrative fiction TV series to possibly be shown on BYU-TV. Two of my favorite TV-viewing experiences recently were "Real World" starring BYU student Julie Stoffer and "Survivor" starring Utah's Neleh Dennis. But these shows were hampered by their overly frequent cutting away from Julie and Neleh to show less important, less interesting (non-LDS) characters. Even given obvious limits in terms of budget and the experience of the students putting it together, I'm sure there is a large audience that would love to see something like that. I certainly would. Les Charles and Glen Charles, two Latter-day Saint brothers from Las Vegas, created one of TV's most successful sitcoms: "Cheers." They also created the character of Frasier Crane, although they weren't directly responsible for creating the spinoff series. I'm certain that Samuelsen and his students can create something fun -- certainly better than the drek that is most of today's sitcoms. But may I ask why are trying to make a sitcom. Surely this is the most difficult type of TV show you could attempt to do. Wouldn't it be easier to try to create a drama? Preston Hunter ---------- Eric Samuelsen wrote: >This semester, I've been teaching a class on sitcoms. Our goal is to write >and produce a pilot, and possibly a couple of episodes, of a new, LDS >oriented BYU television situation comedy, as a educational exercise. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Feeding Your Inner Gnostic Date: 03 Oct 2002 17:13:37 -0600 I don't know how this relates to AML specifically, beyond the fact that I've heard this a lot in LDS circles and I'd like to dispel a myth here. ---Original Message From: JLTyner > > I don't generally like taxes, and I feel the income tax > borders on unconstitutional, but we pay all our local, > state, and federal taxes. I used to hear this a lot and finally investigated it. The thing is, income tax can't be unconstitutional when a constitutional amendment was passed specifically authorizing it. That's the 16th amendment if you want to give it a look-see. It's very broad and deliberately so. I understand that there was some debate at the time (1913) about putting a cap on income tax of 10%. That idea was voted down as being entirely unnecessary because congress would have to be crazy to make it so high. Another interesting historical note is that 1914 saw a sudden drastic reduction in reported income--not unsurprisingly if you think about it. People started moving income into companies or trusts--which meant that a lot fewer revenues were generated than originally forecast ;). Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "R.W. Rasband" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 03 Oct 2002 18:28:10 -0700 (PDT) --- RichardDutcher@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 10/1/02 1:59:17 PM Mountain Daylight Time, > scottparkin@earthlink.net writes: > > << BC did well enough to enable Dutcher to make his next film. >> > > Thanks for the good PR, Scott, but the truth of the matter is: because > of > BRIGHAM CITY's financial failure, I'm having a bugger of a time trying > to get > another film financed. I may be forced to direct SINGLES WARD 2 just to > put > food on the table. > This is horrible news. A confession; I didn't like "God's Army" all that much when it first came out. It took the excellence of "Brigham City" to make me go back and see what I had missed. And even the director believes that film was a "financial failure." If "Charly" is the new template for Mormon cinema, that means it's not just a sappy, mediocre movie. It's the Attack of the Fluff Monster. ===== R.W. Rasband Heber City, UT rrasband@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 28 Sep 2002 11:50:10 -0700 Eric R. Samuelsen wrote: >1) "Crooks abound" in LDS circles. I could, if I wanted to, name names, but I won't. Let me just say that unethical, often even downright crooked business practices are the bane of the LDS art world. Just sitting here at my computer, I can think of fifteen, no wait, just thought of another one, sixteen examples of artists who have been ripped off by publishers, producers, arts' related companies big and small. There are also some ethical people in the business, and I won't name names here either, but they do exist. Sorry, Ivan, but this is simply true. Students need to carefully scrutinize any contract they sign with anyone, but if the producer is LDS, be doubly wary. He is, in my experience, more, not less likely to rip you off.< Richard, with tail tucked firmly between legs, says: And Eric should know. Listen to him. Richard Hopkins PS - Sometimes the rip-off is not intentional but the result of incompetence. Still, it feels the same, so be wary and wise. Being LDS is not enough of a reason to do business with someone. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] My Ward Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:57:39 +0000 [I am forwarding this post in my capacity at list assistant moderator. It was written by an AML-list contributor who wishes to remain anonymous. AML-list does not usually allow anonymous posts, but because this post discusses the lives and personalities of the author's neighbors, the list board felt that by allowing the author to post in this way, with all the names changed, he or she could best preserve the neighbors' privacy. It is not truly anonymous, because I and the other board members know who wrote it, and are acting as intermediaries. If anyone has any off-line comments about the post, please send them to me, and I will see that they are forwarded to the author. Speaking for Jonathan and the rest of the board members, we see this arrangement as a special circumstance, not the start of a new trend. Andrew Hall.] [MOD: I'll just add that the value of this post, as I see it, lies in its illustration of the vast number of potentially interesting stories to which each of us has access in our own Mormon communities. And how important those communities are in our own lives. I'd welcome further comments on how such stories and communities impact both our lives as artists and consumers of art, and act as inspiration/context for creating and interpreting Mormon letters.] My ward basically encompasses four streets in a town on the Wasatch front. Imagine a capital E, with the middle finger of the E extended four times longer than the top and bottom fingers, and that about describes the street pattern. We're on that longer middle finger, a very long cul de sac running parallel with another major city street. On the same street lives Bill. (These are all made-up names, of course). Once Bill lived in the house directly south of his present house; his present house was then an empty lot, which he also owned. Bill's in his late thirties, pleasant, but reserved and quiet. When he began building his current house, it was because he was getting married, which was big news in the ward. Nancy, when we finally met her, was an attractive and outgoing young woman, maybe ten years younger than Bill. Bill built this house for her, this huge house, easily the most expensive in our neighborhood. They were married in Bill's big new house, and the Elder's Quorum helped them move into it, all of us overcome with curiosity, wanting to see the interior, which struck us all as both idiosyncratic in design, and also rather impersonal. Bill sold his old house to a new couple, Fred and Karen. Karen was a teacher, and Fred, a house-husband. Bill and Nancy seemed happy together for about two months. They went to Church together, and held hands in the back row in Sunday School. And then we started to see Nancy sitting on the front porch, crying. We saw that a lot. Nancy kept coming to Church, and became very active and engaged in the ward, and made lots of friends. He stopped coming to Church. We heard rumors, the most intriguing of which was that they had been in his car, and Nancy was driving, and they'd had a fight. Bill had finally gotten fed up and gotten out of the car, and she'd tried to run him down and kill him, he'd dodged, and she'd wrecked the car. Whatever the truth of that rumor, she filed for divorce after four months of marriage, and it went through quickly. She moved in with a single sister in the ward, and six months after the divorce, she remarried. She's supposed to have told her new husband that she loved our ward, and wouldn't marry him unless he agreed to buy a home in the ward boundaries. Whether that's true or not, he did buy a home in the ward boundaries. Now Nancy and Chet are married and very active in our ward. Bill never comes to Church at all. We can see his large screen TV as we walk down the street, and we hear from neighbors that it's always on, always. He watches a lot of sports. Karen and Fred, teacher and house-husband, who lived in Bill's old house, are also divorced. Fred lives with Bill now; he says it's temporary. Fred has custody of his nine year old, who is really an obnoxious kid. Our ward seems to have a great many families who are active in the John Birch Society. They seem to proliferate, but I think it's only because we become aware of them, not because they recruit successfully. One John Birch family is the R family. Brother R is an instrument maker by trade, and a wonderfully cultured and musical man. His son plays viola, and is part of a string quartet; they play at many ward functions, and play beautifully. Sister R is also musical, and a former nun. This is a second marriage for both of them. Brother's R's youngest daughter, Meg, was married at seventeen, and gave birth three months later. Meg's husband went to prison a few months after the wedding. No one knows what crime he committed, but he's out now, and very active in the ward, and Meg seems to be a very caring and attentive mom. They all live in the R house, and are all active Birchers. They're very personable people, and their home is lovely. Another Bircher family is the N family. Brother N is seventy five, and sort of a character; he's very outspoken and quite amusing, intentionally amusing, with wry and clever anecdotes for all occasions. Prior to moving into this ward, I disliked Birchers, and thought them all disagreeable people, but in this ward, I rather like them personally, though I still find their ideology risible. We also have three police officers in our ward. Two are active, and the third just remarried, and has been coming to Church with his new wife. She is a cashier at Albertson's and can only come to Church every other Sunday, but she never fails to come then. It's nice to live in a neighborhood with squad cars parked in front of three houses. You do feel a bit safer, not that we don't already feel safe. It's a quiet family neighborhood. Our bishop is very short, and works in a staff position at BYU, but the passion of his life is clearly music. He plays clarinet well, and is, with his wife and two children, member of a community orchestra of a very high quality. His children are some ten years apart in age. His daughter, maybe 25, is a Ph. D. candidate in Comparative Lit at U of U. She just got married, but comes to the ward occasionally. She's sort of a pal of mine. His younger child, a boy, is sixteen. A very important topic of conversation for my daughter and her friends seems to be: who does Ryan like. I happen to know who Ryan likes, but I haven't told anyone. At the end of our cul de sac are two families. Brothers A and B are in business together, and live next door to each other. They seem to be quite well off, though their families are very young. Next to us are our closest friends in the ward, the C's. Sister C won't let her children play with any other children if they've been sick, not until three days have passed after the last symptoms. We think this is a bit extreme, but she's otherwise very nice. She and her husband are both exceptionally attractive people, and quick-witted. On the other side is another C family. They're Hispanic, and best I can make out, the household consists of Brother C, his wife, her sister, his sister and her husband, his mother, and a couple of assorted cousins. They all live together in what seems to be a very happy chaos. We don't mind the chaos; they're nice folks and good neighbors. Not everyone in the neighborhood is a member of the Church, of course. One couple are quite vocal about it, and a bit obnoxious about other matters, like unmowed lawns. We also have a lesbian couple in the neighborhood. They have adopted two kids, and seem to us to be awful parents. Their kids are the terrors of the neighborhood, and bullies. This is not a comment on the parenting skills of lesbians; just this one couple who seem not to be able to discipline their kids. Let's see. In the ward is Sister H, divorced with six kids, whose husband was abusive, and whose kids are exceptional; bright and motivated and attractive youngsters who dominate the youth organization presidencies. There's also the P family, who are almost too good to be true. He's in the Stake Presidency, and is as caring and generous a man as I have ever met. She's Primary President, and is a model of charity and kindness. Their kids are all basically perfect. And you look at them and you wonder how such people could be, how they could exist, and then you remember that Sister P has had terrible health problems for years; they've had trials too. Then there's Brother and Sister S. He's a mechanic by trade, and she's a Master's candidate in a liberal arts major. She's an academic and he's a self-proclaimed grease monkey. And then you think about it, and you talk to them, and you realize he's as smart and imaginative and competant at his job as she is at hers, and that their marriage is no mismatch, but a partnership of equals. They can't have children, and are trying to adopt. We wish them well. We have two South African families in our ward, white South Africans. We also have two Samoan families; the son of one of them plays for the BYU football team, and we always root for him to do well. There's also a black African family who just moved in. Sister I sits to my left in Gospel Doctrine class and is a favorite of mine; sharp, astute observations on the scriptures, which she offers with only the barest trace of an accent. They're from Ghana. On one of the streets, there are several apartments which house BYU married students. So our ward has a number of established families, and also some young couples, a nice mix. One couple frightens me. The wife, Betty, is a freshman at BYU. She moved into her dorm last August, and attended her first ward social, where, her first day in Provo, she met Jim, who had gotten home from his mission that week. By October, they were engaged. By December, they were married. Now it's September, and she's expecting next month. They both look sixteen, and perpetually terrified. The ward choir was, for many years, directed by Sister O, a grim and humorless woman, who conducted every hymn with the same relentlessly lugubrious beat, and who brought to the task of conducting not the tiniest iota of imagination or musicality. She was finally released, and replaced with Sister D, a sweet and upbeat woman who is a fine pianist and a sensitive musician. But under Sister O, the choir generally numbered around fifty. Under Sister D, a far better conductor, it generally numbers around fifteen, and that number is dwindling. In part, this is because Sister D can't make up her mind. But it's mostly because her call coincided with the arrival in the ward of the Ward Know-It-All. The Ward Know-It-All is this plump and smiling fellow who, with the most cheerful countenance and disposition imaginable, is an all purpose Wrecker. He wrecked a whole succession of gospel doctrine lessons until the teacher realized she couldn't ever call on him. He destroys Priesthood lessons. But it's in choir that he really flourishes. He has fifty 'suggestions' PER REHEARSAL to improve the musicality of whatever it is we're singing. I counted. Sister D hangs on his every word. She thinks he's Mozart. And his suggestions are pretty much always wrong. If a tempo is painfully slow, he thinks it should be slower. He has lots to say about how to shape vowels with our mouths, all of it nutty. He thinks that a slow and slurpy vocal 'glissando' (his word) for intervals over an octave creates a pleasing effect. And he sings solos in the ward all the time, and he's constantly, relentlessly a half tone flat. He's a nice guy. He introduced himself to our family by bringing by a home-cooked berry pie, a really tasty one. I like him. I also can't go to choir anymore. I think it would detract from the spirit of the meeting, to go right after punching someone. I like my ward a lot. I think there are wonderful stories here, worth exploring, with interesting characters and personalities. They don't know me at all, I think. I hide effectively. I watch, and I listen. But it's here, in this community, in this tightly knit society, that we, as Mormons, experience the world and the gospel. It's worth paying attention to. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Laird Jim Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 02 Oct 2002 19:15:57 -0700 on 9/27/02 8:44 AM, John Dewey Remy at john@mindonfire.com wrote: ...> > "The glory of God is intelligence." > > Mormon culture is complex, and it can produce paradoxical results, > including both narrow-minded intolerance of the perceived "other" or > outsider as well as warm-hearted acceptance of all God's children, no > matter how different. Even Jesus in his day strove against the > parochialism that seemed to be a strong component of the culture that > surrounded him. > > Perhaps to the children of Israel living in Palestine some 2000 years ago, > Jesus was a hated "intellectual". > Jesus couldn't have been an Intellectual since the word wasn't invented till the 1880s. The concept has been around a long time but the actual word when it came out had a pretty specific meaning. The word itself is very old, just not its use as a noun. As a noun it originally meant quite literally "smarter than thou." It refers to those with the "right" ideas, socially progressive, anti-religious, above the monkey-rules of their inferiors, that kind of thing. It's no wonder that such an appellation would be treated with some hostility among Mormons, and like so many other things that hostility can easily continue long after the original reason is forgotten. Intellectual doesn't mean the same thing anymore, but the concept is fading away anyway. Arts & Letters Daily (http://www.aldaily.com) had a piece about this subject by John Lukacs yesterday--or today...I work nights, days tend to run together. Anyway he pointed out a lot of things that most don't know about both the word and the concepts, and his opinion is that the entire concept of the "Intellectual" is vanishing now, mainly because the theory behind the concept has pretty much been defeated. All the "progressive" causes are in retreat, everything from Darwinian evolution to eugenics to environmental psychology. Essentially the political intellectual has been proven wrong. In the broader sense of the word there's no real change. The one thing that hopefully will vanish, however, is the overweening pride that always went with the word. Pride is the killer, and particularly the pride of place over inferior types. I've always seen socialism as an attempt to restore feudalism--except with intellectuals as the lords instead of warriors. Thankfully the chance of any form of socialism gaining victory is approaching nil, and the bourgeois society so hated by intellectuals looks like its going to triumph. On the Mormon side of things there have never been any intellectuals except on the ragged edge. Those you refer to were scholars or thinkers, but not intellectuals except in the broad-brush sense of anybody who doesn't get his hands dirty for a living. I think that is what the word eventually will become--I hope so, since it's a perfectly good word. The hostility will fade away as its meaning changes, but contrary to popular opinion Communism ain't dead yet, and if you look at the antics of many college professors right about now, the American (ad Mormon) disdain for intellectuals has a few decades left. In a few years there will be no reason to avoid referring to Hugh B. Brown or Neal Maxwell as intellectuals, but there is plenty of reason still, not least because they might not like it, Brown particularly, since his was the heyday of the intellectual class. That heyday is vanished, as the current irrelevance of the academy in politics shows. Never fear, however. Those who want to think of themselves as above the rest will surely find a new and grandiose title for themselves. I'll stick with a line from Tolkien-- "...you don't know much about even them if you think Butterbur is stupid. He talks more than he thinks, and faster, but he is wise enough on his own ground. He could see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree)." Jim Wilson aka the Laird Jim -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 03 Oct 2002 00:59:43 -0600 RichardDutcher@aol.com wrote: > Thanks for the good PR, Scott, but the truth of the matter is: because of > BRIGHAM CITY's financial failure, I'm having a bugger of a time trying to get > another film financed. I may be forced to direct SINGLES WARD 2 just to put > food on the table. Wow! Confirmation of my throwaway joke in my anti-culture list. I realize you're probably joking, but my recommendation would be to take that directing gig if you have to. Make Singles Ward 2 (or it's moral equivalent). Two things will result: 1. You'll be able to make the films you want to make, in the same way that the Nauvoo Theatrical Society needs to produce _My Turn On Earth_ as well as LaButesque plays. 2. Singles Ward 2 will be one of those rare films: one where the sequel is vastly superior to the original. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 03 Oct 2002 10:22:13 -0600 >-----Original Message----- > >The sad thing is - for most films, a cleaned up version >readily exists that could easily be put on any DVD release >with no hassle - the Airline versions. >Those are (usually) edited to a "general broadcaast TV" standard. >SO there is no extra work involved - and if the directors, >etc. truly felt that there was only one version and editing >would have been bad, then they wouldn't have allowed a airline >version in the first place. That's not the issue the directors are concerned about. Most have no problem with edited works for the airlines. They just don't want other people editing them. They want to have a say in what the edited version looks like. And frankly, I don't blame them. Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thomas C. Baggaley" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 11:59:39 -0600 Richard, The problem is not necessarily _Charly_ or _The Singles Ward_. It's more a symptom of the American culture in general of which (much as we like to use the phrase "not of the world") we are a part. In the culture of entertainment-seeking America, financially successful, less-thoughtful films are an inevitability, even in Mormon Cinema. I'm sure you see it in the films that end up at the top of the Hollywood Box Office reports each week. Not that there isn't an audience for the deeper, well-thought-out films, but the larger audiences and therefore the larger portion of the entertainment dollar, both in America in general and in Mormon-dom, will most often go to the easy entertainment. Most people just go to the theater to be entertained and to escape from their own daily cares for a couple of hours - nothing more. That is why the entertainment fluff succeeds. Until our culture changes, that will not change, regardless of if _Charly_ or _The Singles Ward_ are made at this time or not - because eventually they WOULD be made and they WOULD succeed financially, simply because that's what the theater-going public is looking for. I see much of the same thing in my own field - music. Many a highly-skilled, highly-trained composer or performer has struggled with feelings of frustration over the financial success and popularity of songs with mindless lyrics from composers who couldn't put more than three chords together unless their fingers accidentally fell on the keys that way and performed by singers who are not only untrained but whose singing style makes you wonder if they mightn't even be tone-deaf. Yet the stores are lined with CD upon CD of the stuff. Why? Because it connects. Because it's easy. Because it's fun and enjoyable. Because people like how they feel when they listen to it. (By the way, this applies to much of the popular LDS music as well. A lot of it is the same stuff, just with nonoffensive or gospel-related lyrics slapped on.) I see it as my challenge, and maybe this is the way you feel as well, to reach as much of that general audience as possible, without sacrificing the craft - to find that common area between well-crafted, well-thought-out art and escapist entertainment. I believe it is possible, both in film and in music. I don't think the public automatically rejects anything that is more thoughtful. But they do have to be given something that they can grasp on the simple emotional level they are expecting - and then the deeper levels of meaning can also be present. In part, that is why my main focus is on film composing. Because I really feel film is a medium where you CAN communicate on those various levels at the same time - and the music can play a huge part in that, if the composer is skilled enough and thoughtful enough to make it work. I could go on and on about the subject - citing examples of films where I feel that is accomplished, etc. - but I think I'll leave it at that. By the way, I do feel that your films are successful in doing this. I think it can easily be demonstrated that "God's Army", for example, succeeded financially the way that it did as much for its pure entertainment value as the elements of the film which resulted in positive reviews from the critics and accolades from other filmmakers. I get this sense from those parts of the film I have heard people talking about in casual conversation - the things they enjoyed about the film. Best regards, Thomas ---------------------------- "Of course, there should be a structure, an architecture to any score. It's not a piece here and a piece there. It has to be thought out. You can't approach each cue as a separate piece of music." - Jerry Goldsmith, composer Contact info: Thomas C. Baggaley Film Composer 9446 Fox Hunt Drive Sandy, Utah 84092 Tel: (801) 942-3580 E-mail: thomas@baggaleymusic.com -----Original Message----- RichardDutcher@aol.com In a message dated 10/1/02 2:25:12 PM Mountain Daylight Time, paul@abinidi.net writes: << Jack Weyland planted a seed with _Charly_, a seed which blossomed, and whose fruits we all reap today. >> The seed turned out to be a weed, and it choked out all the wonderful variety of other plants and seeds that were beginning to grow. [snip] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 03 Oct 2002 13:52:07 -0600 ---Original Message From: Scott Parkin > >From a cultural standpoint I don't care how many goys rip each other > >off. > > But I'm deeply concerned about the Mormons that rip other > Mormons off. The fact that others are also guilty of sin in > no way excuses our own failures. Shouldn't Mormons be able to > relax a little and assume that other Mormons aren't trying to > take advantage of them? It seems to me that Eric is only > saying that we need to keep our hands up and protect > ourselves at all times--even from other Mormons. This goes back to our discussion a couple weeks ago about fraud. The thing is, if it gets around that Mormons trust other Mormons then people who wish to defraud Mormons will gain the "credentials" in order to target the incautious. Fraud is inviting. If we *don't* keep our hands up and protect ourselves at all times, then we give others the opening they need to do us damage. The trick is not letting that make you hard and suspicious. I liked Eric Samuelsen's advise that we double-check everything. From everybody. It isn't about being suspicious as much as it is about care of our stewardships. We owe it to ourselves to be diligent--in all things and with all people. If they turn out as honest as they present themselves, so much the better. If they don't, then at least you caught it before getting too meshed up in it. > Which I find to be more than a little sad. I had hoped for > better from my people. Perhaps special condemnation of Mormon > publishers for being just as unscrupulous as other publishers > is unfair, but I don't think so. Where much has been given > much is expected, and Mormon businessmen have been given the > restored gospel--complete with covenants of honesty and fair dealing. The way I handle it is that I treat everybody pretty much the same--to start. I start with initial trust and them alter that stance as needed based on the reactions I get. I start with free consultations to iron out any wrinkles that might crop up. Once projects have been firmed up, I ask 50% down for the work to start. Do they balk? Do they ask for concessions? Do they ask for unreasonable guarantees and stipulations? Once the project is delivered, the balance is due. I deliver the project before requiring final payment. I give them an initial two weeks to test and ask questions etc. and I don't ask for or bring up the balance, though a reminder in the software will show them how much time they have left. If they ask for extensions, that's fine. If they're blaming me for every little problem and the world is continually coming to an end, then they don't get a lot of sympathy from me. If they're honestly working to get everything ironed out and so on, then we're good and I've given people a month and more to pay and/or worked out further payment schedules. If they try to hold my balance hostage for further free/unspecified work (you'd be surprised how common this is), then I shut them down. All of which is my way of trying to be as trusting and generous as I can without letting myself be taken advantage of. I've been burned. I've had to write-off thousands of dollars as irretrievable. But I also enjoy a reputation for exceptional support and an ability to do what I say I'm going to do that is singular in my industry. I'm nice, but I don't let myself be pushed around. It's a hard balance to strike because others *will* try to exploit your weaknesses. They'll bluster and shout because a lot of the time they get what they want when they do that. Or they'll threaten to bad-mouth you or even threaten lawsuit. That's how things go sometimes. The trick is to stay soft--stay generous, honest, and trusting with new people that you meet and still stand up for yourself when things get tough. A significant portion of my industry is LDS. I don't treat them any different than anybody else. I've met LDS snakes who tried to leverage our supposedly shared values. And I've met other generous LDS individuals who are kind and trusting. I try very hard to treat everyone the same way. LDS or non-LDS, I start off trusting and generous and move as needed based on actions/reactions by the client. It's the best way to run business that I've found. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 03 Oct 2002 15:18:18 -0700 On Wed, 02 Oct 2002 18:44:21 -0700 The Laird Jim writes: > on 9/26/02 9:05 AM, David Hansen at hpalaw3@wasatch.com wrote: > >> I'm not sure I was the one Ivan was directing his culture post, >> but being a pessismistic cynic by nature (one of my worst faults), > > I don't agree that you're a cynic. Pessimist maybe, but cynicism is > a really really harsh self-condemnation. > Wandering through Athens with a lantern looking for an honest > man isn't quite the same as believing that since everyone is > wicked, there's no point in trying to do anything good. That's > the modern kind of cynic--pure pragmatic selfishness. Ugh. > > Jim Wilson > aka the Laird Jim This post reminds me of one of the things I like most about Mormon culture (besides AML-List)--that it is a culture, a group of human beings who act in complex and surprising ways. I usually disagree with Jim Wilson, and it's easy to assume when I see a post with his name on it that I'll disagree. But as is true with all of us, no single posting or conversation, or many postings or conversations, can show all facets of a complex human being. (Note that some metaphors are so common we don't even think of them as metaphors. The next logical thing to say would be something cheesy like, "We're all diamonds and we just need to keep looking at the facets," but it's more likely we're all dinosaur fossils and we just need someone to squeeze us firmly enough long enough and cut us in such a way that we'll sparkle in the light. Hmm, that's even more cheesy. Pass the macaroni.) In cyberlife as in face-to-face life there are moments of generosity that remind me of the joys of living humanely among other humane beings. Thanks. Harlow Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 15:06:59 -0700 On Wed, 2 Oct 2002 17:01:00 EDT RichardDutcher@aol.com writes: > In a message dated 10/1/02 2:25:12 PM Mountain Daylight Time, > paul@abinidi.net writes: > << Jack Weyland planted a seed with _Charly_, a seed which blossomed, and whose fruits we all reap today. >> > > The seed turned out to be a weed, and it choked out all the > wonderful variety of other plants and seeds that were > beginning to grow. > > The danger of works like CHARLY: when they succeed financially, > publishers want more of them (and very little, if any, of anything > else). Twenty years ago I would have agreed with the Gresham's Law theory of literature (bad currency drives out good). That was the argument some BYU professors made when "Starchild" was playing in the Margetts Arena Theater. In the meantime I picked up a copy of Hiram Haydn's autobiography when I was tutoring in the Writing Lab one day. I think the title is _Names and Faces_. Haydn was one of Bennett Cerf's star editors at Random House (later founded Atheneum), and he tells how, when he hired on, Cerf showed him a bunch of literary novels, the kind RH was distinguished for, and some bestsellers, and told to remember that for every twelve of the literary novels he published he should publish one bestseller, to make enough to keep publishing the distinguished literary novels. (BTW, does anyone else remember Bennett Cerf as a regular on What's My Line and as the author of a bunch of goofy kids' joke books? I was an adult reading Hiram Haydn and some other stuff before I realized he was a major figure in American publishing, who had forced a redefinition of pornography by bullying a customs agent to seize his copy of Ulysses so he could argue in court that any book which had significant artistic, cultural, social or scientific value couldn't be defined as obscene.) I don't know whether Bertelsman AG is allowing Random to continue this policy--I've heard publishing has changed a lot in 20 years--but I think Cerf's principle is still a good one to remember. Well done popular literature makes room for better done not so popular literature. I think it's probably also true that popular very well done literature makes room for promising writers who need a place to develop their craft. There's a story behind why I read Charly. I was kicking around our missionary apartment in Elmira Heights NY one day (a few miles from Mark Twain's grave--which I never visited, for some reason, maybe so I'd have an excuse to go back and visit the old mission field, besides the fact that my nephew and his wife are up in Ithaca at Cornell just now) and was idly leafing through a pile of back New Eras and found the following letter to the editor of the December 1974 New Era (page 3): >>>>> In respect to your article entitled “Charly” in the June 1974 issue: It would take a bit more than a sugary-sweet Ferris wheel ride to convince me that a girl who is spiritually unstable enough to be within inches of marrying a nonmember would be worthy to be my wife. Elder Randall Edwards Brazil Sao Paulo South Mission <<<<< I'm not sure that letter, or the following, would appear in the New Era today. (They'd probably say, "What do you think this is, AML-List?") >>>>> I suppose the last thing you need is one more letter about “Charly,” but here are my impressions: I guess Jack Weyland will be submitting more of his work, and I propose he write a sequel wherein Charly is disinherited because of her Church membership, and she marries a boy who’s having a tough time of it, so there are no more swims at the “country club pool” nor dinners out “at the club.” Then Weyland could turn his attention to Charly as she mingles with the members and maintains her individuality. Question: If Charly continued to be her own self, would the majority (or even 25 percent) of the Church members welcome her or be amused by her outgoing ways? No way! Lorna M. Schofield Mountlake Terrace, Washington <<<<<< Fortunately, we had the June 1974 issue and I found the story very funny. About a year after I got back from my mission I saw a display of Charly in the BYU Bookstore, and figured it was a collection of stories and bought one later when Weyland was signing. (No, it was only 6 months after. My autographed copy is dated April 4, 1980.) I quickly found that Weyland had tried to expand his story into a novel, and it wasn't very good. The humor seemed strained, like he didn't know how to expand the story. Of course, there is that lovely scene (p. 74-76) where Sam and Charly play at being promiscuous singles who pick each other up in restaurants then hurry home to make love, and that lovely moment where Sam and Charly are talking about what they learned at Church that day and Charly explains how the RS President had the women tell how they liked to spend time with their husbands. "You didn't did you?" "I did--I raised my hand and told them. 'My husband and I like to make love.' Poor sister Pearson, she dropped her chalk." (67) And I just found a passage I had marked in pencil in the margin of page 77 with 'nice.' "After the benediction, Celia went to the casked, took her little baby, and held him and rocked him in her arms for the last time, tears streaming down her cheeks. The aunts and grandmothers, old and tilre women with the mark of pain and sorrow and disappointment etched in their faces, gathered around her and touched her and whispered in their language words of love and comfort. Finally Celia wrapped her son in a white beaded deerskin blanket and lovingly laid him back in the coffin." (I had forgotten that this part of the story takes place in South Dakota, scene of _On the Run_.) I don't think Weyland is a great writer and I haven't read more than six or seven or eight of his books, but I know when I pick up a Weyland novel I'll get a twist on a cultural storytelling form, or popular theme. Charly, of course, is _Love Story_ retold, including the problem getting pregnant. _Sarah, Whenever I Hear Your Name_ is about incest and rape, and how the legal system in Utah fails the victims of incest/rape. _On the Run_ is a thriller. _Michelle and Debra_ is about sexual ethics and emotional abuse. _The Reunion_ is a hilarious screwball comedy about a bishop and adultery and a naughty nightie. As I said in my paper "The Deseret Book Book" I think some of Weyland's later work is much better than Charly, especially _On the Run_ though I didn't include it--I don't think it was out yet. Like many thrillers, _Rush Hour_ for example, it takes people from two different races or cultures and teams them up, then explores the differences between the two cultures. The thing I like about this novel is that it stops being a thriller about halfway through because it's more interested in exploring the relationship between missionary work and racism and cultural imperialism. It becomes a thriller again at the end, but with a twist as Weyland poses the question, 'What if a hitman on his way to a hit were to hear the Gospel preached?' It's characteristic in the thriller genre to make the villain so evil, so implacable he (usually he) can only be stopped by death, and the hero is perfectly justified in inflicting that death. That's what happens in Rush Hour, except the villain brings his death upon himself, sorta. It's not what happens in _On the Run_ (or the earlier comic treatment of crime, _Home Cooking on the Wasatch Range_). By breaking with this covention Weyland creates an ending much more profound than you usually see in thrillers. Weyland is not a profound writer in that he doesn't cry de profundis, doesn't go into the depths of his characters, but _On the Run_ could make a very good movie. (Let me interrupt with a note about Brigham City. Yes the villain is implacable, and yes the hero kills him, but I find no sense in the movie that the author wants us to rejoice in that killing. Instead, there's that wondrous scene where the whole community shares in a sense of communal guilt and mourns with each other (does that sound too much like the director's commentary?) Indeed, the killing seems more like a retelling of Nephi and Laban, where as soon as Nephi draws Laban's sword you know he's going to have to use it, and where you get the sense that if you kill someone, even in self-defence, even at the Spirit's command, it will haunt you for the rest of your life.) Now what does the juxtaposition of those last two paragraphs tell you about what film I'd like to see made and who I'd like to see make it? > More than two decades after CHARLY's publication we have shelf after > shelf of market-censored mediocrity to choose from. But we also have 10 promising novels (Children of the Promise, Grandchildren of the Promise, and Standing on the Promises) to choose from as well as Dean Hughes' YA historical fiction, and novels like Sharlee Glenn's _Circle Dance_ and Herbert Harker's _Circle of Fire_ and Ann Cannon's _Great Granny Rose and the Family Christmas Tree_ and whole bunches of others. And a lot of this is because Jack Weyland and Shirley Sealy and Susan Evans McCloud showed there was a market for fiction. It may also be because of Dean Hughes' novels. I don't know whether Dean's fiction was part of the cause of a publishing explosion or a beneficiary. His 80's Mormon YA hasn't sold as well as Weyland's, but, as he said so memorably a couple of years ago at the AML panel symposium discussing seminal Mormon YA, "a little of that semen is mine." (LOL thinking about it.) And I'm just mentioning books from DeseretBookcraft here. If I broadened it out, I'd mention how you also see books from Marilyn (Brown and Arnold, but not Schwartzenegger) Kristen Randle, Paris Anderson, Laurel Brady and her neighbor who wrote My Sweet Caroline (I think that was the title--now why can't I get the author's name past the tip of my tongue, Ah here it is in my RMMLA folder, the notice for my session at the 2001 covention: Presenter(s): John Bennion, Brigham Young University. Paper Title: The True Colors of Carol Williams: Writing Ethical Fiction for New York. (Which was also the session where Neila Seshachari first read, 'The Quest for Essences as an Archaic Religious Quest': Terry Tempest Williams's Interrogation of Faith, Art, and Earthly Life in _Leap_. I miss Neila, and will miss her at next year's AML meeting)) and a whole bunch of other fine writers who've come along in the last zwanzig jahre. > And it's our own fault, as a people, for buying it. We've created a > marketplace where works like Scott Bronson's as yet unpublished > THE WHIPPING BOY have no place. > > Shame on us. Yes, we're a bunch of snaffencrackers, but every culture has good and even great unpublished novels. I'm not sure it's fair to blame the novels publishers publish and people buy for what doesn't get published. In 1981 Weyland took his story "Home Cooking" and a large part of _Sam_ (sequel to _Charly_--he told me he'd like to write another sequel and call it either _Son of Sam_ or _Charly's Angel_) and wrote a play called _Home Cooking on the Wasatch Range_, which had this wonderful running sex joke ("I suppose they're, eating now") about a newlywed couple until Weyland (a bp at the time) severely cut it because he didn't feel comfortable reading that section aloud to his steak presleydent. It was a silly and improbable farce, but lots of fun and I got to play a home teacher, and Weyland gave me a second autographed copy of Charly. I rode with him to the cast party closing night and found we had served in the same mission. I don't know if he was ever in Elmira District, Ithaca South Zone, but I'm glad his story was. > My anxiety for the infant Mormon Cinema is that our people will > spend their entertainment dollars on movies like CHARLY and > and THE SINGLES WARD and will withhold their support > from films like BRIGHAM CITY. > And then, twenty years from now, we'll have shelf after shelf of > empty-headed, false-hearted, and mediocre movies based on mediocre > books and lousy screenplays. Or maybe we'll have a lot of movies like _Only Once_ and _The Last Good War_ and _The Christmas Mission_ and _God's Army_ and _Brigham City_ and _Possession_. My impression (largely from reading AML-List) is that there are a lot of good short films being made by talented young LDS directors who may need ten or twenty years to build up the economic power and reputation to make good long films that can survive in a small market like the LDS market. Then again, given the Church's growth rate there could be two or four or eight times as many movie-going LDS in twenty years, many of them converts from a movie-going culture that may well long for films like Brigham city. > Feeling a little cynical today, > Richard Dutcher Well, to echo Jim Wilson, probably not cynical, just pessimistic. Harlow S. Clark -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 03 Oct 2002 18:07:29 -0600 ---Original Message From: S. Malmrose > > One gripe I have with sitcoms is how the fathers are always > portrayed as stupid, bumbling goofs. It works on the Simpsons > (probably because every man really is Homer). But it gets > irritating on sitcom after sitcom. Watch Damon Wayans' "My Wife and Kids". Excellent show and done with Wayans' characteristic bold touch that manages to remain (somehow) relevant, careful, and truthful. Funny stuff and the dad doesn't come off as the perpetual buffoon--maybe because it's co-written by the guy playing the dad. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 03 Oct 2002 18:20:27 -0600 I'm glad you're working on an LDS sitcom, Eric! That's heartening news. I hope we get to see the fruit of your labors. An observation: I really enjoyed the "George Lopez" sitcom last night--it was on after "My Wife and Kids". It was funny enough I suppose, but it was also interesting, new, different, and had an obvious issue/relevance that I found intriguing (without stray attacks on white men). It explored cultural artifacts and integration as well as some identity issues that held my interest throughout. Frankly, I think it'd be useful to explore for ideas and adaptation from an LDS point of view. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "R.W. Rasband" Subject: Re: [AML] New Sugar Beet Date: 03 Oct 2002 18:16:43 -0700 (PDT) --- Amy Chamberlain wrote: > Since I wrote that editorial, let me give you a few of my thoughts on > it. > > My intent with it--and I know that intentions do not always come through > clearly--was NOT to make fun of the 9-11 victims, as Debra assumes it > was. > It was, instead, to make fun of the Tammy Millers of the world--those > Mormons who don't know the details, don't want to know the details, and > insist on viewing everything as "God's will," no matter how horrible and > tragic the situation. > I didn't know Amy wrote this piece but I should have recognized her usual panache. I didn't have any trouble getting that the target wasn't the 9/11 victims, but the bubble-headed reaction of some Mormons to any tragedy. (Like the person who says there's not really such thing as a Mormon tragedy, since in the long run we all get exactly what we deserve.) Jonathan Swift once said about satire something like, "The horse only bucks when the spurs bite." ===== R.W. Rasband Heber City, UT rrasband@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 03 Oct 2002 19:21:46 -0600 "Covell, Jason" wrote: So here's a pop quiz to throw into the mix: what > pilots do you remember as being particularly bad that went on to be quite > good (or very good) in the series? The pilot for the I LOVE LUCY was worse than dreadful. Everyone seemed careful and unsure. It made Lucy, the perky redhead, look like she was on valium. It made me think spending the weekend with Loraina Bobbit might not be a bad idea. Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:28:49 -0600 Dorothy Peterson wrote: > All the Mormon > publishers have had an opportunity to publish it and all have rejected it, > and guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: It is TOO LITERARY > for their readership. One Mormon publisher used those exact words. What > does that say for the Mormon reader? I think it says absolutely nothing about the Mormon reader. It says that the publishers have clearly defined formulae for success and are unwilling to experiment too far outside those lines. The publishers cater to a specific subset of readers that they know about and are certain they can reach. They aren't interested in readers that aren't interested in the titles they publish. But I think the readers *are* there, and most of them don't buy a thing in the LDS market because they looked once and found nothing interesting so they walked completely away. Since the major publishers won't bite unless a book falls into one of their clearly defined categories, we have to either accept the lockout and walk away or we have to find ways to make a different kind of novel available to readers through alternate channels. If there really are readers out there who are interested in fiction that's "too literary" for Covenant or DB the only way we're going to discover them is by shouting from the rooftops that there are other alternatives in our cultural literature--and make sure those alternatives really exist. We need to find a way to keep costs down, increase awareness, and keep it real until satisfied readers start telling each other about this alternative press. Eventually, the number of new readers buying books from a small publisher will get the attention of the larger publishers and they will either offer their own line or buy out the little guy--or cede that share of the market and be happy with the niches they've staked out. Either way, the reader wins. Unless those readers don't exist and I'm just hallucinating the potential demand. How many sales does it take to prove a concept in publishing? Who's willing to work with me on an experiment to find out? Let me know in a private note. I think we need to know for sure, and I'm not sure the anecdotal evidence I'm seeing right now proves anything about what readers want so much as it proves what publishers know they can sell. Completely different things with completely different proofs. Inquiring (and deeply frustrated) minds want to know... Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:37:30 -0600 Ivan Wolfe wrote: > The sad thing is - for most films, a cleaned up version readily exists that > could easily be put on any DVD release with no hassle - the Airline versions. > Those are (usually) edited to a "general broadcaast TV" standard. > SO there is no extra work involved - and if the directors, etc. truly felt that > there was only one version and editing would have been bad, then they wouldn't > have allowed a airline version in the first place. The problem is that it was someone other than the filmmaker who created that edit. What I'm talking about is a film re-edited *by the original filmmaker* into one or more alternate versions so that the question of artistic vision and integrity is removed. *If* the filmmakers are willing to work that hard. *If* the public is really willing to buy multi-verioned DVDs over the single versioned kind. It can be argued that Clean Flicks et al have proven at least a small market; now the question is to determine the actual size of that market segment--and whether they'll buy multi-version DVDs over hard-edited video tapes or on-the-fly digital remixes. If the sales numbers will support it, the technology is already in place. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:46:46 -0600 Are there some works of classic Mormon literature that you would like to own but that you can't seem to find anywhere? I'm trying to compile a list of classic LDS lit that may be out of print or generally unavailable. I know, for example, that Gideon Burton reprinted some LDS classics that had been discontinued but not forgotten, and that he sells them a few copies at a time at the annual AML conference and elsewhere. There's _Under the Cottonwoods_ and _The Rummage Sale_ and a few other titles. What else would you like to see made available again? I would love to see your lists of lost Mormon classics (of any type, literary or not) and why you think they ought to be made available to modern audiences. I'm most interested in what you'd like to see more than what you don't. Your ideas are much appreciated. Thank you. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:50:33 -0600 I liked _Brigham City_ so much that I literally stopped at Media Play on my way home to buy _God's Army._ I had heard about GA but wasn't really interested in another "missionaries are silly" flick. But BC created the trust for me and made me go back and try the other. I can hardly wait for the next film, and I hope it will build even more trust for viewers so that they go back and buy *both* of Dutcher's prior LDS titles. Trust is a tricky thing and sometimes takes several titles to establish. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:48:14 -0700 Richard Dutcher wrote > Thanks for the good PR, Scott, but the truth of the matter is: because of > BRIGHAM CITY's financial failure, I'm having a bugger of a time trying to get > another film financed. I may be forced to direct SINGLES WARD 2 just to put > food on the table. Do it, Richard! And show them how to make a good LDS comedy in the process. Your stock will go through the roof. BTW, there are several copies of the DVD and video of Brigham City at our local Blockbuster (in Murray) and they are ALWAYS rented out! I have yet to be in there when even one was available to rent. Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 03 Oct 2002 21:12:59 -0700 Our Albertson's has several copies of BC for rent--pretty strange (but cool) for Orange County, CA. Jana -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "kumiko" Subject: [AML] Punch Drunk Love Date: 04 Oct 2002 02:47:54 -0500 Here's an early review of the new Adam Sandler movie "Punch Drunk Love," in which Sandler faces off with 4 Latter-day Saint brothers, who are played by the real-life Latter-day Saint Stevens brothers from Utah. The movie opens nationwide October 18th. http://www.indiewire.com/film/reviews/rev_02Cannes_020522_Punch.html Excerpt: "The other major plot thread is the telephone scam that Barry gets caught up in when he innocently calls a phone sex line. Once the Utah-based scam artist and mattress salesman Dean Trumbell (played Philip Seymour Hoffman, who's been in all of Anderson's films), has his credit card information, he doesn't want to let Barry go. Pursued by some hillbilly Mormon thugs sent by Trumbell, Barry decides to join Lena in Hawaii where they discover and profess their love." LDSFilm.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Re: Sitcoms Date: 04 Oct 2002 09:03:33 -0600 Quick response to Preston Hunter's question: >But may I >ask why are trying to make a sitcom. Surely this is the most difficult = type >of TV show you could attempt to do. Wouldn't it be easier to try to = >create a drama? Quick answer: this project happened because this was what the kids wanted = to do. This was entirely a student initiated project. They came to us = with a proposal for a sitcom writing and producing class, a very detailed = and well-thought-through proposal. We really don't have the resources to = do this; I'm involved on top of a full load, as are the other faculty who = are involved. But I've said it before and I'll say it again; BYU students = are really something special. When they say to us 'we want to do this. = This is important,' we'd be pretty poor teachers if we didn't do all we = could to help make it happen. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: [AML] re: Seattle Fireside Date: 04 Oct 2002 09:35:33 -0600 [MOD: Apologies that this message is going out too late to make Margaret's request about the book signing (at the end of the paragraph) relevant...] Thank you Seattlites for helping me arrange a fireside. I heard from Levi Peterson, which was such a treat, and from Susan Malmrose, who connected me up with her stake president, and from several others--all of whom I thank wholeheartedly. We're hoping Levi's connections and Susan's stake can fill a chapel. I don't have the address yet, but the fireside is set for 7:00 on Oct. 20. I'll post the address as soon as I get it so anyone out there can attend and invite their friends. Incidentally, we NEVER sell or even talk about our books when we do firesides. We talk about the pioneers, who happen to be characters in our books, but we do no selling. That's a really big thing for Darius, who tries mightily to keep an marketing limited to in-store activities. And truth told, I really hate book signings. I love to talk about the Black pioneers, but I hate sitting behind a desk and smiling at people who are trying not to be caught by a salespitch. I love it when people I know stop by and chat (especially if they're aware that I might need to stop talking to do my job of marketing the book), so please drop by the University Mall (Provo) during Ladies' Night (Saturday 6-8). [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 04 Oct 2002 11:39:32 -0400 I don't understand how film distribution works, but I was very disappointed that Brigham City didn't make it out to OH as God's Army did. I think it would have done well. LDS members here are hungry for things they consider LDS. And it would have built on the success of God's Army. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 04 Oct 2002 09:15:52 -0700 > >Susan M.: > >Anyway, I know a television writer, and when I went to LA last month > >expected it to be such a big hit. We discussed how > >television/Hollywood works--someone stumbles onto a successful > >premise, and then everyone else rushes around trying to copy it. > >Nothing original ever seems to happen by design. > > This has always been my beef with the way Hollywood thinks, in TV and > to some extent in movies. A show comes along that's well-done and it > becomes popular, and the TV people say, "Oh, people must want more > shows like that!" And they rush out imitations. "Who Wants to be a > Millionaire" scores, so they figure we want game shows. "Friends" is > popular, so they think we want sitcoms about a gang of friends. > "Survivor" is a hit, so they think we want reality shows. > > What they never seem to grasp is that what people want is GOOD shows. > We don't care what the genre is. Even people who say they don't care > for sitcoms would like one if it were funny. People who don't like > heavy, hour-long dramas will change their minds if they see a good > one. > John Cleese (of 'Monty Python' and 'Fawlty Towers' fame) was recently at the Banff Television Festival, and I saw an interview with him on CPAC (Canadian analogue to CSPAN). He said that it would be impossible to make a series like Monty Python's Flying Circus or Fawlty Towers nowadays in commercial television, for a few reasons: * If it's not a hit right away, they drop it. (MPFC didn't really 'take off' until halfway through its first season on BBC.) * If it doesn't stick to a predictable formula, they won't even buy it in the first place. (MPFC's only formula was not to have a formula.) * If it's not going to have a bunch of similar, predictable, factory-made episodes, they won't bother, 'cause they want a series that will make the magical '100' number for syndication. (Fawlty Towers was two six-episode seasons, made about three years apart. MPFC, for all its fame, was only four seasons totalling 45 episodes [13,13,13,6].) Mind you, although Cleese's examples show how things would *not* be done in the Hollywood/network way, perhaps they are the example of how an intelligent, well-made, potentially-popular LDS sitcom could be made. My advice to potential LDS sitcom writers might be like this: Don't worry about selling it to the networks, don't worry about making 13 episodes with a bible for 87 more, don't worry about churning them out like sausages. Do like Cleese and his first wife* Connie Booth did with Fawlty Towers; take your time to write half-a-dozen really good episodes, then rehearse them really well (don't try to get it all done in one week), then film them, then show them wherever you can. (I can't believe KBYU wouldn't be a good place to start, and perhaps some specialty channels might be interested. In Canada, both the Comedy Channel and Vision TV (religious programming) would love to see something like that to fill the gap between South Park and MPFC reruns.) Anyhow, if you get a chance, learn what you can about Cleese and Booth's experiences with Fawlty Towers and see what you can make of that. Remember that when the British Film Institute got together to pick the best 100 British TV shows of all time, Fawlty Towers was #1 and Monty Python's Flying Circus was #5. http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/ ObFootnote: * Cleese and Booth were married when they did the first six episodes, but the marriage was strained by then (not by the series). When they did the second six, they had divorced by then, but were still friendly enough to write another marvelous set of shows. (And yes, MPFC is rude enough to turn off most LDS, but Fawlty Towers, while it may not be completely G-rated, is nonetheless an amazing example of the comic art. If you've never seen it, get to your video store PDQ and rent it; the twelve episodes usually come on four tapes. There is a book called 'The Complete Fawlty Towers' that contains all the scripts that's well worth searching for [perhaps on Ebay]. And no, you can't have my copy! Learn what you can from the master of comedy!) Robert ********************************************************************** Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.ca ...with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin too 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 2002/10/03 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 04 Oct 2002 13:54:47 EDT In a message dated 10/3/02 8:31:06 PM Mountain Daylight Time, dorothy@lds-index.org writes: << All the Mormon publishers have had an opportunity to publish it and all have rejected it, and guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: It is TOO LITERARY for their readership. One Mormon publisher used those exact words. >> Maybe if we took the words out of our books, they would be less literary, and more acceptable to the publishers. Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 04 Oct 2002 12:10:42 -0600 >-----Original Message----- > >I have to add to Richard's cynicism. I have a novel that >earned a second place in Marilyn Brown's novel contest a >couple of years ago that is now with an agent who is trying to >get it into the national market. The agency has told me they >consider it a fine piece of work. All the Mormon publishers >have had an opportunity to publish it and all have rejected >it, and guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: >It is TOO LITERARY for their readership. One Mormon publisher >used those exact words. What does that say for the Mormon reader? It says more about the Mormon editor than the Mormon reader, imo. I go back to the days when Deseret Book said it wouln't publish fiction because Mormons don't buy fiction. After the slight fiction books of Shirley Sealy and Jack Weyland changed that, I heard the LDS publishers say that Mormons would never buy thick books. Lund has changed that. Will Mormons accept good literary fiction. Of course they will. It has to be good, though. Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Vance Mellen, Director Date: 04 Oct 2002 14:31:22 -0500 I'd like to mention a director most people on this list have probably not heard of: Vance Mellen, a Latter-day Saint film director with an extremely distinct vision and body of work. I personally saw him perform years ago while I was a BYU student, and it was an experience I never forgot. I was impressed then, and I look forward to seeing more from him. You can check out his resume, films, and projects he's working on at his website: http://www.mellenheadprods.com/ Vance is planning to direct his award-winning screenplay "Revelations." He is still in the process of looking for a producer and additional backing. "Revelations" is an interesting script, and really can't be compared to anything being done by any LDS director I can think of. It's dark, but funny, and definitely affecting. Here is a new bio we are posting: Vance Mellen Lives in Chicago, Illinois. Writer/director. Graduated in 1994 from Brigham Young University (BYU), BFA in film direction. Graduated in 1997 from the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA in film. Has taught at the American Academy of Art from 1998 to the present. Mellen wrote, directed, shot, starred in, and edited the experimental video "Screatures" (1997), which includes 16mm film and computer-generated imagery. From 1990 to 1997 he produced a short film each semester while he was a film student. Has written screenplays for two films which he hopes to direct: "Revelations" (2001) and "Angel of Death" (1997). "Revelations", about a Kansas preacher who tries to jump start the Apocalypse by training a young insurance salesman to be the Anti-Christ, was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab finalist. "John Brown, Angel of Death" is a historical drama about an obsessive Abolitionist's drive for penance atHarper's Ferry, and garnered Mellen an Illinois Arts Council Grant. Was a semifinalist in the Chesterfield, Cyclone, Empire and New Century screenwriting competitions in 1997 and 2000. - Preston -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] "Charly" Press Release Date: 04 Oct 2002 17:01:54 -0500 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mary Jane Jones Media Relations, Excel Entertainment Group 801-358-7020; mjjones@xelent.com CHARLY Packs Emotional Punch; Filmmakers are Overwhelmed with Response from Moviegoers Salt Lake City, UT=afAdam Anderegg had so many phone calls and emails over the past week from teary-eyed moviegoers, he can't return them all. The 32-year old director of Jack Weyland's CHARLY, which opened in theaters along the Wasatch Front last Friday, is pleased to see his film strike such a chord with audiences. And he's not the only one. Distributor Excel Entertainment Group has also been flooded with emails from fans of the film who have been touched by the plot and the message. Some of the stories that have come pouring in have special significance. One woman wrote to tell that her own personal life story very closely mirrored the life of Charly, as portrayed by Heather Beers in the film. This woman had come to Utah, as Charly does in the film, skeptical of what she might find. Like Charly, she found the man of her dreams, who is now facing with her the trial of her life * she has been diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. She said Beers' performance as Charly gave her hope to continue her own personal fight. Another man wrote that he had been married twice, only to see both his first and second wife battle with cancer. He first stumbled across Jack Weyland's book while dealing with the death of his first wife, and it helped him through not only that life-shattering experience but also the similar circumstances surrounding the passing of his second wife. Now remarried, he is enjoying his grandchildren and recommending the movie "Charly" to all his friends and family. At early screenings of the film, some movie-goers were surprised to see packets of tissues handed out before the film began. By the end of the movie, many of those people had opened up their packs and were dabbing wet eyes through smiles. Similar stories have been pouring in from all directions, illustrating that the impact Weyland's novel had twenty years ago is still being felt. The book that changed a generation is showing that it can speak even more strongly to the hearts of movie-goers everywhere. ### PHOTO CAPTIONS: The cast of Charly sign autographs and pose for photos at the Premiere of Jack Weyland's CHARLY, held last week at Jordan Commons (photo courtesy of Excel Entertainment Group). HEATHER BEERS in her breakthrough performance as Charly in Jack Weyland's CHARLY (photo courtesy of Focused Light Films and Kaleidoscope Pictures). -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sandra Delgado Subject: Felicidades!!!! Date: 08 Oct 2002 04:57:06 -0400

FELICIDADES!!!!

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Los Cien Años de Magia del fantastico Mundo de Disney.

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Llame gratis en EE UU y Puerto Rico al 1-800-546-8034

Fuera de EE UU, llame al 001-305-264-6888

 

        

Su número de confirmación: E-1082

Para reclamar su premio llame dentro de las proximas 48 horas. Oferta valida para una familia.

Horario de atencion de Lunes a Sabado de 9:00 a.m. a  9:00 p.m.,  hora de Miami
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 05 Oct 2002 10:26:24 -0600 R.W. Rasband wrote: > If "Charly" is the new template for > Mormon cinema, that means it's not just a sappy, mediocre movie. It's the > Attack of the Fluff Monster. It's hype, man. Pure hype. Many reviewers will give it a smile because it's a feel-good special and they know it's a safe recommendation for most viewers. Those least inclined to like it already know what the story is and have already decided to avoid the film--that leaves the people who read and liked the book, or a vast crowd of unknowables. The safe review is to give it a qualified recommendation "if you like that sort of thing." But where's most of the rhetoric about "template for Mormon cinema" coming from? The film's producers? It's author? The PR house that's hyping it as the moral alternative? I'm not hearing a lot of critical acceptance of either the book or the film in terms of its story, though apparently the film itself was well constructed and competently produced. They call it marketing, and it's something I've seen precious little of with the more "literary" films. I think it's an aspect of the personality of the filmmakers. The more artistically inclined filmmakers want viewers to see the value of the film without having to explain it to them--it's the only way to have that artistic quality truly validated. If we go out and tell them it's an artistic masterpiece we're just hucksters and fakes; the praise has to start from the re/viewers or it's not real. But people won't buy something that hasn't been praised by trusted sources--at least not in the Mormon community. That's why blurbs are such a big deal, those quotes that appear on the back cover or in the first couple of pages of a book. That's why reviews on AML-List or in Meridian or even the Deseret News are such a big deal. Is it against the rules to hype films or books that have literary or artistic presumptions? It must be, because we don't see a lot of it. Or is it that the artistic types want external validation? Or is it that the artistic types have become so fatalistic about their chances of success that they won't even speak to "ordinary" readers/viewers, effectively creating their own barriers to those consumers? Did Richard Paul Evans and Kenny Kemp teach us nothing? We need to learn hype! We need to learn to market. If we can do that, we can sell product. Not force it down the throats of the unwilling, but expose the number of truly willing consumers--and possibly kick a few of those undecided consumers over the line. Maybe only a few at first, but then more and more as new and different kinds of Mormon stories are told that can truly reach a wider audience. People won't buy if they don't know it's there. They won't know it's there if we don't tell them. We need to learn to speak well--and often--about our own work. We need to learn to market ourselves. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 04 Oct 2002 10:38:55 -0700 Let me add my love and admiration of this great movie. We went and saw it twice in Irvine, Ca at the one theatre it was playing at in our area. That was a frustration, it deserved a much wider distribution. We even decided to take our then twelve year old daughter and her friend. They need to know such evil exists, but also that there are good people out there and watch how they deal with it, for good or ill. And interestingly enough, my daughter would like to be a Crime Scene Investigator, she likes the idea of trying to find out the truth and deduce the facts as much as can humanly be accomplished. I talked up the film in a happy chance encounter with Mark Hamill, (aka Luke Skywalker) at ICM. He was talking about independent films and I took the opportunity to plug Brigham City and he mentioned having read the review in the Hollywood Reporter? and it sounded like something he'd really like to see, you got to see the religion without having it shoved down your throat, (his words). He was very personable and probably one of the nicest people and celebrities I have ever met. Thereafter, I took a copy of "God's Army" to ICM every time my daughter had an appointment. (Brigham City hadn't come out on video or DVD yet). Unfortunately, I haven't run into him since. But hey, I tried. I've probably told this story before on the list, but I'm still a little twitterpated by it. Recently, on a carpool trip to the LA Temple, movies came up in the conversation and I mentioned Brigham City. One of our passengers, a baby faced youngster, who's now our ward Young Men's President, told me he and his wife don't watch any PG-13 movies, but his parents owned the DVD. I told him the rating was due to the serious nature of the content and the violence, and frankly, the violence was toned down, it could have been much more gruesome or gory had the filmmaker wanted it to go in that direction. Ratings are often nebulous, it has to be judged on a case by case basis. He really didn't argue with me, and the Bishop was in our car and he really didn't say anything in opposition to what I had to say. In fact, I think he changed the subject by telling a joke. But anyone I've recommended to see the movie has told me how much they enjoyed Brigham City. I hope the word of mouth will continue to spread and somehow come back to you in ways to better help make more of that good, meaty, faithful cinema. Hang in there Richard, we're pulling for you. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 04 Oct 2002 14:22:59 -0500 Richard, I'm also a big fan of _Brigham City._ We bought our DVD from the local Hollywood Video. It didn't come close enough to Kansas City for us to see it first-run, or we'd have gone. I think marketing to Mormons *outside Utah* is key. If it weren't for AML-List, I may not have heard much about either of your films (though we did get to see God's Army in the theater). We saw commercials on TV here for "The Other Side of Heaven," which came here briefly, and it seemed everyone was talking about it. You *know* Mormons love to see themselves on TV. (Kinda like Billy Crystal's character Mike in Monsters Inc. -- "I _can't believe it!_ I'm _on TV!_" . . . even if his face is covered up!) That does get attention. My mom just watched BC last week, after finding it in their local (TX) video store & remembering I'd recommended it. She *LOVED* it!! (I can't put that in 64 point or I would.) She's raving over it and telling everyone how wonderful it was and to go see it. I believe it's the BEST movie she's seen in a long, long time. But, she didn't know how to *buy* it. (My dad's the Internet-savvy one.) She should be able to get the store she rented it from to order it, I expect. Anyway. I think exposure is SO important. Can you get the DVD listed in Deseret Book Club mailings, with a nice ad? (Maybe it is, I haven't looked lately!) There's got to be a way to reach the members outside Utah. We're starving out here for things like this. As well as the rest of the country--it's not just a good Mormon movie, it's a good *movie,* period. I really want to see you succeed. I appreciate so much what you're doing and working for, and I'm eager to see more of your films, not more of Charly. Flip burgers if you must, but please, no Singles Ward sequels. Integrity! Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 04 Oct 2002 17:30:39 -0600 I, too, loved this movie. I thought about why I did, when usually murder mysteries and stories about serial killers leave me cold. But the genre is not the point: one reason I loved it is because of the depth and substance of the film--I consider it thematically rich--and another is because those are my people up there on the screen. The characters were not the same-old same-old druggies and sex fiends and boozers and violence freaks that Hollywood portrays as normal. They were recognizeable Mormons. That's why the story had such impact, for me at least. I can't wait until Brigham City comes out on VHS (no DVD player yet, guess I'm not cool). barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 05 Oct 2002 10:48:57 -0600 The danger of works like CHARLY: when they succeed financially, publishers want more of them (and very little, if any, of anything else). In my opinion, rather than being a great blessing to LDS fiction, CHARLY and its spawn have proven themselves to be the enemy. PROFOUND, Richard. Our culture does not seem to want ART. (With the exception of our list?) They still want "tickle" and "inspiration." And I'm afraid that it's "inspiration" and "sentiment" etc. that will have to fund the other. I remember when Anita Stansfield took over the Covenant market by storm. I got discouraged, too. It is SO HARD for me to think about "Brigham City" when I concentrate on the financial gain aspect. Mormons won't want to look into the mind of a killer. But I am curious. And I'm THRILLED with the story. It's VERY INSPIRATIONAL to me. But it's also frightening. This conundrum between the artist and the market is a historical phenomenon. I guess we just have to do what we feel like we must do. Artists always have to step out in front and deal with what they must deal with, support or no. Bravo to you for doing a Brigham City, which is what I hear talked about most. It's so DEEP. Thanks for your comment! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 05 Oct 2002 11:55:15 -0600 At 11:58 AM 10/1/02 -0600, you wrote: >. The one thing that's working for us is an insider/outsider >dynamic. Our leading character is a recent convert to Mormonism, who is >able to comment bemusedly on what she sees. That's been working for >us. But it's hard. That dynamic has worked for many shows -- but for a limited time. I think of Mork and Mindy, which I thought funny the first year as Mork encountered our culture. When Mindy says to him, "It's written all over your face," he says, "Shazbat! I've broken out in words!" That was so unexpected and apt that it broke me up. But then they did that stupid thing with Jonathan Winters and ruined it. The Dick Van Dyke Show was funny. The Odd Couple was funny. The humor came from well-developed and enjoyable characters. Today, we see actors standing on a set exchanging nasty put-downs. Blaugh. Maybe you could get some ideas for funny stuff about the LDS culture from the women who wrote those Hatrack River books for Scott Card. They were hilarious. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 05 Oct 2002 12:46:22 -0600 At 03:37 AM 10/3/02 -0600, you wrote: >I believe the public is >ready for stories that are both challenging and faithful, that embrace >conflict but still assume hope as a good thing. A kind of story that modern >Mormons are especially well-suited to offer. The only question that remains >is whether we're willing to buy that kind of story, because in the end >that's the only way to assure that more such stories will be offered. I still remember the shock I felt when someone asked this list to name the works of LDS fiction they'd bought in the year just passed, and hardly anyone had bought anything. If they did, it was for a gift, not for reading themselves. If Mormon writers can't stand Mormon writing, who can? Perhaps it's not so much that readers don't like fiction with substance as that they don't like fiction that implies a negative universe. If you've been on this list for a while, you know that I prefer escapist literature to heavy, depressing stuff. But that doesn't mean that I want only fluff. For example, I've been readying an historical novel about the British navy in which the only one on the protagonist's ship to die in a brief sea battle was a ten-year-old boy, beheaded by a cannonball. The protagonist, the ship's captain, felt horrible because he'd been harrassing the kid, trying to toughen him up for navy life. He felt that he had made the boy's last days fearful, and he could hardly read the burial service for the tears. Then they dumped the kid's body overboard with shot to weigh it down, as was standard procedure. A whole slew of seals appeared where the boy had gone down, looked at the crew, and then vanished beneath the waves. The seamen were comforted -- clearly the boy had been a selkie, and would now enjoy a life of play beneath the sea. The captain considered himself an educated, sophisticated man, yet he tried with all his might to believe in that supersitition because he needed to. It was moving because it was so human. Even escapist me could deal with that, and even enjoy crying over it, because the book as a whole does not say that life and death are meaningless or that we can't really know anything or that life's a bitch and then you die. Can you see what I'm saying? I don't like downer endings, and I'm not particularly fond of ambiguous endings, but I don't scorn a work of fiction just because it contains some tough stuff. I don't want to close a book feeling upset, or walk out of a movie feeling depressed. And no matter what people say about their logic, people make decisions based on emotion. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners Date: 05 Oct 2002 12:58:52 -0600 [MOD: This is a good general question for the list.] At 09:28 AM 10/1/02 -0600, you wrote: >I am looking for narratives of any length on the experiences of LDS medical >practitioners and how their religious perspective is an essential part of >their >work. If you know of any LDS medical practitioners working on a book about >their >experiences, I would especially like to talk to them, but I will look at >anything of any length on this topic. My son is a physical therapist. He's also a good writer. But before I approach him on this subject, I'd like to know what you plan to do with the information if people take the time to put it together for you. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 06 Oct 2002 08:16:35 -0600 Very good to hear from Dorothy Peterson. I wondered about your novel, Dorothy, as I hadn't heard from you. I am so glad the list is rallying to the defense of LITERARY pieces. And thanks to Rob Lauer, also, for his comment that all is still well. Yes, if we are to take stock of the Market, it would be DISCOURAGING. I guess if we let that get us down, it's our problem. However, one must eat to produce art. The attic mentality of the French impressionist movement doesn't suit our Mormon cultural standards? No, the LITERARY pieces do not sell on the Mormon market. This is a lovely (repeated) discussion. Even the LIST doesn't buy literary pieces much because they are also poor. Life is still wonderful, though! Marilyn Brown. ----- Original Message ----- > I have to add to Richard's cynicism. I have a novel that earned a second > place in Marilyn Brown's novel contest a couple of years ago that is now > with an agent who is trying to get it into the national market. [snip] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "kumiko" Subject: [AML] LDS Maori Entertainer Dalvanius Prime Dies Date: 06 Oct 2002 09:21:32 -0500 Dalvanius Prime Latter-day Saint. Died October 2002. Popular Maori singer, entertainer, producer and composer from New Zealand. In 1984 he created "Poi E" a hip hop style number (it had the right beats, tempo and swing for breakdancing but did not contain any rap) sung in Maori by the Patea Maori club. The video features Joe Moana bopping. Poi E topped the Top 50 singles chart for four weeks, spending 22 weeks in the charts. Along with the late Ngoi Pewhairangi, Prime developed the concept for "Poi-E: The Myths and Legends", an animated television series and animated feature film, beginning in 1982. Prime wrote the novel Moko, which was the subject of the same-titled motion picture and a series of three one-hour documentaries called "Mokomokai." Made a cameo appearance as himself in the New Zealand feature film "Te Rua" (1991), written and directed by Barry Barclay. Obituary from 5 October 2002 (http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=24908&c=w): Hundreds of people are paying homage to the late singing legend Dalvanius Prime. The 54-year-old entertainer died on Thursday after a long battle with cancer. His body is currently lying in an open casket at the Pari Roa Marae north of Patea. Mourners have spent the day filing past his body, with many expressing their grief in song. Tomorrow he'll be taken from the marae to the Mormon chapel in Hawera for a funeral service. Obituary (http://entertainment.nzoom.com/entertainment_detail/0,1846,136300-129-133,0 0.html): The leading Maori entertainer Dalvanius Prime has died, aged 54. He was best known for his involvement with the Patea Maori Club, and the hit song "Poi E!" Dalvanius was born in the Taranaki town of Patea and grew up in a musical family - forming Dalvanius and the Fascinations with family members in the '70s, before touring Australia and Asia for many years. In 1979, he returned to New Zealand and rediscovered his Maori culture - eventually enlisting the help of the local Patea Maori Club to sing "Poi E!" which became a number one hit. In recent years, Dalvanius has worked for the return of Maori heads from Museums around the world. The Associate Minister of Maori Affairs Tariana Turia says his death leaves a huge void in the landscape of indigenous music and entertainment. Obituary (http://www.xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3762-1810000,00.html): The larger than life singer and entertainer Dalvanius Prime has died. He'd been suffering from cancer for some time. Attorney-General Margaret Wilson broke the news in Parliament earlier this afternoon. Dalvanius Prime was a record producer, entertainer, and writer, as well as a political activist. He first came to the attention of most New Zealanders in the early 1980s when his Patea Maori Club hit the charts with the songs E Poi E and Hei Konei Ra. The Patea Maori Club was formed after locals were made redundant following the closure of the local freezing works. The group enjoyed several years of popularity. In latter years, he headed up the Mokomokai Education Trust which fought for the return of the preserved tattooed Maori heads, known as toi moko, which were held by overseas museums for a number of years. He became involved in a bitter disagreement with the national museum, Te Papa, over the rightful long-term home for the heads. TRIBUTES Musician Ray Columbus was among the first to make a personal tribute, describing Dalvanius Prime as a catalyst, who brought Maori music to the forefront. He says taking the single Poi E to number one really made that happen. Fellow entertainer Sir Howard Morrison says Dalvanius was not only big here but he was huge in Europe and Asia. He says he only gained prominence in New Zealand much later in his life, so like Billy T James we never got enough of him. Sir Howard says Dalvanius was involved in the national music scene right up until his death. He says there aren't the words in the English language to describe how he feels about losing a great friend. MPs HAVE THEIR SAY Tributes have also been flowing in Parliament. New Green MP Metiria Turei says her most enduring memory of Dalvanius was his hit song Poi-e. She says the singer played an important part in her own development. She says the impression his music created made her feel that her culture and expression were okay. Ms Turei says it is an impression which will last with her generation forever. ACT leader Richard Prebble has also paid tribute. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "kumiko" Subject: [AML] Prime's Novel Synopsis Date: 06 Oct 2002 09:55:22 -0500 Here is a synopsis for the "Moko" movie, based on the novel by Maori Latter-day Saint Dalvanius Prime. It's not clear that the movie was actually been produced. Prime also wrote a separate book as a companion to the documentary series. So, to make things perfectly clear, there is a novel, a horror movie based on the novel (perhaps not produced), a series of 3 half-hour documentaries, and a book to accompany the documentaries. All about traditional Maori shrunken heads. But I'm not personally an expert on Dalvanius Prime and his career, so anybody who has additional info, please feel free to share it. http://www.digitalus.co.nz/mokomokai/index1.html MOKOMOKAI The Movie A SYNOPSIS FOR A FEATURE FILM FROM THE NOVEL "MOKO" BY MAUI DALVANIUS PRIME Fame, wealth and power have not, for two centuries, been able to release the Phillips family from the curse that is on them. James Phillips, young heir to the family's business interests, is fascinated by grandfather Sir Clive Phillips world-renowned ethnological collection from the South Seas which was started by the original Sir James Phillips early in the 19th century. The young James is always happy to spend part of each year with his wife, Pania, and the two children on the family's New Zealand sheep and deer ranch, "Pounamu" But his Grandfather, Sir Clive, is less than happy about this affection for "Pounamu" and has never favoured James' wife, Pania. It was in London that James met and married Pania, the mother of his two children. A part-Maori, Pania is herself a successful businesswoman-designer, haute-couture salon owner, and a leading agent for artists and models. When Pania wears a greenstone (Jade) pendant she has borrowed from Sir Clive's collection, she generates ominous vibrations that alert James to a fear that the demons of ill fortune that he thought he had dispelled by marrying Pania are still able to endanger his family.. Sir Clive dies suddenly in an accident, with head injuries not unlike those that have afflicted all of the male ancestors of the family. Inheriting the Phillips fortune and the hereditary title, James - now Sir James - recognises the resurgent strength of the curse, and decides to fight it. Only in the past can he find a clue to the mystery of his family's ill fortune; only in the present can a solution be found. For two centuries ago - merciless slaughter and greed aroused the supernatural powers of the victims. Ths spoils of that early victory now lie in the secret recesses of private and museum collections of Maori artefacts and human relics. Can Sir James help his wife, Pania, intervene with the demonic forces that carry the restlessness of sacred objects that have been treated with contempt? Is it within Pania's power over the past to quell a malignant search for revenge or establish a just reconciliation? -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: AML Subject: [AML] Mormon Writers Conference Date: 07 Oct 2002 09:37:18 -0700 Fourth Annual Mormon Writers Conference ==================================================================== Join Us for the Only Conference Devoted to Mormon Writing "You Have Permission to Write" Saturday, November 2, 2002 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Gardens Visitors Center at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah Featured Speakers: Geoffrey Card Rachel Ann Nunes Margaret Blair Young Linda Paulson Adams This year's Association for Mormon Letters writers conference will feature several published LDS authors discussing why creating LDS art is an important use of time for a person with talent and desire. Our goal is to have you walk away from the conference feeling like "you have permission to write." The morning will be devoted to presentations by our featured speakers. The afternoon will consist of classes and discussions on creating LDS art in the form of fiction, creative nonfiction, film and video, theater, and music, presented by other prominent names in the LDS artistic community. In between will be a catered lunch (included in the cost of admission) where you can hobnob with fellow artists, published or aspiring. Representatives of publishers in the LDS market will give you information on getting published. The Read Leaf Bookstore from Springville, Utah, will make the publications of our speakers and presenters available for you. All this takes place Saturday, November 2, at the elegant and relaxing venue of Thanksgiving Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah, conveniently located midway between Salt Lake City and Provo/Orem. Please join us for the Fourth Annual AML LDS Writers Conference, the only writers conference specifically designed for authors of LDS literature. (Please forward this announcement to anyone else who might be interested.) To register online via credit card, click here. http://click.topica.com/maaazfkaaTRpobatlYAe/ To print a snail-mail registration form, click here. http://click.topica.com/maaazfkaaTRpubatlYAe/ For the writers conference home page, click here. http://click.topica.com/maaazfkaaTRpwbatlYAe/ For more information about the nonprofit Association for Mormon Letters, click here. http://click.topica.com/maaazfkaaTRqdbatlYAe/ ==================================================================== Update your profile or unsubscribe here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2W.batlYA Delivered by Topica Email Publisher, http://topica.email-publisher.com/ -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 07 Oct 2002 11:28:41 -0600 ___ Dorothy ___ | . . .guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: It | is TOO LITERARY for their readership. One Mormon publisher | used those exact words. What does that say for the Mormon | reader? ___ That their tastes in entertainment largely follow the general trends of the society they live in? Perhaps we could also turn the question around. What does this say about the ability of the "literary" style of writing to connect to the regular reader? Obviously there is a divide here. Those who like this style are complaining about how poor the publishers and readers are. Perhaps the criticism ought to be on producing something that is both challenging and accessible to the average reader? Difficult, yes. But merely grumbling that the typical reader doesn't enjoy the same kind of fiction seems a little odd. Put an other way, how many people here - even those grumbling about lack of literary tastes - willingly read _Finnegan's Wake_ or _Ulysses_ by Joyce? Yet that is one of the top novels of the last century. Can't those who are Joyce lovers say about *you* exactly what you are saying of these common readers? ___ Thom ___ | Just to ease your cynicism today, isn't this pretty much the | description of modern cinema period? Aren't most movies | pretty crappy? What are there, maybe ten movies a year that | are even worth watching? I think we pretty much reflect the | world in our appreciation of the arts. We don't appreciate | it. We prefer fluff. ___ I think this gets us back to the comments someone brought up about marketing. Don't confuse what is marketed heavily with what is available. There are, far, far, more good movies than 10 or probably even 100 per year. Many are smaller films that you may have to wait for video for. But there are a lot. Heavens, I buy far more than 10 DVDs a year - and those are only the films I really, really like. For instance a little known film that I think is one of the 10 best is _Frailty_ - a very interesting film in terms of religion as well. Sure you are probably being hyperbolic. But I think we ought to keep separate marketing from availability. Also, following the movie analogy, don't assume that just because a movie does well that everyone liked it. Also don't assume that just because a horrible film like _XXX_ sells many tickets that those tickets are all from adults. Most film marketers know that their target market are 16-25 year olds - many of whom simply haven't developed tastes able to handle more challenging fare. Put an other way, some of these discussions are akin to complaining that Dr. Seuss isn't Shakespeare. ___ Richard ___ | More than two decades after CHARLY's publication we have shelf | after shelf of market-censored mediocrity to choose from. ___ Doesn't this come down to, "why don't people like what I like?" I mean three of my favorite directors are Lynch, Kurosawa, and Kubric. Yet I know that few, if any of my friends, will enjoy their films. I don't complain about that. I enjoy reading Heidegger too, but don't fault others for enjoying Tom Clancy. And, even though I like some "fancy" books, I have to admit a certain fondness for losing myself in the fluff of a Dick Marcinko novel about his Seal exploits. The fear that there will *only* be these books is a bit misplaced. Perhaps a more accurate statement is that the Mormon market is too small too support a small genre. A small percent of a small percent may not generate the revenue needed to justify it. Getting back to Joyce, while I think few read him (certainly fewer than buy him) the fact is that he is a small percentage of a very large market. It is unfair to expect to do this in an LDS market. -- Clark Goble --- clark@lextek.com ----------------------------- -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 07 Oct 2002 23:37:54 -0600 [Replying to Eric Samuelsen]: When you've got something ready to go, let us produce it the Center Stage Theatre. We could even bring in video cameras and do it in front of a live audience just like the big boys. It would be great fun. Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Strange Reaction to _Charly_ Date: 08 Oct 2002 10:14:20 -0600 At 03:06 PM 10/3/02 -0700, you wrote: >: It >would take a bit more than a sugary-sweet Ferris wheel ride to convince >me that a girl who is spiritually unstable enough to be within inches of >marrying a nonmember would be worthy to be my wife. Haven't they stopped teaching boy missionaries to be this spiritually arrogant? A friend of mine said that an RM actually told her she wasn't beautiful enough for him to marry. He'd learned in the MTC that as an RM he was due only the best. He was clearly too immature to understand what that was supposed to mean. Sounds to me like a good basis for an LDS story. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 07 Oct 2002 16:21:09 -0600 Fifteen Things I Like About Charly the Movie 1) Sam's Dad does own a very cool car. =20 2) I love the fact that it's basically the same movie as Moulin Rouge. 3) Okay, it's never brought up by anyone in the movie, nor is it given the = tiniest weight in the movie, but this is a love story in which Charly make = the single greatest sacrifice, for love, I have ever seen a character make = in any movie ever: She GIVES UP HER MANHATTAN APARTMENT! Unheard of, = unimaginable. (Of course, there's no reason for it. Sam does something = sort of computery for a living, which he could as easily do in New York as = in Utah. I have no idea why in the world they decide to live in Utah; = totally never explained. Still, she does it. She gives up a rent-controll= ed apartment for love. Amazing.) 4) The same actor who plays Charly's ex-boyfriend is in this local Utah ad = for an electronics firm. So at least he landed on his feet. 5) They got the pizza right. =20 6) Charly's an artist, right? And we see three of her paintings? A = not-uninteresting still life, an Anita Stansfield book cover and a Liz = Swindle. So how's this for an alternative reading of the text: a young = artist, frustrated over her career sort of stalling, goes to Utah and sees = some really bad art. She figures if she can fake a conversion, she can = break into this new market and really make some dough. So she moves to = Utah, and her career starts to take off. But God, angered at this blatant = example of muse abuse, strikes her dead. Nice cautionary tale, that, and = one the text supports. 7) I love the fact that they've got this carousel in the middle of = nowhere, with one old geezer employed full-time to run it, but with only = two customers, ever. =20 8) Charly's a Democrat! Yea! 9) How can you seriously dislike any movie that states as clearly as this = one does just how boring fishing is? 10) Love all the shots in which Salt Lake is supposed to look like New = York, especially when they get like one Asian guy in the frame, representin= g Cultural Diversity. 11) Let's face it, Heather Beers is hot. Plus I think it's great to have = this Mormon cultural icon, Charly, played by a girl named Beers. 12) Week after I saw it, BYU quarterback Bret Engeman had a good game, = for once. Charly connection: Engeman is Larry King's brother-in-law. And = Larry King's wife was the model for the first Charly book cover. 13) Really, hasn't everyone fantasized about throwing Palm Pilots into a = lake? 14) Love the fact that Charly is also the title of one of the movie = versions of Flowers For Algernon; Cliff Robertson won his Oscar playing = Charly. In that movie, a mentally handicapped man is the subject of a lab = experiment in which he becomes, briefly, a supergenius, before once again = lapsing to his previous level of intelligence. I see a parallel with = Mormon culture. Don't we, occasionally, embrace something in the LDS art = world that's actually good? Like Tim Slover's A Joyful Noise, or Margaret = and Darius' One More River To Cross? And then we go all retarded again, = and make movies like . . . I'll let that one hang right there. 15) We see Sam play quite a bit of basketball in the movie. And he can't = shoot worth a darn. Love what that says about uptight Mormon guys. Eric Samuelsen =20 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rich Hammett Subject: [AML] _Blood of the Prophets_ Review at HBC Date: 07 Oct 2002 20:32:35 -0500 (CDT) I don't know what the policy is about quoting reviews, so I'll just link to this review of _Blood of the Prophets_ at the History Book Club. http://www.historybookclub.com/hbc/content/sitelets/Sitelet_Theme_2.jhtml?SID=milner_bloodoftheprophet or http://tinyurl.com/1uha I seem to recall reading a review by somebody else on this list (Jeff?). This HBC reviewer (Clyde A. Milner from Utah State) says that the murders were committed by the Mormons because they were irritated by travelers grazing their cattle on the Mormons' land. And he accepts uncritically the author's conclusion that Young ordered the attack. The page is somewhat confusing, as the first half seems to be a review of a book on the James Gang. Elsewhere on the site, it also says the reviewer is at Arkansas State, so I don't know what's accurate or current. rich -- \ Rich Hammett http://home.hiwaay.net/~rhammett / rhammett@HiWAAY.net "Better the pride that resides / in a citizen of the world; \ than the pride that divides / when a colorful rag is unfurled." -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "S. Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] My Ward Date: 07 Oct 2002 21:46:26 -0400 >I like my ward a lot. I think there are wonderful stories here, worth >exploring, with interesting characters and personalities. They don't know >me at all, I think. I hide effectively. I watch, and I listen. But it's >here, in this community, in this tightly knit society, that we, as Mormons, >experience the world and the gospel. It's worth paying attention to. > Thanks for sharing that. But I somehow doubt you're as invisible as you think. Particularly in a ward contained in a couple of blocks. :) Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] PEARSON, _Consider the Butterfly_ (Deseret News) Date: 08 Oct 2002 01:49:08 +0000 Included in this post is a DN feature on Carol Lynn Pearson and then a book= =20 review of her new book. Deseret News Sunday, October 6, 2002 'Synchronicities' comfort author By Dennis Lythgoe Deseret News book editor Carol Lynn Pearson is a literary and dramatic legend in the Mormon culture, having written more than 30 books and plays - starting with a popular book of poems, "Beginnings," and culminating with a one-woman show, "Mother Wove the Morning." In between, she wrote a book of great national interest, "Goodbye, I= =20 Love You," the tragic story of Gerald, her husband and father of her four children, who "came out" as a homosexual and later died of AIDS. A 1961 graduate of Brigham Young University, Pearson received a master's degree in theater in 1962. For many years, she has lived in Walnut Creek, Calif., where she continues to write. Her latest book is "Consider the Butterfly," in which she examines the role of "synchronicity," or meaningful coincidence, in her own life. Recently, while visiting in Salt Lake City, Pearson sat down for an interview in the offices of the Deseret News. As she surveyed her diverse literary contribution, including histories of Mormon women and children's stories, she declared that there is one genre she would not tackle: "I could never successfully write a complex novel. I just don't see myself doing that. I don't feel capable of doing that." Charismatic, youthful and articulate, Pearson enthusiastically discussed the concept of "Consider the Butterfly," which she described as "acknowledging the connection of all things. There have been several books done on it, such as 'When God Winks,' by Squire Rushnell, who looked at the phenomenon by pulling together stories from all over the world - highly unusual synchronistic experiences. I love to read those. "But the stories in my book happened to one person, just an ordinary person who is perhaps more aware than most . . . Things just come together and we say, 'Oh, that's interesting!' You invite more of these connections into your life when you pay attention. This is as close as I've come to magic in my life." While Pearson receives comfort from these little experiences, she believes "there is no way you can create a synchronicity. You only recognize it in hindsight. You go about your life, and suddenly something happens, and you realize it connects with something that happened yesterday." "The ones that mean the most to me are the ones that say, 'Don't worry =97 it's all right.' I'm blown away by the nice little comfort they provide. They assure me that it's not just a random universe." The stories in the book all come from Pearson's voluminous diary. "I'm so addicted to keeping that thing going. It has served me well since high school and been the best therapist I could ever have in my life. Based on my diary, I could have written several hundred=20 stories. Now I think I could do a second volume, and I think I will. In fact, I could be happy writing synchronicity stories for the next five years." One example of the stories she especially loves is about a man named Trevor Southey, a native of Rhodesia, who designed her first book of poetry =97 "Beginnings," in 1968. Southey called to say he had sculpted a figure of Jesus and wanted Pearson to look at it. The work had been commissioned by a group of Jesuits in Scranton, Pa. Southey was worried about the face, and Pearson noticed that it had shorter hair than other pictures of Jesus and no beard. "He's=20 very =97 human," she said. She wished for "a little more of the Godly." She was concerned about the deep furrows in his forehead, which made him look worried. "I don't like him to be worried." That comment struck the artist, who, with Pearson's help, adjusted the= =20 clay and eliminated the furrows in his brow =97 and they were both satisfied. "That's beautiful," she told Southey. "Jesus isn't worried anymore!" Then Pearson went home to worry herself, about her son's possible marriage break-up. She was sleepless. Finally, early in the morning, she had the feeling that Jesus would be satisfied that she had helped smooth the wrinkles from his face =97 now he wanted the worry lines removed from her face. She imagined him smoothing her= =20 wrinkles with a warm hand, and she felt a sense of peace. That was an especially moving coincidence for Pearson. "My habit of being a poet allows me to look at a physical thing and make a metaphor out of it. We can't use it as a compass. But as a metaphor, the meaning might be a lot more subtle. It doesn't take the place of prayer, but it's another avenue for guidance and comfort." But she is not an extremist. "One could go nutty looking for signs in their own lives. They could be paralyzed until they get guidance. Someone might have two or three things go together, and then they decide to sell their house and move to Indonesia." These stories take Pearson's anger away. "I have no sense of being a victim anywhere along the line. What has happened to me is just fine, and will continue to be fine. Peace of mind is something I= =20 value highly. I look at the unfortunate things of my life as something to give me depth of feeling and bearing a hidden gift. You have to believe that everything is leading toward the good." 'Butterfly' a look into author's life By Dennis Lythgoe Deseret News book editor CONSIDER THE BUTTERFLY, by Carol Lynn Pearson, Gibbs Smith, 160 pages, $12.95. The subheading to the latest book by the prolific Carol Lynn Pearson is "Transforming Your Life Through Meaningful Coincidence."=20 Picking up on a nationwide trend, Pearson deals with "synchronicities,"=20 those strange little coincidences that happen in all of our lives, and which seem to be giving us guidance or comfort. Pearson offers the book, she says, "with the excitement of a child who runs in from a morning at the creek, holding something in her hand. She doesn't know exactly what she has found, but she knows it is so unusual, so beautiful, that she has to say, 'Look! Look!' " To Pearson, this book is a highly personal show-and-tell, as she recounts experiences she has saved in her diary as examples of synchronicity. It was the psychologist Carl Jung who coined the word, and several writers have discussed it since. "Synchronicity!" says Pearson. "Ah, that's how I can explain that delicious evening I spent with my college boyfriend when both of our watches stopped. And running into the same man on his honeymoon in New York City twice, both of us having come there from thousands of miles away. And my daughter Katy starting her first menstrual period while I was having my very last one. And that time my computer kept switching into "underline" when I was angrily writing in my diary and practically yelling." The book is Pearson at her best =97 conversational, colloquial and personal. As I was reading it, I could hear her distinctive voice, as if she were talking from the next room. Her examples of meaningful coincidence cover a wide range - from "Mama's Cinnamon Rolls" and "Wally's Tie" to "Mormons and Hindus" and "Emily Dickinson." Some are more substantial than others, but all are interesting. While reminiscing with her sister, Marie, about their childhood, Pearson asked Marie, "What food did mother prepare that I liked, and what food did she prepare that I did not like?" Marie said, "Well, I know what food you hated. The split- pea soup." That was correct. Then Marie remembered her sister liked - "cracklings" - pieces of baked fat straight from the oven. Pearson agreed, but then added that the food she liked the most was cinnamon rolls. The sisters went to a movie together =97 "Music of the Heart," starring Meryl Streep =97 and the first thing that happens is, Streep pulls out a pan of cinnamon rolls made by her mother. "My elbow hit my sister's elbow as we both poked an exclamation point onto this delicious synchronicity!" A second example concerns Pearson's desire to meet Mother Ammachi, a= =20 holy woman from India, at the Hindu ashram. She was visiting California for a week-long celebration with 700 followers. But when Pearson called the ashram, she learned a terrible kitchen fire had closed the place down. At the time, Pearson was rewriting "The Order is Love," her musical play about the early Mormons, which included a fire in a dining hall. Naturally, Pearson thought about the synchronicity of two religious=20 communities, a century apart, each trying to cope with the disruption of a kitchen fire. When she discovered that the Hindus might not have a place for their large meeting, she checked with two LDS stake presidents about whether the LDS buildings could be used for the Hindu conference. They all agreed, but in the end, the Hindus were able to use their own building. Finally, Pearson discovered that Mother Ammachi and Pearson shared the same birthday =97 Sept. 27th. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Join the world=92s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.=20 http://www.hotmail.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel: Fact and Fiction Date: 04 Oct 2002 10:04:22 -0600 _Standing on the Promises_ documentation: Every chapter comes with endnotes and sources, where we make it clear what the actual facts are. There is also an extensive bibliography at the end of the book. Davis Bitton's wife (whose name I don't recall at the moment) said she'd really like an index. Interesting request for a piece of fiction, eh? Book 3 has been especially interesting, because it becomes quite modern and many of the characters are still living, so we've done lots and lots of interviews. In Book 3, we depict Darius's conversion (we call him "Aidan" because he is nervous about starring himself in this volume--but we also address all of his weaknesses in detail, so he doesn't come across as a hero or anything). Because that conversion happened in 1964, the missionaries involved are still around, and I have had conversations and e-mail exchanges with both. I've had them read versions of the conversion chapter. Interestingly, every single person involved in that event recalls it differently--and that was only 37 years ago. The chapter will follow Darius's recollections more closely than the missionaries', but will acknowledge in the endnotes (with quotes from their posts to me) how their memories differ from Darius's. When I spoke to Darius about the differences, he was a little upset that HIS version wasn't completely corroborated by the others' memories. I told him this was only further evidence of how unreliable memory is. Because the priesthood policy rested largely on the 40-year-old memory of Zebedee Coltrin--who was certain that Joseph Smith had told him all those years ago that "the spirit saith the Negro cannot hold priesthood", this phenomenon has special significance. Incidentally, new facts came to light for the missionaries who taught Darius and for him, too. He had never known that they had to get special permission to teach him, and then to baptize him. The missionaries had never known that Darius's mother forbade him to be taught in her home (they taught him in their apartment) because she had had a bad experience with Mormons in her past. (They had begun teaching her, then asked if she had any "Negro blood" and when told "Of course" had made a quick exit.) [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: [AML] Reviews and Critics (was: Charly Review) Date: 04 Oct 2002 10:48:11 -0700 Eric Samuelsen wrote, in defense of his review: >So my opinion of Charly is absolutely correct in every >particular. >my opinion is completely and everlastingly right. What I >did not say, = and would never say, is that those who liked >it are wrong for doing so, = or are inferior to me in >judgment, intelligence, etc. I wouldn't say = that, because >it isn't true.=20 Opinions are similar to belly buttons, everyone has one, but for the = owner of the opinion to say, "my opinion is absolutely correct in every = particular," is, in my opinion, just a little over the top. An opinion = is just what it is and nothing more, it is an opinion. If you don't = agree ignore it, if you find that the evaluations and opinions on a = particular form of writing or art agree with your opinions, then you may = decide to view or purchase something given a favorable review or = critique of by the same critic. That is precisely why I pay little or no = attention to critiques or reviews, unless it is of my own work in = progress, and I am trying to improve it. If I see a title or a movie = clip and it intrigues me, I don't give a hoot what the critics say, I = take a look at it. After all they are only offering their own opinion. = How many wonderful works of literature would we miss out on if all the = manuscripts that were rejected the first time around were never = published? When you come right down to it, we each must be our own = critic, and hope that a compatible audience will find our work and enjoy = it. Regards, Bill Willson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: [AML] Seattle Fireside (Darius Gray and Margaret Young) Date: 04 Oct 2002 10:58:39 -0600 >From the stake president in Seattle, who Susan Malmrose connected me with: The Fireside will be at at 7:00 pm at 5701 8th Avenue Northeast - our Stake Center. We are planning on holding it in the chapel. The Stake Center is just a few blocks north and west of the University of Washington if that is of any help -five miles or so north of downtown. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] _Alan & Naomi_ (Movie Review) Date: 07 Oct 2002 15:02:58 -0500 Title: Alan & Naomi Director: Sterling Van Wagenen Based on: book by Myron Levoy Produced by: David Anderson and Mark Balsam Produced by: Leucadia Film Corporation, Maltese Productions Distributted by: Triton Pictures, SandStar Year released: 1992 Review by Preston Hunter "Alan & Naomi" was released ten years ago, in 1992. It's an extraordinary movie, easily one of the finest feature films made by a Latter-day Saint director during the last decade. Yet I think it's something of a "lost film," which is unfortunate, but perhaps understandable. "Alan & Naomi" was directed by Sterling Van Wagenen, the co-founder of the Sundance Film Festival. Van Wagenen had previously made a number of films for the Church, including "Christmas Snows, Christmas Winds" (1980), and he had distinguished himself as a producer. He produced "The Trip to Bountiful" (1985), for which Gerarldine Page won an Academy Award for Best Actress. The movie also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay, and a number of other awards. But after "Alan & Naomi," Van Wagenen focused on teaching at Brigham Young University and making documentaries. He never directed another feature film, so there was little reason for later movie reviewers or writers to talk about his past films, i.e., "Alan & Naomi." And the movie didn't have a very big release initially -- grossing only $259,311 at the U.S. box office. Based on an acclaimed children's book by Myron Levoy, the video seems to have gained some popularity itself in schools. But having seen it, it's easy to see why it's not very popular or well-remembered, despite being an artistically and morally accomplished work of filmmaking. "Alan & Naomi" tells the story of Alan, a young Jewish boy (perhaps 14 years old) living in World War II-era New York City, whose parents ask him to spend time with Naomi a young neighbor girl the same age that he is. Naomi is essentially catatonic. She has not spoken for years and screams when anybody other than her mother and grandmother approach her. She was traumatized when, while living in her native Paris, she witnessed her father being killed by Nazi soldiers. Alan is not the least bit interested in becoming a regular visitor or helping this girl who up until now he has dismissed as crazy. But his parents, mainly his father, persuade him to do so, because it's the right thing to do. Alan's father is played very convincingly by Michael Gross, best known as the father of Michael J. Fox's character on the sitcom "Family Ties." Physically, Gross' character is so transformed into a different era and persona that I would not have recognized him if I had not seen the credits. Although playing, once again, a kindly father of a teenager, he creates here a distinctive yet very believable character, very much a New York Jew from the 1940s, but with depth,and in no way a stereotype or caricature. The rest of the cast, including Amy Aquino as Alan's mother and Kevin Connolly as Alan's best friend Shaun, is uniformly excellent. But the movie largely hangs on the abilities of its lead actor, Lukas Haas, who dazzles with his natural and sympathetic turn as the young Alan. Haas is in nearly every scene, and his acting, which never seems like acting, transported me to the milieu and engaged me in the story. Finally, Vanessa Zaoui deserves credit for succeeding with the challenging role of a traumatized catatonic Parisian girl who slowly -- but never completely -- emerges from within the mental walls erected to protect her from further trauma. Apart from the performances, "Alan & Naomi" is commendable for the professionalism that is evident in every other aspect of the film. I was instantly struck by the cinematography -- how a cohesive period look was achieved, and made to look realistic yet also appealing, despite the relative poverty of Alan's neighborhood. Considerable care obviously went into the sets, and I was not surprised to see no less than nine set dressers credited with re-creating the 1940s homes, school, and exteriors. There's something of a warm glow to the whole production. Imagine a WWII Jewish period piece made by the same people who make the LDS "Homefront" public service ads. But although that is the look, "Alan & Naomi" does not have the feel or tone of "Homefront" ads and Church videos. This is, in fact, an often melancholy and even sad film, with an ending that will surprise you -- because while hopeful, it is not at all the happy ending one might expect. The story itself probably has a lot to do with the relative lack of popularity. This is apparently a very faithful adaptation of the book, and the director does nothing to call attention to himself or his techniques, or to spice things up with added action or artificial plot devices. But clearly this is a difficult product to market. It is not a fun-fest for kids (such as "Spy Kids"), it doesn't feature animals, aliens or sports, nor is it animated. Yet the mere fact that it features child-age protagonists limits its appeal to many adults. The movie is, however, a thoughtful, realistic, interesting film. "Alan & Naomi" requires more patience and a greater attention span than most children's movies. I found it an enjoyable experience, but one comparable to a bicycle ride in the park, rather than a roller coaster ride. There are stick ball games, the flying of toy glider planes, and even brief fisticuffs with a bully at school, all of which might spark interest in kids, but the movie is dominated by the gradual development of trust between Alan and the largely silent Naomi, mostly taking place in a single apartment. If you can get kids to watch the movie, there are remarkable lessons to be learned. There is no preachiness to the movie or artificiality to the characters, but the characters, despite making mistakes, simply exhibit a commendable and inspiring level of goodness and decency. There is little in the way of "spectacle" in "Alan & Naomi." The movie doesn't really break new ground, nor is it particularly challenging. But this is a very professional piece of work, a carefully crafted, artistic film featuring beautiful cinematography and near-flawless acting. It is easily the best film made by the Leucadia Film Corporation (whose alumni include Blair Treu and Mitch Davis). I recommend renting it, but this isn't really a movie I would want to own and watch many times. Perhaps most of all, the talent and professionalism with which "Alan & Naomi" was created made me regret that Van Wagenen has not directed other feature films. He has done admirable documentary work in recent years, including projects about the Dead Sea scrolls, and while at BYU he served as the executive producer of many LDS-themed projects, including the Elizabeth Hansen/Richard Dutcher collaboration "Eliza and I" (1997). "Alan and Naomi" (along with "Schindler's List") is one of a number of movies that Kieth Merrill was talking about when he observed that Latter-day Saint filmmakers have made more movies about Jews than than they have made about Latter-day Saints. This is a very good movie about Jewish characters, notable in the way its characters are clearly Jewish, yet the film is universal in its approachability and its messages. But I would particularly like to see what Van Wagenen would have done if he had directed another dramatic film, with a story with Latter-day Saint characters. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Adams Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 07 Oct 2002 21:43:09 -0500 >Watch Damon Wayans' "My Wife and Kids". Excellent show and done with >Wayans' characteristic bold touch that manages to remain (somehow) >relevant, careful, and truthful. Funny stuff and the dad doesn't come >off as the perpetual buffoon--maybe because it's co-written by the guy >playing the dad. > >Jacob Proffitt An observation: I really enjoyed the "George Lopez" sitcom last night--it was on after "My Wife and Kids". It was funny enough I suppose, but it was also interesting, new, different, and had an obvious issue/relevance that I found intriguing . . .-->Jacob Proffitt I just read an article in EBONY magazine today commenting on how terrible it was--and I agree--that the networks have pitted the ONLY two black-oriented sitcoms on primetime against each other--"My Wife and Kids" is now up against "Bernie Mac." It would be crummy to lose either one of them. The article said the way networks operate, it was likely that the least-rated show of the two would be canceled. It's also interesting to note that these two shows are also two of the most real, best, best-written sitcoms on TV right now, hands down. I'm a huge, unabashed Bernie Mac fan. I'm so pleased to see what he's doing out there, and that the network is *letting him do it,* his way. I don't have much time for ANY TV, but I don't miss that one. It gets taped a lot, until I have time. I haven't seen the Lopez show, yet. It looks funny. Anyway. That brings up a whole 'nother can of worms not really for AML-List, but it *is* upsetting. My point is, Eric, when you write this sitcom, please include some diverse characters in your cast. Minority characters are sorely needed in strong roles. I was thinking recently about how to even approach an LDS sitcom and make it funny, before you brought this up. I was drawing a blank. Funny things do happen; we are a weird bunch when you get right down to it. If it has to occur in a common setting, why not use a church building? (You could use a set.) That's where all the ward action is. Your main characters can be the people who hang out there a lot--the Bishop, the RS President. It's too bad we don't use custodians anymore; that would be a good character. Maybe you could invent one anyway, for the sake of the show. I think getting Kathryn Kidd's permission to use characters from the Paradise Vue ward would be a GREAT idea. Best of luck!! Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Levi Peterson" Subject: Re: [AML] Seattle Fireside Date: 08 Oct 2002 04:21:45 -0700 ----- Original Message ----- Thank you Seattlites for helping me arrange a fireside. I heard from Levi Peterson, which was such a treat, and from Susan Malmrose, who connected me up with her stake president, and from several others--all of whom I thank wholeheartedly. We're hoping Levi's connections and Susan's stake can fill a chapel. I don't have the address yet, but the fireside is set for 7:00 on Oct. 20. I'll post the address as soon as I get it so anyone out there can attend and invite their friends. [Margaret Young] I felt pretty important trying to help Margaret arrange a place for a fir= eside. But pretty much all that came of it was that I learned that a deta= ched, back bench, sermon-sleeping Mormon like me doesn't know how to sche= dule a chapel for worthy things like a fireside. If I had asked my bishop= , he would have stared at me for a minute and then asked me who I am. [Levi Peterson] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------=_NextPart_001_0002_01C26E82.36A85300 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
 
<= DIV> 
=
----- Original Message -----
From: margaret young
Sent: Monda= y, October 07, 2002 6:26 PM
To:<= /B> aml-list@lists.xmission.com
= helping me arrange a fireside.  I heard from
Levi Peterson, whic= h was such a treat, and from Susan Malmrose, who
connected me up with = her stake president, and from several others--all
of whom I thank whol= eheartedly.  We're hoping Levi's connections and
Susan's stake ca= n fill a chapel.  I don't have the address yet, but the
fireside = is set for 7:00 on Oct. 20.  I'll post the address as soon as I
g= et it so anyone out there can attend and invite their friends.
[Margar= et Young]

I felt pretty important trying to help Margaret arrange = a place for a fireside. But pretty much all that came of it was that I le= arned that a detached, back bench, sermon-sleeping Mormon like me doesn't= know how to schedule a chapel for worthy things like a fireside. If I ha= d asked my bishop, he would have stared at me for a minute and then asked= me who I am.

--
AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of= Mormon literature
<http://www.aml-online.org/list/index.html>
------=_NextPart_001_0002_01C26E82.36A85300-- -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: RE: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 08 Oct 2002 09:44:03 -0600 At 01:52 PM 10/3/02 -0600, you wrote: > >From a cultural standpoint I don't care how many goys rip each other > > >off. I believe that the plural of "goy" is "goyim." barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: [AML] Mormon Movie Values (was: _Charly_ Film Review) Date: 08 Oct 2002 10:43:25 -0600 At 11:59 AM 10/3/02 -0600, you wrote: >I see it as my challenge, and maybe this is the way you feel as well, to >reach as much of that general audience as possible, without sacrificing >the craft - to find that common area between well-crafted, >well-thought-out art and escapist entertainment. That's exactly the right spot. I don't want to come out of a movie feeling bummed, but I don't want the movie to be something I completely forget before I get back to my car, either. Surely a movie can be enjoyable and still have substance. I'm thinking of City Slickers, a movie that was a lot of fun, but still gave us a character who learned something very important -- that it was his family that mattered to him, and everything else was secondary. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 08 Oct 2002 11:41:42 -0600 Let me add one more thing to this note about crooks abounding in LDS art = circles. I don't think it has anything to do with any particular = hypocrisy embedded somewhere in Mormonism, or any inherent cultural flaw. = I think it has to do with small, marginal businesses, struggling to = compete in a niche market. I don't think anyone intends to be crooked. I = think ethical compromises are made out of desperation, fear and panic. Not that that changes any sort of advice I'd give to students. They = stilll need to be wary. =20 Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 08 Oct 2002 10:54:24 -0600 Irreantum is interviewing Doug Thayer. Does anyone have any questions you would suggest we ask him, especially about particular works of his? Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Best/Favorite Film Polls Date: 08 Oct 2002 13:14:15 -0500 The "Mormon Life" section of the Deseret Book website has a new poll, asking people to pick the "best LDS major motion picture." 575 people have already voted in the Deseret Book poll, compared to about 135 people who have voted in the LDSFilm.com website. (By the way, LDSFilm.com asks votes to pick a "favorite", not "best" film.) Here are the results from the Deseret Book poll: http://deseretbook.com/mormon-life/ God's Army 17% Brigham City 8% The Other Side of Heaven 59% The Single's Ward 15% Out of Step 0% (575 votes cast) Here are the results from the LDSFilm.com poll: http://www.ldsfilm.com/polls.html God's Army 14% Brigham City 23% The Other Side of Heaven 28% The Single's Ward 22% Out of Step 9% (135 votes cast) -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 08 Oct 2002 12:04:05 -0600 Robert Slaven was absolutely right in suggesting Fawlty Towers as a model = for our LDS sitcom. But I really must dampen everyone's enthusiasm a bit. 1) A sitcom like FT was brilliantly written and brilliantly acted, all = true. But they had two things we do not have: time and money. =20 2) What we're doing is a class, an educational exercise, with students = doing all the work. The results, I suspect, will be . . . not bad, all = things considered. I'm not writing it, I'm teaching a class. My students = are wonderful kids, bright and funny and hard working. They'll come up = with something respectable. It won't be Fawlty Towers, and it would be = wrong to load them with those sorts of expectations. =20 3) We have no budget. We are begging, borrowing and stealing to try to = get this done. It's a scrounged show. =20 4) There is no chance, zero, of Fawlty Towers or anything like it airing = on KBYU or on BYU TV. Self-censorship, bordering on--that dreaded = word--correlation would never allow anything as morally dubious as FT = going on the air. That's their word for it, not mine: I think FT is = absolute genius, and not remotely dubious morally. Basil Fawlty is petty, = vain, and a congenital liar. He's also one of the richest comic characters= in the history of narrative. (And, of course, he gets his comeuppance). = But no way we'd get him on the air. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: [AML] Re: Mormon Publishing Options Date: 08 Oct 2002 13:56:13 -0600 Scott Parkin wrote: Unless those readers don't exist and I'm just hallucinating the potential demand. How many sales does it take to prove a concept in publishing? Who's willing to work with me on an experiment to find out? Let me know in a private note. I think we need to know for sure, and I'm not sure the anecdotal evidence I'm seeing right now proves anything about what readers want so much as it proves what publishers know they can sell. Completely different things with completely different proofs. > Yeah, I'm interested Scott. I've been working on such an idea myself. I really think it would work. Here are some of the problems I've run into and some solutions I've come up with: 1) costs--Printing costs are absurd. I spent $1500 printing my Mormon Battalion book (put it on a credit card). I had 500 copies printed. My costs per copy is about $3.00, plus postage and labor. Now, a year after getting it back from the press. I have about 200 in my basement, and I've made back about $600 (I've given away a lot of copies). I can't put my finger on it, but something's wrong here. I have another project where I am putting all five volumns of the "Claire: A Mormon Girl," series together and handbinding them using a Japanese sewn binding. My total costs for this sre: $20.00 for printing, $5.00 materials plus labor plus labor plus labor. I get only one copy from this. My solution is to handbind--at least while the demand is non-existent. 2) inventory control--In the first example, where I am losing a lot of money, I have a lot of inventory. I have to store them and worry about keeping it safe. But I also have a hope that someday I'll be able to use those copies in a beneficial way. In second example I am left with no copies to store. My solution: Go with handbinding. It may not give me any hopes for the future, but it doesn't tie-up any money either. 3) outlets--this goes along the same lines as inventory. It's easier to place ten items for sale than to place a thousand. It's work in either case. I haven't come up with a viable solution here. 4) publicity--publicity and advertising are extremely valuable. That's the only way you can sell a book. If you don't have money to advertise, then your business will become a hobby. My solution: Enjoy your hobby! But your experiment will prove only one thing--it all comes down to marketing. The established publishing houses know how to market (for lack of a better term) low-ball Mormon literature to Mormon audiences. The market they've set-up won't work for high-ball Mormon literature. In order for your experiment to be successful you will have to create and nurture an audience. You will have to find the people who would be interested in buying a copy and advertise directly to them. Good Luck, Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: [AML] Literary Mormon Fiction (was: _Charly_ Film Review) Date: 08 Oct 2002 22:39:51 -0700 Dorothy Peterson wrote: "...All the Mormon publishers have had an opportunity to publish it and all have rejected it, and guess what the common tenor of their reasoning was: It is TOO LITERARY for their readership. One Mormon publisher used those exact words. What does that say for the Mormon reader?" AAACK! As a Mormon reader trying to run a Mormon themed book group this statement makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration. PUBLISHERS ARE YOU LISTENING!? There IS a reading audience of LDS people who are desperately seeking such "literary" works. We mostly have to rely on the so-called "lost generation" of LDS writers like Virginia Sorensen, Maureen Whipple, et al to find it. We have to check out the two copies our local library might carry (to share among ten people in four weeks)of works by such as Levi Peterson, Margaret Young, etc., because we can't find them on the shelves of Seagull, Deseret Book, or B&N. It shouldn't be this HARD. Kim Madsen, who is right now reading _Letting Loose the Hounds_ by Brady Udall while waiting for publishers to give us something close to home -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Sitcoms Date: 08 Oct 2002 23:20:07 -0700 Barbara Hume wrote: >>Maybe you could get some ideas for funny stuff about the LDS culture from the women who wrote those Hatrack River books for Scott Card. They were hilarious. The author's name is Kathryn Kidd. She's written several things, including co-writing sf with OSC, but I think _Paradise Vue_ and _Return to Paradise_ are her best. The character from _Return to Paradise_ who is a Marilyn Monroe wanna-be is so great--and I think it's because we learn to know her from reading her journal entries. Great sub-text of the nude poster of Marilyn Monroe on the basement wall by her husband's work space. Both of those books remind me of screenplays--you can almost see the author thinking in terms of scenes and camera angles. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners Date: 08 Oct 2002 23:02:15 -0700 Good question. Another one: Are you only interested in Mormons in currently mainstream medical practice? Or are you also interested in those who are involved with alternative medicine and healing techniques? Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA Barbara Hume wrote: > > My son is a physical therapist. He's also a good writer. But before I > approach him on this subject, I'd like to know what you plan to do > with the information if people take the time to put it together for you. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: [AML] Lisa Hopkins (Singer) Date: 07 Oct 2002 20:19:00 -0700 Thought you might be interested in this. My next youngest brother was the first in our family to have a girl--Lisa Hopkins. Let me explain why that's important. My father's father and his patriarchal line were all Christian ministers and preachers in Tennessee and ultimately in Kansas. My father was a student minister in Dodge City before he met my mother (who was a daughter of pioneers from SLC). Over a period of time, my father converted himself, with some help from my mother's father. Anyway, my grandfather Hopkins was extremely upset when his son joined the Mormons and married a Mormon girl. So he had the gall to tell my mother that he hoped she would have no male children, as he wanted none of his Hopkins line to be in the Mormon Church. (Interestingly, the lines of all of his children who did not join the Mormon Church have have since died out.) My mother's response was exactly what you would expect from a Scottish woman. She said, "I intend to have nine boys...and send them all on missions to Kansas." Well, she had five of the nine (and no daughters), I had three (I'm the oldest), and my next brother had one (that's nine) before any female children were born in our line! Lisa was the first! (I then had another boy and my brother had two more, so we're still precious short on girls.) But Lisa has turned out very special. She has flaming red hair (and looks almost like a female twin to my youngest boy), and she has a typical Hopkins voice (loud!--my great, great grandfather, John Isaac Creighton Hopkins could be heard in full by simply stepping out on a porch within a two mile radius of wherever he was preaching). Thanks to her devoted parents, she got a scholarship to Yale, from which she graduated in voice (after serving a mission to Vienna, Austria). Those devoted parents then pulled every string they had in New York (where they had lived while my brother was going to school), and got Luciano Pavorati's voice coach to coach Lisa! Well, it paid off, and here's the point of all this. Baz Luhrmann recently auditioned some 6000 young opera singers all over the world for his production of _La Boheme_ which is now playing in San Francisco, and will be on Broadway in December--and my niece, Lisa is one of the Mimis. In fact, she is opposite the principal Rudolfo! There has been quite a bit of press about her in SF all mentioning the fact of her being a Mormon, and there is a huge billboard of her and Rudolfo (played by Jesus Garcia) in Times Square in New York right now, advertising the show, _La Boheme_, as "The Greatest Love Story Ever Sung." It will be interesting to follow her career, and I thought the list should know, so they can watch too, knowing that she is a strong member of the Church. Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: Re: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 08 Oct 2002 15:08:42 -0700 Here's my list: Heaven Knows Why I Have Six Wives Family Kingdom The Kingdom or Nothing All by Samuel W. Taylor, the sixth born of the sixth wife of John Taylor. I think these books are important, because of who they came from, and because of Sam's unique point of view. Sam W. Taylor wrote many other things, but these are the most Mormon, in content, of any other of his works. I think his point of view does a lot to help Modern-Day Saints know and understand the underlying current of the Latter-Day conflict, which refuses to die a natural death, and continues to rear its head. There is probably a good reason for this, and I know that reading these books helped me as a new convert to understand the inner sanctuaries of church history and in particular The Principle. I was privileged to briefly know Sam W. Taylor and even had him in my home for dinner one time. My copy of the first book on my list is autographed, "To- Nell Smith - One of my favorite Mormons" Samuel W Taylor Nell Smith was my Mother-in-law, and a writer for: our local newspaper, the Instructor, The Improvement Era" The Church News, and The Ensign. She was also the only female member of the Oakland Temple Committee, and attended meetings and dined with the prophets, David O. McKay and Joseph Fielding Smith. An aside: As a result of Nell's temple committee work, my first born child's photo is in the time casual of the Oakland Temple. My daughter Corinne is Nell's first born grandchild. Corinne's photo as a young woman is also in the Sesquicentennial Church Conference issue of the Ensign, purely by chance. Regards, Bill Willson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: Re: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 08 Oct 2002 18:44:49 -0600 On Thu, 3 Oct 2002 21:46:46 -0600 "Scott Parkin" writes: > Are there some works of classic Mormon literature that you would like > to own but that you can't seem to find anywhere? [snip] > I would love to see your lists of lost Mormon classics (of any type, > literary or not) and why you think they ought to be made available > to modern audiences. I would like to see all of Marvin Payne's early albums like: Ships of Dust Utah Houses and Towns Grasshopper on cd because it's great stuff and ought not to disappear. scott -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] BROWN, _House on the Sound_ (Review) Date: 09 Oct 2002 02:56:25 +0000 Title: House on the Sound Author: Marilyn Brown 2001, Salt Press/Cedar Fort Inc. 235 p. $22.50, hardback. ISBN 1-55517-584-8 After hearing many sing their praises of Brown's skill as an author, I finally read one of her books myself, House on the Sound. And sure enough, she is an talented wordsmith, the dialogue all rings true, the descriptions shimmer with life, the characters are fully realized. Two excellent reviews of the novel already have appeared on AML-list, and I do not have too much to add to them. The story in a nutshell is a family (mother, father, two daughters, and a set of grandparents) move into their nearly built home in a sparsely populated area in the hills above Bremerton, Washington, the sight of a major Naval shipyard, where the father works as an engineer. Next door to the family are the Barbars, a hillbilly-type family whose exact relations to each other is unclear through much of the book. The story covers the years 1940-1944, and is told through the eyes of Lindy, the ten-year- old daughter. Lindy is both fascinated and repelled by various members of the Barbar family, who seem to come from another, more primitive world. Her parents are more cautious, but gradually look for ways to reach out to the neighbors, while the prickly grandfather, who acts as the girls' guardian during the daytime, loathes the neighbors and does all he can to keep the family away from them. As Bremerton was an important military site on the West Coast, the family also fears for faces the fear of an attack by the Japanese military once the war begins. So, interesting premise, a nice touch of mystery, and great writing. My only complaint is that the pace is quite slow, especially in the beginning. It is not a page turner, and it took me a while to get through it. Part of the problem is that the narrator is a little girl, who does not clearly understand much of what is going on, and is largely under the thumb of her strict (and annoying) grandfather. Actually the pace fits the nature of the story very well, it goes at the speed that summer days and childhood go for ten-year-olds. Brown beautifully shows us the nature of that life, including all of its limitations. But that choice also limits the dramatic punch of the novel. If Brown had chosen to use additional narrators, such as the parents, or even one of the Barbers, it might have spiced things up, and held my attention a bit more strongly. But I can't say she made the wrong choice. By keeping a unity of voice, Brown created a wonderful atmosphere, which eventually did pull me in, despite my frustration with wanting to know more of what was going on next door. I guess a bit of frustration as a reader is not the worst thing. Anyway, the plot and the mystery never really are the points of the book. That became especially obvious towards the end, right in the middle of the closest thing the story had to a climax. Brown steps away from the main story for a chapter to tell about a large white bird which visited the family’s yard, much to the delight of the women. "My grandmother inched closer and closer to the bird. It darted out and back. But it never moved its feet. It did not come closer. Yet it did not go away. My grandmother left bread all along the way, like a crude sacrament . . . . The bird was silent but always present. All of us were quiet during the morning. We passed the oatmeal quietly, poured it from the hot pan, poured rivers of milk, cut the toast, crumbled up packed brown sugar and spread strawberry jam. As we ate, we talked softly, and pushed our dishes back and forth gently in the sunny light. 'We have been visited by a special visitor,' my grandmother said. 'Some visitors seem to bring quit or peace.'" The visiting bird leaves before the family finishes their breakfast, "as all birds do . . as it should be." A lovely little moment, symbolic of Sarah, one of the Barber girls, but not something that moves the plot along so near to the end. It is characteristic of the novel as a whole. Although the key secrets of the Barber family are eventually revealed, Lindy and the reader are never given a full understanding of them, just fragments of the shattered picture. In other words, like real life. Congratulations to Marilyn for writing such a wonderful novel. Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 08 Oct 2002 23:30:13 -0700 Barbara Hume wrote: >>I'm not particularly fond of ambiguous endings, but I don't scorn a work of fiction just because it contains some tough stuff." This comment struck a chord with me. One of the most moving books I've ever read is _What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day_ by Pearl Cleage (Avon Books; ISBN: 038079487X). It's the story of a woman with AIDS, an African-American woman who moves in with her sister. The book is full of tough stuff--things that inner-city, stuck in a cycle of poverty people deal with. It has rough language..the stuff one would hear coming from the mouths of young, angry African-Americans. It was hard, gritty, real...and the most redemptive book I've ever read. In the final chapter, I paced around my house literally sobbing aloud for the innocents caught in a web of drugs, hate, poverty, exploitation; and then again crying for the power of love and the healing that the human spirit seeks and can find. It made me so anxious I couldn't sit still. I've recommended it over and over again to my friends, who are literate, intelligent readers. The most overwhelming response I've gotten is "I couldn't read it. The language was too offensive." I've often wondered if I'm the defective one--the one with a lower moral standard or something. I've learned to be very cautious of whom I share that particular book with. I think the power in the redemptive ending was due to the blackness/evil/tough stuff the characters have to pass through. Maybe LDS "hopeful" endings don't work because we aren't willing to create the real pain on the page to make it work. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 08 Oct 2002 23:20:38 -0700 Great points Scott. Ain't no one gonna know 'less we toot our own horn. That being said, I do seem to remember Richard discussing some of the marketing at the 2001 AML conference. He said he left the marketing of BC up to some supposed pros he hired for that and they blew it. He remarked that he actually likes the marketing end of it, and he would never leave it to someone else again. That's my recollection of it anyway. Richard, please feel free to correct me or comment on the list about this. I've seen copies of Brigham City at my local Suncoast Video which only sells, not rents. It's in that ghastly cover with the evil eyes looking out at you. On the one hand, it might catch people's attention and get them to pick it up and decide to have a looksee, on the other I wondered if it would attract people who'd think they're getting the latest version of "Hacking Up Teenage Virgins Part II" or "Slasher Babes On Broadway". Guess it comes back to the marketing. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 09 Oct 2002 07:24:34 +0000 Scott Parkin wrote: I'm trying to compile a list of classic LDS lit that may be out of print or generally unavailable. Okay, First of all, the entire Aspen library is probably available, there are a few good ones there. Signature and Deseret have let several good titles go out of print, who knows how willing they would be to let them be reprinted. Gideon did manage to reprint a couple of Deseret/Bookcraft books with his Tabernacle books. If you go to the Signature web site, they have a convient list of all their out-of-print books. Eugene England, Margaret Blair Young, and Samuel Taylor would be on the top of my list. Eugene England: Signature still has Making Peace (1996) in print, but not: Dialogues with Myself, 1984. His first collection of personal essays, fantastic. and amazingly Bright Angels and Familiars, 1992. The definitive Mormon short-story anthology. I think Gideon already reprinted: Why the Church is as True as the Gospel. Bookcraft, 1986 But his other Bookcraft collection of essays is out of print: The Quality of Mercy, 1992. Two other out-of-print Bookcraft/Deseret books by England: Converted to Christ through the Book of Mormon. Deseret, 1989. Brother Brigham. Bookcraft, ?. Margaret Blair Young House Without Walls. Deseret, 1991. Salvador. Aspen, 1992. Two of the best Mormon novels ever, and hardly anyone has ever read them. Samuel W. Taylor. Heaven Knows Why. Wyn, 1948. Reprinted by Aspen in 1994. Truely a classic, funny, funny stuff. Talyor Made Tales. Aspen, 1994. A collection of stories and autobiography put together by Aspen, I did not think it was too great. Then there are his "histories". Good reading, but a strange collection of history and conjecture (he makes up conversations, etc). Nightfall at Nauvoo, 1971. Family Kingdom, 1951. About his father, John W. Taylor. The Kingdom or Nothing. MacMillan, 1976. A biography of John Taylor, often seen as his best book. Like you said, Gideon has already republished Thayer's Under the Cottenwoods and Marshall's The Rummage Sale. Other things by those two include: Donald Marshall. Frost in the Orchard. BYU Press, 1977. Another collection of stories, almost as good as The Rummage Sale. Zinnie Stokes, Zinnie Stokes. Desert, 1984. A novel. I have it, but have not read it yet. Douglas Thayer. Summer Fire. Orion, 1983. Novel, 1983 AML fiction award. The protagonist is a bit priggish, but it is a good coming-of-age novel. Eugene England mentioned several times in essays that Thayer has a completed book or two that England thought were great, but he hadn't found a place to publish them. Maybe you could, Scott. (Although England was Thayer's best friend, and may have been exagerating. I never did see what he thought was so great about Red-Tailed Hawk, a Thayer story he praised to the skies.) Other Signature things: Greening Wheat: Fifteen Mormon Short Stories. ed. by Levi Peterson, 1983. 1983 AML special prize. Good collection. Fillerup, Michael, Visions and Other Stories. 1990. I liked it a lot. Petsco, Bela. Nothing Very Important and Other Stories. 1979. Fantastic missionary stories. Other things: Anderson, Paris. Waiting for the Flash. Scottin, 1988. Good novel. Christmas for the World. ed. by Curtis Taylor and Stan Zenk, Aspen, 1991. Stories and some poems about Christmas. The quality is uneven, but there are lots of great stories in here. I thought about the Hatrack River novels, but I checked Amazon.com, and the best of them, Kathryn Kidd's novels, are not listed as out-of-print. Sounds fun, in unprofitable, Scott. I hope you do it. Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 09 Oct 2002 05:52:01 -0600 Personally, I would LOVE to see a Dutcher directed SINGLES WARD 2. Maybe it can be done right. I think Dutcher could teach us more about ourselves through humor. He could make it funnier and more poignent. After I saw Singles Ward, I told my 13 year old boy that it was okay, and then started explaining it to him, and he was laughing the whole time. I concluded that it wasn't that the jokes were bad, just that many of them didn't all have the right set-up. Is there a word for patience in directing? Dutcher's humor in GA was great, and it convinces me that he could make a classic comedy about Mormons. Alan Mitchell -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 09 Oct 2002 10:01:17 -0600 Can I just be brutally honest here? It's not the Mormon culture that doesn't want art, it's the whole dang world. With the exception of the Bible (which well-intentioned folks have even pablumized into "modern" language), readers throughout the nation flock to badly written schlock. Every semester, I spend an entire class period talking about Harlequin romances, reading portions of several, and then contrasting them to good writing--which writing may involve romance, too, by the way. But I find myself in yet another interesting situation which prevents me from ranting about the disparity between art and popular imitations of art. My son (the one who God has given to me as a great gift and challenge) decides periodically that he doesn't like being Mormon. He comes up with some interesting reasons--and the things I write about are NOT behind his teenaged wanderings, by the way; in fact, my honesty about things like the race issue provides him some much needed answers to questions he has had or would have had, and he's pretty bold about disallowing anyone to perpetuate racist folklore. His biggest complaint against the Church is the general one that it is so "flawed." He has, of course, reached the pinnacle of brilliance at age 16, and so recognizes how lousy some of the church talks are, etc. Why should he subject himself to such crap when he could be home writing his novel, which will actually have some substance? I found myself saying things I think might be appropriate to this conversation two Sundays ago, when my son, who had finally agreed to be ordained a priest, refused to go to Church where he was to have blessed the sacrament for the first time, with his dad alongside him. It was, of course, a very big disappointment for Bruce to have this particular rite of passage casually tossed aside. The reason for my son's decision? There was a particular talk a few Sundays ago which just galled him because it was so disorganized and unsubstantial. He globalized it to represent the entire Church. In tears, I bore my testimony to him and told him that he was passing up the opportunity to represent the Lord in serving the emblems of Passover (as we understand the "Santa Cena" in our home) to everyone in our ward--including all the "dummies" who give such stupid talks and ask such cliched questions in Sunday School. Yes, the robes of grace cover even them. Actually, in thinking about it, I'm reminded of that poignant scene in _Brigham City_ where the bishop becomes everyman--unworthy and so nakedly aware of his lack of vision and wisdom that he cannot possibly accept the gift of grace. The truth is, I really wish good literature would sell better than it does. I know the truth of American culture, however (and of many other cultures I've participated in), and recognize that most folks want an easy escape and simply have not cultivated the taste for the finer fare available to them. And others are offended by violence or sexuality and so won't be partaking of either, thanks. (As a redhead, I had a particularly strong reaction to the murderer's choice of victims in _Brigham City_, of course.) I actually talk about "Charly" in my creative writing classes, because I remember loving the original short story when it came out in 1974. (That issue happens to also contain a lovely article about Black pioneers Sam and Amanda Chambers.) But man, was I disappointed by the book! I recognized that Weyland had found success far too quickly and was falling for every temptation offered the beginning writer. (Well, at least he didn't have Sam wake up and discover it all had been a dream.) But I am willing to let "Charly" succeed. I'm willing to sell way fewer books than "popular" writers. This is simply the way it is. I know that some people actually need what Darius and I are writing. And I think my husband in particular NEEDED _Brigham City_. I can't really tell Richard how moved Bruce was by that movie. It took him about an hour to quit being tearful. But obviously, not everyone is a Bruce Young. Most people are nothing like him. That's just the reality. The up side is that even those dummies in the movie theater are included in the infinite grace of the Savior, and most will find moments in their lives when they will NEED something beyond _Charly_. Maybe by some miracle, they'll find _Brigham City_ or something yet to be made. I personally think our (LDS artists') best work hasn't been done yet. We're still building the foundation. And it does include some overdone flourishes and maybe even some vandalized brick, but the foundation is a good one. WHEN it is fully built, I anticipate that the structure it will hold will be magnificent. But I also know that there will be smiley faces and other silly pictures on some of the frame stones. (I think the Lord will accept those offerings as well, just as I accepted the off-key voice of a choir member who really wanted to sing the Hallelujah Chorus but had far more desire than skill.) It will be a strange temple, surrounded by strange gardens containing weeds as well as exotic flowers and hybrids. But we're not even to the second story yet, and the garden has barely been planted. I'm just grateful for those who are willing to sow their seeds, and even grateful for those whose plants seem to be overtaking the garden space. The truth is, those "weeds" are helping to prepare the soil and spread the garden. Ask any publisher where he gets the money to sell a purely literary offering. Those funds come straight from the "weeds." [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 09 Oct 2002 11:02:18 -0600 Richard Dutcher said: Maybe if we took the words out of our books, they would be less literary, and more acceptable to the publishers. I like blank books! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary Date: 09 Oct 2002 09:46:44 -0600 There are essentially three stages to making a movie: making the deal, = making the movie, selling the movie. Only step two is fun. If you're a = professional filmmaker, you understand the need for steps one and three, = and also understand the need to compromise on step two if you have to in = order to get and make money. So, you agree to product placement, for = example. You're not wild about it, not very enthusiastic about framing = that shot so the Pizza Hut box is clearly visible in a scene where pizza = is not the subject of the scene, but you need the money and you'll do it, = and you'll also edit the film so that it can get the rating that the = marketing people think they can sell. And you'll agree to create an = airline cut. None of these compromises are really things you're very = happy about, but you also try to be a grown-up about it. You're creating = art, and you're also creating a commercial product, both at once. What = interests you is the art. You'll put up with the rest of it. And then these right-wing religious nut bags want to go re-edit your = movie. It's outrageous! And listen to their rhetoric: they don't want = your 'sleaze,' or 'filth,' or 'perversion.' But that's not you. You = didn't make a piece of sleaze. If there were nude scenes, they were = utterly essential to the story or the atmosphere or the ideas of the = piece; if there's violence, it's within a moral framework and context; if = there's harsh language, it's the language spoken by those characters, it's = how they talk. Okay, you had to cut that stuff for the airline cut, but = you hated doing it, and besides, you really would rather folks didn't see = your film on a tiny airplane screen. They really should see it in a movie = theatre, with Dolby sound. =20 But see, these folks, these zealots, these Bible-thumping kooks, they're = actually using words like 'gratuitous' to describe your work. And yet you = know, for a fact, that the violence in your film wasn't gratuitous. It = was essential, integral, with images very carefully shot and edited. You = know that the language spoken by your character was necessary. You made = this film, this work of art, this personal statement, or maybe just a good = competent piece of popular entertainment. You know what you were doing, = though. They want to recut YOUR film? Over your dead body. That's one side of it. And yet, the other side is equally valid. I am = intrigued by this story. I'd like to see this film. I like those actors, = and both our local critic and my neighbor saw the film and said it was = very exciting. At the same time, I don't concede that it's necessary to = show us the naked body, or expose us to the offensive language. I feel = that my connection to the Holy Ghost is a fragile enough link, and I don't = want those images, or that language, in my head. So I can't see why I = can't buy or rent a copy of that film without the material I find, and = have always found, objectionable. And I don't think missing those = elements will detract from the power and impact of the film, or from my = enjoyment of it. Experience tells me just the opposite, in fact. = Besides, Hollywood directors are a sleazy lot, aren't they? I've heard = all about casting couches, and I read all about their disgusting personal = lives. Artists? They're Hollywood sleaze merchants. I see no reason to = respect their artistic integrity; I don't think they know the meaning of = the word. So those are the two positions. Where do I personally stand on the issue? Completely neutral. =20 Really, I can see both points of view clearly, and I think it's immoral to = edit an artist's work without his permission, and I also understand the = desire to not be subjected to material one finds offensive. I think the = rhetoric on both sides is unfortunate. I loathe the loaded characterizatio= ns, of CleanFlicks customers as fanatical nuts and of Hollywood producers = as pornographers. I love British television, and the fact that they never = cut films for TV. Love that. And I also recognize the hardly surprising = fact that many of the movies they show on Britsh TV are soft-core porn, = Russ Meyer nudie flicks. The Brits have, as a culture, taken a stand that = I agree with and applaud, but they also misuse that stand to the point = that it becomes nearly meaningless. =20 Who will win the case? I don't know. I am surprised that the producers = haven't written into their wholesalers' contracts some strong language = forbidding them to sell films to Cleanflicks, and the like. I guess I'm = not sure if films are works of art or commercial products, in large = measure, I guess, because they're so clearly both. I would never, under = any circumstances, rent a Cleanflicks edited film. I want to see the film = the filmmaker intended me to see, so I can judge it on its own merits. = But there are also some terrific films I can't recommend to friends and = family unless they're in an edited version. So I'm torn. But it's = certainly an interesting issue. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 09 Oct 2002 12:49:18 -0400 On tastes in literature, Clarke Goble wrote: >Put an other way, how many people here - even those grumbling about lack of >literary tastes - willingly read _Finnegan's Wake_ or _Ulysses_ by Joyce? >Yet that is one of the top novels of the last century. What objective, rational principles are used to evelaute literature? As a philosophic objectivist I am part of that tiny minority of readers who consider both "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" to be literary frauds--virtual attacks on language and ratonal thought. They've become "classics" because certain people have said they are such and that anyone who doesn't share their opinion just "doesn't get it." In short, they are the literary equivalent of the Emperor's new clothes. ROB. LAUER _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] My Ward Date: 09 Oct 2002 11:19:24 -0600 Thank you for sharing the ward stories with us, Andrew. This is really amazing. And I think all of us could tell some of the same stuff about our wards. That's where the stories lie! Now, for the skill of telling them! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 09 Oct 2002 14:40:51 EDT In a message dated 10/8/02 9:45:42 PM Mountain Daylight Time, barbara@techvoice.com writes: << I can't wait until Brigham City comes out on VHS >> The VHS should hit the shelves (at LDS bookstores only) within the next few weeks. Finally! Richard -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Oct. 5 02 Date: 09 Oct 2002 01:54:55 -0500 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of October 5, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 25 City by the Sea 227,472 425 31 Eliza Dushku (actress) 22,094,074 39 Master of Disguise 76,172 220 66 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 39,516,694 40 Minority Report 76,032 108 108 Gerald Molen (producer) 131,839,950 42 Jack Weyland's Charly 64,031 34 10 Adam Anderegg (director) 160,260 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 45 Possession 54,042 115 52 Neil LaBute (director) 10,058,448 Aaron Eckhart (lead male actor) 52 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 36,884 6 885 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,067,812 61 The Divine Secrets of the 25,622 85 122 Ya-Ya Sisterhood 69,586,544 88 The Singles Ward 6,243 10 248 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,236,385 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Cody Hale (composer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Sedra Santos, etc. 90 ESPN's Ultimate X 6,084 8 150 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,174,041 94 Galapagos 4,161 4 1074 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,725,083 96 China: The Panda Adventure 4,008 2 437 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,865,391 122 Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars 752 1 89 Mick Ronson (2nd billed actor) 108,563 124 The Other Side of Heaven 533 2 297 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,716,114 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) 127 Mark Twain's America 3D 390 2 1557 Alan Williams (composer) 2,272,470 JOHNNY LINGO THE MOVIE - John Garbett, the producer of "The Other Side of Heaven" and the original producer of DreamWorks' "Shrek", is currently producing the big screen feature film "The Legend of Johnny Lingo." The Polynesian-themed film wrapped principal photography some time ago, and is currently in post-production. Garbett is the son-in-law of Orma W. Wallengren (a.k.a. Claire Whitaker), who was the screenwriter of the original, classic Church-produced "Johnny Lingo" video. Jerry Molen ("Minority Report", "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", etc.) is the other producer of the new "Johnny Lingo" movie. Note that the original Church video adapted only a small portion of the complete Johnny Lingo story. HANDCART ARRIVAL - The long awaited release of "Handcart" is finally near. Here is a list of events happening preceding the opening of "Handcart": * COMMERCIALS aired during General Conference after the Sunday Morning session - October 6 * PRESS SCREENING (press only) at the Jordan Commons 10 am - October 8 * Q & A (cast and crew invited as panel) at the UVSC Ragan Theater 12 pm - October 9 * PREMIERE! at the Scera Theater 8 pm - October 10 *TICKETS ON SALE NOW! * KSL MOVIE SHOW will broadcast live from the Scera Theater from 10 am to 12 pm celebrating the opening of Handcart. Kels will PROBABLY be on the air (if they let him) - Call in October 11 (575-8255) * HANDCART opens in 18 theaters across Utah and Cardston, Canada - October 11 * HANDCART will expand into Idaho, Arizona and Las Vegas soon after. Want to know where to go and see the film? Check out http://www.handcartthemovie.com/theater.html for a list of the theaters where it will be opening. TIME IS RUNNING OUT - LDSFilm.com is sponsoring a "Guess the Gross" contest for "Handcart" and time is running out. Send your predictions of what will be the reported gross ticket revenue for "Handcart" as of the first weekend box office report in February to ldsfilm@baggaleymusic.com before the film hits theaters this Friday. The person who guesses the closest to the actual number will win a free copy of film composer and LDSFilm.com co-webmaster Thomas C. Baggaley's "Spirit of the Sabbath" CD (which, of course, if you don't want to wait until February to see if you won, you can always purchase at Deseret Book and wherever LDS music is sold). For those who would like to put their two cents in but don't care to compete for such a valuable prize, you can always vote anonymously in our on-line poll at: http://www.ldsfilm.com/polls.html HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS CHARLY FILM? - In spite of Conference Weekend, typically a slow one for movies in Utah, "Jack Weyland's Charly" continued its strong performance at the box office as the weekend gross increased nearly 30% over last weekend. The typical trend in Hollywood is that films generally perform best on opening weekend. Subsequent weekend grosses typically decrease by as much as 30-50%. "Jack Weyland's Charly," on the other hand, clearly defied that trend. Distributors attribute the film's performance to strong word of mouth among the audience, primarily among teens and women. Exit surveys have shown that a vast majority of moviegoers who have seen "Charly" would recommend it to their family and friends. COMPARING POLLS - The "Mormon Life" section of the Deseret Book web site has a new poll, asking people to pick the "best LDS major motion picture." 575 people have already voted in the Deseret Book poll, compared to about 135 people who have voted in the LDSFilm.com web site. (By the way, LDSFilm.com asks votes to pick a "favorite", not "best" film.) Here are the results from the Deseret Book poll http://deseretbook.com/mormon-life/ God's Army 17% Brigham City 8% The Other Side of Heaven 59% The Single's Ward 15% Out of Step 0% (575 votes cast) Here are the results from the LDSFilm.com poll: http://www.ldsfilm.com/polls.html God's Army 14% Brigham City 23% The Other Side of Heaven 28% The Single's Ward 22% Out of Step 9% (134 votes cast) ROOTS AND WINGS - Christian Vuissa's award-winning short film "Roots & Wings" is now available on video from BYU Creative Works and should be on shelves in LDS bookstores soon. It can currently be ordered here: http://creativeworks.byu.edu/catalog/index.cgi?userid=&TM023=Video The film has received a Gold Aurora Award 2002 for Best Foreign Language Film and was the Winner of the Performing Art Showcase Award of the Golden Key Int'l Honour Society. It also won 3 awards at the BYU Final Cut film festival (Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Audience Choice Award). As Hunter has written previously about "Roots and Wings": "...it is amazing. The extremely realistic and beautifully shot story of a Mexican Catholic immigrant who finds his wife and children becoming distant as they assimilate American ways and Latter-day Saint faith, 'Roots and Wings' is the work of a filmmaker who is obviously destined for great things. Every shot is thoughtfully and meaningfully framed. The acting is so natural and the emotions so raw that the film often seems like a beautifully shot documentary. Vuissa serves up no easy answers or platitudes, he simply serves up a glimpse into a fascinating and thought-provoking story. At only about 25 minutes long, 'Roots and Wings' is more of a film than most anything you could have seen in the multiplex all summer long." BAGGALEY ADDS: I second all that Preston has said. This is truly one of the better short films I have seen. Very, very well done! If you take time to watch ANY film by LDS filmmakers at all, you should check out this one. I look forward to more great things from Christian in the future. LDS MAORI ENTERTAINER DALVANIUS PRIME DIES - All New Zealand mourned the loss of the nation's leading Maori musician, who died on 3 October 2002. Services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he was a member. Parliament and the country's leading entertainers were effusive about the impact Prime had on them individually and on their country as a whole. Prime was a singer, entertainer, composer, author and social activist. He composed the musical scores for feature films and documentaries, hosted music shows, produced albums, wrote musicals. He was a giant in Maori arts and culture, whose impact is immeasurable. CORE DELAYED - This is truly sad news for all of us hankering to see Aaron Eckhart in his debut as an action hero in a huge SF blockbuster. "The Core" is being bumped. But the good news is you won't have to choose between "The Core" and "The Santa Claus 2", both of which WERE scheduled to open on the same day. LONSDALE WORKING ON HAUNTED - Have you seen the ads on TV for the new TV series "Haunted", kind of an "X-Files" show on CBS? The Director of Photography for the series is none other than Gordon C. Lonsdale, a Latter-day Saint and graduate of Brigham Young University. Lonsdale is truly one of the best TV D.P.s in the business these days. His previous series credits include "Providence", "Space: Above and Beyond" and "Northern Exposure." He has also been D.P. for a slew of TV movies and miniseries, including: Anya's Bell (1999); Avalon: Beyond the Abyss (1999); The Last Don (1997); A More Perfect Union: American Becomes A Nation (1989); and The Witching of Ben Wagner (1987). ECLIPSE ROLL CALL - The roster for the upcoming Eclipse Film Festival in St. George has been announced. The festival will be held November 8th and 9th. This year's festival will host Philippe Denham, film producer from Los Angeles, who will speak on how to successfully produce an independent feature film. Stay tuned for time and locations of this and other festival events. Although it is open to films from all over the world, the festival does feature a number of films by Latter-day Saints in competition. These include Christian Vuissa's short drama about a Mexican-American family "Roots & Wings" torn between the conversion of some of its members to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Rob Allen's award-winning short animated film "Signal Strength"; the short drama "Simplicity" by Chet Thomas and Darrin Fletcher; and "The Summer House", a short comedy starring Michael Buster (star of "God's Army" and "Out of Step"). More information can be found at: http://www.eclipsefilmfest.com, including a complete list of the films for this year's festival. FIX IT BEFORE YOU SHOOT IT: There are many new subscribers to the ldsfilm.com mailing list since we first announced Eric Samuelsen's services, so we're mentioning them again. Dr. Samuelsen, BYU theater department professor, is evaluating LDS-themed screenplays for free. He is an award-winning playwright and prolific theatrical director. Many of BYU's most critically acclaimed plays on the main stages were directed by Samuelsen. Eric Samuelsen and his graduate students ARE providing free feedback on a number of screenplays, and they ARE workshopping select screenplays. This means real actors are putting these scripts through the paces before any money is spent on filming. Details about the opportunity can be found here: http://www.ldsfilm.com/workshop.html SUDDENLY UNEXPECTED PRESS RELEASE from M Potter Productions: M Potter Productions is pleased to announce the beginning of principle photography on its upcoming feature length movie "Suddenly Unexpected". Filming will begin in Houston, Texas on October 7, 2002. The film will be released in the spring of 2003. Jerald Garner of Katy, Texas, and Michael Judd of Sandy, Utah, will be playing the leads, Elder Jones and Elder Smith. Mr. Garner will be the first African American to play a lead in a Mormon Genre film. In a somewhat ironic and humorous twist, Mr. Garner is drawing on his early childhood experiences as a Jehovah Witness. He went door to door with other members of his faith. Although he is no longer active in that faith he can clearly recall the many experiences he had during that time. Jerald's stepfather is a Latter-day Saint and Jerald said he would talk with him for additional input to add further depth to his character. Michael Judd was cast for his ability to bring both humor and compassion to the character of Elder Smith. The two female leads are Clara Susan Morey II of Salt Lake and Junie Hoang of Houston. Ms. Morey is a veteran of numerous Utah theatrical productions and was most recently seen in the movie "Little Secrets" and also has a part in the movie "Charly". Ms. Hoang is a versatile actress based out of Houston. She has been in numerous independent films and television productions. Benjamin Ellis of Orem, Utah also has been cast in a supporting role of Elder Sayers. Mr. Ellis was a host of the LDS show "Center Street". Tucker Dansie, a Utah-based filmmaker, will be the director of photography. For additional information, you can check out their web site: http://www.suddenlyunexpected.com ADD RADIOACTIVE ZOMBIES - Latter-day Saint filmmaker Joshua D. Smith wrote us to tell us about his new feature film "Zombie Campout", which premiers in a few weeks here in Texas before making going to other festivals... It has a great web site, by the way, which is where you can go to find out more: http://www.zombiecampout.com/ ROCCO'S FLY BOYS - Here is a great new article in St. George, Utah newspaper THE SPECTRUM about the movie currently being filmed by Latter-day Saint director Rocco DeVilliers ("Pure Race", "Only Once"). We've been saying for a couple of years now that DeVilliers is one of the most exciting young directors in the state. We're glad that he's finally got a new feature underway. The movie is set to open in theaters in early spring. Here's the article: http://www.thespectrum.com/news/stories/20021001/localnews/195907.html ESPECIALLY FOR VOYEURS - Top secret entries from Canadian pop singer's own diary, mentioning her supporting role in the upcoming feature film "The R.M.", as well as her music video on the upcoming DVD release of "The Singles Ward." can be found at http://www.marenord.com/diary.htm 0F PRINCESSES, PEAS AND PAYNES - The upcoming animated series "The Princess and the Pea Chronicles", from Swan Animation in St. George, Utah, features the voices of Latter-day Saint actor/singer Sam Payne (star of Michael Mills' "He Took My Licking") and Payne's son Skyler Payne. Sam Payne is the son of legendary Utah actor/singer Marvin Payne. SOMEONE IS WATCHING? TOTALLY COOL - Mark Goodman and Lee Groberg's new feature-length drama "Someone is Watching" is available on DVD. This is the same team that made the award-winning PBS documentaries "Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail" (1997), "American Prophet: The Joseph Smith Story" (1999) and "Sacred Stone" (Nauvoo Temple documentary). The DVD can be ordered here: http://www.ldharvest.com/item.asp?itemid=18369 ADD MESSAGE IN A CELL PHONE - "Message in a Cell Phone" is also out on DVD. This one stars Nick Whitaker in the first billed role. You'll remember him from "Brigham City" -- he played Spencer, the deacon. He also starred in T.C. Christensen's "Bug Off!" "Message in a Cell Phone" is a family film directed by Latter-day Saint director Eric Hendershot, whose credits are too numerous to list here, but you can look them up on our site. The DVD can be ordered here here: http://www.ldharvest.com/item.asp?itemid=18373 TENNIS SHOES ON THE SILVER SCREEN - The following is an excerpt from Chris Heimerdinger's monthly newsletter for October 2002: "SUMMER OF THE NEPHITES" BOOK AND MOVIE UPDATE - Last month I also reported my ambition to write a book that will become a motion picture. I began this project a couple years back, but the pressure to write "Tennis Shoes" books kinda slowed it down. Well, it's now become the main item on my agenda. Interestingly, the first scene (chapter) takes place during the deer hunt. The rest of the story takes place in summer, but I have been toying with the idea of shooting the opening sequence of the movie sometime in Nov. or Dec. We'd then use it to help raise the rest of the capital for the movie, and wet people's appetites with what I think is a killer opening. Only one problem: I need a live deer. Anyone out there know how I can get a hold of a (relatively tame) white-tail or mule buck? Weird question, I know. But hey, what's this web site for if I can't network now and then? We may just wait to shoot the scene in the Spring, but it sure would be fun to shoot it now. TELLIN' 'BOUT MELLEN - We'd like to introduce people to Vance Mellen, a Latter-day Saint film director with an extremely distinct vision and body of work. I personally saw him perform years ago while I was a BYU student, and it was an experience I never forgot. I was impressed then, and I look forward to seeing more from him. Vance is planning to direct his award-winning screenplay "Revelations." He is still in the process of looking for a producer and additional backing. "Revelations" is an interesting script, and really can't be compared to anything being done by any LDS director I can think of. It's dark, but funny, and definitely affecting. You can check out Mellen's resume, films, and projects he's working on at his web site: http://www.mellenheadprods.com/ GEOFFREY CARD AT AML - We have learned that filmmaker Geoffrey Card will be a featured speaker at the Association for Mormon Letters Fourth Annual LDS Writers Conference, to be held Saturday, November 2, 2002, at Thanksgiving Gardens Visitors Center at Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah. Card attended Chapman University School of Film and Television. His film credits include screenplays, student films, serving as film editor for the short film "Remind Me Again", and authoring the novelization of Richard Dutcher's movie "God's Army." The other featured speakers will be Latter-day Saint novelists Rachel Ann Nunes, Margaret Blair Young and Lina Paulson Adams. OUT OF STEP ON DVD? - We don't know if the movie is available yet, but at least one web site is now taking orders for the "Out of Step" DVD. LDHarvest.com also lists a bunch of other new DVDs from Latter-day Saint directors. The only movies listed below that we've actually seen are "Out of Step" and "Shadow of Light." If you have questions about them, feel free to write and ask. * Out of Step: Graced with the instinctive ability to dance, Jenny Thomas wants nothing more than to become a professional dancer. All of her hard work pays off when she is accepted to a prominent dance program in New York. Against her mother's will, but with the support of her father Jenny leaves her small Mormon town in Utah and heads to New York in pursuit of her dream. Jenny soon finds herself financially broke and spiritually lost in her new surroundings. She quickly makes friends with Paul Taylor, a witty Mormon student filmmaker who finds Jenny's ambitious dream to be the subject for his next film project. Keeping her mind diligently focused on dance proves harder than she expected as she finds herself falling in love with David Schrader, a dark and mysterious New York musician. As their relationship builds Jenny starts to struggle in her religious beliefs and her new lifestyle. Paul's true romantic feelings soon surface and Jenny finds things to be a little more than she can handle. Her scholarship and her dreams are on the line and Jenny takes an emotional roller coaster ride on the path to work it out. Jenny must fight to earn her scholarship and try to find a balance between the man of her faith and the man of her dreams. * The Shadow of Light: Follow two brothers, who, with help from the local southern Utah Mormon bishop's daughter, begin to unravel clues that lead to the pages of the Book of Mormon and a treasure worth more than all the riches on Earth. * Visit Nauvoo: The Saints built beautiful Nauvoo in just seven years. Walk its streets as you visit the beautiful homes of Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff. Learn more of their faith and sacrifice to build the Kingdom of God. Stroll through the Prophet Joseph's Red Brick Store and the Mansion House where Joseph and Emma often slept on the floor to accommodate their guests. Contemplate the determination of the Saints to build a temple to their God as you see the new Temple rise majestically above the city. Features aerial photography taken spring 2002. * When Men Hurt: Hear three men's poignant stories and learn from leading experts how to overcome abuse and violence. When Men Hurt illustrates overcoming cruel behavior from a perpetrator's perspective. * Horse Crazy: When ruthless horse thieves try to rustle a magnificent wild mustang named "The General" it takes the courage of three horse crazy kids to outsmart, out wrangle and out lasso the bad guys and return the horse to his rightful owner. * Jericho Road: Backstage Pass: When Abe, Bret, Dave and Justin stepped into the music scene last fall as Jericho Road, they couldn't have imagined a more successful debut CD launch and a sell-out promotional tour of the Western United States. Now they return with this striking DVD experience, featuring concert footage, interviews, and picture albums. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Spiritual Arrogance (Was Strange Reaction to _Charly_) Date: 09 Oct 2002 11:41:23 -0700 I can top that. A friend of ours was told before the marriage that if she wasn't buxon enough for him, he would insist she get a breast augmentation. Guess modest dressing caused him to miss 38Cs. My husband had a roomate at BYU that inisisted his wife would have to be built in his words, "Like a brick outhouse". He wanted a large family and she better have a knockout body to keep him coming back for more. I suppressed the urge to tell him to look in a mirror first and how was she expected to maintain a knockout body if she was pregnant all the time and had lots of kids. Although I doubt these sentiments would have wound up in "Charly" or anything published by certain labels, I would love to see jerks like this portrayed in LDS fiction, because believe me, they are really out there and someone needs to shine a light on them and send them scurrying like cockroaches. And in spite of the male bashing I'm engaging in, most LDS men I've known in my life are kind and decent human beings, my husband especially revered in that department. And I know most leaders, (not all), would tell these turkeys they are way out of line if this came to their attention. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA Barbara Hume wrote: > > > Haven't they stopped teaching boy missionaries to be this spiritually > arrogant? A friend of mine said that an RM actually told her she > wasn't beautiful enough for him to marry. He'd learned in the MTC that > as an RM he was due only the best. He was clearly too immature to > understand what that was supposed to mean. Sounds to me like a good > basis for an LDS story. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 09 Oct 2002 14:47:19 -0600 Thanks for the great post and quotes, John Remy (and all the other good ones on this thread too). The model that works best for me, imperfect though it may be, is thinking of Mormon culture as a basic starch upon which to build a full-bodied cultural diet. I see Mormon culture as a scoop or two of rice on my plate upon which I heap different "worldly" or "New Age" (meaning anything religious or spiritual that doesn't come from within Mormonism) meats, veggies, spices, and sauces, seeking for variety, novelty, and stimulation. The basic starch may provide up to half of the dietary bulk but provides only about 5% or less of the conscious interest and stimulation to the palate, unless you simply don't have an adventurous palate, as so many Mormons don't culturally (perhaps because they somehow satisfy those needs through the Holy Ghost or something). So many Mormons think that the basic rice (or things essentially like unto it, boiled potatoes like "Touched by an Angel") is all we need, but others of us would soon feel malnourished if that were the case. But I wouldn't want to have a too-rich riceless diet, either. Of course, when you start moving into areas of doctrine or policy, the rice model doesn't apply so well. And the problem is, where do you draw the line between the culture and the doctrine/policy? I don't know, maybe the constant human hunger for variety and novelty, cultural or otherwise, is essentially carnal. It makes me think of a passage from Acts 17: "And they took [Paul], and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)" Maybe fallen, idolatrous people just basically want to entertain or be entertained all the time, intellectually or otherwise. But the gospel isn't entertaining, except maybe when you're a new convert. I guess I'm still too fallen to give up worldly culture and trust the Holy Ghost to pick up the slack. Keep those magazines, books, CDs, videos, plays, and websites coming, baby, and make sure they say something NEW about the human experience. And if you can turn Mormonism into something exotic like a spicy salmon roll rather than a clump of plain rice, all the more power to you. (Thanks for the wasabe, Richard Dutcher, John Bennion, Levi Peterson, and others.) Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 09 Oct 2002 15:15:29 -0600 Here's some pretty strong words against _Charly_ in the Deseret News: 'Charly' will make you cry By Lee Benson Deseret News columnist Richard Dutcher opened the floodgates with "God's Army." Then came "Brigham City" and Mitch Davis' "The Other Side of Heaven." Big-screen movies that adroitly and rather tastefully moved Mormon culture into the mainstream, maybe not exactly in a "Big Fat Greek Wedding" or "The Sopranos" kind of way, but getting there. But you were cringing. I know you were. You knew it would eventually come to this. You knew they would get around to making the Mormon pop culture book "Charly" into a movie. It gets worse. They didn't change the book. ---- "Charly" is the story of a worldly New York City girl named Charly who flies to Utah and falls for, in order, the restored church and one of its practitioners, who wears a BYU hat, named Sam. It was released to movie houses in Utah this week and barring some miraculous stroke of luck it will soon leave the borders of the state. Just when the Olympics and Mitt Romney were making headway on the stereotypes. This is like sending someone from Sanpete County to teach America how to say "fork." Wearing clogs. Singing "One Bad Apple." Imagine turning the Mormon Handicraft Store and the Missionary Training Center into a full-length film - starring the staff at the genealogy library. Introducing a whole new genre: the feature-length Mormon cliche. If Clean Flicks gets ahold of "Charly," it will put stuff in. The movie starts with Sam being bribed by his father, who works for Charly's father, to pick up Charly at the Salt Lake airport. Charly has a boyfriend back in New York her parents aren't terribly fond of. They'd like her to meet someone different. The plot thins from there. I don't want to give too much away, but there are many rides on the Liberty Park ferris wheel. ---- As a book, "Charly" became a perennial Deseret Book best-seller after its release in 1979. Hundreds and thousands of adolescent Mormon girls spirited copies of Jack Weyland's book into their rooms at night and sighed. Every Beehive and Mia Maid wanted to be Charly and find their Sam. Fair enough. So what if there are maybe three men like Sam on the entire Earth? (And they are being pummeled as we speak by every other man). So what if Sam gets Charly to go fishing more than once? But couldn't it have stayed in the bedrooms? "God's Army" and "The Other Side of Heaven" artfully presented Mormon culture while telling a story; "Charly" takes Mormon culture and bashes you over the head with it. It's like seeing 98 minutes of "Man's Search For Happiness." It has all the subtlety of a missionary couple wearing tags and coming straight at you in a visitor's center. Deseret News movie critic Jeff Vice says some may find "Charly" "maudlin," which is like saying some may find "The Sound of Music" "musical." It makes you wonder, what's next? "Johnny Lingo" in its expanded, big-screen version? Will they move "The Testaments" to the 16-plex? Will "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" be coming soon to a theater near you? In the meantime, there's Richard Dutcher to think about. A man on a mission to pull Mormon culture out of the cheese. I'll bet "Charly" made him cry. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "R.W. Rasband" Subject: [AML] re: Sitcoms Date: 09 Oct 2002 14:15:45 -0700 (PDT) I like "Everybody Loves Raymond" a lot, but it's hard for me to take most "family" sitcoms very seriously after "The Simpsons." That show may be the best thing ever on television, and the definitive deconstruction of the entire sitcom genre. Special mention should be made of the britcom, those shows produced by our cousins in the UK. At their best, they are more literate, more daring, and more explosively funny than anything on American television. My current favorite is "Father Ted" (which can be seen in Utah on the PBS affiliate KUED channel 7 Mon-Thurs. at 11:00 p.m.) It's impossible to imagine this show on an American commerical network. Picture if Monty Python had taken up holy orders and become Irish Catholic priests. Mostly the show is pure berserk surreal silliness, but it also manages to be both benign and merciless about Catholicism. It's excruciatingly hilarious, and surely written by a couple of Irishmen who load it up with local jokes. An LDS version would really be something to see. The best current sitcom I know of right now (after "The Simpsons") is "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on HBO Sunday nights after "The Sopranos." Larry David, the co-creator of "Seinfeld", produces and stars. He was the basis for the character of George Constanza. David says it's about "getting through life with social anxiety disorder." The buried angst of "Seinfeld" is turned up full blast here, with one catastrophe after another plaguing the beleagured David. (Most of them are of his own doing.) No matter how hard a time you are having in your own life, after wathcing poor Larry David in "Curb your Enthusiasm", you will feel much better. ===== R.W. Rasband Heber City, UT rrasband@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Mormon Villains in Movies Date: 09 Oct 2002 16:57:42 -0500 Mormon Villains in Movies Well, P.T. Anderson isn't exactly a household name like Steven Spielberg or even Peter Jackson. But "Punch-Drunk Love" is getting some wildly enthusiastic review (as well as some harsh criticism) from early reviewers. Many seem to really, really like it, including the influential Ebert and Roeper, who gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up. You WILL be hearing more about this movie. Adam Sandler (yes, that Adam Sandler) is getting rave reviews as an ACTOR in this surprisingly violent and dramatic comedic love story. Sandler's character is the only brother of seven sisters. But, no, despite his many siblings he's NOT the Mormon character. The villain, played by Anderson regular actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, is a profane-mouthed businessman who runs a matress company and a corrupt phone sex business, all based in Utah. When Sander foolishly calls the service and gives them his credit number, and then decides to no longer use the service, he angers Hoffman. Hoffman sends four goons after Sandler to attack him and rob him. The thugs are played Nathan Stevens, David Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens and Michael D. Stevens, four Latter-day Saint brothers from Utah. I don't know what prompted Anderson go cast his goons this way. Maybe it's just another sign that Mormons are the"new gay" -- the newly hip minority that everybody wants to put in their movie, reality TV show or dance mix. So... Mormons get to be the bad guys. Maybe and maybe not. >From what I've heard, the "M" word is NOT uttered in the movie, and these are NOT "LDS characters." Certainly they don't do anything stereotypically LDS, and working as violent enforcers for a phone sex scam hardly seems like an appropriate profession for a practicing Latter-day Saint. So we can say that, no, they are not Mormons. On the other hand, P.T. Anderson's own website sports an early L.A. Times review that refers to the "four blond Mormon brothers from Utah who are the bane of Barry's existence... played by four Mormon brothers from Utah." And in the October 14th, 2002 issue of Newsweek features a review that tells how Sandler "will also make it to Utah to confront the extortionist (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has sent four menacing Mormon brothers to threaten his life..." So if the movie doesn't call them Mormon, where are the reviewers getting the idea? Well, perhaps nowhere in particular, other than the fact that one of the most common mental definitions of "Mormon" as used by people outside Utah is "anybody from Utah." This is why some movie journalists referred to "Almost Famous" star Patrick Fugit as a "Mormon," even though he's never been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you drive five feet over the border from Nevada and pick up a rock, that is a "Mormon rock." If you life in Utah, you are a Mormon. Period. At least that is how perhaps most Americans think, when the word or question casually floats through their mind. So are the bad guys in "Punch-Drunk Love" Mormons? Well, for the sake of argument let's say they that they are. Maybe not by our definition. But we're out-voted. But before we think, "Oh no, not another stereotypical Mormon movie villain...", it is interesting to note that such a thing is actually quite rare. During the past sixty years we have hardly ever gotten to be movie villains. Of course Mormons have frequently been out-right villains in literature. Terryl L. Givens notes, in The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997): The list of authors who resorted to the Mormon caricature as a stock villain spans genres from mystery to western to popular romance, and it includes both American and English writers: from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes mystery to Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage, from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Dynamiter to Jack London's Star Rover, as well as scores of novels, short stories, and poems by lesser names. 20th Century science fiction writers have been far kinder than 19th Century writers. Even a cursory reading of the science fiction novels and stories with Mormon characters and references (300 are catalogued at http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_lds.html) reveals that in science fiction and fantasy, Mormons are usually portrayed as sympathetic or admirable, or at least regarded neutrally. There are few Mormon villains in these works. But when it comes to movies, you have to go pretty far back to the earliest days of movies to find a period during which we were actually stock villains. You had movies like "Trapped by the Mormons" (1922), "A Mormon Maid" (1917), "Deadwood Dick Spoils Brigham Young" (1915) and "The Mormon" (1912). "The Mormon Conquest" (1941) may have been one of the last movies from the early period to feature Mormons as villains. After that, you get into a period of time during which Latter-day Saints are portrayed more favorably in movies. Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific" (1939) features a positive potrayal. You've got the very favorable movie "Brigham Young: Frontiersman" (1940) directed by Henry Hathaway. John Ford's "Wagonmaster" (1950) is also very positive. "Blood Arrow" (1958): A devout Mormon girl crosses Indian territory to obtain a needed smallpox serum for her settlement. "Paint Your Wagon" (1969) is pretty silly, but the Mormons are once again protagonists, including Jean Seberg as the leading lady, the Mormon woman pursued by both Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. No villain in the bunch. According to the Carole Mikita documentary "Latter-day Saints on the Silver Screen" (2002), a major factor in the lack of Mormon villains during this period was the Hayes Code, which prevented defaming religious clergy. The Hayes Code was established in 1930 and significant enforcement began in 1934. It was in place into the 1960s. During the Hayes period criticism of all religious groups was highly curtailed. Even in the modern post-Hayes movie era, there have been very few Mormon villains in movies. There HAVE been plenty of Mormon characters, and most of them have been highly stereotypical and certainly inaccurate. But how many actual villains have there been? For the sake of discussion we'll disregard movies in which a major character's Mormon affiliation is historical or can be implied from source material, but is not in any way identified in the movie. So we throw out Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Panther; Heavenly Creatures; Deep Impact; Somewhere in Time; The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper; Damnation Alley; etc. Besides, the "Mormon" in these is usually the protagonist, even if he or she is a criminal. (Nobody thinks bank robber Butch Cassidy was the "villain" in the Paul Newman/Robert Redford classic. Of course, most people don't know Butch is a Mormon, either.) So, going backwards in time looking at feature films with overtly Mormon main characters... "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) features Scott Caan and Casey Affleck as "Mormon brothers" from Utah who are part of a team of 11 people who rob a casino. Criminals? Well, yes, I suppose so. But the boys are definitely not villains. They're part of the team of protagonists. And the casino owner is the movie's villain. Sort of an amoral plot structure, but you root for the robbers. Although the brothers are idiosyncratic and a bit goofy, they are sympathetic and they are definitely not Mormon stereotypes. "Goodbye Lover" (1999) is a mean-spirited movie in which Ellen DeGeneres, as a police detectives, voices plenty of rude and crude comments about the Mormon affiliation of her police partner, Detective Rollins, played by Ray McKinnon. The Mormon police detective isn't particularly sympathetic (partially because the protagonist makes fun of him so much) and he is stereotypical in a number of ways, but he's not at all a villain in the movie. Critics mostly disliked this movie (it has only a 33% positive review rating at RottenTomatoes.com), and it did less than $2 million at the box office. Message to Hollywood, or at least to Ellen: making fun of religious minorities does not ensure box office gold. "Donnie Brasco" (1997) features Johnny Depp as an FBI agent whose boss is a Mormona and tells him not to swear. Based on a true story, which is probably why the movie characters is a Mormon -- the real person was. Once again, not a villain. Actually a pretty admirable character, although his presense in the movie is limited. Still, the chacacter is the basis for the track titled "Donnie & the Mormon" on the movie soundtrack by Patrick Doyle. "Orgazmo" (1997). Yeah, this is the big one -- the movie that may have inspired some Latter-day Saint filmmakers to make movies about their own people so they could get it right. Trey Parker of "South Park" fame wrote, directed and starred in this "comedy" about a Latter-day Saint missionary in Los Angeles who becomes a porn star so he can pay for his temple wedding once he gets home. Could the whole thing have been averted if somebody had told Trey that there is no charge to get married in the temple? Probably not. Fortunately not too many people saw this critical dud - it's box office gross was just $582,024. Obviously the who idea is offensive. But the thinking behind it was "Who, in real life, is LEAST likely to be involved in the porn industry?" Answer: A Mormon missionary. One of those back-handed complement things. For the record, Parker has never been a member of the Church. He said: "I grew up in Colorado, so we had a lot of Mormons that we went to school with. Actually, my first girlfriend was Mormon. Every Mormon I've ever met is a great person, and to me this was a great character. I didn't go out of my way to make him give up his religion, like Joe's been stupid all this time. He remains a Mormon, he wins, he destroys evil, and stays a Mormon. The Mormons win." "Messenger of Death" (1988). Chuck Bronson stars as Garret Smith, a journalist helping police investigate the murder of Orville Beecham's fundamentalist Mormon (polygamist) family. A serial killer is apparently killing members of the small sect which has broken off of the mainstream Church. The victims are Mormons (although not members of the mainstream Church), and the Chuck Bronson plays a non-LDS character. Certainly the movie portrays religious fanaticism and plays up the old polygamy thing, but is there a Mormon villain? I don't know. That depends on who the serial killer eventually is discovered to be. "Melvin and Howard" (1980). About Howard Hughes (a billionaire) and Melvin Dummar, a Mormon gas station attendant. I haven't seen it and don't know to what extent, if any, the character's religious persuasion is mentioned in the movie. Mary Steenburgen won an Academy Award for playing Melvin's wife. As far as I know, this is one of only two Academy Awards that have been awarded to actors for playing a Mormon character. Melvin is the title character, and certainly not a villain. "Jessi's Girls" (1975). Sondra Currie plays Jessica, a young Latter-day Saint woman whose husband is killed by a bunch of outlaws. Jessica is raped and left for dead in the desert. With the last ounce of her strength she gets to the hut of an old hermit who nurses her back to health and teaches her how to shoot. The woman then frees three female criminals and seeks vengeance on the outlaws. Not a family film, of course, and it would appear that Jessie bends the law in a few places, but she's the protagonist, not a villain. "Advise and Consent" (1962). Henry Fonda is the movie's protagonist, playing "Robert Leffingwell", the president's candidate for Secretary of State. Prior to his approval, he must first go through a Senate investigation to determine if he's qualified. Leading the Senate committee is idealistic Senator Brigham Anderson, a Mormon from Utah, who soon finds himself unprepared for the political dirt that's revealed, including Leffingwell's past affiliations with a Communist organization. When Leffingwell testifies about his political leanings, he proves his innocence. Later, however, Anderson learns that he lied under oath and even asks the president to withdraw Leffingwell for consideration, especially after the Senator Anderson begins receiving blackmail threatening to reveal that he is gay. Senator Anderson probably gets more screen time than any other character in the movie. He is a complex character, who makes many mistakes, but I'm not sure he can be called a "villain." And that's it. You can find some actual Mormon villains in a handful of TV/cable movies such "Deliver Them from Evil: The Taking of Alta View" (1992), "The Executioner's Song" (1982), and "Shot in the Heart" (2001). But as far as modern feature films go, I don't know of any. Except for "Brigham City", of course. And we made that one ourselves. -Preston Hunter, LDSFilm.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: [AML] Mary Whitmer Video Query Date: 09 Oct 2002 15:12:23 -0700 I'm looking for a video I saw a few years ago--perhaps on KBYU. It's = the story of Mary Whitmer and her opportunity to view the gold plates. = If I remember correctly, it's called "The Fourth Witness". If anyone = knows what I'm remembering or where I could get a copy, I'd appreciate = it--I'm teaching Chruch History in Seminary and am craving any stories = about women that I can find! Thanks :) Jana Remy UCIrvine www.enivri.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 09 Oct 2002 16:29:48 -0600 <<< I find 99% of the talks given in my ward as boring as Chris finds things at his ward. But that's okay with me (as I'm sure it is for Chris) because I don't go to Church to be entertained, though I am occasionally surprised to be, I go to bask in the Spirit that always attends--no matter how bad the talks. >>> My earlier post about Mormon culture as basic starch hit on this point exactly, I realize upon rereading this good post from Richard Hopkins. So why don't I feel that spirit any more that supposedly compensates for all the cultural shortcomings and emptiness? I used to feel it more, when I was first converted and at times when I've had to repent of major things and felt a big contrast coming back into the fold. But it's been more than a decade since I've had anything major to repent of, and maybe the gradual accumulation of many little sins of commission and omission (the kind you can still get a temple recommend with) has put me on the spiritual outside again. Long ago I used to think the temple felt like basking in some kind of spiritual hot tub, but now I dread going because it kills a whole evening and is so boring and repetitive. And I take magazines to church for those times when I can't find a comfortable dozing zone. However, I still retain enough spiritual strength to have successfully negotiated some fairly strong temptations over the last few years, although the battle certainly ain't over yet. (I've seen several friends crash and burn recently, and from what I can tell the number-one cause is Internet porn.) I think my problem is largely one of poor attitude mixed with too much worldly culture (thankfully, not porn). I was going to write a big, hairy post on the rock music thread a little while ago, but I didn't get around to it. Still, I wonder if music isn't the most powerful worldly influence I'm under. I'm constantly listening to it and going to some pains to position myself at the leading edge of the mainstream. Or maybe this deep cultural discontent is divine, the result of exquisite sensibilities that the Church-related culture simply isn't meeting in this mortal sphere. Nah, I don't think so. In my case, it's probably more because I spend more time laughing at Maxim (notice I didn't say looking at--that kind of air-brushed skininess does little for me) than poring over Isaiah. (My latest scam is that, while reading scriptures out loud to my wife every night, I've started leaving off the last half or so of chapters. It's Isaiah, so she doesn't notice the difference. If anyone tells her, I will maim you.) <<< For culture, I too look to the world--not so much that I can't get a temple recommend, of course, but that's where people learn to be interesting. They don't have the spirit to make up for their boring tripe, so they've had to learn to be really interesting. There is value in an effort to learn what they do AND to keep the spirit in it as well! I guess that's what this list is all about. >>> Again, this is right on my wavelength. Without the spirit, the Mormon culture is like the emperor's new clothes--there IS no real culture. (And with the spirit, it just becomes an acceptable placeholder for anybody with any sophisticated taste, something you're willing to content yourself with because you don't want to offend the spirit by seeking after something with some real mortal skank to it.) The irony is that if you seek culture elsewhere, you probably end up alienating the spirit a lot of the time, arguably. I guess I'm prepared to admit that spending the majority of one's spare time, energy, and discretionary income seeking one's own cultural comfort is basically too selfish, but I don't see a workable alternative for me yet. What, am I supposed to just stop (or drastically reduce) reading, listening, and watching and instead fill all my spare time playing Candyland with my kids or mowing widows' lawns or whatever? Or buck for some kind of Church calling that eats up more time? (Teaching elders quorum once a month is sweeeeet, baby, though I wish we had sacrament meeting first so I could prepare during the talks instead of carving 20 minutes out of my busy culture-vulturing the evening before.) Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options (was: Mormon Culture) Date: 09 Oct 2002 16:32:51 -0600 At 10:26 AM 10/5/02 -0600, you wrote: >People won't buy if they don't know it's there. They won't know it's there >if we don't tell them. We need to learn to speak well--and often--about our >own work. We need to learn to market ourselves. I recognize this as a problem. Do you have any suggestions about how to learn that skill? Or that mindset, or whatever it is? For the introverts among us, in particular. . . . . barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: katie@aros.net Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Writers Conference Date: 09 Oct 2002 19:57:11 -0600 I'd like to encourage people who attend the Mormon Writers Conference on Nov. 2 to take notes and post them on the list. I won't be able to attend this year because of a family event the same day, and I'm sure there are other folks out there who'd like to go but won't be able to. I'm really interested in what the speakers will have to say, so I hope some kind souls will share their notes! Thanks in advance! Katie Parker -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 09 Oct 2002 20:19:28 -0600 Barbara Hume wrote: > > >From a cultural standpoint I don't care how many goys rip each other > > > >off. > > I believe that the plural of "goy" is "goyim." It is. But enough of my Jewish friends bent the rules of proper Yiddish that I heard it both ways while growing up and chose to use that version because I liked the way it sounded when I read it in my head. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] "Religious Educator" Article on Creative Arts Date: 09 Oct 2002 19:33:01 -0700 ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 8:44 AM > At 01:52 PM 10/3/02 -0600, you wrote: > > >From a cultural standpoint I don't care how many goys rip each other > > > >off. > > I believe that the plural of "goy" is "goyim." > > barbara hume > Indeed. And you ought to see the "cherubims" and "goyims" that fly across the computer screen from time to time... -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "S. Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Seattle Fireside (Darius Gray and Margaret Young) Date: 09 Oct 2002 22:47:19 -0400 Anyone who needs directions can email me off-list: susan@platformcreative.com. Did you mention the date for the fireside, and I just missed it? Got a head cold so it's entirely possible. [MOD: 7 p.m. Oct. 20 is the date mentioned in an earlier email.] Susan ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- Reply-To: aml-list@lists.xmission.com >>From the stake president in Seattle, who Susan Malmrose connected me >with: The Fireside will be at at 7:00 pm at >5701 8th Avenue Northeast - our Stake Center. We are planning on >holding it in the chapel. The Stake Center is just a few blocks north >and west of the University of Washington if that is of any help -five >miles or so north of downtown. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Knudsen family Subject: Re: [AML] Literary Mormon Fiction Date: 09 Oct 2002 21:21:34 -0600 I'm new to the group, but I'm wondering if the book, "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint," by Brady Udall, counts as Literary Mormon Fiction. Having grown up in Southeastern Idaho during the years of the Indian Placement Program, and having my family host 5 different Lamanites, this book kept me reading and thinking. It gets my vote. Ronda W. Knudsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "gtaggart" Subject: RE: [AML] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 09 Oct 2002 22:22:13 -0700 Ask him how he happened to be so lucky to marry such a humorous women. Greg Taggart -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Re: [AML-Mag] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 09 Oct 2002 23:45:56 -0500 Ask him what he thinks about "Only Once," the Peck/DeVilliers adaptation of his book _Greg & Kellie_. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "gtaggart" Subject: RE: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 09 Oct 2002 22:41:30 -0700 I agree. I bought Houses and Towns 30 years ago from Marvin as he went door to door, selling his wares. Greg Taggart -----Original Message----- I would like to see all of Marvin Payne's early albums like: Ships of Dust Utah Houses and Towns Grasshopper on cd because it's great stuff and ought not to disappear. scott -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: [AML] Re: CLEAGE, _What Looks Like Crazy_ (was: Mormon Publishing Options) Date: 09 Oct 2002 22:08:45 -0700 I read "What Looks Like Crazy" recently. It was full of offensive words, very adult situations, and I took care not to let my 5 year-old read over my shoulder. But I loved it--I had a similar reaction to yours and feel like my life is so much more meaningful for taking the risk. It's a slice of reality from a totally different world, and makes me feel guilty for being so white, so comfortable, so secure. Jana Remy UCIrvine www.enivri.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: [AML] Re: CLEAGE, _What Looks Like Crazy_ Date: 10 Oct 2002 01:34:03 -0400 I checked out the book from the library. The title is *so* intriguing. But I admit I couldn't get passed the first few pages because of the language. Though I wouldn't use the word *offended*. I think we overuse that word. I have run across the use of strong language in many settings. Sometimes it doesn't bother me. It seems to be so integral to the scene. This book didn't give you a chance to get into a scene or get to know the character before throwing it at you. Though I suppose the language is part of the character. A quandry. At any rate, I don't think it says anything about weakness of character or lack of morals on your part or on the part of those that couldn't stomach it. Just different tastes. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 10 Oct 2002 00:08:00 -0700 Hear, hear! (Or here, here, I'm not clear which one is right, and why. I await enlightenment.) > Margaret Blair Young > House Without Walls. Deseret, 1991. > Salvador. Aspen, 1992. > Two of the best Mormon novels ever, and hardly anyone has ever read them. > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] Lisa Hopkins (Singer) Date: 10 Oct 2002 00:28:01 -0700 On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 20:19:00 -0700 "Richard R. Hopkins" writes: > Thought you might be interested in this. > > My next youngest brother was the first in our family to have a > girl--Lisa Hopkins. Let me explain why that's important. My > father's father and his patriarchal line were all Christian ministers > and preachers in Tennessee and ultimately in Kansas. My father > was a student minister in Dodge City before he met my mother > (who was a daughter of pioneers from SLC). Over a period of > time, my father converted himself, with some help from my mother's > father. Anyway, my grandfather Hopkins was extremely upset when > his son joined the Mormons and married a Mormon girl. So he had > the gall to tell my mother that he hoped she would have no male > children, as he wanted none of his Hopkins line to be in the Mormon > Church. (Interestingly, the lines of all ofhis children who did not join > the Mormon Church have have since died out.) My mother's > response was exactly what you would expect from a Scottish > woman. She said, "I intend to have nine boys...and send them all > on > missions to Kansas." Well, she had five of the nine (and no > daughters), I had three (I'm the oldest), and my next brother had > one (that's nine) before any female children were born in our line! > Lisa was the first! This story is another example of what I love about Mormon culture, the wonderful variety of stories we have. (And you'd better write it down, Richard) This is one of my favorites, along with Eric Samuelsen's story about the girl who peed all over her future husband on their first date and Richard Johnson's comments on the use of hammers in Finnish outhouses. (BTW, I have been thinking of a novel about a missionary who makes the painful discovery that his mother tried to destroy his relationship to his father. I had been thinking of it in third person, but as I was driving up to Midway today (Oct. 09) in occurred to me to put it into 1st person with the missionary narrating a story about his father. I'll call it something like _Substantial Penalty for Early Withdrawal_, with an epigraph from Gen. 38:9, "And when Onan perceaved that the seed shulde not be his: therfore when he went in to his brothers wyfe, he spylled it on the grounde," (Tyndale translation), and an opening image of the missionary's father unloading a batch of wheat seed as a teenager, some spilling on the ground. As I was thinking about where to set the story--has to be someplace I'm reasonably familiar with--I thought, 'Why not have him serving in Finland?' I'll even have a chapter called, "The frog is coming to kill your husband," which, my one-time neighbor Glynn Bennion tells me, is what you get if you mispronounce the door approach they used. Gotta get steadfast old Vainamoinen in there too, somehow.) Nice to hear about Lisa's Singing. Hope it goes well. Harlow Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 10 Oct 2002 02:18:49 -0600 "J. Scott Bronson" wrote: > I would like to see all of Marvin Payne's early albums like: > > Ships of Dust > Utah > Houses and Towns > Grasshopper > > on cd because it's great stuff and ought not to disappear. Ditto that. I once tried to buy some of the older albums from Marvin himself, and they were unavailable. They need to be available again. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] _Charly_ (Film) (Review) Date: 10 Oct 2002 07:38:49 -0600 (MDT) > What objective, rational principles are used to evelaute literature? As a > philosophic objectivist I am part of that tiny minority of readers who > consider both "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" to be literary frauds--virtual > attacks on language and ratonal thought. They've become "classics" because > certain people have said they are such and that anyone who doesn't share > their opinion just "doesn't get it." In short, they are the literary > equivalent of the Emperor's new clothes. > > ROB. LAUER Here's a Dave Barry article I find to be extremely relevant to our discussion of art and what it really is: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/4213398.htm Check it out. It actually expresses how I feel about what critics tell me is art and what I really think art should be. --ivan wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Difficult Art (was: _Charly_ Film Review) Date: 10 Oct 2002 01:50:20 -0700 On Wed, 09 Oct 2002 10:01:17 -0600 margaret young writes: > Can I just be brutally honest here? It's not the Mormon culture that=20 > doesn't want art, it's the whole dang world. Flip, Margaret, I don't know if we can stand such fetchin' brutally honest language. (Or should that be, Fetch, Margaret, I don't know if we can stand such flippin' brutally honest language? Dagwoodnabit, I'm not sure about the syntax (about 30 cents/gallon) for those two words.) > The truth is, I really wish good literature would sell better than=20 > it does. I know the truth of American culture, however (and=20 > of many other cultures I've participated in), and recognize=20 > that most folks want an easy escape and simply have not=20 > cultivated the taste for the finer fare available to them. =20 And yet. I spent a good portion of Sunday morning waiting for someone to die in the electric chair. I had to be there. I don't remember why, but I had to be there. It was a two-round execution. Pass some electricity through, then wait, then pass some more through, but we couldn't seem to get to round two, and I just sat there in the chamber, all this tension building in me until I escaped from it by waking myself and realizing the unspeakable cruelty of half-executing someone, then waiting to finish the killing. Sometimes the dream takes different form, like hanging people from the railings in the stairway next to the tunnel in BYU's Fine Arts Center.=20 Here's the opening to my essay "Lucid Dreaming." >>>>> _September 14, 1998 I had the execution dream last night. I had been convicted in a game show or a show trial. The judge assured us we would be revived, but I didn=92t like the whole thing. Someone asked the judge how the executions would be carried out. He picked up a pistol, pointed it, and said, "I=92ll just shoot you from the bench." I didn=92t like that. "Now wait a minute, I don=92t want to do this, I was roped into this, I did it as a favor for someone else." The judge just laughed indulgently at me. I woke up, had to use the bathroom._ Interpreting dreams is ancient business. Was ancient business when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon threatened to cut in pieces his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers and make dungheaps of their houses if they could not tell him his dream then tell him the meaning. And ancient generations earlier when an Egyptian baker asked young Joseph the meaning of his execution dream, interpreting dreams was already ancient business. Business ancient, surely, as telling stories, as rolling around in our mouths the words and sounds that taste sweet to us. Homo loquens, Walker Percy once suggested we call our species. Loquacious, eloquent, elocution, electronic elocution. I write these words with light, fingers sending electric impulses to a central processor which sends them to a monitor, which sends them to my eyes. I publish my words, many of them, through telephone lines, electronic mail, which draws responding words through other telephone lines: electronic eloquence, electronic elocution, electro-cution. _The first time I dreamed about execution was in elementary school. My father was put in the electric chair and they threw the switch and nothing happened. At the time I thought my preventing the execution meant I was a coward, couldn=92t bear to see the story play itself out, wasn=92t brave enough to hear that story. I thought this in the dream and in waking life._ <<<<< And from later in the essay: >>>>> It seems far-fetched to suggest that people in 1940's Utah might have interpreted The Giant Joshua as attack because they were somehow aware of the destructive power in modern literature Trilling was then experiencing and preparing to write about. There were certainly more immediate causes, people still living who had experienced the Raid, some as adults, more as children, and there were the grandchildren and children of those not alive--who could still feel the wound of their parents, the pain of even tender touch. So the idea that literary currents could have affected their thinking about the book is indeed far-fetched. Almost as far-fetched as the idea that a child in grade school, perhaps not yet ten, understood that if he heard a story of dread, such as his father being killed, courage demanded he see the story through rather than alter it. Almost as far-fetched as the idea that such a child would understand that the people whose life's work it was to interpret stories felt that to be a worthy reader one had to face the devastation of literature, no flinching, no turning away. How I understood that I don=92t know. How I gave so much authority to a concept I could not have expounded I don=92t know. My father no more discussed literary theory around the kitchen table than my research accountant friend peppers dinner table conversation with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (another student research paper). Somehow I became one of those whose life=92s work is to interpret stories. Or rather, to tell and retell stories, to hear and cherish other people=92s stories, to exult in story, delight in thinking about story and stories, relish entering fictional worlds and engaging those worlds, revel in the words of those worlds and the worlds of words I am wont to wander in=97happily assonantly alliterating, cheerfully ending clauses and sentences in prepositions. <<<<< [GREEN MILE SPOILER ALERT] I think Sunday's version of this dream came from watching _The Green Mile_ on TV a couple weeks ago. One review I glanced at called the movie dishonest, and I kept wondering why. At the end, if it hasn't been obvious, it becomes obvious as they're kneeling at John Coffey's feet, bathing them with their tears, that this is the story of the Crucifixion from the crucifiers' POV. The scene was so blatantly symbolic I could understand why someone would call it dishonest. After everything Coffey has done for the warden, no one even pretends to search for a way out of the situation? Come on. Crap! The only reason that movie ends that way is so the narrator can play Ancient Mariner. The film makers (and maybe Stephen King) have wrenched the story into an allegory with a nice Ancient Mariner twist, but they're telling it in a realistic idiom, and what happens is not realistic. (Of course, I'm inviting contradiction here.) [End Spoiler Alert] The point is, I don't like stories about execution, but they keep finding their way into my writing. Even the RMMLA paper I'm revising has execution sneak its way in. I also find stories about miscarriages of justice upsetting, and stories about parents bereft of living children, or families torn apart. Which is why it took me a while to get around to=20 _Holes_ by Louis Sachar, and why I would have been apprehensive about Sharlee Glenn's _Circle Dance_ if I'd known the subject matter, and why there was added tension for me in Laurel Brady's _Say You Are My Sister_. And then there's that upsetting chapter in _Bound for Canaan_ about Sam Joe Harvey's lynching I read yesterday on the bus. I suspect that sometimes people avoid difficult works of art not because they "want an easy escape and simply have not cultivated the taste for the finer fare available to them," but because, like those people who stayed home the day Jacob preached about the unchastity of some men in the community, they simply don't want their souls harrowed up. Certain things resonate at a visceral level, independent of whether they're well-done or not. My wife can't stand to watch _Brigham City_ because there's so much tension in the film. She doesn't deny it's a well-made film. My niece's husband doesn't like it because it has a cereal killer (first it was Cap'n Crunch smashed to flour, then Frankeberry fizzled into froth) performing priesthood ordinances. It doesn't matter for him that the film hardly condones that (what sane film _would_ want people eating Cap'n Crunch, after all?), the film simply touches something visceral that he doesn't want touched. The film affects me in a different way, touching something I want touched, filling a hunger and a thirst for me. So the film resonates viscerally for me too. I know we can develop a taste for challenging and complex art, but I'm not sure we choose what touches or nourishes us, what sets our internal catgut vibrating. I do know there are some things I'm not quite ready to read. More than 25 years ago Mike Lyon was teaching our Sunny Schoodle class (I was in high school) and he told us about Jerzy Kozinski's _The Painted Bird_. I saw a copy on BYU bookstore's remainder table and bought it, but it's moved around Provo in various apartments, up to Seattle, back to Provo and out to PG without being read. Someday. Someday, too I'll read Tadeusz Borowski's _This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen_, and get past the first line of Jakov Lind's "Soul of Wood": "Those who had no papers entitling them to live lined up to die." Harlow S. Clark In literature, as in our dreams, death does not exist. --Isaac Bashevis Singer ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lwilkins@fas.harvard.edu Subject: Re: [AML] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 10 Oct 2002 10:17:26 -0400 Ask him abouthis mission experience and how it shows up in his writing. I'm thinking in particular of his story "Opening Day." Laraine Wilkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Reviews and Critics (was: Charly Review) Date: 10 Oct 2002 09:57:05 -0600 Bill Willson misread my post: >"my opinion is absolutely correct in every =3D >particular," is, in my opinion, just a little over the top.=20 My opinion was that I didn't care for the novel. On that single, limited = issue, I'm completely right. I reserve the right to declare myself an = expert on what I don't like. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Best/Favorite Film Polls Date: 10 Oct 2002 10:24:24 -0700 Regarding the poll on Deseret Book's website and the audience favorite for best LDS film, isn't it interesting that in a marketing driven site, the run away leader is a film for which Deseret Book produced the book and holds the rights? Yup, like we've discussed earlier...it's all about marketing. Also interesting...it's very easy to vote multiple times in that poll...I voted five times for BRIGHAM CITY. Don't think too badly of me for "cheating". I have five people in my household and we all felt BRIGHAM CITY was far and away the leader of the pack. But the question is raised: how much faith can you have in an easily skewed poll? Maybe Deseret Book employees account for five hundred of the votes on the website. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jennifer Vaughn Subject: RE: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners Date: 10 Oct 2002 11:08:55 -0600 I'm a psychotherapist working with adults with mental illnesses and/or who have been terribly abused. I count it a bad day when I don't feel the Spirit. But I, too, am a bit reluctant to share my experiences without knowing how they'll be treated (i.e., is the publishing company professional, etc.). --Jennifer Vaughn Breinholt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 10 Oct 2002 13:17:50 -0600 I've heard Doug complain that much of modern fiction is nothing more than vignettes. Garrison Keillor says much the same thing. I'd like to hear what Doug thinks is missing from modern fiction--not just Mormon fiction. Which writers would he recommend? [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 10 Oct 2002 11:19:21 -0600 I'm so grateful to Preston for keeping us abreast of the latest development= s in Mormon filmmaking, and I really thought his poll was interesting. =20 I've been thinking a bit about Mormon filmmaking, and have found myself = noticing something that appears in some of the recent releases. They are = what i call, Death wish scenes, scenes that all by themselves completely = wreck the movies in which they appear.=20 In The Other Side of Heaven, the death wish scene is what I call the Pimp = scene. Sailors come to the island from this rich guy's boat, to see if = they can use booze and money to entice island girls into going with them = back out to the boat, for obviously salacious purposes. The old minister = guy stands up to the boat pimps. So does the bishop. Our Hero, Groberg, = does nothing, even after the boat pimps rough the bishop up. This scene is just completely nuts. First of all, it's not in the book, = so you can't blame the source. It makes the movie's hero look like a = complete wimp. It shows behavior that no actual moral human being would = ever ever engage in. After that moment, we have no reason to like or = trust our protagonist at all. Casual movie-goers responses to OSOH tended = to be "I just didn't find the main character very exciting." I maintain = that that scene is the main reason why, though folks may not have = articulated it. In Singles Ward there's another death wish scene. Our main character, = Jon, a stand-up comic, has been coming back to church because he's got = this thing for a girl, Cammie. They start dating, and it's getting = serious. On the day she gets her mission call, she comes to see his act, = which she has seen before. Only, he's bombing. He's telling not-very-funn= y jokes about cigarettes and how bad they are for you, and no one's = laughing. So he moves to his A material, Mormon jokes, and they're a lot = funnier. These jokes aren't offensive or vulgar; they're mild polygamy = jokes and stuff. ("I was in a musical at BYU. Seven Brides for Seven = Brothers. Only in this version, it was Seven Brides for One Brother." = Rimshot.) Only Cammie gets tremendously offended, leaves the show early, = and dumps him in the parking lot afterwards, weeping copiously, with this = tight, nasty, self-righteous expression on her face. =20 It's the scene that wrecks the movie. It's the death wish scene. Number = one rule of romantic comedy, you have to root for the couple to get = together. But if she's such a humorless drip that she gets that offended = at jokes that mild, well, who could like someone like that? From that = moment on, everyone in the audience is thinking 'good riddance, dude.' = And so when he gives up stand-up (why do characters in Mormon movies, when = repenting, always end up giving up something they're good at like this?) = and marries Cammie and becomes a screenwriter, it feels tragic. I kept = wondering, with a wife who gets offended like that at practically = everything, what kinds of screenplays is he going to write? =20 Singles Ward is a fairly engaging romantic comedy, for about an hour. The = Mormon jokes would go over the heads of anyone not in the culture, but it = still might be fairly amusing. But the movie does two things that, = frankly, made me, on watching it, not want to be a Mormon anymore. First = of all, it trashes some aspects of Mormon culture that are actually pretty = wonderful, like imaginative and thoughtful reactivation efforts. Second, = it affirms other aspects of Mormon culture that, in my opinion, are things = we need to get over and done with. Like our major league case of = self-righteousness. =20 Case in point, in Singles Ward, EVIL is always indicated the same way, as = a can of beer. It becomes this repeated signifier for corruption and = moral rot; someone being offered a brewski. Tell me if I've got my = theology wrong, but IMHO, beer drinking has NO moral significance for = folks who aren't LDS. (Obviously, inebriation might have moral significanc= e; I don't want to suggest that drinking is always morally neutral.) And = of course, Singles Ward consistently hammers us over the head with the = idea that LDS is best, and nowhere in any of these films is there the = slightest suggestion that someone who isn't LDS might not have valid and = genuine reasons to not want Mormonism in their lives. I don't think Charly has a death wish scene, not per se. I loathe the = fact that all non-LDS people in it (especially Charly's parents and = ex-boyfriend) are shown as venal, selfish, unspiritual and shallow. And = morally dubious. The one exception is Charly's grandmother, but even her = explanation for why she doesn't want to be a Mormon rings false. =20 When Sam tells Charly that he doesn't want "used merchandise," that had = the potential to be a death wish scene, but in the next scene, Sam's Mom = slaps him down for it, which redeems it. We can watch characters doing = idiotic things, as long as the movie doesn't agree with them. Sam's a = self-righteous jerk, but the movie thinks he is one too, so that's okay. = And he gets over it. =20 Bear in mind, my definition of death wish scenes is not that they're = scenes that sort of don't work very well. I'm talking about scenes that = wreck the movie. I'm talking about scenes where you wonder if the = screenwriters are completely insane. I'm reading a lot of them in some of = the screenplays that folks have sent me, scene where people do things that = Mormon culture doesn't think twice about, but that are actually awful, us = vs. them scenes, we actually really are better than you scenes. Really, = y'all, we've got to start looking at this culture of ours a lot more = critically. =20 Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: William Morris Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 10 Oct 2002 13:11:38 -0700 (PDT) --- Paris Anderson wrote: > But your experiment will prove only one thing--it all comes down to > marketing. The established publishing houses know how to market (for > lack > of a better term) low-ball Mormon literature to Mormon audiences. The > market they've set-up won't work for high-ball Mormon literature. > > In order for your experiment to be successful you will have to create > and > nurture an audience. You will have to find the people who would be > interested in buying a copy and advertise directly to them. First: I admire Paris' experiments in the arena of book making Second: If someone decides to make a serious try for the Mormon literary market (that middle road we often talk about --I'm not interested in other genres at the moment), I'd be happy to do some free consulting work. I haven't done any book marketing and do not have an academic background in the field, but I know a little about marketing and a lot about pr and know of some good resources on the subject. Drop me a line privately. I'm not at a point where I can devote serious time and resources to the project, but I could probably give some good advice and point people in a positive direction. ~~William Morris, Mormo-American pr flack __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Lisa Hopkins (Singer) Date: 10 Oct 2002 16:23:25 -0600 That's a great story, Richard. Thanks for telling us about your niece Lisa Hopkins. Here's hoping La Boheme is still playing in New York in the spring when we are there. Utah Opera is also doing La Boheme, but I would much rather see your niece Lisa. She sounds wonderful. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Covell, Jason" Subject: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 11 Oct 2002 09:57:57 +1000 > On tastes in literature, Clarke Goble wrote: > >Put an other way, how many people here - even those > grumbling about lack of > >literary tastes - willingly read _Finnegan's Wake_ or > _Ulysses_ by Joyce? > >Yet that is one of the top novels of the last century. > > What objective, rational principles are used to evaluate > literature? As a > philosophic objectivist I am part of that tiny minority of > readers who > consider both "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" to be literary > frauds--virtual > attacks on language and rational thought. They've become > "classics" because > certain people have said they are such and that anyone who > doesn't share > their opinion just "doesn't get it." In short, they are the literary > equivalent of the Emperor's new clothes. > > ROB. LAUER Ah, the Emperor's new clothes argument. You know, I remember in my student days whenever Joyce came up in discussion, either in class or in some artsy soiree, there was always one person in the group whose face would darken at the repeated name of _Ulysses_ or _Finnegan's Wake_. Finally, it would become too much and the outburst would come - "I think Joyce is a fraud!" or some similar expression of disdain on behalf of plain-thinkers everywhere. I always tried to be gentle about handling this. Yes, he's not for everyone, and I don't intend that to sound snobbish. Plenty of highly cultured, well-read, intelligent people don't like Joyce. I happen to love him. But there's one thing people forget - he's an IRISH WRITER, and his rhythms, cadences, music are so quintessentially Irish that to forget that is to miss out on just about everything about him. Want to hear what I mean? Listen to a reading of Joyce read by an Irish actor - it's almost essential. My point is that if you don't understand what he is in essence, it is possible to fall into the trap of thinking that Joyce is only the sum of his literary critics. Now, to try a mental experiment: take, say, a couple of dozen of the volumes, journals and theses of the thousands written about him, and try to write a book that fits all the interpretations and theories, all the deconstructions and obscure references therein. What do you get? I can only shudder at the thought - it would be as woeful and abysmally fraudulent as anything Joyce's critics could describe. But it wouldn't have anything to do with Joyce. I first heard a radio lecture and reading on Joyce when I was about 10, and I've loved him ever since. I think the impishness of what he had done appealed to me at the time (still does), but I was equally affected by the passion and joy with which the lecturer described his own encounters with Joyce. I wouldn't dare to make the claim to have read _Finnegan's Wake_ from start to finish - it's more like a treasury, with the bits I know and love and like to read aloud (I've done a few at parties), the bits I'm getting to know, and the many bits in between I haven't even discovered yet. But I've got a lifetime for that. Jason Covell ************************************************************************** This message is intended for the named addressee(s) only. It may be confidential. If you receive this message in error please notify us immediately by return mail and delete the message (and any attachments). Neither the NSW Department of Community Services nor the NSW Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care are responsible for any changes to this message, or the consequences of any changes to this message. ************************************************************************** -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BroHam000@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 10 Oct 2002 21:59:36 EDT Zion is going to be a really exciting place, culturally as well as in every= =20 other way. What are we missing here? Frankly, I think you "western" (as in= =20 western USA) Mormons are more shackled by a so called Mormon culture than= the=20 rest of us. Still, I can't help but think that when President Benson spoke= =20 of infusing the world of "culture" with Mormon art, literature, etc., he=20 really was being visionary; in other words, it really is possible to make= our=20 culture a vibrant thing, worth sharing...and I think it is a vibrant thing. = =20 You know, I've really been debating about whether to get into this=20 discussion...sometimes it has sounded very large-and-spacious-building-ish= to=20 me, particularly in speaking scornfully of Charly, the book and the movie. = =20 I've never read the book, don't particularly feel called upon to see the=20 move...I loved "GA" and particularly "BC"...does the fact that someone else= =20 really feels uplifted and enlightened by reading or watching Charley point= to=20 some vital character flaw on his part? I don't think so. I remember= reading=20 a story in the Ensign a few years ago about a black lady in Chicago, I=20 believe. She was converted to the Gospel, but found herself seriously=20 wondering where her place was (I think she had been called to be the RS=20 Pres. or something). I can't remember whether it was a dream or what kind= of=20 answer to prayer, but her answer was that there's room in Heaven (and in the= =20 Kingdom of God on the earth) for all God's children. I remember having a=20 friend of mine, whom I had met as a missionary in Italy, visit my house= once.=20 There was one of the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road pictures on the late show. = I=20 thought it was incredibly lame; she thought it was hilarious. It was fun=20 watching her delight. Can't we just be gracious, recognizing that it's okay= =20 if someone honestly IS edified by some piece of literature or cinema that we= =20 find superfluous? It's not like anyone has a corner on edification, or on= =20 the myriads of ways it can come to the myriads of types of God's children=20 that fill this earth and this Church. =20 Linda Hyde -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 10 Oct 2002 19:23:57 -0700 I'm not clear why the Deseret News would take such a strong stand against the movie. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so out of place. Can someone explain this to me? -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Re: [AML-Mag] Mary Whitmer Video Query Date: 10 Oct 2002 23:28:27 -0500 You are referring to "Fourth Witness: The Mary Whitmer Story" (1996) The video was directed by Spencer Filichia while at BYU, made at LDS Motion Picture Studios. It can be ordered from BYU Creative Works. http://www.creativeworks.byu.edu/catalog/index.cgi?userid=102-1034309054-868 &TM003=Video Filichia is very nice. I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from you. Let us know off-list if you'd like us to forward your contact info to him. He lives in Burbank. Preston, ldsfilm.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] CLEAGE, _What Looks Like Crazy_ Date: 10 Oct 2002 21:25:15 -0700 What is the book about? 10/9/2002 10:34:03 PM, "Tracie Laulusa" wrote: -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kellene Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 10 Oct 2002 21:30:38 -0600 In Lee Benson's article: > > It makes you wonder, what's next? "Johnny Lingo" in its expanded, > big-screen version? Will they move "The Testaments" to the 16-plex? Will > "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" be coming soon to a theater near you? This is actually in filming right now in New Zealand, if what I've heard is true. The Johnny Lingo story is not a Mormon story--it's one of the most popular stories in the world, which makes sense--it's message is solid, moral, inspiring, etc. Of course, the seminary version of it lacked some of what we would expect today, but I've been looking forward to the movie's release, which I think is sometime next year. Kellene Adams -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 10 Oct 2002 22:39:18 -0700 Chris Bigelow wrote: (My latest scam is that, while reading scriptures out loud to my wife every night, I've started leaving off the last half or so of chapters. It's Isaiah, so she doesn't notice the difference. If anyone tells her, I will maim you.) Now THAT is a hilarious bit that could be worked into a sitcom, novel or whatever. If nobody elses steals it and uses it, I will! Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 10 Oct 2002 22:59:42 -0700 Chris Bigelow asked: What, am I supposed to just stop (or drastically reduce) reading, > listening, and watching and instead fill all my spare time playing Candyland > with my kids or mowing widows' lawns or whatever? Or buck for some kind of > Church calling that eats up more time? (Teaching elders quorum once a month > is sweeeeet, baby, though I wish we had sacrament meeting first so I could > prepare during the talks instead of carving 20 minutes out of my busy > culture-vulturing the evening before.) Selfishness is a major problem we all have to deal with, but I'm going to assume from all that Chris has said that that isn't his problem. I think, like many in this culture, he's suffering from needless and inappropriate guilt because what he likes is different from what some sources of Mormon culture suggest he should like. Personally, I believe God favors the pursuit of excellence in all areas of art. So Chris, I say pick something you love and become excellent at it. Humor and satire could work for you. Look what they did for J. Golden Kimball! Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Steve Perry" Subject: [AML] Marvin Payne Albums (was: Lost Mormon Literary Classics) Date: 10 Oct 2002 23:03:53 -0700 On Thursday, October 10, 2002, at 01:18 AM, D. Michael Martindale wrote: > "J. Scott Bronson" wrote: > >> I would like to see all of Marvin Payne's early albums like: >> >> Ships of Dust >> Utah >> Houses and Towns >> Grasshopper >> >> on cd because it's great stuff and ought not to disappear. > > Ditto that. I once tried to buy some of the older albums from Marvin > himself, and they were unavailable. They need to be available again. Go to www.marvinpayne.com and your wishes can be fulfilled. Steve -- skperry@mac.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lwilkins@fas.harvard.edu (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] PLUMMER, _Second Wind_ & _Waltzing_ (Reviews) Date: 14 Oct 2002 20:54:32 -0500 Tom Plummer. _Second Wind: Variations on a Theme of Growing Older_. [Salt Lake City]: Shadow Mountain Press, 2000. $16.95. 186 pp. cloth --. _Waltzing to a Different Strummer_. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 2002. $9.95. 184 pp. paperback With _Second Wind: Variations on a Theme of Growing Older_ (2000) and _Waltzing to a Different Strummer_ (2002), Plummer has published four books of personal essays to date. The first, _Eating Chocolates and Dancing in the Kitchen_ (1998), won AML's award for personal essay; the second, _Don't Bite Me, I'm Santa Claus_ (1999), appeared only a year later. At the rate of almost a book a year now, one might expect to see a score of works from him in the next decade. What those works look like could be different from the humor that has marked the quality of Plummer's writing thus far. In considering these two works together, I detect a shift in tone from the witty to the contemplative. Perhaps Plummer is just interested in writing something a little different. But whether by author's choice or publisher's decree, the audience for these works seems to be part of the shift. The change raises some interesting questions for the status of the personal essay in Mormon literature which I hope will be addressed by the end of my review. In _Second Wind_, Plummer assembles a highly-readable assortment of personal essays that weave together stories and observations about life at various stages. The overriding tone of the stories is funny. These are the kinds of stories that even my prepubescent daughter can laugh at. From the perspective of a small child to that of a middle-aged man facing his mid-life crisis, from the view of a man approaching his retirement years to observations about his father's untimely death, Plummer explores the theme of aging from multiple perspectives. He achieves a tone that reflects the kind of wry exuberance that one might expect from an academic who's looking back at his life and figured out he has nothing to prove any more--it's just time to laugh about everything and celebrate a little. _Second Wind_ is organized in four parts, reflecting different stages in the process of growing older, plus an introduction. The introduction is written by Louise Plummer, award-winning author of young adult literature, and Tom's wife. The bulk of the book which follows plays like a symphony that achieves a rhythm quite extraordinary for such a casual work. With a mix of personal essays short and long, lists, letters, conversations, and even a recitation, Plummer achieves no small feat in a small space. Although some of the essays border on sentimentality, and a few end a little too abruptly, the book manages to transform everyday experience into something quite profound. "Signs and Symptoms" begins with anecdotes about shoes: the Doc Martens store he shops with his son, and the slippers he unwittingly wears to go out to eat. Quoting German writers Goethe and Jean Paul on old men, he shows the practical applications of knowing the works of dead white males. The next piece switches gears in the form of "a list compiled by Tom and Louise and Al and Ginny over light supper at the Urban Bistro." Such a smorgasbord of styles is never irritating; it's underplayed and helps keep things fresh. Part two is "Separation and Reunion" and includes one piece with the titillating title "You Aren't Supposed to Smell the Same." One of my personal favorite pieces is in Part 3's "Lamentation and Defiance-- A Lament for Two Aging Voices." It is a sort of poem meant to be read aloud, "preferably by two people in their mid-fifties or older." It recites a litany of ailments from A to Z, with banal cries of woe punctuating the scientific prose from a medical handbook. It's the perfect piece for a ward or family reunion talent show--I don't know if you would need permission from the author. Another of my favorites is "Reflections on Conducting My Virtual Funeral." Personally, I've never thought about my own funeral--perhaps it's a guy thing (girls dream about their perfect wedding). In spite of the unflagging delightful humor, Plummer is also able to write poignantly. One of the most memorable prose moments for me is in the essay about a singing canary from Tom and Louise's graduate school years in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Living with Reality" tells the story of Fang, the bird who failed to thrive once he arrived home from the pet store. After Louise lost interest in the bird that refused to sing, his talons began to fall off one by one as Tom watched the bird slowly fade from life. Plummer continues: One morning I awoke to silence. Fang was not thumping around as usual. I found him on his back, stumps up. I gently put him in a brown lunch bag and buried him at the corner of the apartment building just behind the sandbox. Then I went to Louise, who was still in bed. "Fang died," I said. "I buried him out by the sandbox." My voice broke. Louise held me for a while until I felt better. She didn't cry though. The image of the short-lived pet bird on its back with stumps in the air continues to stay with me. It's the author's tender moments of vulnerability, like this one, that lend the book its real appeal. The strongest single piece of the book is in the fourth and last section, "Conciliation." The essay "Above the Canopy of Stars" is the longest in the collection, and suitably appears next to last. It is the most overtly religious, and it affirms faith in a way that highlights the purpose of the book as a whole. Plummer begins with stories of old people which reassure him of the resilience of the spirit that is possible in later life. But he also recounts story after story of grief and pain, of his own distress in mid-life and the way out he found through a Bible scripture. Finally, Plummer summarizes the power stories and words hold for him: I cling to their story and others like it. I cling to the story of the man who begs Jesus to fill in the gaps of his unbelief. I cling to the words of Job: "I know that my redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25). I cling to these because I know that when I face the last moments of my life, I will be weak. Unwittingly, perhaps, Plummer describes the power of his own book. The craft of storytelling is his forte; his are stories to cling to. The more poignant tenor of his storytelling dominates in _Waltzing to a Different Strummer_. Plummer has his reasons for maintaining a more serious mood in this tome, explaining that it was an answer to a friend's question posed in 1992. In the face of a brain tumor, Plummer inevitably began to take stock of his life and make changes. The friend's question was this: ?How do you manage to stay changed?? Plummer's short answer is this: "I've had to reeducate myself." More overtly religious than _Second Wind_, this book is an account of the searching that brings him to a process of "reconnecting with ancestors; locating past friends; putting [him]self in harmony with God and his world; laying anger to rest; ... striving to become one with God, his children, and his world, and becoming whole with [him]self, coming to at-one- ment." The essay that follows, "Do You Just Laugh All the Time?", suggests that it is not necessarily the brain tumor that has Plummer writing more soberly. It is the need for variety. He explains: "It's clear to me that if we just laughed all the time, we would laugh while we ate, spitting food all over the table; we'd laugh when we brushed our teeth, drooling toothpaste down our chins; and we'd laugh ourselves sick at funerals." Of course, his desire for a bit of sobriety is expressed in rather humorous terms, but he successfully makes the shift by quoting Nietzsche: "'Inverse cripples,' the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche calls them: people who get so attached to doing one thing, who are so locked into a routine, so accustomed to using one hand, one foot, one ear that the whole body becomes that one part--a hand or a foot or an eye." Making the connection to Paul's discourse in Corinthians about the body needing all its various parts would be almost predictable at this point. But Plummer restrains himself. Instead he tells stories about his students, his fishing buddies, and invokes eating as a metaphor of achieving a necessary variety in life. The discussion of Paul doesn't appear until a much later essay "They're My Gifts, I'm Afraid." The choice to quote from the unfamiliar translation in the _New English Bible_ lends a wonderful touch. But it also forges a tie to the earlier discussion of Nietzsche and lets the attentive reader consider the connections between ?inverse cripples? and the Christian community. With these essays, Plummer achieves a pathos that is not quite so available in his earlier work. I cried more than I laughed. The essay "Finding Paths to At- one-ment" reminded me of my own guilt in neglecting those who have previously found reason to connect with me, especially older relatives. And in "Christ's Love for Each Person," the story of Patrick, the difficult teenaged son of some friends, who decided to go on a mission but returned early in a state of frustration and anger, is particularly heart-wrenching. His unexpected reunion with his family tells something of the reconciliation of children estranged from heavenly parents. This is perhaps the overriding theme of this book, for it ends with the essay about Tom's reconciliation with his own sons in "The Hearts of the Fathers." The story of an unexpected encounter with the dentist on the same day as his son Sam's leads him to consider the symbolic connection with his father through the unlikely object of a razor. Passing on the razor from one generation to another becomes a symbol of reconciliation for him. The essays in _Waltzing_ could be sacrament meeting talks. One would be hard- pressed to use the essays from _Second Wind_ in church meetings, mainly because of their humor. But the effacement of Mormonism in _Second Wind_ leaves me wondering about the possibilities for achieving broader recognition of the Mormon experience with an audience that appreciates the experience of the divine as well as of the comical. There could be a certain value in being a ?fool for God,? but Plummer does not want that playfulness to be associated with his Mormonism. Perhaps this is more a function of the publishing company. Shadow Mountain Press is billed as "the national trade publishing and music imprint of Deseret Book Company" which produces books of general interest. Perhaps this explains why Plummer never uses the word "Mormon" in his more humorous work, in spite of the fact that he mentions growing up and later settling in Salt Lake City, taking trips across the country to Utah for conference, attending the University of Utah, and working at Brigham Young University as chair of the Department of Humanities. I find this effacement technique to be downright irritating. It allows Mormon readers to be self-congratulatory at knowing the tradition behind the experience, while at the same time allowing them a peak at how Mormons might appear to "outsiders." I'm not sure "outsiders" would be receptive to a style that refuses to explain; it comes off as patronizing. Let me cite an example. Plummer's humor is particularly well-wrought in the touching, hilarious story about the woman whose sister died and was about to be buried without her having a chance to say good-bye. The confusions of the funeral attendees might have been more readily explained if a slight but significant difference in traditional Mormon services had been described as specifically Mormon rather than as generically "different." If Plummer is serving as the woman's "clergyman," why not call it a Mormon bishop? Examples abound in _Second Wind_. Plummer told me himself one time that it's a good idea not to let people know you're Mormon, at least don't wear it on your sleeve; he could tell stories. However, it seems to me that effacing one's Mormonness in stories of a personal nature is at least unnecessary, at worst confusing. And if you have stories to tell, why not do it here? If Plummer mentions Utah, he may as well mention he's Mormon. He can still reach a wider audience. Besides, it could be fashionable to be Mormon these days--just ask Mitt Romney fans. _Waltzing_, on the other hand, is designed to reach an exclusively Mormon audience. Published by Bookcraft, the arm of Deseret Book aimed for Mormons, the book also doesn't mention Mormonism, but is full of Mormon-specific language. References like "bishop," "home teaching," "President Spencer W. Kimball," "Ensign," and "Satan's plan" can only be understood by Mormons if left unexplained. These are clearly essays for the insider. But perhaps there these texts can have universal appeal. Such a reaching for a broader audience would require some explanatory remarks. Perhaps the editors were too weary over the idea of including a massive section of footnotes. Figuring out which terms need explanation and which don't might be even more wearisome. But Plummer seems close to achieving it in _Second Wind_, in the essay that most closely resembles those of _Waltzing_. His best essay in _Second Wind_, the most overtly religious, is also the most touching. In it, he manages to explain that a mission is what brought him to live in Europe for 30 months, though this fact was omitted in an earlier piece in which he describes traveling with his provincial parents when they came to pick him up after his long stay in Austria. Can there be room to be playful as well as profound in recounting the stories that come out of religiously-motivated experience? I hope someday someone, or some publisher, will be brave enough to follow Richard Dutcher's lead in the Mormon film world and do it more consistently from a Mormon point of view. Plummer is perhaps forging new paths for the personal essay in Mormon literature. If I had to make a choice, I would say that the essays in _Waltzing_ are much stronger. But _Second Wind_ is downright hilarious, and would probably make a better gift for members of my family. If Eugene England was ponderous, and Mary Lythgoe Bradford confessional, then Plummer falls somewhere in between with a distinctive sense of humor thrown into the mix. Elouise Bell might have been his tutor on the humor front, but she seems to operate more in the function of cultural critic; more likely his wife Louise influences his style. Perhaps the more restrained manner in _Waltzing_ is a defensive gesture; Plummer may want people to know he has other sides to him as well. But somewhere in between his humor and his religion, there may be a collection of essays waiting to be born that manages to reconcile both dimensions of his writing to show the wider world that committed Mormons can write simultaneously for the outside world and for their own. (Laraine Wilkins) -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paul Pehrson" Subject: [AML] _My Turn on Earth_ at Center Street Theater (Orem, UT) Date: 11 Oct 2002 00:36:40 -0600 Tonight (Thursday) I went and saw _My Turn on Earth_ at the Center Street Theater in Orem. I must be the only native-born Utahn to have never seen the play or heard the music (my girlfriend thought that was a good thing, probably because in musicals like _Joseph_ I tend to sing the entire musical WITH the characters). I give the show two thumbs up all the way around. I loved it! The music was great, the acting was wonderful; it was well directed, well cast, and I really, really enjoyed it. One of my favorite moments was during the song where the characters are explaining the conflict in the pre-mortal existence between Satan and Jesus. For the first time in my life, I really began to ponder what it must have been like to be there and listen to Satan and Jesus each present his plan. The play was technically well executed. They used the stage very well. They included the audience in the play in such a way that I found enrapturing. I can't say enough good things about it. If you haven't seen it yet, (and you are in the Wasatch Front area) you really should. It runs M, W-Sat at 7:30. Wednesdays are half-price day, so every ticket is only $5.00. This is a play your whole family really will enjoy. Thank you, Center Street Theater. I'll be back with my whole family for this show and we'll be at your future shows as well. N. Paul Pehrson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 11 Oct 2002 01:27:23 -0600 Christopher Bigelow wrote: > > Here's some pretty strong words against _Charly_ in the Deseret News: > > 'Charly' will make you cry > By Lee Benson > Deseret News columnist Lee Benson is my kind of guy! Once I see the film (which ought to be cleansing penance for a multitude of my sins), I may not be able to write a review, because it would only be redundant after Benson's. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Mary Whitmer Video Query Date: 11 Oct 2002 00:20:58 -0700 I bought our copy at our local LDS book store. "The Fourth Witness" is the correct title, I believe. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA jana wrote: >I'm looking for a video I saw a few years ago--perhaps on KBYU. It's = >the story of Mary Whitmer and her opportunity to view the gold plates. = >If I remember correctly, it's called "The Fourth Witness". If anyone = >knows what I'm remembering or where I could get a copy, I'd appreciate = >it--I'm teaching Chruch History in Seminary and am craving any stories = >about women that I can find! > >Thanks :) >Jana Remy >UCIrvine >www.enivri.com > > >-- >AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Publishing Options Date: 11 Oct 2002 10:57:12 -0600 At 11:30 PM 10/8/02 -0700, you wrote: >Maybe LDS "hopeful" endings don't work because we aren't willing >to create the real pain on the page to make it work. I think you've identified the source of the blandness that makes so much Mormon fiction unpalatable. You need that dark background to make the triumphant parts stand out. Shakespeare did this in his comedies, even a raucous one such as The Comedy of Errors, basically slapstick. When Dutcher's sheriff/bishop hero cried over what he'd had to do, it was moving -- and cathartic. One thing I dislike about so much modern "entertainment" is that it shows killing people as just another thing to do. I like a story in which the characters get some resolution and some growth. BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character could be a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be married? -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Villains in Movies Date: 11 Oct 2002 12:05:25 -0600 At 04:57 PM 10/9/02 -0500, you wrote: >." And in the October 14th, 2002 >issue of Newsweek features a review that tells how Sandler >"will also make it to Utah to confront the extortionist >(Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has sent four menacing Mormon >brothers to threaten his life..." Gee, that sounds like the way Zane Grey portrayed Mormons all those years ago in Riders of the Purple Sage. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 11 Oct 2002 12:15:59 -0600 I'm really curious about this DVD business. I am decidedly behind the times, but when I went to buy _Brigham City_ at Media Play, it was ONLY on DVD. I had already looked for it in some LDS bookstores without success. What's the deal here? Are those of us who still have 8-track tapes hidden away going to have to move from VHS to DVD's in order to see the movies we want? Who's in charge of that conspiracy? And Richard, I'm sort of assuming that LDS bookstores would include any store that sells LDS products--which should include WalMart (in Utah), K-Mart, and Media Play. Hoping to get the movie before November 3, Bruce's birthday. I'm not sure if there's a hidden message in my getting him a movie about the serial murders of redheaded women, or if I should be disturbed that he enjoyed it so much when he saw it on the big screen, but that's what he's getting. RichardDutcher@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 10/8/02 9:45:42 PM Mountain Daylight Time, > barbara@techvoice.com writes: > > << I can't wait until Brigham > City comes out on VHS >> > > The VHS should hit the shelves (at LDS bookstores only) within the next few > weeks. Finally! > > Richard -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Doug Thayer Interview Questions? Date: 11 Oct 2002 12:19:40 -0600 I already know what he thinks of it, having been in attendance when Gregg Peck premiered the video at his home. He was very pleased with the production and had nothing but good things to say. Lisa Peck adapted the book to the screen. Thom Duncan >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com > >Ask him what he thinks about "Only Once," the Peck/DeVilliers >adaptation of his book _Greg & Kellie_. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: Re: [AML] Hear, hear Date: 11 Oct 2002 12:18:41 -0700 Hear, hear: Meaning A shout of support or agreement. Origin Originated in the British parliament in the 18th century as a contraction of 'hear him, hear him'. It is still often heard there although sometimes used ironically these days. Regards, Bill Willson ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 12:08 AM > Hear, hear! > > (Or here, here, I'm not clear which one is right, and why. I await > enlightenment.) > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Sam Taylor Inquiry Date: 11 Oct 2002 13:15:53 -0600 Hey y'all Does anyone on the list know who holds the rights to Sam Taylor's works, = or do you know who might know? We (that is to say BYU Theatre) are = interested in pursuing a stage adaptation of Heaven Only Knows. If you = do, pass it on, wouldya? Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] _Peculiarities_ (Performance) Date: 11 Oct 2002 15:04:11 -0600 Just a little heads up. My new play Peculiarities is going to be performed at the Villa Playhouse = Theatre in Springville Oct. 17-19, 24-26. The Villa is at 254 S Main. = Performances will begin at 7:30, and tickets are 7 dollars for students = and seniors, 8 for general admission. Peculiarities is a tragi-comedy about, well, sex. Mormonism and sexuality = is probably more accurate. It tells four stories, weaves in and out of = them, each about a young couple involved in things that maybe aren't such = a great idea. I don't want to give too much away: one of the stories, = NCMO, is about a couple who get together to make out, even though they're = both officially dating other people. There are three other stories sort of = like that one. If the play works, it should be pretty funny in some = places, hopefully kinda thought-provoking, and pretty sad in conclusion. = That's what I'm aiming for, anyway. Tony Gunn is directing, and we have a wonderful cast, including Jess = Harward, Jeremy Selim and Susanna Florence. =20 It's being produced by VIP Arts, the Villa, and Under the Radar Productions= , which is a little production company I started a couple years ago to do = shows that are Mormon in theme, but not really produceable at BYU or other = mainstream venues. Nauvoo Theatrical Society might be interested in a few = years, but they've got to establish their audience base first. I thank = heaven there's a Bill Brown on this earth, so that shows like this can = indeed find a space. I hope you're able to make it. It's a play I'm proud of, and I think the = production is going to be a strong one. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 11 Oct 2002 18:37:33 -0600 Christopher Bigelow wrote: > So why don't I feel that spirit any more that supposedly compensates for all > the cultural shortcomings and emptiness? I've been trying to figure out why my own viewpoint seems so fundamentally different from yours despite our overwhelming agreement on most of the specifics, and I think I've stumbled on an idea. It seems that you see these itches for "other" cultural stimuli as what you do *instead* of being Mormon, where I see the search for these other artistic/cultural stimuli as what I do *while* being Mormon. To me being Mormon not only allows the search for a wide variety of different cultural/artistic inputs, but actively demands it. That I find more artistic sustenance in _Pulp Fiction_ than I do in _Charly_ only means that I am, in fact, an individual who sees and feels and experiences differently than other people do. But it never occurs to me to condemn Mormon culture as bereft for not producing _Pulp Fiction_ because I don't see works produced under the aegis of "Mormonism" as either inherently more or less valuable--either in spiritual or artistic terms--than those produced outside of it. A thing has value as it impacts me; part of what I am is a (reasonably ordinary) Mormon. If there is *anything* virtuous, lovely, *or* of good report *or* praiseworthy, I see it as part of my Mormonism--an aspect of my Mormon culture--that I seek after those things. It's what I do as a Mormon, not instead of being a Mormon. I have some of the same frustrations you do. I've experienced a certain amount of violence in my life and a fair amount of personal sorrow. I've seen some of the ugliness that the modern world has to offer. For years it drove me absolutely nuts to listen to breathy, teenage Mormon girls sing about redemption from dark experience--then have the gall to weep as though they knew anything about dark experience. It drove me nuts to listen to some old lady weep about the great tragedy of her life when a bus ran over her cat, when I've watched people overdose and die from drugs. Who cares about dead cats when people have lost so much hope that they'd rather die from an excess of chemical euphoria than live in the world as they've experienced it? And yet... What right do I have to question the real pain that a breathy teenage Mormon girl feels when her boyfriend dumps her or she gives in to a tempation to get more physical than she thinks she ought? What right do I have to question the injury to that old woman's soul when she loses a friend to senseless, pointless random violence? As it turns out, I do have a right to make those kinds of comparisons--it's part and parcel with the whole agency thing. And I have a right to feel cheated when the other guy seems to get spiritual enlightenment that I believe I've earned. Why is it that the trivial old lady with her dead cat seems to experience such a rich spiritual feast at the temple when I spend the whole time in a sort of terrified performance anxiety because despite my age I still can't seem to remember my lines at the critical moment? Why does she deserve spiritual uplift where I only earn abject humiliation? I know. It's all about my own mindset. I have to learn to be less angry, less defiant, to expect less from others and more from myself. The Lord blesses every gathering with his spirit; it's my job to be in tune with Him so I can feel it, to reach through the veil by my own will and desire and take the gifts that are sitting there waiting for me. I know that; I've heard it for years. And I even believe it most of the time. But that doesn't reduce my frustration of the moment. The problem is that it's a basic existential question that has very little to do with the culture surrounding my religious community. I don't think that I'm an empty vessel that "the culture" is responsible to fill with all the ingredients I need to earn salvation--it's my job to learn and seek and choose and discover, not someone else's job to prepackage and deliver. Ultimately, it's my job to take whatever experiences I have and distill them into understanding--and perhaps even testimony. Thus if I feel unfulfilled it's my job to seek fulfillment. Still, I can know that fact without being comforted by it. I can hope that God loves me, but sometimes his rewards seem awfully random when viewed from inside my head. I'm not an evil person (despite what you may have heard...). I try very hard every day to be a better person that I have been. Yet I still forget my lines in the temple while the inactive construction worker three blocks over drives around town in his new Corvette. The only suggestion I can offer is that statis is a bad thing. We should always be seeking deeper understanding or better behavior or more profound art. If we find it outside our culture, then we have both a right and a responsibility to bring the best parts of our worldly pursuits back into our culture. If the culture is bland or bereft, then we have a calling to extend and expand it, create more pockets of belonging for more and different kinds of people. Despite what you may have heard, it's not a sin to find spiritual uplift from sources outside the semi-official outlets of the Church. In my mind the gospel practically demands it. I would suggest that you seek without guilt, and once you find something of value to you try to bring it back into the culture by your own effort rather than waiting for someone else to come up with it. Things often change with time, and where there once was a closed door it may be worth taking a second look because you never know who else may be trying to create more and better cultural outlets and opportunities for Mormons. I read _The Decameron_ during Sacrament meeting. Not the kind of book that one normally thinks of as uplifting, but it got me thinking about a lot of things and led me to some conclusions that could only be described as orthodox Mormon. I also read _Crime and Punishment_ and Plutarch's _Lives_ and three of the Harry Potter books instead of listening to the talks (along with a fairly extensive list of other books whose titles aren't leaping to mind at the moment). Maybe I'll smoke a turd in hell for reading instead of listening, but if I found some value in those books that led me to think more about who and what I am, and what I hope to become, then maybe reading was a fit activity after all. Theoretically the Lord will tell me for sure one of these days... Culture is just one of many kinds of inputs. Culture is not gospel, though varied experience is. If the culture you find here is unsatisfying, then I think there's nothing wrong with looking over there for ideas or expressions or images that provoke us to think and to feel and to hope. That's FWIW. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] GOODMAN, _Handcart_ (Newspaper Reviews) Date: 12 Oct 2002 01:39:14 +0000 Below are reviews from the Tribune, Deseret News, and Daily Herald. 'Handcart' Rolls Along, Despite Meager Provisions Friday, October 11, 2002 BY SEAN P. MEANS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE 2.5 stars (out of four) Not rated, but probably PG for scenes of hardship; 115 minutes. Opening today at area theaters. The story of the Martin Handcart Company -- Mormon pioneers who nearly perished in the Wyoming snows in 1856, rescued by settlers sent by Brigham Young himself -- would make a great Hollywood epic, if the budget were big enough. Without a budget, Orem filmmaker Kels Goodman tried anyway with "Handcart." Though the results ultimately suffer for Goodman's financial constraints and his cast's sometimes limited talent, the movie manages to be a rousing and sometimes soul- stirring ride. "Handcart" shows us the Martin party through the eyes of Samuel Hunter (Jaelan Petrie), a young Iowan who dislikes the Mormons for converting his brother Tanner (Lincoln Hoppe) and luring him to "the land of milk and honey" in Utah. But then he takes a fancy to Abigail Shipe (Stephanie Albach), an English LDS convert, and decides to join the church -- and the exodus west -- mostly to get close to her. On the trail, Samuel discovers his faith as he contends with the hardships of sun, snow and pulling a fully laden handcart across the plains. Goodman, who is both director and cinematographer, and screenwriter Mark von Bowers do a solid job of humanizing the Mormon pioneers, though some may dislike the notion of Utah's white settlers whining so much. The script makes strides toward exploring its characters' faith and their wrestling with LDS doctrine -- small strides, to be sure, but more than such timid LDS films as "Charly" or "The Singles Ward" attempted. Among the stronger characterizations is Edward Martin himself (Joel Bishop), trying to maintain good spirits and his faith as members of his party die. Other quietly powerful performances come from Chris Kendrick and Shannon Skinner, as a burly Mormon convert and the unwed mother-to-be who befriends him. "Handcart" has its share of low-budget cheesiness, from some amateur acting to the anchorman hair on a member of Brigham Young's inner circle. But Goodman demonstrates a sure handling of his material, a sharp eye for panoramic outdoor scenes, and a knack for stretching his film's meager resources. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune Deseret News Episodic 2nd half carries 'Handcart' By Jeff Vice Deseret News movie critic 2.5 stars (out of four) HANDCART Jaelan Petrie, Stephanie Albach, Chris Kendrick, Shannon Skinner, Gretchen Condie, Joel Bishop, Lincoln Hoppe, Scott Christopher; rated PG (brief violence, mild profanity) "Handcart" does a better job than might be expected of telling a story within one of the more tragic episodes in the history of the Mormon pioneers. True, the film is often betrayed by its ultra-ultra-low budget and is bogged down with a mediocre-at-best first half and a tacked-on ending, which blunt the film's overall impact. Yet, unlike some of the more recent LDS film productions, "Handcart" seems to have a lot of heart. And the film's considerably more involving second half helps make it quite watchable. The story is a heavily fictionalized version of the Martin Handcart Company's 1,200-mile exodus from Iowa City to the Salt Lake Valley in 1856. Front and center is Samuel Hunter (Jaelan Petrie), a recent convert to the LDS Church. Samuel did so mainly to get closer to Abigail Shipe (Stephanie Albach), a British church member making the trek to fulfill her family's wishes. Now, as a family outcast, he decides to join Abby, her younger sister Sarah (Gretchen Condie) and 500 other would-be settlers, including the physically imposing but gentle Moose (Chris Kendrick) and Patricia (Stephanie Skinner), a single mother-to-be. Still, Samuel has doubts about the journey, and there's evidence to back him up. By leaving late in the season, the party is already encountering colder weather. And as party members start dropping, he's not the only one whose faith is wavering. Actually, you have to give some credit to director Kels Goodman for making the film as successful as it is, considering what he had to work with. And even though the first half is badly paced, the rather episodic second half is miles better. A lot rides on the cast, which is inconsistent at best. The toothy Albach has trouble maintaining her tricky British accent, but Petrie does make Samuel's internal struggles convincing. Also, Skinner, Kendrick and Joel Bishop (who plays Edward Martin, the party's leader) merit more screen time. And if only they could somehow have excised the awful and not-nearly-brief- enough supporting turn by local comedian Johnny Biscuit. "Handcart" is rated PG for a brief scene of violence (a scuffle) and scattered use of mild profanity (religious in nature). Running time: 115 minutes. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company 'Handcart' fails to deliver believable script, plot ERIC D. SNIDER The Daily Herald on Friday, October 11 "Handcart" is the seventh entry in the 2 1/2-year-old Mormon cinema genre that began with "God's Army," and it is the most ambitious in terms of scope and subject matter. It is also, sadly, one of the worst. I can think of few films that were made by nicer people, and with nobler intentions, than this one. The story of the Mormon pioneers has great dramatic potential, but it is squandered here with a rickety script and some terrible acting. Writer/director Kels Goodman sets his film within the ill-fated Martin handcart company that left too late in the season in 1856 and subsequently lost 150 of its 500 members to cold and starvation. But first we meet Sam Hunter (Jaelan Petrie), a 20-ish man in Iowa City who has been taught to hate the Mormons by his snively shopowner uncle (Johnny Biscuit, delivering perhaps the worst performance of the year). Fate intervenes, however, and Sam falls in love with Abigail (Stephanie Albach), a British immigrant and new Mormon convert who has stopped in town with her fellow saints before heading to Salt Lake City. Sam is baptized a Mormon -- not because he believes it, he assures his uncle, but because he wants to get close enough to Abigail to convince her Mormonism is false. Why someone who has joined a church solely to expose its fraudulency would then follow that church across harsh terrain toward Utah is beyond me -- it seems like a lot of work just to prove a point -- but that's what Sam does. Along the way, he apparently becomes truly converted, but darned if we're shown why, how or by whom. There is more than sufficient tragedy on the trek -- by the end, people are literally tripping over dead bodies -- but only in the sense of "tragedy" that includes all deaths of all nice people. Even when major characters die, it is hard to feel more than mild sadness, because even the major characters are dull ciphers. Almost without exception, the acting is flat and unconvincing. You rarely believe any of these folks are 19th- century pioneers instead of 21st-century amateur actors in uncomfortable costumes. (The all-you-can-eat buffet of bad accents doesn't help, either.) Among the decent performances are: Chris Kendrick as "Moose," a rough-and-tumble figure with a heart of gold, or something like that; Gretchen Condie as Abigail's younger sister Sarah; and Joel Bishop as company leader Edward Martin. Among the bad performances are: just about everyone else, though some of them, like Jaelan Petrie as Sam and Lincoln Hoppe as his brother, seem to be good actors trapped in underwritten roles. But the film's most egregious sin is that it's boring. The character arcs, when they exist, don't flow; characters just wind up different, with no examination of what caused the change. The film asks excellent questions about faith -- like why God would drop a snowstorm on a group of people who were only trying to do his will -- but doesn't answer them. The survivors seem to emerge with stronger faith, but again, the movie doesn't show us why or how. The film is unsure what it wants to say, and what it does say, it does it clumsily. Grade: C- Rated PG for pioneer deaths Copyright 2002 by HarkTheHerald.com _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Daniel M. Skaf Interview (Brazilian LDS Filmmaker) Date: 11 Oct 2002 21:01:22 -0500 http://www.ldsfilm.com/docu/Iosepa.html LDSFilm.com interviews Daniel M. Skaf about his documentary "The Birthing of Iosepa" INTRODUCTION 9 October 2002 - Daniel Skaf is such a strikingly handsome young man that h= e looks like he should be in front of a camera. But this native of Brazil is not an actor. He's a serious young filmmaker, currently studying in the prestigious MFA program in Film and Television Production at Chapman University. Skaf's first feature-length film is "The Birthing of Iosepa," and if you have a chance to see it while it makes the festival rounds and plays on public television, I'm sure you won't forget it. As a director, Skaf uses a remarkably light touch in this documentary. You probably won't come away from it with his name at the tip of your tongue or his "style" indelibly printed on your brain. It isn't difficult to see that this is the work of relatively inexperienced filmmaker, working with little or no budget. But "The Birthing of Iosepa" is clearly a labor of love that presents a story so fresh and compelling that it speaks for itself if allowed to, which is exactly what the director has done. After an incredible amount of time went into collecting raw footage, the most telling moments have been chosen to represent a story of surprising depth and grandeur. "The Birthing of Iosepa" opened up a whole world for me= . Through the lens of this focused story -- the creation of a traditional double-hulled Hawaiian voyaging canoe -- the viewer is provided an intimate introduction to a number of Polynesian cultures. Hawaiian culture is given the most time, but Fijians, Maoris, Tongans and others are are seen as well= . Occasionally the camera work is amateurish. The lighting could be improved upon. The introduction is slow and is bogged down by a number of less-than-attractive static visuals. Sometimes the screen was cluttered by an overly large temporary logo graphic and a caption identifying an interviewee and oddly-placed subtitles. But this is nitpicking about what is, over all, an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable film. There is so much here that is fascinating, I hardly know where to start. Skaf let the Polynesians speak for themselves, in their own language with subtitles or in English. He doesn't shy away from including lengthy but engrossing shots of prayers, public rituals and blessings, and other steps in the canoe-building process. No preconceived ideology is imposed on this film. What emerges is a surprising blend of Latter-day Saint Christian and traditional Polynesian belief and practice. It's all very uncorrelated. Man= y moments in the film would probably never have been there had it been produced by the Church itself, and many other moments would never have been there if it had been produced by a person with a purely secular outlook. Skaf was an outsider-insider. A non-Polynesian, but also a Latter-day Saint= , as are the people who made the canoe. Skaf was a student at BYU-Hawaii, but also an employee at a Hawaiian public television station. As a result, the documentary is both insightful and authentic. Although the filmmaker clearl= y admires the Polynesians, the documentary provides a window rather than commentary. Occasionally, interviewees, speaking naturally and from the heart as well a= s from their area of expertise, seem to contradict each other as they explain various aspects of Polynesian culture. This was a welcome development, underscoring the fact that these are real people and the story portrayed is real life. Much about the Polynesian cultures in the film seems admirable and wonderful, but nothing is idealized or "touched up" to make it "more native" than it really is. I loved seeing the eloquent native Hawaiian expert who was never seen without a pair of dark sunglasses perched on the top of his head -- whether he was outdoors or inside. I loved the part when one of the traditional canoe builders, surrounded by beaches and palm trees and centuries-old technology, talks about coming to a difficult step in the process, and searching the Internet for information. The tension between maintaining old ways and being overwhelmed by the modern world is palpable, yet the people in the film give the viewer hope that if anybody can preserve and even revive their culture, they can. Daniel Skaf is now a full-time film student, but he graciously took time to talk to us about "The Birthing of Iosepa" and other topics. Q. "The Birthing of Iosepa" is about traditional Polynesian canoe building and navigation. Why did you choose to make a film about this topic? Skaf: The Hawaiian culture has always fascinated me. The intelligence required to memorize 150 stars, their various positions in different times of the year and use them as a map is amazing. When I saw the huge logs whic= h were just brought to the building site, I could not resist but make a documentary about the building process. As the canoe would take at least a year to be completed, I knew I would be able to learn more about their culture. Q. You're not Polynesian, but nearly everybody in the documentary is Polynesian. Were you concerned about your ability to portray Polynesian cultures accurately? Skaf: Yes, I was. That is the reason why I worked very closely with the executive producer [William Kauaiwi'ulaokalani Wallace III], who is the director for the Hawaiian Studies Department at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, and also the main person behind the building of the canoe. I knew I had to tell the story from a Hawaiian point of view. I spen= t a lot of time researching the history of voyaging canoes and also a lot of time talking to the people involved. For a while, I had to deny my own culture and beliefs, and immerse myself in that new experience. Although I am not a Pacific Islander, I tried to think and act as a Hawaiian. It was a great learning experience which increased my respect for this great people.= Q. In making "The Birthing of Iosepa", what equipment did you use during filming and post-production? Skaf: I used both mini and regular format digital cameras. The Sony cameras were DSR-300, DXC 327 with DVCAM deck and PD-100. For post, I used Final Cu= t Pro and Panasonic DVCPRO tapes. For graphics, Compix. Q. How much did "The Birthing of Iosepa" cost to make? Skaf: That is a hard question. I didn't receive a budget to make the documentary. It was one of my assignments at the Olelo Community Television station I worked for. BYU-H paid for the tapes and the TV station paid for my time during the filming and post. I spent 400 hours editing and used 60 tapes during a year. Q. When you had finished "The Birthing of Iosepa," what was the biggest difference in the film from how you originally planned it? Skaf: During pre-production, I wanted to do a documentary style known as verit=E9, which is like the ones made in the sixties. A documentary without much editing, which allows the actions and situations during the construction process tell the story by itself. That is the way that I videotaped, filming almost every action, every conversation. However, durin= g the writing of the script, I decided to change that. I wanted to blend both time periods, during and after the carving. Having the people involved looking back and reflecting upon the carving of Iosepa and also talking about their feelings during the carving period. Q. Some of the interviewees in the documentary speak Hawaiian, which I'm sure some mainlanders think is an extinct or nearly-dead language. Is Hawaiian the native language of these people, or did they learn it as a second language in the Hawaiian language immersion school? Skaf: There are people who grew up speaking Hawaiian in their homes and others who learned at school. Since Captain Cook arrived on the Hawaiian Islands in the end of the eighteen century, Hawaiians started to be deprive= d of their own identity. In the nineteen seventies, they built the voyaging canoe Hokulea, and traveled to Tahiti without modern navigational instruments. That was one of the events that marked the renaissance of the Hawaiian culture. Today, the Hawaiian language is becoming more and more widely spoken. Q. Have you had a chance to receive feedback from audiences about "The Birthing of Iosepa"? What are some of the things that regular viewers liked= ? Skaf: So far, I received many positive feedbacks from both Pacific Islander= s and people who don't know anything about Hawaiian culture. Some of the Hawaiian audience came to me and expressed their gratitude through tears. That was the best feedback I could ever receive. The people who don't know much about Hawaiian culture told me they now have more respect for these great people. The goal was accomplished. Q. The documentary often features a remarkable -- and apparently very authentic -- blending of traditional Polynesian religion and Latter-day Saint practice, sometimes most noticable in the wording of prayers, blessings and chants. In making or showing the documentary, did you receive any resistance or criticism about the religious content? Skaf: No, I didn't receive any criticism about the religious content. It wa= s great to see how both Polynesian and LDS beliefs blended. As the canoe project was created by the Hawaiian department of BYU-H, the religious beliefs were already mixed. One day a friend told me that the deeper you go into a culture, more universal characteristics you will find. Q. How can people have a chance to see "The Birthing of Iosepa"? Skaf: The documentary will be shown at the Hawaii International Film festival during the first week of November, 2002. It will also air on DirecTV, through the BYUTV channel. I don't have the airdates yet but it will probably be shown in December or January. People can email me to get the airdates (skaf100@chapman.edu). Q. You previously made the documentary "Keepers of Culture." What was that about? Skaf: It is about the 2000 Culture Night of BYU-H, in which 30 student club= s from various parts of the world present their traditional culture through dance and music. We chose two groups, the Maori (New Zealand) and the African clubs and did a documentary about their preparation for the event. One of the interests was in the people who were not Maori or African, but joined the clubs to learn more about them. We also focused on the ways thes= e two groups of people maintain their culture while studying in an American university. Q. Imagine you have the opportunity to make a big budget film. It can be a documentary, a narrative feature, anything. (Up to $40 million for production.) What's the topic? Who's in it? Skaf: I would choose one of the many great stories of the Book of Mormon. This is one of my goals. I would like to do it in Hawaii or Brazil, since both have tropical forests. I would choose actors who are in the beginning of their careers and make them read the Book of Mormon at least one time. I am amazed by the amount of LDS filmmakers who are sprouting up everywhere. = I know in the next 30 years we will see amazing epic LDS movies such as Ben Hur. I want to be a part of it. Q. What is your next project? Skaf: For now, I am devoting 100% to my graduate program in Film and Television Production at Chapman University, which is a 3 year program. I a= m still deciding if I will choose a documentary or a narrative film for my thesis project. But definitely I'll try to make it educational and upliftin= g -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] GOODMAN, _Handcart_ (Deseret News) Date: 12 Oct 2002 01:57:09 +0000 Desret News Friday, October 11, 2002 Making history: The latest LDS film, 'Handcart', is the genre's frst historical epic By Jeff Vice Deseret News movie critic There were a lot of things working against "Handcart" filmmaker Kels Goodman, including budget constraints, unpredictable weather . . . and the 2002 Winter Olympics. "Handcart" is a fictionalization of the struggles of the Martin Handcart Company during its ill-fated journey from Iowa to Wyoming during a harsh and early winter as some 500 settlers tried to reach the Salt Lake Valley in 1856. Earlier this year, Goodman was filming the full-blown period drama along the Wasatch Front using a meager budget of approximately= =20 $300,000, less than 5 percent of the average modest-budget Hollywood film. And in order to meet his rigid production schedule, Goodman also had to shoot around the Winter Games. "We tried to make it simple and let the costumes, the handcarts, the plains and the snow do the talking," said Goodman, the film's director, producer and director of photography. "The one thing I had going for me was that most of the film took place out in the middle of nowhere." Still, he concedes that the process was "very hard, especially on a budget. Since we didn't have the money to go out of state, I had to really search for places that look like Nebraska and Wyoming. Doing that during the Olympics was a nightmare." The local filmmaker and his crew did have one thing going for them, though =97 January's icy temperatures. "When it got cold, it was like the breath was a prop. It served us well." The results can be seen beginning today as "Handcart" is released in 18 theaters between Utah and Canada, seven of those in the Salt Lake Valley. Goodman has been making films since he was 11. "After I saw 'Star Wars,' of course," he said. After graduating from Brigham Young University, he found work as a cameraman on LDS Church productions, and he has worked on the locally filmed CBS TV series "Touched by an Angel." His feature-directing debut came with "Yankee 2 Kilo," a Y2K comedy released=20 straight to video last year. But for its follow-up, Goodman was looking for something a little deeper. He found it while working as a crew member on the multipart 1997 PBS documentary series "The Legacy West," about the Mormon Trail wagon-train re-enactment. "I learned that there were stories worthy to be on film," he said. "We have seemed to be afraid to tell the stories of Mormons who have suffered." He received added inspiration when "God's Army" became an independent film success story two years ago. "I had always seen this day of LDS filmmaking but just never knew when or how. Then 'God's Army' simply made it possible." So perhaps it's appropriate that "Handcart" was made for the same amount as Richard Dutcher's film. "I started shooting the film with $30,000 in my pocket, knowing it was hard to get investors to commit unless I had something to see," Goodman said. Then he had to cast the film. "(It) went pretty fast. I knew a lot of people already from my work in the industry, so except for a few roles, I basically hand-picked the people I wanted." Local actor Jaelan Petrie stars as Samuel Hunter, a convert to the LDS faith through whose eyes the audience witnesses the struggles of the Martin Handcart Company. Goodman said that while he knew he could not afford more expensive,=20 out-of-state actors, "I was looking for people that weren't in every LDS film. Then, after I finished the picture, I noticed some had been in others." But he did know that possibility existed as long as the current flood of LDS-themed and made films continues. "(It) is a good thing, but it will not last too long. When I started 'Handcart,' the only thing going was 'God's Army,' and 'Brigham=20 City' was only talked about. By the time I finished, all of a sudden, there were all these LDS films. "So I get lodged into this 'There are too many LDS films' situation.= =20 However, I think the quality of the films needs to go up in order for people to want to see them." And though he has yet to see whether an audience wants to see=20 "Handcart," Goodman already has a concept for his next feature: He's planning to make an action-adventure film about the Boy Scouts of America. "That will help me have one foot in the LDS market and one branching out." He confesses, however, that he sometimes feels "the need to blow something up =97 a car chase; something to liven up the cinema." Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:=20 http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: [AML] RE: _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 11 Oct 2002 22:25:09 -0400 At 12:49 PM 10/9/02 -0400, you wrote: > >On tastes in literature, Clarke Goble wrote: >>Put an other way, how many people here - even those grumbling about lack of >>literary tastes - willingly read _Finnegan's Wake_ or _Ulysses_ by Joyce? >>Yet that is one of the top novels of the last century. > >What objective, rational principles are used to evelaute literature? As a >philosophic objectivist I am part of that tiny minority of readers who >consider both "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" to be literary frauds--virtual >attacks on language and ratonal thought. They've become "classics" because >certain people have said they are such and that anyone who doesn't share >their opinion just "doesn't get it." In short, they are the literary >equivalent of the Emperor's new clothes. > >ROB. LAUER I personally own a copy of Ulysses which has a worn out first sixty pages. I have started the book so many times without ever finishing (or even substantially have made a hole in it) . During the early seventies I took an informal poll (That means I never told anyone that it was a poll, I just brought the subject up in general conversation) of the English faculty at State University College at Oneonta, New York (Where I was on the faculty, but in a different department) to find out if anyone on that department faculty had had a Richard reaction. It seemed appropriate because Ulysses was required reading for undergraduate majors. I had hoped to find at least one who had never finished the book. To my shock, I only found one who had finished the book. All the others acknowledged shamefacedly as they sipped wine or some other beverage (guess where I was administering my "poll") that they hadn't read "every word" or -well- "all" of it. I wondered how they taught the book then realized that, in all probability, students are not the only people who read Cliff notes, and there are a lot of journal articles about Ulysses that are much less obscure and ---- to me--- boring. Sigh, I am sipping a diet milk shake and still shamefacedly admitting that I not only haven't finished it, I am unlikely to start it again--- ever. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 12 Oct 2002 12:37:06 -0600 At 09:57 AM 10/11/02 +1000, you wrote: >. I happen to love >him. But there's one thing people forget - he's an IRISH WRITER, and his >rhythms, cadences, music are so quintessentially Irish that to forget that >is to miss out on just about everything about him. Are you saying that he is inaccessible to those who have no feel for or understanding of the Irish way of thinking or communicating? Maybe that's why he is inaccessible to me. Maybe that's why he shouldn't be inflicted on people who don't have that background. You might as well ask me to appreciate literature written in Finnish or Arabic or Chinese. That brings up the concern that some have expressed on this list -- a fear that our stories will be inaccessible to people unfamiliar with our beliefs and culture. It would be difficult to write anything as inaccessible as Ulysses -- are we as separate from the general readership in this country as most people are from the way Joyce thinks and writes? I don't think so. barbara hume barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 12 Oct 2002 14:05:00 -0600 (MDT) > I always tried to be gentle about handling this. Yes, he's not for > everyone, and I don't intend that to sound snobbish. Plenty of highly > cultured, well-read, intelligent people don't like Joyce. I happen to love > him. But there's one thing people forget - he's an IRISH WRITER, and his > rhythms, cadences, music are so quintessentially Irish that to forget that > is to miss out on just about everything about him. Want to hear what I > mean? Listen to a reading of Joyce read by an Irish actor - it's almost > essential. >> > Jason Covell See - I hear that argument a lot. An I am a fan of Irish Literature - I read quite a lot of it. And when I read Joyce, I read a man who hates Ireland but can't escape his irishness (even though he really wants to). In fact, I find it interesting that most famous Irish writers are ones that, while rooted in Irish culutre, either 1.) weren't orginally Irish (John Swift) or have rejected Irish culture in some form (Joyce, Edgeworth). yes, there are exceptions, but I still find it interesting. Aplication to Mormon Lit? Well, I see some of the same things in our literary culture. "Dancing Naked" and "Father of Lies" - books which basically reject Mormonism get rave reviews among the literary crowd. Weyland's works, which revels in their Mormoness, tend to be discarded as mere fluff and possibly dangerous. Orson Scott Card is a notable exception - there are others. But this is a half-formed though I really shoudl do some reseach and write a paper on at some point, if I weren't wroking on my Thesis and two other conference papers right now. So please - argue with my points here. I sure at least soem of them are misinformed. --Ivan Wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 12 Oct 2002 16:06:09 -0400 Jeff Needle: > I'm not clear why the Deseret News would take such a strong stand against the > movie. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so out of place. > > Can someone explain this to me? > > Sure. It's not "The Deseret News" taking a stand against it. It's one of the News' columnists expressing his own opinion about it. I think it's reassuring that, even though a movie has LDS themes and is made by LDS people, the LDS-owned newspaper's writers don't feel obligated to like it. Eric D. Snider -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: [AML] re: Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 12 Oct 2002 16:27:13 -0600 I just have to say ditto to everything Eric said about The Singles Ward death wish scene, and add one more reason for it being such a film wrecker. Here the audience is watching a film with one Mormon joke after another, and suddenly the audience is supposed to think that Mormon jokes are bad. It's like pulling the carpet out from under us. Unless, of course, it's trying to say we are allowed to laugh at ourselves, but don't you dare let anyone else laugh with us. Kind of like a brother willing to beat up on his little sister who then stands up for her if someone else dares to threaten her. Of course, one more reason the movie doesn't work is that it tried to be two different movies. The first part was over the top silly, and then at the end it got all serious and gooshy and tried to make us cry. Pick a genre and stick with it, for crying out loud. However, I must admit I did laugh in a few parts, including when Richard Dutcher shows up as a neighbor offended at God's Army. And his a character is named Wes--nice touch. Annette Lyon -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 12 Oct 2002 19:23:47 -0600 Can't we just be gracious, recognizing that it's okay if someone honestly IS edified by some piece of literature or cinema that we find superfluous? It's not like anyone has a corner on edification, or on the myriads of ways it can come to the myriads of types of God's children that fill this earth and this Church. I think I love you, Lovely Linda. Thank you. Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 12 Oct 2002 20:26:27 -0500 At 12:19 PM 10/10/02, Eric R. Samuelsen wrote: >I'm so grateful to Preston for keeping us abreast of the latest >developments in Mormon filmmaking, and I really thought his poll was >interesting. > >I've been thinking a bit about Mormon filmmaking, and have found myself >noticing something that appears in some of the recent releases. They are >what i call, Death wish scenes, scenes that all by themselves completely >wreck the movies in which they appear. With all due respect to Eric, I think his comments in this post show that he is not remembering the #1 rule of writing: "KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE". IOW, are the works in question intended to appeal to (1) general audience ("play in Peoria"), (2) NYC critics, (3) born-again Christians living in the Bible Belt, or (4) BiC Corridor Mormons whose family all the way back to pioneer times have always lived in small Watsach Front communities? (Hint: This is probably a rhetorical question.) >In The Other Side of Heaven, the death wish scene is what I call the Pimp >scene. Sailors come to the island from this rich guy's boat, to see if >they can use booze and money to entice island girls into going with them >back out to the boat, for obviously salacious purposes. The old minister >guy stands up to the boat pimps. So does the bishop. Our Hero, Groberg, >does nothing, even after the boat pimps rough the bishop up. > >This scene is just completely nuts. First of all, it's not in the book, >so you can't blame the source. It makes the movie's hero look like a >complete wimp. It shows behavior that no actual moral human being would >ever ever engage in. After that moment, we have no reason to like or >trust our protagonist at all. Casual movie-goers responses to OSOH tended >to be "I just didn't find the main character very exciting." I maintain >that that scene is the main reason why, though folks may not have >articulated it. Perhaps he should have bared his chest, grabbed a convenient M-16 and taken care of business, like a typical hero of a contemporary movie? ;-) >In Singles Ward there's another death wish scene. Our main character, >Jon, a stand-up comic, has been coming back to church because he's got >this thing for a girl, Cammie. They start dating, and it's getting >serious. On the day she gets her mission call, Oops. Cultural error. If it's getting serious, why has she put in papers for a mission? Aren't missions for unattractive sisters who have no marriage prospects? >she comes to see his act, which she has seen before. Only, he's >bombing. He's telling not-very-funny jokes about cigarettes and how bad >they are for you, and no one's laughing. So he moves to his A material, >Mormon jokes, and they're a lot funnier. These jokes aren't offensive or >vulgar; they're mild polygamy jokes and stuff. ("I was in a musical at >BYU. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Only in this version, it was Seven >Brides for One Brother." Rimshot.) Only Cammie gets tremendously >offended, leaves the show early, and dumps him in the parking lot >afterwards, weeping copiously, with this tight, nasty, self-righteous >expression on her face. > >It's the scene that wrecks the movie. It's the death wish scene. Number >one rule of romantic comedy, you have to root for the couple to get >together. But if she's such a humorless drip that she gets that offended >at jokes that mild, Not to mention unoriginal . . . >well, who could like someone like that? From that moment on, everyone in >the audience is thinking 'good riddance, dude.' And so when he gives up >stand-up (why do characters in Mormon movies, when repenting, always end >up giving up something they're good at like this?) Because artists are temperamental, meaning "about 99% temper and about 1% mental"? >and marries Cammie and becomes a screenwriter, it feels tragic. I kept >wondering, with a wife who gets offended like that at practically >everything, what kinds of screenplays is he going to write? The kind Eric is criticizing in this post, perhaps? >Singles Ward is a fairly engaging romantic comedy, for about an hour. The >Mormon jokes would go over the heads of anyone not in the culture, So who is the intended audience? >but it still might be fairly amusing. But the movie does two things that, >frankly, made me, on watching it, not want to be a Mormon anymore. First >of all, it trashes some aspects of Mormon culture that are actually pretty >wonderful, like imaginative and thoughtful reactivation efforts. Second, >it affirms other aspects of Mormon culture that, in my opinion, are things >we need to get over and done with. Like our major league case of >self-righteousness. > >Case in point, in Singles Ward, EVIL is always indicated the same way, as >a can of beer. It becomes this repeated signifier for corruption and >moral rot; someone being offered a brewski. (Recall OSC's account of the time they used an illustration of a pipe sitting on a table to illustrate an article in the _Ensign_ about inactive members.) >Tell me if I've got my theology wrong, but IMHO, beer drinking has NO >moral significance for folks who aren't LDS. How many of them are in the intended audience? >(Obviously, inebriation might have moral significance; I don't want to >suggest that drinking is always morally neutral.) And of course, Singles >Ward consistently hammers us over the head with the idea that LDS is best, >and nowhere in any of these films is there the slightest suggestion that >someone who isn't LDS might not have valid and genuine reasons to not want >Mormonism in their lives. For the audience for whom the movie is obviously intended, it is *impossible* to conceive of anyone having _any_ "valid and genuine reasons to not want Mormonism in their lives." The only reason for someone _not_ jumping at the chance to join the One True Church On The Earth Today is that they love some sinful behavior so much that Satan prevents the Spirit from witnessing the truth of the gospel to them (perhaps their pride which clearly keeps them from praying about Moroni 10 with real sincerity). >I don't think Charly has a death wish scene, not per se. I loathe the >fact that all non-LDS people in it (especially Charly's parents and >ex-boyfriend) are shown as venal, selfish, unspiritual and shallow. And >morally dubious. The one exception is Charly's grandmother, but even her >explanation for why she doesn't want to be a Mormon rings false. See above. Any reason except un-repented-of sin (particularly sexual sins or WoW violations) is clearly not the *real* reason. >When Sam tells Charly that he doesn't want "used merchandise," that had >the potential to be a death wish scene, but in the next scene, Sam's Mom >slaps him down for it, which redeems it. We can watch characters doing >idiotic things, as long as the movie doesn't agree with them. Sam's a >self-righteous jerk, but the movie thinks he is one too, so that's >okay. And he gets over it. > >Bear in mind, my definition of death wish scenes is not that they're >scenes that sort of don't work very well. I'm talking about scenes that >wreck the movie. I'm talking about scenes where you wonder if the >screenwriters are completely insane. No, just TBM. (And I realize that there are some who say that the latter implies the former.) Or at least writing for a TBM audience. >I'm reading a lot of them in some of the screenplays that folks have sent >me, scene where people do things that Mormon culture doesn't think twice >about, but that are actually awful, us vs. them scenes, we actually really >are better than you scenes. Really, y'all, we've got to start looking at >this culture of ours a lot more critically. ... if we want to appeal to a general audience, probably at the expense of losing the core Utah Mormons (and having them write letters to SLC demanding that the we be excommunicated for writing such offensive trash.) I think the question both Eric and I are asking is: Is it possible for a TBM to write serious art which will appeal to both TBMs and a general non-LDS audience rather than alienating one or the other? If so, how? (I hope that no one including Eric takes offense at my rather caustic tone. Those of you who know me will recognize that this is my "artistic criticism" voice. The rest of you can just consider me a jerk. ;-) ) -- Ronald W. ("Ronn") Blankenship mailto: ronn.blankenship@postoffice.worldnet.att.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 13 Oct 2002 00:06:59 -0700 Jeff Needle asked: "I'm not clear why the Deseret News would take such a strong stand against the movie. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so out of place. Can someone explain this to me?" I personally don't know what Benson's feelings about the LDS Church are, but having seen the show myself I can offer two suppositions: 1. As a practicing Mormon who works in a "worldly" business he is sensitive to how our culture is portrayed to the rest of y'all. _Charly_ is peopled with stereotypical characters--a self-righteous Mormon male, self-absorbed shallow non-Mormons, et al. This could be perceived as an embarrassment to enlightened Utahns. A thought though...how do stereotypes come about if there aren't a plethora of those types around? There's got to be enough to make it clich=E9. So doesn't that make it a valid character? And since Mormon films are relatively new on the scene, maybe those characters won't be seen as stereotypical by the rest of the world. Doesn't change the fact we are embarrassed by those sterotypical behaviors. 2. It's hard to watch something as deeply personal as a spiritual conversion try to be portrayed on the silver screen. Heather Beers did a good job of bringing Charly to life...but still, film is limited in trying to communicate an intensely interior subject with some exterior "showing"--Charly ruminating over her art, gazing at innocent children at play, etc. Even talking face to face with someone is a challenge when trying to express such deep emotions. It's been my experience that words are inadequate as well. Since Charly's conversion is the pivotal experience the rest of the film plays on, if that experience isn't richly and fully communicated, the rest of it can feel manipulative. I've got to confess I went to see the movie last night with my two daughters and eight other female members of my extended family. We ranged in aged from 9 to 68. Everyone of us left with a headache from trying not to do that ugly cry in public. The film is a tear-jerker in every sense of the word. On the way home my sister and I were busy discussing wooden actors and how minor characters can negatively impact the whole. But when I stopped flapping my yap enough to listen, I heard two 15 year olds, a 20 year old, and a 24 year having an intense discussion about Sam's crisis of faith. They found it maddening his behavior didn't match what he professed to believe. I'm not sure how much of his belief structure is clearly stated in the film and how much they projected onto him by their own experiences in the Mormon faith, but they wanted to choke Sam for calling Charly "used merchandise". They thought he was a chicken for trying to force a priesthood blessing that obviously wasn't "God's will". They hated his ignore-it-and-it's-not-a-problem philosophy. They came to the conclusion that up until Charly's cancer, nothing ever made him face his convictions. They thought he came close to failing his "test". And maybe, for some, that ending would make a more compelling story, to explore the consequences it would create in his extended family. But hearing my daughters converse, I had to wonder if maybe the filmmakers said a few things that got through the clich=E9s after all. I plan on watching the show in the privacy of my own living room one day and really letting that ugly cry out. Maybe I'll do a marathon...A WALK TO REMEMBER, LOVE STORY, and CHARLY. In an estrogen driven market place there will always be room for tear-jerkers. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael McFunk Subject: [AML] The Scriptures Are Books Too! Date: 13 Oct 2002 07:58:53 -0700 (PDT) I have seen talk of this and that. Rumors and talk about people and the MOD has said that we should use this AML to talk about movies, books or anything in those areas. My question is why don't we see talk about the most important books and movies put out by the church. Many leaders have written and/or produced movies for use in our homes. The Scriptures are books or writings which should be used the most. They should be important to discuss and/or look into to talk about. Remember the information we gain in this life will help us in the life after. I know knowledge will come to us 100 times faster in the life after. The Scriptures are here to build our faith and what better way to build that faith than to help each other to understand them so together we will gain a stronger faith. The Lord wants strong faithful members to get the word out to the unbelievers. He needs us to know the teachings so strong in our hearts that we can and will have unwavering faith. For I know many of us will some day have to stand on this faith against the stiffest of unbelieving or life trials. I'm not saying we should not talk about what great people in the church are doing but we should be also concerned about what is most important in our work in this life. So I think we should get on track and help each other though this forum to get the Lords work done along with what we want to do. Michael W. McFunk [MOD: Replying/commenting: Discussion of scriptures as literature is appropriate to AML-List. However, discussion of Mormon doctrine per se, or practices, or how to improve our lives through better scripture reading, etc., is not really part of the purpose of AML-List. I cite the venerable AML-List Guidelines: By Mormon Letters We Mean ... ... literature by, for, and about Mormons and criticism of same. We mean essay, family history, autobiography, children's literature, sermon, and the literary dimensions of scripture. Or join the conversation and come up with your own definition. (Back to Jonathan): I, and Benson before me, have often wished for more discussion of the literary elements of scripture. However, it's critical that we remember that such discussions need to focus on the *literary* dimensions of scripture.] _____________________________________________________________ ZenSearch - for balanced search results. http://www.ZenSearch.com _____________________________________________________________ Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get you@yourchoice.com w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 13 Oct 2002 11:15:38 -0600 Maybe the movie sucks and Benson knows it. (I haven't seen the film so can't give an opinion.) But why should you expect the DN to treat a film any differently than anyone else does? Good is good and bad is bad, no matter who did the film or how sincere they were and how firm their foundation is. The quality of a film should be the only criterion uses when judging a good film. The intentions of the filmmakers is of absolutely no relevance. Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] BROWN, _House on the Sound_ (Review) Date: 13 Oct 2002 11:51:22 -0600 Andrew, a wonderful review. Bless you. As long as I'm saying thank you for reading HOUSE let me also say that your excellent research and "charts" on Mormon films and books are some of the most probing items of this list. YOU are somewhat of a statistician, and the "scientific approach" is a terrific support to our views of exactly what is going on! I for one, always print off your offerings and keep them. We're having some lively discussions right now. I can't join most of them, because I'm "digging in so hard" to produce what I need to produce before "it's too late." SO NICE to have somebody appreciate some of my work before I kick off! (I'm planning for another thirty years!) So THANK YOU! Sincerely, Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Lost Mormon Literary Classics Date: 13 Oct 2002 11:53:38 -0600 Bill Willson must write his mother's story in detail. I have one up one her. Sam Taylor and I go way back also. I was "courted" by his brother who wanted to marry me and invited me for a weekend at a resort. (Laugh, please) Marilyn Brown ----- Original Message ----- > I was privileged to briefly know Sam W. Taylor and even had him in my > home for dinner one time. My copy of the first book on my list is > autographed, > "To- Nell Smith - One of my favorite Mormons" > Samuel W Taylor > > Nell Smith was my Mother-in-law, and a writer for: our local newspaper, the > Instructor, The Improvement Era" The Church News, and The Ensign. She was > also the only female member of the Oakland Temple Committee, and attended > meetings and dined with the prophets, David O. McKay and Joseph Fielding > Smith. > > An aside: > As a result of Nell's temple committee work, my first born child's photo is > in the time casual of the Oakland Temple. My daughter Corinne is Nell's > first born grandchild. Corinne's photo as a young woman is also in the > Sesquicentennial Church Conference issue of the Ensign, purely by chance. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] REMINI _Joseph Smith_ (SLT and DN reviews) Date: 14 Oct 2002 08:43:35 +0000 Below are two book reviews of Robert Remini's _Joseph Smith_ from the Salt= =20 Lake Tribune and Deseret News, and a feature about the author from the=20 Deseret News. Deseret News Sunday, October 13, 2002 Writer finds 'his Joseph' By Dennis Lythgoe Deseret News book editor Since there has always been a shortage of good books on Joseph Smith, Robert Remini's new compact biography is welcome indeed (even as we await Richard Bushman's major biography of the Mormon prophet, scheduled for publication in 2005). Remini, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Chicago, is the author of numerous acclaimed works of history, including a three-volume study of Andrew Jackson and biographies of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Having been written by the foremost living Jacksonian scholar lends an element of prestige to the Smith biography, which is bound to increase its visibility. As a non-Mormon and a political historian, Remini was initially surprised when Viking Press asked him to write a biography of the religious figure. But Smith lived in the very era that Remini has studied the most, so he accepted. "I got myself a nice picture of Joseph Smith, one with him looking to the left, his hand on his hip and holding a sheaf of papers, and I stuck it on my computer," Remini said during an interview with the Deseret News. "You might think this is weird, but I occasionally asked him, 'How am I doing?' I wanted to get a sense of the man, of his personality." Remini, who was in Salt Lake City to address a session of the recent Sunstone Symposium, had gone to a local LDS ward in Illinois and unsuccessfully tried to buy a copy of the Book of Mormon. "Two or three days later, the stake patriarch came to my house and presented me with a handsomely bound copy of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price - and I was off and running. Then, the next thing I did was read Richard Bushman's book, 'Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism.' " He liked the book and contacted Bushman, who introduced him to several other Mormon scholars who also gave him various helpful books. "They answered all my questions, but none of them ever once tried to influence my interpretation." Remini also read Fawn Brodie's early and controversial biography of Joseph Smith, "No Man Knows My History," and said, "That was a sad story. Here was a Mormon, raised a Mormon, and something turned her against him. What can you say? "She did the same thing to poor Thomas Jefferson (in Brodie's book 'Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History')." His first challenge was to "face the question" of how he would deal with claims that Smith received revelations from God. "Do you say it's true or do you call him a liar? A historian has to be objective. I decided to to play it straight on the revelations. I just said, 'Here is what the man said.' I really do believe that he believed himself to be a prophet of God." Remini added, "I have to confess I came to like the man very much. He became 'my Joseph.' Sometimes I get upset with Mormons who do not do him justice. He gave them their religion, and who do they put on top of their temples? Moroni! They honor the pioneers who came here. God bless them. They were heroes, and they need to be honored. But there is no celebration of Joseph Smith's birth or death." Sometimes, the author said, he compares Smith to Mozart, "a man who died at 36. (Smith died at 38.) Look what he gave to the world! He was chosen by God to be the conveyor of some of the most beautiful music ever composed. "Here is a man, Joseph, who at an early age translated a book of over 600 pages in 90 days, with 300 or more individually named participants. That in itself is quite an accomplishment." It was Smith's "human qualities" that appealed most to the biographer, because they made him "compelling. From the beginning of his life he had to suffer. Notice the parallels of Joseph and Jesus. Both were born into obscurity of poor parents. Toward the end, there were many parallels to Gethsemane." Remini regards Smith as "a man of compelling charisma, charm, persuasiveness =97 and joyously funny. I like them when they're funny. Andrew Jackson was not funny. Joseph liked being the center of attention. Anonymity was not his bag." He chose to emphasize the positive side of Smith "because the negative side was so wild and unconvincing. Critics tried to prove that Mormon meetings were sex orgies because of polygamy. C'mon!" Remini is convinced that Smith would have succeeded no matter what he did. "If you can impress a man like Brigham Young, you have something going for you! Brigham Young read the Book of Mormon, and when he met Joseph he was overpowered by him - and Brigham was an overpowering man! Other people said he was unbelievable when he was preaching. He could tell you the most ordinary thing and make it sound fascinating and exciting. "That's a gift! He was really gifted!" Another project for Remini, now 81, is a biography he has just completed of John Quincy Adams (published by Times Books, the "American= =20 Presidents" series). He is willing to reveal that he has revised the image of the highly regarded Abigail, wife of John and mother of John Quincy. "She was a monster as a mother, a disaster!" Remini says he remains enthusiastic about his writing. "Otherwise,=20 I'll bore myself, and if I bore myself, I'll bore my readers." 'Joseph Smith' is a fine, sensitive biography By Dennis Lythgoe Deseret News book editor JOSEPH SMITH, by Robert V. Remini, Penguin Putnam, $19.95, 190 pages. "Joseph Smith" is a fine, sensitive biography of the Mormon prophet, number 25 in the critically acclaimed "Penguin Lives" series from Penguin Putnam, distinguished short biographies of such important historical figures as Mozart, Jane Austen, Buddha, Saint Augustine, Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill. (Assigned but still to be written by various authors are biographies of Robert E. Lee, Frank Lloyd Wright and Abraham Lincoln.) Remini, probably the foremost living Andrew Jackson scholar, has written a careful, lively portrait of one of the most important religious figures of the 19th century. His unquestioned stature as a historian and biographer will undoubtedly add visibility to his subject. Since the editors at Viking limited his space from the beginning to 50,000 words (he exceeded it to 55,000), he was unable to treat much of the prophet's life in great detail, especially that involving theology and the organization of the LDS Church. Remini's interpretation is balanced, although he emphasizes Smith's positive characteristics =97 "charming and gregarious to a fault." He cites Smith's ability to "mesmerize" an audience and his translation of the Book of Mormon as particularly impressive accomplishments. The Book of Mormon, he says, "is an extraordinary work . . . translated in record time by an uneducated but highly imaginative zealot . . . it sounds biblical. . . . Joseph has a firm grasp of the style, rhythm, and sounds of the Bible and he used them to striking effect." In describing Smith's experience of being tarred and feathered by his enemies, Remini notes that, surprisingly, he appeared as scheduled at church the next morning: "Despite his pain, and with his flesh 'all scarified and defaced,' he walked boldly into the hall. Then, with the true instinct of an actor and consummate spiritual leader, he preached as usual, never once paying a bit of attention to his attackers. His performance under the circumstances greatly increased his already heroic stature among the saints." The author even excuses Smith for the Kirtland Bank failure, ascribing= =20 it to the tenor of the times and the "Panic of 1837." He overdoes Smith's sex appeal, describing him as "a lady killer" and saying that "the ladies adored him." But he ascribes no prurient interests to Smith's attitudes toward women. Remini's treatment of polygamy, and even the destruction of "The Nauvoo Expositor," is even-handed. In conclusion, Remini calls Smith "an organizing genius . . . shrewd and even cunning at times, he was a proud man who knew his own worth yet suffered many moments of insecurity and self-doubt. . . . An optimist, he remained steadfast in his beliefs to the end, despite repeated reversals and defeats. In him the strains of egotism, pragmatism, courage, gentleness, pretension and jealousy were blended together. A man of little formal education but of striking intellectual power, he produced a vast amount of religious writing that has influenced millions of people around the world." 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company Salt Lake Tribune Joseph Smith, a Man of His Times Sunday, October 13, 2002 BY MARTIN NAPARSTECK Joseph Smith By Robert V. Remini; Viking; $19.95 Joseph Smith, according to Robert V. Remini's new biography of the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a product of the democratic impulses and religious fervor of Jacksonian= =20 America. His death was just as inevitably consistent with the mob violence of the era. Probably more than any previous biographer of Smith, Remini seeks to place his subject in historical context. Fawn Brodie in No Man Knows My History, a biography of Smith that got her excommunicated=20 from the church, focuses on personality (including what she saw as his sexual lust). Heidi Swinton, in American Prophet, presented a church-approved apologia. Richard and Joan Ostling, in their sketch of Smith within Mormon America, offer an ambivalent portrait of a man who is not so much good and bad but just too difficult to figure out. Remini quotes extensively from all three books, but is mostly concerned with historical context. The years in the early 19th century that Smith lived in and around Palmyra, N.Y., where he said he had his first conversations with God and angels, were part of what religion historians call the Second Great Awakening (the first came nearly a century earlier), a period during which revivalist meetings inspired open and fervent expressions of religiosity.=20 The area was part of the "burned-over district" of western New York, an area so-named because of the frequency and fervency of the fire-and-brimstone orations of preachers traveling through it. Smith's founding of a new church was just one more manifestation of a regional trend. Similarly, his teaching that all male members in good standing within the church could enter the priesthood was consistent with the Jacksonian belief that common men were as capable of assuming leadership positions as an educated or born elite. Andrew Jackson himself personified that belief, being the first future president born into poverty. He was poorly educated and the first populist to be chief executive. Jackson's election gave birth to the national belief that anyone could be president. Similarly, Smith's murder in 1844 by a mob in Carthage, Ill., at age 38, reflected another aspect of the times: "Widespread mob violence was commonplace, especially against Native Americans, African-Americans, and Catholics. . . . Americans were a violent people,=20 especially on the frontier." Mob violence was one more, if reprehensible, product of a belief that the people should do things for themselves. Even the most controversial aspect of Smith's new religion, polygamy,=20 reflected something in Jackson's America, Remini suggests: "To what extent,= =20 if at all, Joseph was influenced by the 'free love' doctrines of other=20 religious and communitarian groups of the times cannot be determined -- but he certainly had access to them and undoubtedly knew of them." Sociological changes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution, which began just before the Jacksonian Era and became part of it, also paralleled an important aspect of Smith's new church: "The= =20 Industrial Revolution shifted income-producing labor from the home to the factory. As a result the role of women became less that of partners in working small farms and more caretakers in the home." As Remini notes, one of the results was that "the Jacksonian age placed a greater value and respect on the singular virtues of a woman and on her role as wife and mother. Women, and mothers in=20 particular, were placed on a pedestal for all to admire and honor. But God help a woman if she fell off it." He adds that "This 'cult of= =20 domesticity' was especially strong among Mormons and remains so today." Remini's placing his subject within the context of Jacksonian America is= =20 not new. Nor does he ignore the type of discussion of personality that=20 drives Brodie's book. And he is kind toward church-approved viewpoints like Swinton's (Remini is not a Mormon but=20 "decided to present [Smith's] religious experiences just as he described them"). But no previous biographer has placed as much emphasis on the historical context as he does. As such, Joseph Smith is a useful and readable addition to understanding= =20 one of the most important figures in the history of American religion. ----- Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. His latest book is Saying Things, a collection of short stories. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: Re: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners Date: 14 Oct 2002 10:10:13 -0600 (MDT) > Are you only interested in Mormons in currently mainstream medical practice? > Or are you also interested in those who are involved with alternative > medicine and healing techniques? > > Kathy Tyner > Orange County, CA > > Barbara Hume wrote: > > > > > My son is a physical therapist. He's also a good writer. But before I > > approach him on this subject, I'd like to know what you plan to do > > with the information if people take the time to put it together for you. > Well, as I told my writing students at the Central Arizona Community College off-campus site (read: Arizona State Prison), don't tell me anything you should be telling your attorney, spiritual advisor, or shrink--unless you want to. To reiterate my original message: If you have a fully articulated non-fiction manuscript about your experiences as an LDS medical practitioner, I would be interested in looking at it for possible publication by my tiny, non-legitimate and non-profit press which answers to no one but me. I market to the LDS audience largely through the LDS Booksellers Association, and I am working on developing my inventory. I do small press runs of things I like which I think should be published. I get about a dozen phone calls a month from people who think they are writers but who are actually rehashing the same old hackneyed chiches, so I reject about 99% of the material I look at. Then, there are a few astonishing gems which repay the effort. If you have had experiences you think ought to be shared which are less than manuscript length, I will see if they can be accommodated in a thematically organized book I am preparing for press. I think Paris Anderson accurtely described the problems of the small press in his recent post. Re: Barbara Hume's question concerning her son, the physical therapist: Give him my phone number or email address and let him call me if he wants to talk about his work. No offense, but I take no mother's word concerning the quality of her child's work. Nor do I like to hear the recommendation that "I wrote this book for my grandchildren, and they loved it." Re: Kathy Tyner: If the alternative medicine people have something interesting to say I would be interested in looking at it. It should, however, be reasonably orthodox LDS rather than Wicca or other flaky rejection of priesthood authority and power. Thanks for you interest in this project. Hope blooms eternal. Fred Pinnegar -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 10:45:32 -0600 >I'm not clear why the Deseret News would take such a strong stand = >against the=20 >movie. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so out of = place. The Deseret News is not taking any kind of stand on the movie. Lee Benson = has a weekly column, and he took potshots at the movie, but I don't think = we're meant to understand that as representing the official position of = the paper. He's one of their columnists, that's all. He's not a = syndicated columnist, like a George Will or Dave Barry or (shudder in = horror) Marianne Jennings; he's also a reporter for the paper. But he has = the freedom in his column to express any opinion he wants. They have = several other similar columnists, like Chris Hicks, John Hughes and our = own Ann Cannon. It's worth pointing out that the long Kurt Bestor profile = which appeared on the List, and which appeared in the DN under Lee's = byline, was positioned as a news story, and not one of Lee's weekly = columns. =20 You should know that Lee's column has become a favorite target of numerous = letters to the editor. Folks got theyselves a mite riled, boy howdy! Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Givens & Remini Book Signings (SL Tribune) Date: 14 Oct 2002 08:47:15 +0000 Salt Lake Tribune Fresh LDS Insights Sunday, October 13, 2002 BY CHRISTY KARRAS Most people living in Utah know the significance of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the beginnings of the LDS Church. Outside the church and Mormon-dominated Utah, the subject is more of a mystery. Two authors who will be signing their books in Salt Lake City this week hope to enlighten the general public. Terryl Givens will be at Sam Weller Books on Wednesday to discuss his book, By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion, and Robert Remini will be at Sam Weller's on Saturday to talk about his Joseph Smith biography, part of a series commissioned by Penguin Books. Each author approached the projects from different backgrounds and for different reasons. Givens, a Mormon and teacher of 19th-century literature at the University of Richmond, Va., argues that the Book of Mormon's place in history and literature has never been fully explored, nor have most of its detractors or supporters examined its content in a literary or historical sense. "The claim for prophetic powers was what offended [detractors] most, so they didn't feel the need to read it," Givens said. "The Mormons tended to agree that the most important thing about the book was that it pointed to Joseph Smith as a prophet, rather than that it exposed some previously unknown truth." Givens said the Book of Mormon's big impact was presenting a new kind of dialogue: not just between God and prophets who spoke for God to their people, but dialogue between God and individuals on their own behalf. Remini, winner of the National Book Award for his three-volume biography of Andrew Jackson, said the route to doing a Joseph Smith biography was "quite unexpected." He had provided background about the time period to producers of a documentary about the church. When the editor of the Penguin Lives series asked him if he would be interested in doing the biography, he thought was because of his collaboration on the documentary. It turned out the editors chose him because they had done a search on Amazon.com and discovered that a number of people who bought books about the LDS church also bought Remini's books about the Jacksonian era. "It was such a challenge, I thought it would be fun. A non- Mormon's view of Joseph Smith might be just the thing," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Illinois. Remini already knew as much about the Mormon leader as most historians of the period. But it wasn't enough to even make a start. His pursuit of the facts about Smith eventually led him on a long tour of LDS history and theology, aided by Mormons eager to explain their beliefs. "All these people started sending me books. I couldn't get over their kindness, their thoughtfulness, their generosity," he said. Compared with other religious leaders throughout America's history, Remini considers Smith "head and shoulders above the rest." Smith's charismatic personality was the biggest reason for the church's explosive growth, Remini said. "Until he died at age 38, he managed to get between [25,000] and 30,000 people to believe he was a prophet of God. That's quite an accomplishment." Non-Mormons hated Smith for the same reasons church members revered him, Remini said. "How do you think these congregations felt, when this young whippersnapper went around criticizing churches that were hundreds of years old?" Both authors believe the Book of Mormon, as a tangible religious artifact and book of instruction, was one key to the religion's success. "What the Book of Mormon served as was a tangible evidence of the conduit linking God to man," Givens said. "That's very tempting, to have that artifact in your hand." While neither author considers himself an apologist for the church, both say they present it positively. Givens, a member of the church, said he "tried to maintain fairness, if not neutrality. You write this kind of book with the assumption that skeptics are going to be lined up to criticize it. It made me terribly careful." At Sam Weller's Terryl Givens will discuss and sign By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Sam Weller Books, 254 S. Main in Salt Lake City. Sam Weller's will host Robert Remini, author of Joseph Smith: a Penguin Life, Saturday at 2 p.m. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 14 Oct 2002 10:33:11 -0600 Chris said: "What am I supposed to do, just stop reading . . . Whatever happened to our 13th article of Faith (did it expire because it was the unlucky number?) ". . . GOOD report or PRAISEWORTHY, we seek after these things!" Chin up! In the long run, we shall win! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Johnny Lingo (was: Lee Benson on _Charly_) Date: 14 Oct 2002 10:52:52 -0600 Johnny Lingo: >The Johnny Lingo story is not a Mormon story--it's one of the most >popular stories in the world, which makes sense--it's message is solid, >moral, inspiring, etc. I didn't know this, but I find this heartening. I thought it was a Mormon = story. =20 With apologies to Kellene, I should say that I conducted an extremely = informal poll in one of my classes, in which I asked which was the best = and the worst films ever made by the Church. (Commercial films were = excluded). For best film, there were several candidates, including Man's = Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven. Worst film, hands down, was = Johnny Lingo, with Cipher in the Snow a distant second. Students almost = universally found it tremendously sexist and more than a little racist. = (Girls hated it a lot more than boys did, I found). The idea that there's = a commercial film based on Johnny Lingo depresses me more than I can say, = but I'm glad it's popular outside Mormon culture. I find it comforting to = think that Mormons aren't the only ones to like something I find depressing= ly tacky. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 13:03:12 -0400 Concerning Joyce's later works, I wrote: > > > > What objective, rational principles are used to evaluate > > literature? As a > > philosophic objectivist I am part of that tiny minority of > > readers who > > consider both "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" to be literary > > frauds--virtual > > attacks on language and rational thought. They've become > > "classics" because > > certain people have said they are such and that anyone who > > doesn't share > > their opinion just "doesn't get it." In short, they are the literary > > equivalent of the Emperor's new clothes. To which JASON COVEL replied: >Ah, the Emperor's new clothes argument. You know, I remember in my student >days whenever Joyce came up in discussion, either in class or in some artsy >soiree, there was always one person in the group whose face would darken at >the repeated name of _Ulysses_ or _Finnegan's Wake_. Finally, it would >become too much and the outburst would come - "I think Joyce is a fraud!" >or >some similar expression of disdain on behalf of plain-thinkers everywhere. > >I always tried to be gentle about handling this. Yes, he's not for >everyone, and I don't intend that to sound snobbish. Plenty of highly >cultured, well-read, intelligent people don't like Joyce. I happen to love >him. But there's one thing people forget - he's an IRISH WRITER, and his >rhythms, cadences, music are so quintessentially Irish that to forget that >is to miss out on just about everything about him. Want to hear what I >mean? Listen to a reading of Joyce read by an Irish actor - it's almost >essential. > >My point is that if you don't understand what he is in essence, it is >possible to fall into the trap of thinking that Joyce is only the sum of >his >literary critics. Now, to try a mental experiment: take, say, a couple of >dozen of the volumes, journals and theses of the thousands written about >him, and try to write a book that fits all the interpretations and >theories, >all the deconstructions and obscure references therein. What do you get? >I >can only shudder at the thought - it would be as woeful and abysmally >fraudulent as anything Joyce's critics could describe. But it wouldn't >have >anything to do with Joyce. > >I first heard a radio lecture and reading on Joyce when I was about 10, and >I've loved him ever since. I think the impishness of what he had done >appealed to me at the time (still does), but I was equally affected by the >passion and joy with which the lecturer described his own encounters with >Joyce. I wouldn't dare to make the claim to have read _Finnegan's Wake_ >from start to finish - it's more like a treasury, with the bits I know and >love and like to read aloud (I've done a few at parties), the bits I'm >getting to know, and the many bits in between I haven't even discovered >yet. >But I've got a lifetime for that. To which I respond with a few questions and statements: 1. What is the ESSENCE of Joyce? (Essence is a word with a particular meaning. If one says that Joyce's essence is incomprehensible, then one is falling victim to the Emperor's New Clothes way of "reasoning"--meaning the "reasoning" of the frauds in that story. One is in effect attacking the very concept of ESSENCE by using the word ESSENCE.) 2. A literary work must stand on it's own. If the reader is told that he, in order to understand the work, must read what critics have written or that he must understand the author's culture, religion, nationality, personal history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the work CAN'T stand on its own. Also literature is written so that one can comprehend the author's ideas through a personal reading of the work, without depending on anyone other than the text itself. While a well-performed reading can unveil shades of meaning and subtext that one might miss when reading the work on one's own, a verbal performance of a novel should not be required to understand the novel--that is, if the novel is to stand on its own merits. I am a U.S. Southerner, raised in a region where rhythms, cadences and music are just as important to its natives as they are to any Irish man. Tennessee Williams is a Southern writer, his language is very musical; yet his writing, unlike Joyce's, is comprehensible to even a casual listener or reader. 3. Literature is a form of communication. I agree that Joyce was "impish." I would say that he was an "imp" out to distort communication itself. I can readily understand why that would appeal to a 10-year-old. QUESTION: Could you define what you mean by Joyce's impishness? 4.Words have specific meanings. Marks on paper, sounds coming forth from the mouth--these are symbols for specific concepts and abstractions, which in turn must be traced back to objective physical existence or experience in order to have any meaning. Also punctuation is NOT a STYLE ELEMENT. As any actor or public speaker worth his or her salt knows, punctuation is vital in recreating verbally not only the language the author imagined but also its fine shades of meaning.To throw out punctuation, or to not use it properly, is to distort language and thus the communication process itself. Language is an attempt to convey specific ideas. When language is distorted the union of one individual mind to another breaks down. Thus the genius of the Gods in thwarting Babel's tower by confusing the language of its builders. 5. What do you mean by the phrase "plain thinker?" Does it have any relationship to the term "clear headed?" 6.Is being a "plain thinker" a good thing or a bad thing? 7. Why is being a "plain thinker" a detriment to understanding Joyce? Frankly this phrase ("plain thinker") makes me think of the arguments of the fraudulent tailors in the Emporer's New Clothes: "to see this (non-existing) fabric, you must not depend on your physical senses or rational mind; you must not be so earth-bound in your thinking." ROB. LAUER _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "gtaggart" Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 20:28:21 -0700 Jeff Needle wrote, "I'm not clear why the Deseret News [Lee Benson] would take such a strong stand against the Movie [Charly]. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so out of place. Can someone explain this to me?" I'll try. Jeff, there are things called stereotypes. They often lurk in the minds of people who think they've got Mormons and Mormonism figured out. Stereotypes generally contain a grain of truth, but they should be taken with a tablespoon of salt. One such stereotype is that no way, no how will the Deseret News, it's evil TV and radio sibling KSL, or for that matter, any organization owned by Bonneville Communications, say or report anything bad about anything connected with Mormonism. =20 Better yet, the thinking goes that those self-same news organs will embrace any tripe, crap, or kitsch masquerading as high culture, so long as it's connected with Mormonism. Of course, none of this is true. But it makes explaining Mormons and Mormonism quick and easy. =20 Anyway, I hope this hasn=92t shaken your testimony. If you do have the jitters, I hear that snorting mega doses of green Jell-O does wonders. Greg Taggart -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lajackson@juno.com Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops (was: Mormon Publishing Options) Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:37:48 -0500 Barbara Hume: When Dutcher's sheriff/bishop hero cried over what he'd had to do, it was moving -- and cathartic. BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character could be a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be married? _______________ Highly unusual to have a single bishop, but not unheard of. I watched the film a year ago, and don't recall the timing details. But hadn't the accident that killed his wife been fairly recent--a number of months or a year or so? I recall thinking at the time I saw the film that he had just continued to serve as bishop, which is what would probably happen today if there were no other reason to make a change. It would be most unlikely that a person who is not married would be called as bishop in the first place, though. Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "gtaggart" Subject: [AML] RE: Single Bishops Date: 14 Oct 2002 20:49:01 -0700 Barbara Hume wrote, " "When Dutcher's sheriff/bishop hero cried over what he'd had to do, it was moving -- and cathartic. " I agree. "BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character could be a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be married?" I have a question to add to Barbara's list of one: Wouldn't the Sheriff/Bishop have picked up on some discrepancies in the murderer's membership records? Or maybe I simply live in a la-la land where you can fool the Social Security Administration, but you'll never fool the membership department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or maybe Dutcher has a pre-quel in the works: "Snowflake Second Ward Clerk's Office." Greg Taggart -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lajackson@juno.com Subject: [AML] Re: Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:48:53 -0500 Scott Parkin: I read ... three of the Harry Potter books instead of listening to the talks ... _______________ Uh, please help us out here, Scott. Brown paper covers? Leather-bound copies? Inside a notebook with papers and notes from leadership meetings? Some other form of innocuous disguise? And how did you keep the others from trying to snatch the books away from you? This could be very valuable information. Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: [AML] RE: Single Bishops Date: 14 Oct 2002 22:56:16 -0400 BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character could be >a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be >married? > That's the rule. According to the scriptures "The husband of one wife". I'm not sure how they wiggled that for my ancestor who was a bishop (and mayor of Ogden) with six wives. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mary Jane Jones" Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:05:47 -0600 Well, the wait is over. The VHS version of _Brigham City_ will be = available in LDS Bookstores and online at www.clicktobuyonline.com = TOMORROW (Oct 15). Just in time for Bruce's birthday. Mary Jane (Jones) Ungrangsee -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lwilkins@fas.harvard.edu Subject: [AML] RE: Single Bishops Date: 14 Oct 2002 23:33:51 -0400 Quoting Barbara Hume : > At 11:30 PM 10/8/02 -0700, you wrote: > BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character could be > a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be > married? I had this question, too. Some friends of mine discussed it at an after-movie get-together (Exponent was showing it for a fundraiser here in the Boston area), and someone pointed out that our stake president, whose wife died of cancer about a year ago, is still our stake president. Maybe widowers, especially if they're in the position when widowed, can stay in? It still seemed weird that a bishop who has no wife could be the bishop. There's another incongruity for Wes as a bishop character. A friend of mine, when I told her there were interesting things happening in Mormon cinema, looked at me blankly and said "What Mormon cinem?" I told her: "Richard Dutcher!!" She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously from the very beginning because a sheriff would never be called to be a bishop. Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. I tend to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church employee. --Laraine Wilkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mary Jane Jones" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:37:52 -0600 Personally, I found Lee's column uncharacteristically mean-spirited. He = took pot-shots at the film, at Utah culture and just had an overall nasty = tone. While my position as media relations director for Excel (which is = distributing the film) puts me in a not-so-objective position, I still = thought the column was over the top. And for the record, there have been = several letters to the editor in support of the film (and in support of = Benson). The truth is, this movie is speaking to people (as Kim Madsen's post about = the effect it had on the teenagers in the car illustrates). We have been = getting all kinds of emails and calls from people who have seen it and = have had some deep, moving experiences. The story and the characters are = getting inside people's minds and hearts in a meaningful way. So I think = the filmmakers did some good. After all, on some level it's about the = audience, isn't it? (Now that's an artistic can of worms if there ever = was one...) Mary Jane (Jones) Ungrangsee -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 14 Oct 2002 20:55:07 -0700 10/12/2002 1:06:09 PM, "Eric D. Snider" wrote: >Jeff Needle: > >> I'm not clear why the Deseret News would take such a strong >stand against the >> movie. I can understand the Trib doing so, but this seems so >out of place. >> >> Can someone explain this to me? >> >> > > >Sure. It's not "The Deseret News" taking a stand against it. It's one >of the News' columnists expressing his own opinion about it. > >I think it's reassuring that, even though a movie has LDS themes >and is made by LDS people, the LDS-owned newspaper's writers >don't feel obligated to like it. > >Eric D. Snider And given the image the DesNews has had regarding publishing anything remotely negative about church stuff, this is indeed very good. I'm pleased. Thanks for the explanation. ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] The Scriptures Are Books Too! Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:02:29 -0700 And let it be said that there is no shortage of internet lists dedicated to the discussion of scripture. Scripture-l is an example. There's a commercial running these days with a woman saying something like, "Folks who get heartburn every day have medicine they can take every day, but what about the rest of us who only have occasional heartburn?" She's shrugging her shoulders as she's saying this, bemoaning a lack of help for occasional heartburn. I remember saying to myself, "What happened to Tums and Rolaids? These have been around for years. There's no lack of help for people with occasional heartburn!" Similarly, there's really no shortage of places on the Internet to discuss Mormon scripture. I for one am glad for AML and its focus on literature. I hope it stays that way. ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: larsenr@hawaii.edu Subject: Re: [AML] Sam Taylor Inquiry Date: 14 Oct 2002 21:50:13 -0700 Eric Samuelsen, You might try sending a letter to the old Redwood city address. I think the family or his representative may still respond. I think Heaven only Knows was self published? I will take a look at my copy tonight. Rights to his trade books may still be owned by the respective publishers or possibly they have reverted to the estate. At one point Sam gave me the movie rights to his controversial 1970s trade book Nightfall at Nauvoo. Don't know if that was OK with the publisher. The project awaits proper funding so I have not inquired with the publisher or the family. Sam's heirs could of course grant any public performance and derivative work rights to his books where the respective rights were not sold by Bro. Taylor to his publishers. Hope this helps, Randall Larsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 14 Oct 2002 22:58:00 -0700 Bishops can be widowers as this one was. I'm assuming the character was called as a Bishop before his wife died. In my sister ward, the Bishop there lost his wife suddenly this last January. The Stake President saw no reason for him to be released at the time and he continued to serve with help from family and friends to cover with his kids. He was just released a few weeks ago. So yes, at least a widower can serve if he loses his wife while in office. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 14 Oct 2002 23:54:30 -0700 On Thu, 10 Oct 2002 11:19:21 -0600 Eric R. Samuelsen, writing about Jon in _The Singles Ward_ says, > And so when he gives up stand-up (why do characters in > Mormon movies, when repenting, always end up giving up > something they're good at like this?) I think it has to do with not understanding the story of Abraham and Isaac, the same misunderstanding that caused Gerard Manley Hopkins (correct me if I've got the wrong Jesuit) to burn his early poems, and Soren Kierkegaard to call off his wedding to Marianne, then write _Fear and Trembling_ to try and explain how he had misread the story of Abraham and Isaac. Some of us think that in order to please God we have to give up the thing we are most good at or enjoy the most, but that's not the point of the Abraham and Isaac story at all, because it ignores the fact that God specifically commanded Abraham to do something God himself had forbidden--human sacrifice--and that God later sent an angel to stop Abraham from performing the thing God had commanded him to do against God's previous commands. Like the story of Nephi and Laban, the story of Abraham and Isaac is much more complex than we care to think. We're pretty facile about shrugging off the stories' nuances and overtones. It's not insignificant to either story that God commanded us not to kill each other, particularly defenseless each others. Nephi is writing maybe 50 years after the killing, but it still clearly upsets him. I'm impressed that he doesn't try to censor his earlier self. Any parent would recognize his early reasoning as rationalization--he tried to hit me first, so I waited till he was taking a nap and beat him up--but Nephi doesn't try to make his early reasoning seem more sophisticated. He allows the reasoning to be unsatisfying, and allows the story to be brutal and haunting. Louis Owens' _Bone Game_ is about a man (men?) who kills because he thinks violence is the core of a good life. I'm not giving anything away here--it's fairly obvious if you follow the classroom scenes where Cole McCurtain (one of the good guys) talks about how people misunderstand mythic structure. The murderer clearly believes that living a mythic and spiritual life involves violence, killing people, and says something like, "If only one person would allow herself to be killed willingly, everything would be OK." He's lying. He says that to all his victims. Owens is aware, of course, that one man did allow himself to be killed willingly, and though this is not a Christian novel (informed more by a Choctaw-Cherokee-Irish spirituality, or at least that's Cole's background) it pays a strong tribute to Jesus. During most of the novel we're waiting for a shaman to arrive and lead us in a sweat lodge ceremony, and when he does, >>>>> "On the peyote road we got to love everything," the old man said, "and we got to always think about everybody we love and pray for them. Bad thoughts or selfish thoughts don't belong here. Like Jesus we got to forgive everybody. That's real important. Sometimes we got to forgive ourself, too, and that's hardest maybe." (196) <<<<< The comment reminds us that religious ritual should be a way of repudiating violence, not glorifying it. Think about Robert Slaven's signature line, a quote from Russell M. Nelson, 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' I think there's a part of our culture (ambiguous, does it mean a faction within the culture, or an element of our sensibility?) that doesn't want to believe Elder Nelson's words, that thinks we're really here to suffer. We who wouldn't walk 800 miles to Nauvoo barefoot in winter, who are we to live such contented joyful lives? OK so this doesn't have anything to do with Eric's question about why some movies include scenes that just kill the whole movie. But he raises a question that needs some comment. (All right already, so when are you going to finish your review of The Sharpest Sight and Bone Game, instead of parceling it out over many posts? Soon, Gracehopper, but first I've got to do a review of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and that wonderful sense of "Life is for living.") Hmm. Maybe this post does have something about movie death wish scenes. I just remembered that passage in "Enduring" where Gene England talks about how his mother in law couldn't tell jokes, because she recognized that a joke is usually at someone else's expense, so she would make herself the butt by ruining the joke. Gene notes that since his mother in law died Charlotte hasn't been any good at telling jokes. ("Enduring" was reprinted in the Autumn 2001 Irreantum. Order yours today.) Perhaps movie death wish scenes have the same kind of psychological function--working to ruin a story the teller knows is heading in a dishonest direction but doesn't know how to stop. Harlow S(for My Big Fat Swedish Wedding) Clark -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: [AML] Eric SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 08:34:12 -0600 Listers! Harken! Don't you want to see about WEIRD MORMON SEX? It was good to see Eric Samuelsen last night at the Little Brown theatre. (We're doing a great version of BLITHE SPIRIT--a play he has seen 200 times, and couldn't stay, but anyway . . .) He brought an entire contingency of BYU students over to get furniture in our storage room for their play PECULIARITIES which will begin Oct. 19 at the big theatre across the street--the Villa. He explained to me what he had written--four separate epidsodes of sexual behavior that takes place among Mormons--like a couple going for a weekend to Tahoe, getting married, having an orgy, and then getting a divorce. Or "sexless" adultery which is the emotional horror that breaks up marriages even though there is no actual physical sex. There were two more I can't remember. But anyway, the message I got was that it was about "WEIRD MORMON SEX." That's what he wanted to call it, but he couldn't very well put that up on our marquee, he said. I guess it would shock our little senior citizen groups that come to our plays. However, it sounds FASCINATING to me, and gives us as Mormons something to really sink our teeth into! I am going to be SO INTERESTED! So spread the word and come! I'm not sure of the ticket price, ($7?) but it will be worth it! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 08:16:01 -0700 > > I plan on watching the show in the privacy of my own living room one day and really letting that ugly cry out. Maybe I'll do a marathon...A WALK TO REMEMBER, LOVE STORY, and CHARLY. In an estrogen driven market place there will always be room for tear-jerkers. > > Now you've sold me on Charly. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 10:38:53 -0600 Good post, Barbara. Yes, we need dark and pain. Chiarascuro. Brigham City bishop? Bishops should be married, Barbara. However, for a few months they sometimes leave them in just for purposes of smooth transition, or to let them have something to hang on to during the grieving tim. The reason I know this is that my husband Bill Brown was first counselor and they left him in (alone after his wife died) until he got married (to me) six months later. When he married me they released him simply because I was too much to handle! (Grin) (Going crazy with five step children.) I think the higher ups use discretion. Any body else have an opinion? Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Loving _Brigham City_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 12:38:59 EDT In a message dated 10/14/02 8:00:32 PM Mountain Daylight Time, margaret_young@byu.edu writes: << I'm really curious about this DVD business. I am decidedly behind the times, but when I went to buy _Brigham City_ at Media Play, it was ONLY on DVD. I had already looked for it in some LDS bookstores without success. What's the deal here? Are those of us who still have 8-track tapes hidden away going to have to move from VHS to DVD's in order to see the movies we want? Who's in charge of that conspiracy? >> The video/dvd landscape is always changing. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are the ones calling the shots for the most part. If you want to sell your units to them at desirable prices, they demand a certain window (usually six months) in which you are not allowed to sell cheap, direct-to-consumer videos. They want the rental dollars. For some strange reason, they don't have the same rules for dvds, probably because dvds were never offerred to them at $99.00 a unit as vhs copies were. Of course, if you have a big mass market movie and you don't care about the Blockbuster dollars, you can just put your vhs out immediately. But if you have a smaller film where consumer purchases will be relatively low, you need the Blockbuster dollars, so you have to hold off on the vhs. That's the basic situation. Richard -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] The Scriptures Are Books Too! Date: 15 Oct 2002 10:56:26 -0600 ___ Mod ___ | Discussion of scriptures as literature is appropriate to AML- | List. However, discussion of Mormon doctrine per se, or | practices, or how to improve our lives through better scripture | reading, etc., is not really part of the purpose of AML-List. ___ Some great examples on the Bible as literature are some of Atler's various articles. There have been a few on the Book of Mormon, but I honestly think this is an aspect we've not really focused in on enough. -- Clark Goble --- clark@lextek.com ----------------------------- -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Robert Starling" Subject: [AML] Re: _Charly_ (Film Review) Date: 15 Oct 2002 11:36:46 -0600 Margaret said: >We're still building the foundation. And it does include some overdone = =66lourishes and maybe >even some vandalized brick, but the foundation is a good one. WHEN it is = =66ully >built, I anticipate that the structure it will hold will be magnificent. = =20 Well said! Sometimes the literary elitism of the "orchids" in the garden = seems kinda snooty to the rest of us "American Beauty Roses" (and = dandylions?). =20 I _loved_ "Charly"! And while it may not be Shakespeare, if it helps = someone cope with the loss of an eternal companion, or stirs the embers of = marital love that makes them a better wife or husband, or makes LDS youth = desire a temple marriage... then bully for it! We all have to "bloom where we're planted", with whatever talent and vision= = we have. Better to try and perhaps fall short of some other folks' standar= d= of literary excellence than not to try at all. One of my favorite quotes re: "critics" comes from Theodore Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong= = man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.=20 The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face i= s= marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and = comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and = shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy = cause, who at best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who= = at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be = with those timid and cold souls who know neither victory or defeat." While it's true that Pres. Kimball said great works of Mormon art must be = "refined by our best critics", I hope we will always do it with the kindnes= s= and love that befits a follower of Christ. Robert Starling -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Nia VANDALOS, _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_ (Review) Date: 15 Oct 2002 00:59:39 -0700 "Come, on Dad, it's Family Home Evening, We're going to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding." There are some movies so full of joy that I just want to claim them under Article 13 of the Wentworth Letter, movies like _O Brother, Where Art Thou_, _The Apostle_, and now _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_. (Hmm, "I just want to," that comes from a prayer pattern I hear a lot among Born Again Christians.) Nia Vandalos has done such a wonderful job at observing her culture that you wonder how anyone can watch that closely--can get it that right. Of course it may not be that right--the movie may be full of types and stock situations--but there's so much energy, so much affection for the characters and culture, that what I noticed was the energy and affection and good humor. I kept thinking, why can't we do something like this? A rhetorical question, because we can. We Mormons aren't a bunch of long-faced ("your chin is too long and your whiskers too sparse for a good beard" Donna tells me) pioneers plodding to the promised land. We know how to get falling down silly at a party with no alcohol present, and we have many cultures within the Church to draw eccentric, lovable characters from. We also love family. "I have 27 first cousins," Toula tells Ian. I have that many on each side, and some of us are really, really strange, especially the third son of the third son. (The third son of the third son of the third son is also pretty interesting.) We aren't as boisterous as Toula's family (though Donna did say in Testimony Meeting yesterday that sometimes it sounds like a yelling match at our house--especially between Matthew and me (but even if he's mad and yelling at me, he won't let me out of the house without a kiss), but some families are as boisterous, and every family has a character like Aunt Myrtle, who spent so much time doing road shows and making people laugh. For years at Soderborg reunions the women would all go off by themselves (one year I found this wonderful culvert under the road in Sugarhouse Park) for a while. I learned much later they were showers for new or perspective brides or mothers. Myrtle was famous for her jokes. Once she got some objects for a game. The others were supposed to make up rhymes about them. She put a picture of herself in a pot with a plant. She was thinking, "Aunt in plant," but someone else said, "Myrt in dirt." And every family has characters like that, every ward and neighborhood does. But _Greek Wedding_ is not simply a celebration of family life, it also deals with the pains of being trapped in a culture. Toula wants to do something besides spend her life in the family restaurant. She tells her mother she wants to go to college, but her father won't let her and "He's the head of the family, and what he says goes." "The father is the head of the family," her mother says, "But the mother is the neck of the family and the neck can turn the head any way it wants." Toula's father wants her to marry a nice Greek boy and make Greek babies, but the boy she falls in love with isn't Greek. Two serious issues, breaking away from a culture, and changing or bucking family tradition. The movie lets us feel the poignance of each issue, but treats them with such good laugh out loud for minutes at a time humor, and resolves them by expanding the culture to enfold the new people and ideas--just as the 13th Article of Faith invites us to expand our culture, seeking after and embracing anything "virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy." I found myself wondering how someone might make _My Big Fat Temple Wedding_. The wedding would probably not be a temple wedding, simply because you couldn't show the ceremony, but you could very well have a raucous comedy about a boy who embraces a new faith because he loves the people who profess it, and gets married in the chapel, with an exhortation to go to the temple. But weddings aren't the only events that bring lots of characters together. Jack Weyland uses two situations that bring people together in _The Reunion_, a ward and a high school reunion. Much of that novel is very funny, and it has some sharp observations about the demands we place on our bishops, and how we ply them for free services. (The bishop in this story owns a Lawn Doctor franchise.) There's a lot of promising material for comedy in our cuture--imagine a movie populated by people from Robert Kirby's columns. The example that _My Big Fat Greek (with its playful use of Sigmas as Es) Wedding_ gives is to celebrate your culture as a quirky, human culture, that, for all its quirks and pains is your culture. As Wright Morris called one of his books, _My Country Right or Left_. Celebrate your culture. Don't worry what people outside will think about your quirks. They'll love it. Oh, and along with getting Chris (?) from Cicely Alaska to play opposite her, Nia Vandalos got this wonderful running gag about how Toula's father uses Windex for everything (never on windows, though). She integrates it so well, it seems so natural, that it wasn't till I was out in the parking lot that I said, "Hey, that's the best product placement I've ever seen." Harlow Soderborg Clark (still laughing) ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: [AML] Margot Theis RAVEN, _Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot_ (Review) Date: 15 Oct 2002 12:04:45 -0600 Review Title: Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot Author: Margot Theis Raven Illustrated by: Gijsbert van Frankenbuyzen Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press Year Published: 2002 Binding: Hardback ISBN: I-58536-069-4 Price: $17.95 Reviewed by Nan McCulloch Some of you from Provo and BYU are acquainted=20 with Colonel Gail Halvorsen known in Germany as=20 The Berlin Candy Bomber. I know him as my=20 husband's old flying buddy from post-WWII. They=20 roomed together and flew out of West Palm Beach,=20 Florida prior to my husband's being sent to China=20 as an advisor to the Chinese Air Force and Gail's=20 assignment to the Berlin Airlift. Gail went on to=20 become an historical icon and a hero in Germany=20 and around the world. As most of you remember, in 1948 Russia=20 attempted to seize control of West Berlin and put=20 it under communist rule. Stalin blockaded the=20 roads, railroads, and canal routes to cut off West=20 Berliners from all food, clothing, heat and electricity. =20 Without outside help, over 2.2 million people would=20 have died. The Berlin Airlift began a humanitarian=20 rescue mission that utilized British and American=20 airplanes and pilots to fly in needed supplies. As=20 one of the American pilots, Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen,=20 wishing to ignite hope, got the idea to parachute=20 candy to the hungry war-weary children of West=20 Berlin. Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot is a wonderfully=20 illustrated children's book about the Berlin Airlift=20 and the candy that dropped from the sky. It is the=20 true story of a seven-year-old girl named Mercedes=20 who lived in West Berlin during the airlift and the=20 American who came to be known as the Berlin=20 Candy Bomber. Margot Theis Raven, a writer of historical fiction,=20 has written a charming, heartwarming account of=20 this loving, hopeful operation. In a time when=20 true heroes are once again being appreciated, this=20 is a book to be enjoyed by children of all ages. =20 It will make you proud to be an American and proud=20 to know Brother Gail S. Halvorsen, Col. USAF-Ret.=20 (Note: Col. Halvorsen has written a more complete=20 account of this wonderful story. It is called _The=20 Candy Bomber_ and it is published by Horizon=20 Publishers.) _________________________________________________ Nan McCulloch Draper, UT -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 12:56:56 -0700 Ha! Well, since I don't have a testimony, it really can't be shaken. And unl= ike Mr. Bond,=20 I prefer my testimonies stirred, not shaken... Thanks for the information. 10/14/2002 8:28:21 PM, "gtaggart" wrote: > >Anyway, I hope this hasn=92t shaken your testimony. If you do have the >jitters, I hear that snorting mega doses of green Jell-O does wonders. > >Greg Taggart ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com=20 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 15 Oct 2002 12:59:38 -0700 I don't remember Johnny Lingo, although I'm pretty sure I've seen it. Does anyone remember a short church film, it may have been called The Bridge, but I'm not sure--about a man whose job it was to throw a switch on a railroad track by a certain time each day? I'm sure to get the details wrong. It looked like it was made in the 70's. For some reason my in-law's had a copy of it, possibly on super 8. The film starts out with a man playing with his small son on their farm, a nice sunny day, your typical cheesy scenes. But then later that day he goes to throw the switch on the track and realizes his small son had followed him onto the railroad bridge. The train is coming, and the switch is stuck, so he has to hold it in place, otherwise the train will derail. He has to choose between rescuing his small son who is on the tracks, and rescuing a train full of people. That film really hit me hard. It starts out so cheesy and sweet. The ending is so jarring. I haven't seen too many church productions, but of the ones I have, the Lamb of God is a favorite. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Craig Huls" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 15 Oct 2002 15:18:54 -0500 Eric Samuelsen wrote: With apologies to Kellene, I should say that I conducted an extremely informal poll in one of my classes, in which I asked which was the best and the worst films ever made by the Church. (Commercial films were excluded). For best film, there were several candidates, including Man's Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven. Worst film, hands down, was Johnny Lingo, with Cipher in the Snow a distant second. Students almost universally found it tremendously sexist and more than a little racist. (Girls hated it a lot more than boys did, I found). The idea that there's a commercial film based on Johnny Lingo depresses me more than I can say, but I'm glad it's popular outside Mormon culture. I find it comforting to think that Mormons aren't the only ones to like something I find depressingly tacky. Eric Samuelsen *************************************** Nothing personal just my opinon: Perhaps the methods used were not up to the excitement of todays productions but issues they were addressing still exist. Who rents the biggest Limo for homecoming or who has the sportiest pickup truck. Or the best looking boots. Size and cost of the coursages The vanity issue exists. To continue, the price tag on the Prom Dress VS the dress handmade by a single mother trying to help her daughter feel part of the action. The resultant embarrassment at the dance when it looks two generations older than the rest of the girls. Took 8 months to get that girl back to school. I have counseled LDS youth with low self-esteem issues and you cannot believe how often "Johnny Lingo" and "Cipher in the Snow" have kept me working and pleading for divine intervention by the peers of those youth to come to their aid. I have used CITS in teaching youth and I have seen it touch and change the lives and relationships within a quorum. It is still IMHO a tool of value. Get a SS class into a discussion of what the objective of JL was and how it was addressed and soon the methods are less important than the issue that was being addressed. Serious Art they may not have been. Pickup a body sometime where suicide was involved and recognize that it was the zero relationship that was shown in "Cipher in the Snow" that lead to the act. There is a need out there for cinema and literature that teaches caring and sharing with real life situations. I felt "Brigham City" did that. I believe many of the Videos that have been developed for CES of late are high quality. But I have yet to see one that handles the issue of zero relationships with as much impact as CITS. With JL and CITS someone was at least trying. Amateurs? Well we all have to start somewhere. If either movie prevented a lifetime of low self-esteem or a suicide I say thanks be to those who at least tried. BTW I still have JL as a filmstrip! Anybody have a projector they want to unload? (Just kidding!) Craig Huls -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kathy Fowkes" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 16 Oct 2002 13:08:40 -0700 Wasn't Elder Oaks a widower when he was called to be an apostle? I seem to recall something about it, but can't remember for certain. Kathy Fowkes -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "CLARK DRANEY" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 14:27:09 -0600 >She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously from >the very beginning because a sheriff would never be called to be a bishop. >Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. I=20 >tend >to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church=20 >employee. > >--Laraine Wilkins My father was called to be bishop while he was a county attorney and was=20 later made stake president while he was a state judge. When Elder Perry, who= =20 called and ordained him, reported to the Twelve that he had called a judge= =20 as a stake president, another of the Twelve reminded him that that wasn't=20 policy. Elder Perry replied that sometimes the spirit overrides policy.=20 Shortly thereafter Dad was invited to meet with Elder Oaks to discuss the=20 possible conflicts of interest. Apparently (and I don't remeber if Dad told= =20 me this directly or if I merely inferred it) Elder Oaks had been in a=20 similary situation. So... it can and does happen, occassionally. Clark Draney _________________________________________________________________ Broadband?=A0Dial-up? Get reliable MSN Internet Access.=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "gtaggart" Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 14:30:37 -0700 Mary Jane wrote, "Personally, I found Lee's column uncharacteristically mean-spirited. He took pot-shots at the film, at Utah culture and just had an overall nasty tone." Then why did I--about as True a Believing Mormon and as defensive a wet blanket towards things even remotely negative about Mormonism as you will encounter--laugh all the way through Benson's review? (This is not a comment on the movie, by the way. I haven't seen it, though my wife insists that we will go to see whether it lives up to her fond, very fond, memories of the book.) Greg Taggart -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "David Hansen" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 15 Oct 2002 14:45:23 -0600 Speaking of Johnny Lingo, I saw one of the best summarys of this film last week on, of all places, the University of Utah sports web board. The first two thirds of the post deal with a personal interpretation "review" of the film, while the last third deals with how Brett Elliot, Utah's quarterback of the moment, is the Utah fan's "Mahana." No question he's cynical about BYU, but what do you expect from the Ute Web Board? It's found here: http://www.utefans.net/webboard/ftboard/archive.php?id=55&action=View Dave Hansen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:35:57 -0400 > >I have a question to add to Barbara's list of one: Wouldn't the >Sheriff/Bishop have picked up on some discrepancies in the murderer's >membership records? Or maybe I simply live in a la-la land where you >can fool the Social Security Administration, but you'll never fool the >membership department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day >Saints. Or maybe Dutcher has a pre-quel in the works: "Snowflake Second >Ward Clerk's Office." > >Greg Taggart Actually, the membership department gets fooled rather often. I have six children who live in a variety of locales. The daughter (not active in the church, though when she invited missionaries into her home was stood up by them) who lives in Ocala, Fla. seems to flummox them completely. At least once a year I get a call from the membership department asking her address. I always give it to them, but they can't seem to keep track of it. (I suspect this is more a problem with the church authorities in Ocala than with the membership department, but the problem is persistent.) I received another call looking for my other daughter while she was serving in a Stake Relief Society Presidency at BYU. Two of my sons, though not permanently (full time) military are in Reserve or National Guard Units that get called up for terms from six weeks to eleven months (Bosnia) and each time it happens the membership department feels the need to make multiple phone calls. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 15 Oct 2002 15:07:36 -0600 Larry Jackson wondered: > Scott Parkin: > > I read ... three of the Harry Potter books instead > of listening to the talks ... > > _______________ > > Uh, please help us out here, Scott. > > Brown paper covers? Leather-bound copies? Inside > a notebook with papers and notes from leadership > meetings? Some other form of innocuous disguise? > > And how did you keep the others from trying > to snatch the books away from you? > > This could be very valuable information. A lot of the classic literature that I read comes in either textured cloth or leather-bound editions that I got from my father--duplicates of his Franklin Library editions that he gave me as a Christmas gift. Otherwise, I try to use standard hard-cover editions with the dust jackets removed and I pay careful attention to make sure that the spine is always held down when walking or held in my lap with the spine toward my body when sitting. Otherwise, it's just a matter of sitting against one edge of the pew (or in the back corner of a classroom). If you bring your scriptures and hold them on top of the book until you decide to read it people's eyes just slip right past it. I've tried carrying regular paperbacks but it becomes far too exhausting to keep shifting your grip and making sure it's under your scriptures (or a well-placed program). The sf paperbacks, especially, have back covers that are every bit as lurid as the fronts (though I was able to successfully read a couple of Orson Scott Card's paperbacks anyway; when asked I reminded folks that Card is Mormon). I didn't bother trying to hide my paperback of Les Miserables (unabridged) because it was so easily defended as a religious book. Of course my best disguise is a glowering demeanor and a reputation for carrying "boring" books like Virgil and Plutarch and Voltaire and Dostoevsky. They know I'm reading something non-churchy, but they assume that it's something they would find boring and they leave me alone. Of course I've also been known to carry a spare to lend to others in an emergency... Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 15 Oct 2002 15:10:36 -0600 Ronn took me to task (inoffensively, I should note) for insufficiently = considering the audience for this particular piece of writing (Singles = Ward, I mean), in criticizing it. In part, my response is that I must = surely be part of that audience (active LDS, sense of humor, interested in = a critical examination of our culture), and that I found the film = dispiriting, unengaging, and colossally at odds with itself. =20 But doesn't the fact that a story is told in the medium of film suggest = that it's aiming for, at least at some level, something resembling a broad = popular audience? If the intended audience for Singles Ward was solely = Wasatch front Mormons, then it's unlikely, it seems to me, to be particular= ly profitable. And movies cost a lot to make, and must therefore aim at a = broad enough audience to at least have a chance to recoup the initial = investment. Singles Ward is full of in-jokes, and perhaps is only = intended for a Mormon audience. But it's also a romantic comedy, and as = such could potentially reach an audience of folks willing to overlook = cultural references they don't quite get in order to follow a story they = find engaging. My Big Fat Greek Wedding comes immediately to mind as a = film that explores a culture not my own, but which does so in such a way = that I don't mind missing some cultural references, because I dig the = story and characters. Singles Ward might have had that kind of potential. = But the death wish scene causes us to so thoroughly loathe the female = leading character, that her eventual union with the hero seems tragic. = This will, I maintain, damage its box office appeal to non-Mormon = audiences who might otherwise be willing to give it a chance. =20 Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jerry Tyner" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 14:22:30 -0700 I'm going to have to talk about this one and consider several parts. = Here goes: Quoting Barbara Hume : > At 11:30 PM 10/8/02 -0700, you wrote: > BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that character = could be > a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must = be=20 > married? We just had a situation like this in our Stake (the Ward we had moved = from two years ago). The Bishop's wife passed away suddenly this past = January and he was not released until September of this year. The reason = given by the Stake President was: "Until the Lord tells us to release = you we will let you serve." The Stake President said this in Ward = Conference in February. The Bishop had two young sons (11 and 13) to = take care of as well. I know it was hard on him and his sons but it also = gave the Bishop some time to have the "Mantle" in place to have that = extra comfort only the Lord can give. I know it was hard for him to = continue to serve but the Ward was great and helped out and gave service = to the Bishop that never would have happened otherwise. Most of the time = it is the Bishop giving unselfish service to the Ward. It was a great = blessing to allow the Ward to give service to their Bishop and a tribute = to their love for this unselfish man.=20 -- Laraine Wilkins wrote: -- I had this question, too. Some friends of mine discussed it at an = after-movie=20 -- get-together (Exponent was showing it for a fundraiser here in the = Boston=20 -- area), and someone pointed out that our stake president, whose wife = died of=20 -- cancer about a year ago, is still our stake president. Maybe = widowers,=20 -- especially if they're in the position when widowed, can stay in? It = still=20 -- seemed weird that a bishop who has no wife could be the bishop.=20 Like I said above, I think it is circumstances as much as anything. In = "Brigham City" both the wife and his child was killed so he (the Bishop) = did not have any children to care for after he came out of his coma. As = hard as it is there is potentially a reason for people to be left in = these positions and at some point I'm sure the Stake President would = council the Bishop to start looking for a wife. I'm sure the same would = go for a Stake President in the same situation. -- Laraine Wilkins wrote:=20 -- There's another incongruity for Wes as a bishop character. A friend = of mine,=20 -- when I told her there were interesting things happening in Mormon = cinema,=20 -- looked at me blankly and said "What Mormon cinem?" I told her: = "Richard=20 -- Dutcher!!" She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it = seriously from=20 -- the very beginning because a sheriff would never be called to be a = bishop.=20 -- Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. = I tend=20 -- to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church = employee.=20 As the old saying goes: "Trust in Allah but tie up your camel." I would = ask her to show you where it says that in the Handbook of Instructions. = I do not see this as a conflict of interest. If the Lord calls the man = and the First Presidency approves the call he is called to be a Bishop - = law enforcement career or not. I see annoyance just like "Wes" felt = having members come to his Sheriff's station to confess sins in that = office rather than the Bishop's office but other than that I see it as a = great blessing to the community as a whole. I do not see what would be = considered a conflict of interest. Just my humble opinion. Jerry Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Russ Asplund Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 15:32:41 -0600 Well, the audience includes both people who liked it (those who wrote you) and people who didn't (Lee Benson and well, me, for example.) I think you may need a bit thicker skin if Benson's article was that offensive to you. Just because a film speaks to one segment of the population, or has a great message, or high artistic ideals---or whatever other qualifiers you might add--doesn't give it a free pass from criticism. Many people I know were significantly moved by the song "I'll Build You A Rainbow" in seminary. I still think it was manipulative. The fact that it succeeded in manipulating many people did not make it any more palatable to me. I bring that up because it was in seminary that I was also first exposed to Charly, and they are both lumped together in my mind. They both rely on the audience coming in desperately wanting to agree with the message, wanting to be moved and to believe their feelings are deep and pure. The problem is it leads the artist to be lazy. There is no effort made to reach me as a skeptic or draw me in, instead I will just be branded hard-hearted for not crying and being moved. Just as the letter writers brand Benson for not agreeing with their take on the movie. In a way, it is the reverse of the emperor's-new-clothes argument that Robert Laurer worries about with "Finnegan's Wake". It is an argument that tries to set the work of art above criticism for one reason or another. I happen to like "Finnegan's Wake," but I do take his point about people trying to shield things from a critical eye. Anything is fair game. So, at some level it's about the audience. But at another it's about craft and meaning and personal response. If you like the film, by all mean's argue it's merits. But writing in to complain about Lee Benson's article just reminds me of my deep ambivalence about being seen as a Mormon artist. Too often, I perceive artists using their Mormoness as a shield from criticism by claiming some higher purpose. As if my craft should be judged differently because of it's ideals. (It's not the Benson is criticizing a film that's worthy of writing a letter about, it's that he's criticizing a _Mormon_ film. How dare he. And in a Mormon paper, no less.) I don't think it should. My Mormoness does not forgive my art it's flaws any more that my being an artists forgives my being a bad Mormon. And if I want to really have an impact, I have to try harder to reach the skeptics and those who don't agree with my point of view. Which means I tend to hold work from my own culture to a higher standard. And works like Charly and I'll Build You A Rainbow, by seeming to make no effort to reach even me, a fairly sympathetic skeptic, make me angry because their shallowness makes my world view seem more shallow. By not even trying, it leaves me feeling like on outsider, and I can only wonder what it does to people who really are outside my culture. Other's have called Charly a tear jerker. Well, I want a film to earns my tears, not one blatantly try to rip them from me. (Yes, I do hate Bambi, too. So sue me.) Russell Asplund > ---------- > From: Mary Jane Jones > > Personally, I found Lee's column uncharacteristically mean-spirited. He > took pot-shots at the film, at Utah culture and just had an overall nasty > tone. While my position as media relations director for Excel (which is > distributing the film) puts me in a not-so-objective position, I still > thought the column was over the top. And for the record, there have been > several letters to the editor in support of the film (and in support of > Benson). [snip] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jerry Tyner" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 14:37:35 -0700 My wife prompted me on this one or I would have by passed it: >> Greg Taggart asked: >> I have a question to add to Barbara's list of one: Wouldn't the >> Sheriff/Bishop have picked up on some discrepancies in the murderer's >> membership records? Or maybe I simply live in a la-la land where you >> can fool the Social Security Administration, but you'll never fool = the >> membership department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day >> Saints. Or maybe Dutcher has a pre-quel in the works: "Snowflake = Second >> Ward Clerk's Office." I served as a Ward Membership Clerk back in the 1970's and 1980's. Back = then you had to send to Salt Lake for records when someone moved into = the Ward. There were always things you had to get cleared up when people = moved in and when Priesthood Ordinations took place. Part of Tithing = Settlement time was used to clear discrepancies. Now for the question - = would there be some discrepancy? My guess is potentially it would say = the person was deceased but then again some clerk could say there was a = mistake in Snowflake and send the record with a question about if this = was the same person. Mistakes can happen when it comes to paperwork = (even as computerized as we have become) and I find that this one is = believable. Jerry Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Peter Chamberlain" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 15:48:50 -0600 I think it takes at least six months for the machinery of calling a new bishop to get going. Every bishop that is called is reviewed and approved by the 12 apostles and the first presidency as well as the stake president and , sort of, by the local high council. Usually this is all completed and then the date to call the new bishop et. Al is set for another month out. I would think that with the sudden death of a spouse the bishop could be left in easy six to eight more months. Peter Chamberlain -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Randall Larsen Subject: Re: [AML] Sam Taylor Inquiry Date: 15 Oct 2002 11:56:12 -1000 Eric Samuelson, I checked my copy of the book. The publisher (1984) was Apsen Publications, Murray Utah. (address on request). There is a good chance the publisher (if they are still in business) will know what bundle of rights they own and who has the adaptation rights. Sam's book cries to be made into a play. Hope this helps, Randall Larsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Russ Asplund Subject: RE: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:03:22 -0600 > 2. A literary work must stand on it's own. If the reader is told that he, > in > order to understand the work, must read what critics have written or that > he > must understand the author's culture, religion, nationality, personal > history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the work CAN'T > stand > on its own. > Umm, why do you say that a literary work must stand on it's own? Some do, but certain forms of poetry--from William Carlos Williams to T.S. Elliot and many others--are specifically written so that shades of meaning are revealed as you study them. They rely on both a knowledge of the culture as a whole, from mythology to religion, to a knowledge of the poet's circumstances when the poem was written. Almost any book is going to be enriched by a familiarity with the culture it was created in. For example, it now takes quite a bit of study to get all of the jokes in Shakespeare and Chaucer, but it doesn't make them less successful as literary works. > 3. Literature is a form of communication. I agree that Joyce was "impish." > I > would say that he was an "imp" out to distort communication itself. I can > readily understand why that would appeal to a 10-year-old. QUESTION: Could > > you define what you mean by Joyce's impishness? > But what if what I want to communicate is the inefficiency of the written language to communicate an entire experience? Joyce is, in many cases playing with language the way a child plays with playdough. I can see why you might not enjoy this, but I don't find it a moral failing. Literature is more a form of entertainment that a form of communication. Musical notes can entertain without intrinsic meaning. Is it wrong to feel that word can sometimes do the same? There is a medieval Jewish form of literature that consists entirely of nonsense stories-- they exist solely to play with words having the shape of meaning without the content. And if you know anything about the Jewish culture you should know they took words seriously. > 4.Words have specific meanings. > Marks on paper, sounds coming forth from the mouth--these are symbols for > specific concepts and abstractions, which in turn must be traced back to > objective physical existence or experience in order to have any meaning. > > Also punctuation is NOT a STYLE ELEMENT. As any actor or public speaker > worth his or her salt knows, punctuation is vital in recreating verbally > not > only the language the author imagined but also its fine shades of > meaning.To > throw out punctuation, or to not use it properly, is to distort language > and > thus the communication process itself. > > Language is an attempt to convey specific ideas. When language is > distorted > the union of one individual mind to another breaks down. Thus the genius > of > the Gods in thwarting Babel's tower by confusing the language of its > builders. > Well, maybe in Adamic there will be no such thing as nonsense rhymes. But I hope not. The thing is, Joyce does communicate to me on some level. What I sense is his love of words for their own sake. He likes to play with them, build odd shapes and unexpected patterns. Yes, it get tiring in large doses, but I don't think there is anything evil about it. He shows some things it's possible to do with language that you may not have thought of before. He's not trying to communicate directions to the supermarket or how to build an atomic bomb. He's communicating the flexibility and mutability of language and experience. Not successfully in your case, and I defend your right to say so, but you seem to be seeing some nefarious purpose to his use of language. He's not pretending his work is crystal clear communication, so that you will doubt your own senses. His not claiming his use of words reflects the one and only truth. I think people miss the playfulness in some literature. One of my favorite plays, Waiting for Godot, is almost always proceeded poorly because people think it has to be Serious Literature. They miss the fact that much of it is meant to be funny. A version was done with Steve Martin and Robin Williams as the leads and Bill Irwin in a supporting role. It was hilarious, and all the more moving because the funny parts were funny. > 7. Why is being a "plain thinker" a detriment to understanding Joyce? > > Frankly this phrase ("plain thinker") makes me think of the arguments of > the > fraudulent tailors in the Emporer's New Clothes: "to see this > (non-existing) > fabric, you must not depend on your physical senses or rational mind; you > must not be so earth-bound in your thinking." > I'm sorry, but I don't see this as a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. Instead, I see it as you pointing at a swimming-suit and arguing that it is a lousy set of armor. I agree, it is a lousy set of armor--but the Emperor knew it was a swimming suit when he put it on. Now if somebody tells you its a suit of armor, by all means complain. But I don't find your blanket statements on literature any more convincing that a blanket statement saying that all clothes must function as suits of armor. Russell Asplund -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:18:28 -0600 Mary Jane Jones wrote: >>> The truth is, this movie is speaking to people (as Kim Madsen's post about the effect it had on the teenagers in the car illustrates). We have been getting all kinds of emails and calls from people who have seen it and have had some deep, moving experiences. The story and the characters are getting inside people's minds and hearts in a meaningful way. So I think the filmmakers did some good. After all, on some level it's about the audience, isn't it? (Now that's an artistic can of worms if there ever was one...) <<< Okay, I'll bite... Of course the film touches *some* people at a deeply spiritual level; the story is one that the author delivered as honest to his own hope and vision of storytelling, and it does touch some people. Those people have a full and God-given right to be touched by any story they choose to be touched by. They have a right to appreciate a story that shows a faith and a resolution that they see as admirable and worthy. I have a hard time with those who want to dismiss the film as totally valueless when it so clearly *does* have value to a fairly substantial number of people. At the same time, the film also offends *some* people at a deeply spiritual level; the author makes some assumptions about "the right way" that stories should be told and characters should be formed that irk some people as being too easy or pat or dismissive of other kinds of experience. When the film's promoters push it as *the* pinnacle of moral storytelling or *the* template for Mormon cinema or *the* ultimate expression of Mormon hope or the Mormon mind some viewers feel judged and dismissed and pushed to the margins of "real" Mormon culture. They feel rejected because they were not touched in the same way as others were. Both sides do each other a terrible disservice, in my opinion. They try to state ultimate truths about something that can only be interpretted on an individual basis. They try to claim authority to make ultimate judgments about a thing's worth--and thus to reject as unworthy those whose opinions differ. Even Christ's own words fell as stone on some ears--those deaf to one mode of expression sometimes need for those worthy ideas to be packaged differently before they can be touched by those ideas. What difference does the package make when it's the souls of people that should count--people in their infinite diversity and godly individuality and often radically different backgrounds and viewpoints. Different people are touched differently by the same inputs. I despise broccoli, abhor mushrooms, and detest cauliflower; my wife loves each of them (though she readily admits that for her broccoli and cauliflower are best used as a vector for either cheese sauce or Ranch dressing; mushrooms are perfect in all their incarnations). I adore raw spinach, but find cooked spinach to be hideous. I love dark, bittersweet chocolate and find light, milk chocolate to be generally bland and uninteresting, whereas my neighbor believes all chocolate is an abomination. I love egg nog, but it gives me terrible gas so I have to limit my consumption. Who's morally right? Me for hating mushrooms, or my wife for loving them? The fact is that the mushroom is one of many healthy veggies created by God for the benefit of Man. That I dislike the package doesn't mean that I reject God; it means I reject the chewy, musty, earthy flavor of the mushroom and seek my appreciation of God's bounty with other veggies. That's why He made many different kinds--to reach different palates while still ensuring that each finds adequate nourishment. As it turns out I was very strongly affected by the film _Boogie Nights_ and found it to be a powerful exploration of community and the inherent needs that each of us have to belong somewhere. It's not a film that shows the heights of human glory or the power of hope to overcome all challenges, but it is a film that touched me deeply (in a quiet, introspective sort of way). My spirit did not soar at the end of the film, but both my mind and soul did find understanding and appreciation of the ways that difficult experience can form our views and change our hopes. I won't recommend that film to very many people, but I do recommend it highly to some. Just as I suspect I will strongly recommend _Charly_ to some (though I'm not naturally inclined to enjoy the film myself, I will see it so I can form my own opinions on it and make honest recommendations to the best of my ability). But all people are not the same, and all are not touched equally by all things. That's why we need to tell *all* of our stories by whatever means most touches us as individuals. Because to some is given one gift of appreciation or perception, and to another is given other gifts. If even the gifts of God come in different packages suited to different people, then why do we seem to have such a hard time accepting that different stories can touch different people differently--but with equal power? Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:17:50 -0600 Correction, Eric: The Kurt Bestor profile was written by Doug Robinson, who I believe is usually in "sports" (whatever that is) but does occasional excellent profiles. Chris Bigelow -----Original Message----- It's worth pointing out that the long Kurt Bestor profile which appeared on the List, and which appeared in the DN under Lee's byline, was positioned as a news story, and not one of Lee's weekly columns. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:33:55 -0600 It's rare, but it does happen. Tony Kimball in Boston was a bishop for years--never married. And of course, 17 years ago Bruce Young was told that he would need to be married in order for BYU to hire him permanently. And I needed a break on tuition (faculty wives go to BYU free), so we just did the logical thing. Who wants to write the book about the guy whose mother feels like a failure because he isn't even married, let alone a bishop, so he and a friend "arrange" a marriage. Call it _Singles Ward III_ (Singles Ward 2 is already being made, I'm told.) [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:29:54 -0700 Richard Johnson wrote: > That's the rule. According to the scriptures "The husband of one wife". > I'm not sure how they wiggled that for my ancestor who was a bishop (and > mayor of Ogden) with six wives. Actually, I believe the Greek text suggests that a bishop must be the husband of [at least] one wife. Polygamy was not uncommon at that time, and was expressly provided for in the Mosaic Law. Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Todd Petersen's Award Date: 15 Oct 2002 17:08:56 -0600 I noticed in the S.L. Tribune that our own Todd Petersen won 2nd place in the Short Story category of the Utah Arts Council's 44th annual original writing competition, for a story titled "The Impeccable Driver." Any chance Irreantum could publish that one, Todd? Or do you have other plans for it? Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Eric SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 16:48:44 -0700 Well, as I have said before, I am always interested in Mormons and Sex, even some of the weird stuff. If I'm out that way, I'd love to see it. How long will it be playing? It sounds fascinating to me too. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Amy Chamberlain" Subject: [AML] Satire in BYU Freshman English Date: 15 Oct 2002 17:11:51 -0600 Our topic of discussion and study last night, in Freshman English (I = teach at the BYU Salt Lake campus), was satire, irony, and sarcasm, or, = as I wrote on the board, "Saying Something by Saying Something Else." To intro them to the idea of satire in today's society, I printed out = and distributed Paul Browning's piece about the Church instigating a = numbering system for Sunday School answers = (http://www.thesugarbeet.com/issue13/topstories/numbering_system.html). = Here follows the not too uninteresting resultant discussion.=20 "Is the Church really going to introduce this numbering system, do you = think?" I asked. No, said the class. "Does Paul really expect his audience to take the idea seriously?" No, = of course not, they said. Incidentally, I don't think this answer is as = dead obviously "no" as my class thinks. Many people who don't like = satire, I believe, answer "yes" to this question, as in "yes, I am = taking this seriously and it's really, really stupid / offensive." "Well, then, if we can agree on that, let me ask you this: what was his = REAL purpose in writing the piece? What is Paul really saying here?" That one took some thinking. They finally came up with "we as Mormons = should get beyond those stupid answers in our Sunday School classes. = Sunday School should allow for more thoughtful discussion than it does." = They saw Paul making a point both about attendees' lack of thinking and = the inadequacy of the Sunday School forum to foster real intellectual = pursuit. "So," I asked, "Why doesn't Paul just come right out and tell us his = main point, say, in a talk or lecture format? Why disguise that main = message behind this fictional idea of a numbering system? Why go to all = that trouble to detail the list, give numbers, even take a picture of = this obviously fake idea?" Because, they decided, it's more fun to read this way. "Would you read a lecture on the subject?" I asked.=20 No, they said. No freaking way, dude. "Would you even LISTEN to a lecture on the subject, say, in a fireside?" We probably wouldn't even go, they said. One of them added, "The only = way you could drag me to that fireside is if I didn't know that was the = subject for the talk."=20 "If I didn't force you to read this in a classroom setting and you = stumbled across in on the internet, would you read it all the way = through?" I asked. Yeah, they said. Because it's interesting and funny. "The funniest thing = I've read in a long time," said one. So then I said, "Most Mormons really have a hard time with satire. They = don't like it. One woman in my Relief Society even said to me once that = satire is 'evil.' Why do you think satire makes many Mormons so = uncomfortable?"=20 That generated some discussion, too. One woman said "Because satire = forces you to think for yourself. You have to use your brains to come up = with the main message. And most Mormons want to be TOLD what to think = instead of having to figure it out for themselves." I really like my Monday class. And I like the fact that some Mormons = really do "get" satire. Even the young ones, who tend to be highly = conservative.=20 Amy Chamberlain P.S. My Wednesday class is another matter. You should see the Wednesday = paper excerpts that I culled for the amusement of my friends. I'd send = it here if it weren't so utterly off-topic.=20 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Aitken, Neil" Subject: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 15 Oct 2002 18:32:36 -0700 I'm very new to the list, but have several questions which I felt were pertinent to the discussion of what constitutes Mormon Literature and other directions that need to be explored. If you have any insights into these questions, your comments would be welcome. 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and cultures? Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? For the most part Mormon Literature as it is presently documented reflects the culture, tradition, and experience of those of pioneer stock and pedigreed names. While their voices are important, it raises a question as to whether the net is being thrown too close to the shore, or are there simply no Mormon writers of other backgrounds presently writing? 2) Does Mormon Literature need to explicitly deal with Mormon themes? A survey of books written by LDS writers and reviewed on the AML site seems to suggest that this no longer need be the case. I ask as an inquiring writer and poet, questioning whether someday others will look at my work and set it alongside with other LDS writers and say: "Is there enough here for this poet's work to be considered Mormon Literature?". 3) What makes a work Mormon Literature? Perhaps the test should simply be: "Could this piece have been written if the poet/writer was not LDS?" Perhaps there are themes that are more universal in nature but still LDS. Many LDS writers explore aspects of their pioneer heritage or write with an eye to history -- yet as the Church grows more international, the definitions of "pioneer" and "heritage" need to be re-examined. Each convert is a pioneer. Each Mormon of ethnicity has a trail to blaze, a wilderness to tame. 4) Rather than seek only to define ourselves as separate and "peculiar", should we not also explore our commonality with the rest of the believing world? The gospel embraces all truth. Should we not write seeking the intersections as well as the separations? If my writing is informed by a strong acquaintance with the Old Testament, an appreciation for Buddhist and Taoist thought, and/or a familiarity with Judiasm or Catholicism -- am I still a Mormon writer? 5) Is theme of "wanderers in a strange land" (Alma 13:23) a sufficiently Mormon theme? If we look to the Book of Mormon, we see that the people frequently viewed themselves as strangers and wanderers. Echoes of "I'm a pilgrim, I'm a stranger". The sense that we sojourn on this earth ---we are immortal beings on the strange shore of mortality. Or perhaps extended to the convert, another stranger in a strange land? As a Canadian Mormon of mixed heritage (Chinese-Scottish), I find these questions particularly important in my personal exploration of place and identity. I have been wondering if others have asked the same questions or discovered anything along the way. Just a few thoughts and ponderings, Neil Aitken ================================================== Neil Aitken neil@lone-crow.com http://www.lone-crow.com ================================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Charly Press Release Date: 15 Oct 2002 21:52:48 -0500 CHARLY Continues Strong Run at Box Office; Receipts Increase Significantly over Holiday Weekend Salt Lake City, UT=8BThe holiday weekend brought moviegoers out in full force to see "Jack Weyland's Charly." According to numbers released by box-office tracker AC Neilsen EDI, box office receipts for "Charly" on Monday night were up 55% over the previous week's Monday night. These latest box office figures confirm that "Charly" is defying the Hollywood trend that says box office receipts generally decrease dramatically in the first few weeks after a film opens. Word of mouth buzz around the film is high. Based on the best-selling novel, Charly, by Jack Weyland, the film is striking a chord with movie-goers along the Wasatch Front. The story centers around the up and down relationship between Sam, a likeable if somewhat uptight Mormon boy, and Charly, a vibrant, sophisticated and beautiful New Yorker who comes to Utah unsure of what she might find. What seems to be drawing most moviegoers in is the unlikely love story and the subsequent crisis of faith that embroils both Charly and Sam. Also charming moviegoers is the breakthrough performance from lead actress Heather Beers, who plays Charly in her first major role in a feature film. Steve Salles of the Standard Examiner called Beers "the perfect Charly" and Sean Means of the Salt Lake Tribune said that "Beers shows impressive range as she conveys Charly's exuberance, joy and quiet intensity." ### ________________________ Mary Jane Jones Media Relations, Excel Entertainment Group mjjones@xelent.com 801-358-7020 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Roberto Gomez" Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 15 Oct 2002 22:43:23 -0400 >A literary work must stand on it's own. If the reader is told that he, >in order to understand the work, must read what critics have written >or that he must understand the author's culture, religion, nationality, >personal history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the >work CAN'T stand on its own. Nonsense. Taken to its logical conclusion, this argument would imply that legitimate literary works must all cater to the lowest common denominator of readership. There are simply different types of literary works. Some are more "difficult" than others. Some reflect different cultures and viewpoints that may not be easily understood at first glance by an outsider. There's nothing wrong with a work being unable to purely "stand on its own." Nothing does; all of our knowledge and experience exists in a complex web. The fact that a reader may have to put some work and study into understanding a particular piece of literature can make it more valuable, not less so. The true test, I would think, is whether or not you are left with a reward (knowledge or an aesthetic experience) that is at least proportionate to the effort you have to make to understand the work. (Though I think that many modern works of art and literature do in fact fail this test and are nothing but facades with no real substance behind them.) On some level "Finnegan's Wake" is meant to be a sort of game, or even a joke (it is filled with puns and word play). I had a friend who met for a while with a group that discussed "Finnegan's Wake." The attendees included some literature professors and people who spoke several European languages. Among the things they discovered was that, when closely read and analyzed, Joyce's book made perfect sense, and they had a great deal of fun deciphering it. The fact that this sort of effort may not be in your taste or mine doesn't make the book any less of a true literary work. It's just a _different_ form of literary work than one that may be more easily and universally understood. [Roberto Gomez] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 15 Oct 2002 21:56:14 -0600 Single bishops are definitely the exception to the rule. When I married my husband, he was a single bishop. I wrote an essay _How to Date a Bishop_. When his wife died he asked the stake president when he would be released, since he knew the rule about single bishops. The stake president told him that rule only applied to young bishops. I think he was kidding. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] re: Johnny Lingo Date: 16 Oct 2002 01:31:09 -0500 Kellene: >The Johnny Lingo story is not a Mormon story--it's one of the most >popular stories in the world, which makes sense--it's message is solid, >moral, inspiring, etc. Eric Samuelsen >>I didn't know this, but I find this heartening. >>I thought it was a Mormon story. The Johnny Lingo story and the Johnny Lingo film are two totally different things. The story was indeed written by a non-Latter-day Saint and has been translated into a ton of languages, etc., etc. The Johnny Lingo movie was made by Wetzel Whitaker at LDS Motion Picture Studios and became one of the best known Church videos. Like many of the Church films of that era, it has no discernably LDS characters. It has become a much-loved cultural icon in Latter-day Saint circles. Yes, Eric Samuelsen is correct: it's sexist, racist and an awful film. Very politically incorrect. All of that is part of what makes people smile when they remember it. It's so bad that it's good. Comparable to "The Rocky Picture Horror Show." "Johnny Lingo" and "Mahanna" and "8-cow wife" have been emblazoned on kitchy products at LDS bookstores, such as T-shirts, and have been referred to by pop music songs, films, and literature. >> a commercial film based on Johnny Lingo depresses me more than I can say The feature film, as I understand it, is based on the original Patricia McGerr material, not necessarily on the LDS-made video. Really, I'm not sure any source material is beyond being adapted to a good -- even great -- feature film. "The Road to Redemption" was based on a black-and-white comic book. Critically acclaimed movies have been based on things as slim as a single photograph or a poem. Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A.I." were based not on novels, but on short stories of a mere 10 to 20 pages in length. Kubrick said it was harder to adapt a novel -- and cut things out -- then it was to adapt a story. Is good, film-appropriate source material easier to make into a good movie? Absolutely. But I wouldn't count a feature-length "Johnny Lingo" move out based solely on the source material, or based on a previous adaptation of that material. The new "Johnny Lingo" feature film was written by Riwia Brown, one of Polynesia's most accomplished screenwriters and playwrights. In 1994, she wrote the screenplay for "Once We Were Warriors" -- the most successful film about the Polynesian people ever made. Perhaps some might suggest no such movie be made. But if you ARE going to make a "Johnny Lingo" movie, I can't think of any better person to write it than an acclaimed female Polynesian screenwriter. If the Mexican-American director's realization of Riwia Brown's script is true to her vision, one hopes there will be little room for calling the feature film sexist or racist. The original Church video, by the way, was also written by a woman, a woman who was a long-time series writer and producer of the 1970s TV series "Eight Is Enough" and "The Waltons." I'm not entirely partial to "The Waltons," but, frankly, "Eight Is Enough" sported some of the best writing of any TV series during its era. That doesn't make the "Johnny Lingo" video any better. Maybe it just proves that NOBODY can make anything out of such a silly story. But I'm willing to see what Riwia Brown and Jerry Molen (of "Schindler's List" fame) can do with it. Their overall plot arc sounds pretty compelling, although I'll admit that even I think it will take some genius directing and writing to actually make the whole "8 cow wife" thing work. [Preston Hunter] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 16 Oct 2002 03:19:26 -0600 Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 16 Oct 2002 03:26:52 -0600 >The truth is, this movie is speaking to people (as Kim Madsen's post about the effect it had on the teenagers in the car illustrates). We have been getting all kinds of emails and calls from people who have seen it and have had some deep, moving experiences. That doesn't mean a thing when it comes to whether a film, play, or book is good. There are objective qualities by which these things can and should be judged. Popularity should mean nothing. A poor film that speaks to people says more about the sorry state of the people who are moved by it. (Again, I have not seen Charly and offer no opinion as to its artistic integrity -- I speak generally). >The story and the characters are getting inside people's minds and hearts in a meaningful way. So I think the filmmakers did some good. After all, on some level it's about the audience, isn't it? (Now that's an artistic can of worms if there ever was one...) Only a film's popularity can be judged by how many people it positively affects. Popularity and actual artistic quality are two different things. Rarely, as in the case of Schindler's List, both exist in the same production. We Mormon artists should not settle for films or plays or books that are only popular. Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] "The Work and the Story" Date: 16 Oct 2002 11:01:46 -0500 Check out http://www.theworkandthestory.com/ New graphics and taglines for "The Work and the Story" "Large egos. Big dreams. Small budgets." If there is any question that Nathan Smith Jones has a truly whacked-out, reality-bending mind, check out the macabre text in the movie graphic: "Richard Dutcher: 1964-2000 R.I.P." The founder of MORMON CINEMA is missing and presumed DEAD... And the race to take his place HAS BEGUN. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 16 Oct 2002 11:02:52 -0600 Whoa! My bishop, Bishop Whitney in Hobble Creek Canyon here in Springville was a sheriff! THE WHOLE TIME. He was a FANTASTIC BISHOP! Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 16 Oct 2002 13:58:12 -0600 ___ | She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously | from the very beginning because a sheriff would never be | called to be a bishop. ___ Hmm. I don't see why. My last bishop and his councilor were high up in the Springville police department. Admittedly we were a "BYU" singles ward. So perhaps we don't count. But still... -- Clark Goble --- clark@lextek.com ----------------------------- -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: LSWeber@aol.com Subject: [AML] Re: Membership Records (was: Single Bishops) Date: 16 Oct 2002 23:37:08 EDT In a message dated 10/16/2002 11:02:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, djdick@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu writes: > Actually, the membership department gets fooled rather often. I've had an idea for a short story for some time. It's about a woman whose membership records get moved to a new area before she physically moves. Her name is not gender specific. Somebody from the new ward calls her and leaves a message on her answering machine and she realizes that they think she's a man. Somehow, there's a mistake in her records indicating that she's a male. She cuts her hair, dresses as a man, and shows up to church. I'm not sure how to get around the PH thing, but maybe she's a fairly new member, and is able to be ordained to the PH. I'm not sure if it should be a comedy or a drama. I don't know if I'll ever write it, let alone publish it, but I liked the idea. Any takers? Lloyd the lurker LSWeber@aol.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Oct. 11 02 Date: 15 Oct 2002 23:53:55 -0500 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of October 11, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 23 Punch-Drunk Love 367,203 5 3 Actors: Stevens brothers 367,203 David Stevens, Nathan Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens; Michael D. Stevens 29 Master of Disguise 217,517 846 73 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 39,751,057 46 Jack Weyland's Charly 51,645 28 17 Adam Anderegg (director) 247,342 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 48 Minority Report 47,905 76 115 Gerald Molen (producer) ~131,888,000 53 City by the Sea 41,116 85 38 Eliza Dushku (actress) 22,226,347 57 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 34,449 6 892 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,115,479 64 Possession 23,059 53 59 Neil LaBute (director) 10,103,647 Aaron Eckhart (lead male actor) 66 Handcart 20,000 18 3 Kels Goodman (director/DP) 20,000 David Greenslaw Sapp (producer) Mark von Bowers (screenwriter) Eric M. Hanson (composer) Actor: Jaelan Petrie, Stephanie Albach Chris Kendrick, Shannon Skinner, Gretchen Condie 84 ESPN's Ultimate X 5,198 8 157 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,181,801 91 China: The Panda Adventure 3,997 5 444 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,871,543 95 The Singles Ward 3,633 9 255 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,243,926 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Cody Hale (composer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Sedra Santos, etc. 98 Galapagos 3,336 4 1081 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,730,519 110 Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars 820 2 96 Mick Ronson (2nd billed actor) 115,669 116 Mark Twain's America 3D 361 2 1564 Alan Williams (composer) 2,273,678 117 The Other Side of Heaven 259 2 304 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,716,644 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) KEENE CURTIS DIES - Prolific stage, screen and TV actor actor Keene Curtis died Sunday morning at the age of 79. You probably saw him on television on "Cheers" or as Daddy Warbucks in the motion picture version of "Annie". Curtis, a Latter-day Saint from Bountiful, Utah, won a Tony Award in 1971 for the Broadway musical "The Rothschilds." TOP STORIES AT THE BOX OFFICE: HANDCART AND PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE: Opening only in New York and Los Angeles, "Punch-Drunk Love" topped the per-theater chart with a truly astounding $73,441 per theater in 5 theaters. This means that the $25 million-budgeted film took in $367,203 at the box office in its first weekend. Raving critical acclaim and legions of Adam Sandler fans almost guarantee financial success for "Punch-Drunk Love." The surprisingly violent and profane, strongly R-rated P.T. Anderson feature film is partially set in Utah and features as Adam Sandler's nemesis 4 brothers from Provo, Utah (played by 4 LDS actors who are actually brothers). In the movie the main villain -- the businessman Dean Trumbell played by Philip Seymour Hoffman -- is also based in Provo, but there is no indication that he is LDS (and the actor is not LDS.) "Handcart" opened in 18 theaters, with a per-screen average of more than $1,000 per theater. Final numbers aren't in yet, but the movie grossed approximately $20,000 over the weekend. It opened across Utah and in Cardston, Canada. It will soon open in Idaho, Arizona and Nevada. Early reports are that audiences love "Handcart" and word-of-mouth should bring more viewers to theaters. Utah's major newspapers, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune, both gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars. The company distributing "Handcart" is Media Partners, based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are the distributor for one other movie being currenly in theaters: "Road." A Hindi ("Bollywood") film being released simultaneously in India and the United States, "Road" was directed by Rajat Mukherjee and written by Rajnish Thakur. It stars Manoj Bajpai, Vivek Oberoi, Antara Mali and Makrand Deshpande. Media Partners is a new company that previously released "Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein," directed by Ravi Shankar, in the U.S. -- on 28 June 2002. "Road" opened on September 27th and grossed $107,676 (in the U.S.) in its first 10 days of release, playing in 20 theaters the first weekend and 17 theaters the second weekend. "Handcart" opened in 28 theaters, and if it achieves figures similar to "Road", it might be on its way to being a financial success -- as "Handcart" cost only $300,000 to make and very little is being spent on promotion and advertising. NEW RELEASES GALORE: This was a VERY busy weekend for new movies, with at least 18 movies opening in nationwide or limited release: Handcart Brown Sugar The Transporter White Oleander Tuck Everlasting Knockaround Guys The Rules of Attraction Pokemon 4Ever Punch-Drunk Love Swept Away Bowling for Columbine Below Comedian Safe Conduct Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective Ash Wednesday Sade Cuba Feliz "Handcart" is one of the best of these new releases. Based on what we've gleaned from reviews (check out RottenTomatoes.com)... Knockaround Guys, The Rules of Attraction, Pokemon 4Ever, Swept Away, The Transporter, Ash Wednesday and Sade are all dreck or worse than dreck. The African-American romantic drama "Brown Sugar", "White Oleander" starring an incarcerated Michelle Pfieffer, Disney's "Tuck Everlasting", Kels Goodman's Latter-day Saint-themed "Handcart" and Michael Moore's documenary "Bowling for Columbine" are the best movies that opened this weekend. HANDCART REVIEWS - Salt Lake Tribune's Sean P. Means seems to be the local reviewer that liked "Handcart" the most. He specifically wrote that he likes "Handcart" better than "Charly" or "The Singles Ward", and gave it a better score: 2.5 stars. Deseret News reviewer Jeff Vice gave it 2.5 stars as well. Not bad. "Charly" now shows up on RottenTomatoes.com (finally). These developments mean adjustments to the mathematically-computed "Top LDS Film Directors" list - you can find the most recent results on the bottom of our home page: http://www.ldsfilm.com EIGHT-COW FILM - The Polynesian-themed feature film "The Legend of Johnny Lingo," financed by Morinda, Inc., the Tahitian Nonie Juice Company, is currently in post-production. Principal photography began on July 8, 2002 in Auckland, New Zealand and then moved to the island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Academy Award-winning producer Jerry Molen along with veteran producer John Garbett brought in the critically acclaimed Polynesian screenwriter Riwia Brown ("Once We Were Warriors") to write the script. The film will be the feature film debut for Latter-day Saint film editor Steven Ramirez. ECLIPSE: A GREAT NAME FOR A FILM FESTIVAL - The judges for the upcoming Eclipse Film Festival have been announced. They are Deseret News features editor (and former movie reviewer) Chris Hicks, feature film director Rocco DeVilliers, cinematographer T.C. Christensen and casting director Jennifer Buster. These are excellent, talented individuals. And a group of people quite capable of understanding and appreciating locally made films. Seriously, if you didn't submit your film to Eclipse, you should be kicking yourself about now. Latter-day Saint filmmakers who are past Eclipse winners include Bryan Lefler and Krisi Church. Find out more at: http://www.eclipsefilmfest.com/judges.html The full schedule for the Eclipse Film Festival has been posted on their site. There are Feature Film Q & A sessions with the directors, and screenings of the films, for T.C. Christensen's "Bug Off!" and Eric Hendershot's "Clubhouse Detectives". Krisi Church's "Shattered" (from last year) is going to be shown. Christian Vuissa's "Roots & Wings" is in competition, and is being screened twice. There's also Michael Buster ("God's Army", "Out of Step"), starring in the short comedy "Summer House." Plus Ryan Jensen's "Signal Strength" and the new Chet Thomas/Darrin Fletcher film "Simplicity." The awards ceremony will be hosted by KSL's Dick Norris. The post-award party features Jerone Wedig and Mystery Train. Plus tons of other films from all over the world. This is really an amazing lineup. You do NOT want to miss this film festival. VOLUNTEER FOR THUNDERBIRD - A wide variety of volunteer positions at the Thunderbird International Film Festival in Cedar City, Utah are available. Past winners at the festival include Richard Dutcher's "Brigham City" and Kurt Hale's "The Singles Ward." More information at: http://www.thunderbirdfilmfestival.suu.edu/contact.html MERRILL ON BENSON ON CHARLY - Lee Benson is a very good person and a nice guy. But we have no idea where his brain was when he dissed the movie "Jack Weyland's Charly" in his column a couple weeks ago. Evidently Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill wondered the same thing. He rebuked Benson in a letter to the editor published in the Deseret News: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,410018431,00.html Writing a negative review is one thing. We have no problem with that. But Benson wrote an all-out, ethnically-tinged assault. BRIGHAM CITY ON VIDEO - It's already out in DVD format, or you can rent the video, but word from Richard Dutcher is that the VHS version of "Brigham City" is now available, but only through the Excel Entertainment web site (www.clicktobuyonline.com) and LDS bookstores. (A shelf-full of the videos was spotted today in a Dallas LDS bookstore, so they're probably available across the country by now.) From the Excel Entertainment press release: "Richard Dutcher's hit motion picture BRIGHAM CITY will be available for purchase on VHS beginning today, October 15, EXCLUSIVELY at LDS Bookstores, and online at http://www.clicktobuyonline.com (Available everywhere else next spring.) Using the backdrop of a riveting murder mystery and a gripping final scene, this thriller sends a profound message of hope and redemption that makes repeated viewing a must." CHARLY SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE at: http://www.clicktobuyonline.com/master.phtml?sb=0&page=det&prodid=480 Soundtrack CDs are also been available at LDS bookstores and related outlets for: "God's Army" "The Other Side of Heaven" "The Singles Ward." And "Welcome to Brigham" is the excellent CD featuring songs by Latter-day Saint artists inspired by the movie "Brigham City" although technically it is not a soundtrack. The "Out of Step" CD can be ordered online at LDHarvest.com and should be on store shelves soon. "Handcart" is the only Latter-day Saint-featured film without a soundtrack CD available. SHAMELESS PLUG: Film composer (and LDSFilm.com co-webmaster) Thomas C. Baggaley also wants to remind you that if you're in an LDS bookstore Brigham City, you should be able to find a copy of his CD, "Spirit of the Sabbath." It probably won't not be on the shelf next to "Brigham City," but we imagine the CD section isn't too far away.) SOMEONE WAS WATCHING - Latter-day Saint filmmakers Mark Goodman and Lee Groberg's new feature-length drama "Someone Was Watching" recently went on sale on DVD and VHS at LDHarvest.com. We have previously announced that this movie won the "Best Feature" and "Audience Choice" awards at the SLC Film Fest a month or two ago. But we just learned that "Someone" has garnered top honors at the Columbus Film Festival (in Ohio) as well. The movie won a coveted Chris Award. This is one of the biggest--and most important--festivals in the U.S. Note that the DVD release has a number of special features, including some deleted scenes. By the way, Mark Goodman and Lee Groberg, the award-winning team behind the PBS documentaries "Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail" (1997), "American Prophet: The Joseph Smith Story" (1999) and "Sacred Stone" (Nauvoo Temple documentary), as well as the award-winning drama "Someone Was Watching", are in pre-production on their next feature, based on an original story by Goodman. It's a coming-of-age story set in a small town during the tumultuous 60's. Like "Someone Was Watching," this is a fairly low budget production, but if investors are interested in participating financially, it's not too late to contact them. Frequent Goodman collaborator James G. Jordan is also one of the producers of "Someone Was Watching" and the new project. CALL OF STORY - BYU Creative Works is now selling Latter-day Saint filmmaker Sterling Van Wagenen's new documentary "Call of Story" - go to http://www.creativeworks.byu.edu/catalog/index.cgi?userid=102-1034309054-868 &KB844=Video to find out more. SEA ANGEL - Jaelan Petrie (lead actor in "Handcart") is the lead in Paul Green and Dave Skousen's newest film with the working title of "The Sea Angel" and is now two days deep into principle photography. The short film is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 16 Oct 2002 23:23:38 -0400 Eric Samuelsen, on "The Singles Ward" (the movie, not the ward): > > But doesn't the fact that a story is told in the medium of film suggest that it's aiming for, at least at some level, something resembling a broad popular audience? If the intended audience for Singles Ward was solely Wasatch front Mormons, then it's unlikely, it seems to me, to be particularly profitable. Watching "The Singles Ward," I can't imagine the filmmakers having any hopes of pleasing anyone OTHER than Mormons. The jokes, plot and culture portrayed in the film simply wouldn't appeal to non-Mormons. They not only wouldn't get the jokes, but they wouldn't "get" the culture, either. It's a very, very inclusive film. In this case, being inclusive didn't matter. The film reportedly cost $400,000 to make (and to look at the film, someone must be walking around with $398,000 in his pocket, but that's another matter). It has thus far grossed about $1.2 million, and that's before video/DVD sales. It's a box office success, for sure -- not a $100 million blockbuster, but in terms of turning a profit and being popular among its target audience (Wastach Front Mormons), it's succeeded. And that galloping sound you hear is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, coming to herald the end of the world. Eric D. Snider -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Rose Green" Subject: [AML] Kimberly HEUSTON, _The Shakeress_ (Review) Date: 16 Oct 2002 09:21:28 -0500 The Shakeress Kimberly Heuston Front Street, Asheville, NC, 2002 hardcover, 207 pages ISBN 1-886910-56-1 US $16.95 While interested in all kinds of LDS literature, my main interest at the moment is that which is published on the national market by Latter-day Saints. The other kind of literature I find myself reading a lot of these days is young adult; sometime when I don't have three preschoolers at home anymore I plan to flesh out all the half-finished scenes and plots filed away and produce a YA book myself. So, when I found this book on the new YA shelf at my local public library, I of course immediately checked it out. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. The _Shakeress_ works as both a mainstream YA novel and also as a work discussing religion. The Library of Congress gives it a variety of classifications: 1) Shakers-Fiction, 2) Mormons-Fiction, 3) Orphans-Fiction, 4) Self-realization-Fiction, 5) Spirituality-Fiction, and 6) New England-Fiction. Quite a lot to accomplish in 207 pages! The story begins in 1828 with almost-13-year-old Naomi, who has recently lost her parents and baby brother in a fire. She and her remaining siblings are living with their crabby Aunt Thankful, who plans to send Naomi off to work in a mill to help support them. To avoid separation, Naomi decides to take her family and join the Shakers, an orderly community happy to accept children, since they do not produce them themselves. There she and her siblings become a part of the group, gradually finding a place there. By age 16, however, Naomi finds that she cannot totally embrace Shakerism, and the last half of the book sees her in Vermont in the early 1830s, trying to earn her keep with her knowledge of herbs and medicines. Although she is known as the Shaker girl, she begins to have experiences that bring her in contact with Mormonism. Her character is well-drawn, and her progression through the Free Will Baptists and the Shakers to the point of interest in the Latter-day Saints is both believable and complimentary to the faiths she leaves behind. This is a major strength of the book; for an LDS-themed book to do well in the national market, it helps to present other views in a well-balanced light. Not only does it make such a story more appealing to a mainstream audience, it also makes the character seem more complete and more solidly motivated. It certainly does not detract from what is quintessentially an LDS novel--the conversion story. For all that, Heuston does not try to provide all the answers to every problem. Instead, she focuses on the most important questions of one individual, and does an admirable job of showing these kinds of answers in a very personal way: "Feeling a little foolish, she closed her eyes and bowed her head, trying to open herself up to a still place of deep listening. Dear Lord, do You have a favorite flower? Mine is violets. "The answer came quickly, not in words but in a parcel of images that together suggested an understanding and acceptance of Naomi more complete than anything she had ever experienced. In her mind's eye she saw the pressed violets in the family Bible to mark her mother's favorite scripture. What was it? Romans 8:35-39. 'In all these things we are more than conquerers through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life...nor things present, nor things to come...shall be able to separate us from the love of God.' Naomi felt as though she had come home to a warm and cheerful kitchen after a long journey. Violets. Of course. What else could it be?" And so opens her prayer to find out the answer to that one most important question, whether or not she should accept Mormonism. The book works very well as a whole. The only complaint I might have pacing. One or two jumps over large chunks of time can pass unnoticed, but once Naomi was in Vermont, they seemed to be unnecessary and frequent. Other than this, I enjoyed the book and will be looking out for the next book by Kimberly Heuston. Rose Green _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Justin Halverson Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 16 Oct 2002 22:42:42 -0500 Eric Samuelson wrote "For best film, there were several candidates, including Man's Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven. Worst film, hands down, was Johnny Lingo, with Cipher in the Snow a distant second. Students almost universally found it tremendously sexist and more than a little racist. (Girls hated it a lot more than boys did, I found)." Craig Huls wrote: "I have counseled LDS youth with low self-esteem issues and you cannot believe how often "Johnny Lingo" and "Cipher in the Snow" have kept me working and pleading for divine intervention by the peers of those youth to come to their aid. I have used CITS in teaching youth and I have seen it touch and change the lives and relationships within a quorum. It is still IMHO a tool of value. Get a SS class into a discussion of what the objective of JL was and how it was addressed and soon the methods are less important than the issue that was being addressed." Long time listener, first time caller. I'm guessing that the main reasons Eric Samuelson's students voted Johnny Lingo one of the worst LDS films have little to do with their production values or methods--Man's Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven are not, IMO, any better in this category. The latter are superior, however, in that they get their message across without denigrating anyone the way Johnny Lingo openly does. If JL is about self-esteem, it certainly isn't Mahanna's self-esteem. I can tell that she's terribly objectified, and I'm not even a feminist (how's that for objectification?). She's got what, two lines in the whole film? To quote Jeff Bridges as "the Dude" (not in Johnny Lingo, BTW, in case you were wondering if I found some bootleg copy): "He treats objects like women, man." The name of the film is indicative of who the central character is and what the movie is really about. I'd like to see a film where Mahanna has some say in who she becomes, where her self esteem depends on more than the whim of a wealthy bachelor. A film that might better help Craig Huls get through to girls and boys who aren't so lucky. Justin Halverson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 16 Oct 2002 21:10:11 -0700 Neil Aiken asked: > 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and > cultures? My husband's short story, Ojiichan's Funeral, might fall into this category. It's about a Japanese/American missionary who attends his Japanese grandfather's Buddhist funeral. Look for it in the next issue of Sunstone, which should be out any day now. Jana Remy -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tony Markham Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Villains in Movies Date: 16 Oct 2002 18:31:49 -0400 I don't know if these films have been discussed on this list prior to my joining it or not, but they ought to have been: SLC Punk, and Stranger Than Fiction. Both are set in and prominently feature Salt Lake City. SLC Punk doesn't have a villain, other than ennui, but Stranger Than Fiction has a kind of twisted, chilling murderer at its heart. You watch these films and just assume the characters are Mormons without their ever having to say so. To my mind this is progress. With the release of Handcart making so much of a splash, I'm reminded of a film I worked on years ago, fresh out of BYU film school based on the Martin and Willie companies. Called "Perilous Journey," written and directed by John Linton in Sandy, UT. He was a bishop and a High School science teacher. Linton had made a few other films, but Perilous Journey was my personal intro to the nitty-gritty of filmmaking. It was hard work. The script was flawed, but I think we got a lot of bang for our buck. I've done web searches for John Linton and his film, but nothing. Does anybody know this guy? His company was 7-Star Productions? The villain in this movie was cold and hunger. If PJ were re-released today, I'll bet it would do well. Tony Markham -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 00:14:28 EDT You know, there's a wealth of story potential in the foibles and hangups we get as a collective group (not that every individual has them, of course--but they're common enough that we recognize them...) There's the childless couple and all the stories that could be developed around that. And the reactions of those around them--the wannabe grandparents, the busybodies trying to poke their nose in (like the nurse who was chastising me for waiting so long to have my first child at 27--excuse me, I've just been married a year--I couldn't have done it much sooner.) The single coed--who's a BYU senior (heaven forbid) and nary a prince in sight. The missionary stories are wide open--spiritual things, funny things, growth of individuals, growth of the contacts... The stories that could be told by the Primary presidencies, the YW, the YM presidencies... If we get off our hangups about the stories we can or cannot tell, there's lots of stuff out there. Some of the stories will be humorous, some fluff, some intensely moving. But there is a time and a place for most kinds of literature. Karen [Tippets] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Justin Halverson Subject: Re: [AML] Satire in BYU Freshman English Date: 16 Oct 2002 23:15:57 -0500 Amy Chamberlain wrote: >I really like my Monday class. And I like the fact that some Mormons = >really do "get" satire. Even the young ones, who tend to be highly = >conservative.=20 I'm glad to hear this. I taught _Catch-22_ in a BYU GE class last year and had a mixed but overall good experience with it. Satire has always been one of my favorite genres, especially degenerative satire, like Heller and Pynchon et al, but I struggle with where it might fit in an LDS context, in LDS writing. My dad bought me a copy of Catch-22 when I was probably too young for it and it's haunted me ever since; my mission seemed sometimes to be narrated by Yossarian and populated with the grandchildren of the fighting 256th squadron (I'm PFC Wintergreen's snotty grandkid), and I was faced with situation after situation that screamed to be written about in this vein. When I try, though, I find myself going down roads I don't particularly want to tread. I'm wondering if there's a place for this sort of satire in LDS lit. I'm not talking about Kirby's stuff, which to my mind belongs to a different genre, one that pulls us together (hopefully), ultimately builds consensus by showing us how we all screw up from time to time. It's healthy, really fun (if slightly painful at times), and serves a great and needed purpose in our (and probably any) culture. I asked a friend of mine what he thought, whether satire that pulls everything down and asks us to look at even the activity of language itself as potentially (or inherently, depending on the writer) violent could be written faithfully--and if it can what its "uses" might be (I know that's a problematic term in and of itself)--or whether this type of satire and faith are mutually exclusive. He suggested that the only solution he'd been able to come up with was to separate his more academic/intellectual interests from his participation in religion, which seems an unsatisfactory answer for me personally. Any experience with this? Any writers I should look at? I'm sorry to be so vague, but I know I wouldn't sit through a fireside length post on this... Justin Halverson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 16 Oct 2002 21:49:04 -0700 There was a Sunstone presentation some years ago that featured the worst LDS films ever made. "The Bridge" was one of them. One of the most guilt-inducing things I've ever seen. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 16 Oct 2002 23:11:42 -0600 Way back in the early seventies, when I was an undergraduate at BYU, my roommates took to screaming out at odd moments "Mahonna you ugly!" quoting of course the father's curse placed on his daughter that Johnny's blessing deconstructed. In some ways my roommates repeition of that phrase, over and over, reflected the anxiety that young Mormon girls feel in a culture that bases their ultimate success as a person on their role as wife and mother. What is one to do if one is unchosen? Well we get all kinds of talks from church authorities telling us that our prince will come in the millenium, but frankly I believe that is cold comfort. My roommates and I recently had a reunion for 50-year-old birthdays. Our conversation still ran to worry about being overweight, looking old, being single in a married world, how to continue as a single unchosen woman to repress sexuality when it is necessary to be virginal to be worthy and acceptable in church culture. I heard again the scream "Mahonna you ugly!" Some things never change. The film doesn't offer much reassurance because, let's face it, it was fairly obvious that the gorgeous Mahonna hiding behind her hair could be recognized by us viewers as no slouch in the looks department, and Johnny was just smart enough to see her behind that hair hanging down in her face, still choosing based on looks. I think sexist as the little film may be, it does bring up some interesting issues that are very relevant today, just as in the 70s, about how a women is valued in Mormon culture. Gae Lyn Henderson > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jim/Laurel Brady" Subject: [AML] RE: Sherriff as Bishop Date: 16 Oct 2002 23:14:22 -0600 a sheriff would never be called to be a bishop. -- Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. I tend -- to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church employee. Delurking for just a moment because I couldn't let this one go by. I'm assuming that "sheriff" is being used here kind of generically to mean not only a sheriff, but any police department head (i.e., chief, commander, director, etc.) If there is any such church policy (which I doubt) it's evidently not very carefully enforced. I've worked for three police departments over the past twenty years during the tenure of (I think) seven police chiefs. At least three of those were bishops at the time. I remember very clearly a conversation with one of them in which he recounted going to the home of a ward member to arrest a young man for murder. When he arrived, the young man's mother greeted him with outstretched arms saying, 'Oh, Bishop, we're so glad you're here.' He said he'd never forget how he had to turn away from her without a reply and begin reading her son his rights. I've known lots of police officers - chiefs, a state police commander, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, lowly patrolmen and even a couple undercover cops - who have been bishops (and stake presidents) at one time or another during their career. (One undercover officer used to have his own bishop pick him up on a street corner somewhere late at night for his temple recommend interview. They'd drive around town while the bishop asked the questions, since the officer couldn't risk being seen going into a church.) I don't know anybody better qualified to be a bishop than someone who's seen it all from both sides and has a deep, genuine understanding of - and compassion for - real human trials and tragedies and triumphs. And now, as for "Brigham City" - the first time I saw it (with my husband who happens to be a prosecuting attorney) we both kind of chuckled at some of the early scenes that - ahem - stretched the boundaries of credibility a bit. But the scene where Wes breaks down was so real, so genuine, and so full of pain both of us had a hard time with it. And then, that final scene...I still can't get through it without sobbing along with the whole congregation. The little indiscrepancies, the "poetic license" so to speak, all fades away and is forgotten. All I know is, someday I'd like to have written something as powerful as that. Laurel Brady -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 16 Oct 2002 22:21:09 -0700 RE: Brigham City plot points: >BTW, no one has ever answered my question about >how that character could be a bishop now that he's >single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be >married? Last I checked there was still a thing called eternal marriage. Can't think of any doctrinal reason it should matter whether the bishop's wife is currently wearing a body. Being widowed doesn't make Mormons single. (And technically, neither does divorce.) --lmg --------- OUR NEWEST WRITING PROJECT: Homeschooling Step by Step, Prima Publishing, Spring 2002. Everything you need to know about how to homeschool legally and effectively! How does your state rank? What's your child's learning style? What about college? Find teaching tips, teaching strategies, and more than 100 solutions to homeschooling's toughest problems! --------- A message from LauraMaery (Gold) Post Web site: E-mail reply: --------- . -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kelly Thompson" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 00:01:11 -0600 No, June Oaks died some years after he was called as an apostle. =20 =20 ----- Original Message ----- Wasn't Elder Oaks a widower when he was called to be an apostle? I seem t= o recall something about it, but can't remember for certain. Kathy Fowkes -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mary Jane Jones" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 17 Oct 2002 00:44:02 -0600 I'll react to these latest posts all at once.... Me-- "Personally, I found Lee's column uncharacteristically mean-spirited. He = took pot-shots at the film, at Utah culture and just had an overall nasty = tone." Greg-- Then why did I--about as True a Believing Mormon and as defensive a wet = blanket towards things even remotely negative about Mormonism as you will = encounter--laugh all the way through Benson's review? Me again-- Easy. Lots of comedy is mean-spirited and pretty darn hilarious. I never = said the article wasn't funny. I just thought it was a little nasty. =20 Russell Asplund-- I think you may need a bit thicker skin if Benson's article was that = offensive to you. Me-- The article didn't offend me. I thought it was mean-spirited. The two = feelings are not the same, in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong. =20 Russell again-- Just because a film speaks to one segment of the population, or has a = great message, or high artistic ideals---or whatever other qualifiers you = might add--doesn't give it a free pass from criticism.=20 Me again-- I completely agree. If I agreed any more vehemently my nodding head would = fly off my shoulders. Criticism is a necessary and good thing. Here's = the thing about Benson's article, though. It didn't feel to me like a = critique of the film - it felt like he was trying to get a laugh at the = film's expense. It also felt like he was reacting to the IDEA of the = movie, and not the movie itself. You couldn't tell from the article if = he'd actually seen the film (although as a responsible journalist I'm sure = he had). There were plenty of other negative (yet meaningful) critiques = of the movie from film reviewers, none of which felt mean or nasty. And = so they haven't gotten the same response. Obviously, this film is not for everyone. Of course there are going to be = people who hate it. And there are going to be people who love it. No one = is denying any one else the right to love or hate this film. But is it = fair to let only one side take the mic? No way! Let's keep the debate = going!=20 Russell - (It's not the Benson is criticizing a film that's worthy of writing a = letter about, it's that he's criticizing a _Mormon_film. How dare he. And = in a Mormon paper, no less.)=20 Me -=20 Not at all. If there had been a similar article in the Tribune I would = have reacted the same way. Had it been a project I was this close to and = familar with that had nothing to do with Mormonisn I would have reacted = the same way. By the same token, I wonder how many who are reacting negatively to Charly = are reacting to the IDEA of the movie more than the movie itself. I was = guilty of this. I groaned louder than all of you (including Lee Benson) = when I first learned that this project was in the works (and that I might = have to work on it!). But I feel much differently now, having experienced = the final version of the film for myself. This film has merits. The = filmmakers did a professional job at adapting the source material and by = all counts they've improved on it. Some of the acting is exceptional. It = is a sweet story, unoriginal perhaps, but very sincere. The directing and = photography is all very good, as are the rest of the production values. = That may not be enough to get some people over the fact that a book they = disliked has been made into a film, but I'll shout it as loud as I can in = an attempt to change their mind (at least enough for them to actually = watch the film). Scott Parkin-- When the film's promoters push it as *the* pinnacle of moral storytelling = or *the* template for Mormon cinema or *the* ultimate expression of Mormon hope or the = Mormon mind some viewers feel judged and dismissed and pushed to the = margins of "real" Mormon culture. They feel rejected because they were not = touched in the same way as others were. =20 Me-- I hope, I hope, I hope that no one has seen any marketing for this movie = touting it as the end-all, be-all of Mormon filmmaking. I do hope that = the marketing of the film intrigues people enough that they want to see = the film. That means the marketing was effective. Effective marketing, = however, is quite different from prounouncing any film *the* pinnacle of = LDS filmmaking. I think it is the goal of everyone involved in this = fledgling industry to help each other along and keep making better and = better films. Anyone claiming to have reached the pinnacle is clearly in = need of a reality check. We still have a long, long ways to go, and to be = honest, I hope we never get there. I hope we are always, always improving = the craft. I hated Titanic. But millions of people disagreed with my opinion of that = film. (I know it's not a great comparison, but...) I didn't feel rejected = by the culture that loved that movie. Because I knew there was art out = there that DID speak to me, and I knew there were people who agreed with = my opinion. That's why it's important for this industry to have its = Charlys and to have its Brigham Citys. Both are valid expressions of the = culture, and I don't think either one is claiming to have cornered the = market. We are a diverse people and we have many voices. Every voice is = important, and every voice has a right to be heard. Last year I was = arguing for Brigham City's right to be heard. This year I'm arguing for = Charly's. Next year I hope to be arguing for a completely new and = different voice. Whew. This is more than I've ever written in all my other AML posts = combined, which means it's time to stop. Thanks for hanging in there with = me... Mary Jane -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 02:05:34 -0600 Jerry Tyner wrote: > In "Brigham City" both the wife and his child was killed so he (the Bishop) did not have any children to care for after he came out of his coma. As hard as it is there is potentially a reason for people to be left in these positions and at some point I'm sure the Stake President would council the Bishop to start looking for a wife. "Brigham City 2"? -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 17 Oct 2002 08:05:56 -0600 Niel Aitken wrote: > 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and > cultures? Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? For the > most part Mormon Literature as it is presently documented reflects the > culture, tradition, and experience of those of pioneer stock and pedigreed > names. Answer: We've been waiting for you. Mormons tend to tell the same old stories, because that's all they learn. Sometimes a writer comes along who tells the same old story in a new way, but most of the time were stuck eating our own vomit--over and over. You, one the other hand, have something new to say. You have new stories. You understand what it feels like to walk in the Way of Heaven. We need to learn, so come on man--we're waiting. Yeah, it frustrating. It's impossible for anyone to get published. But someday an opportunity will come--or you'll figure out how to create one. Be ready. Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] I'll Build you a Rainbow Date: 17 Oct 2002 08:17:47 -0600 (MDT) > Many people I know were significantly moved by the song "I'll Build You A > Rainbow" in seminary. I still think it was manipulative. The fact that it > succeeded in manipulating many people did not make it any more palatable to > me. > Russell Asplund I took a songwriting class from Ron Simpson, the man who was in charge of buying that song for the church. Ron is a professional who has years of experience in mainstream music circles (such as Nashvilel and LA), so he is hardly the type of man to give into maudlin sentimentality. He knows what makes a good song. He said that he and his partner (I forget the name) knew that "I'll build you a Rainbow" failed nearly every requirement for a good song. After it was pitched to them, he had a dozen reasons in his head for why it was a lousy song and why the church shouldn't buy it. His partner did as well. But before they said anything to the guy pitching it to them, he and his partner looked at each other, and they both had tears in their eyes. His lesson - "Sometimes, even if your intellect tells you its a lousy song - if it works, it works." --Ivan Wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 11:29:25 -0600 (MDT) In connection with the posts on single bishops, I was going to talk about my brother, Ken Pinnegar, who was released last month as a bishop in LA, but it looks like the Tyners have already covered the ground. We in the family assumed that marriage was a general (but not absolute) requirement for bishops, and we were astounded that his release took so long--and I don't think the problem was simply delays in getting approval for his replacement. You can well imagine what a year he has had. By the way, Lt Edwards of the Orem Police Dept, doesn't seem to feel any conflict of interest in his stake presidency calling. In fact, his high calling often helps perps "come to Jesus" in the interrogation room. However, my father tells me that local LDS law enforcement professionals were offended in his area when they were not allowed to participate in security arrangements when the Prophet visited. Conflict of interest, apparently. Regards Fred Pinnegar -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Utah Names on Radio West Date: 17 Oct 2002 12:06:24 -0700 Radio West, KUER 90.1 (www.kuer.org) is doing a piece today on Utah Baby Names, to kick off their Fall Fund raiser. They've compiled a book called _Raising LaVon_ (or is that spelled LaVaughan?) with Pat Bagley illustrations, to use as a thank you gift. The show will be rebroadcast at 7:00 tonight. "Caden, Braden and Jaden are all popular Utah names just now," a caller just said. We have all three in our ward. But there still aren't too many . . ., uh, what was that long-winded guy's name who sometimes goes by Hollow Cluck? ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Eric SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Date: 17 Oct 2002 12:37:07 -0600 Peculiarities only plays this weekend and next, closing Oct. 26. Eric Samuelsen >>> jltyner@postoffice.pacbell.net 10/15/02 05:48PM >>> Well, as I have said before, I am always interested in Mormons and Sex, even some of the weird stuff. If I'm out that way, I'd love to see it. = How long will it be playing? It sounds fascinating to me too. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 17 Oct 2002 13:53:33 -0600 At 03:07 PM 10/15/02 -0600, you wrote: >The sf paperbacks, especially, have back covers that >are every bit as lurid as the fronts (though I was able to successfully read >a couple of Orson Scott Card's paperbacks anyway; when asked I reminded >folks that Card is Mormon). Just try reading a romance novel in church. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 14:03:55 -0600 At 02:22 PM 10/15/02 -0700, you wrote: >. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be > > married? The discussion on this topic has been interesting. It was not a major issue in the movie -- indeed, I didn't even think about it until later. The character's pain at his loss was a part of who he was, and it certainly didn't make him less qualified to serve his people. BTW, in 32 years as a member of this church, I've never heard a satisfactory reason why a bishop has to be married. (If the answer is in the D&C or something, you may well chide me for not having read it better in all these years, but the BoM and the Bible are way more interesting.) The Catholics want their leaders to be single. I'm wondering if these are cultural things added to a church's concept of the Gospel. But I can't think of a way to make this question not OT, since it doesn't relate at all to Richard's film. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tony Markham Subject: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 17 Oct 2002 16:26:14 -0400 [MOD: I'm allowing Tony's comment on his own political feelings in passing, here, in the context of a post that is primarily about a literary topic. But I *really* don't want to get into a discussion of peace v. war on this list, so any responses, please focus on the literary dimension.] The other day I was in the library when a nicely-printed graphic novel caught my eye: a Starship Troopers adaptation based on the Verhoeven movie based on the Heinlein novel. Now, Starship Troopers has been a favorite topic of discussion between my wife and me for years. I maintain that the film is self-consciously fascistic. The SS-like costumes, the swastika-like federation symbol, the violence done to the vulva-like queen--all were making a statement about our own testosterone-driven society, making fun of it in a dark way. And she agrees with me, but hardly any of our friends can see the self-critical nature of the movie and generally dismiss it as mere gore and coagulated bug juice. So I checked it out and brought it home as a joke. It was successful, the mere sight of this slick comic book made her laugh long and hard. But then an unexpected treasure! One of the stories in this comic began with a lengthy quotation from Joseph Smith, and the whole story was about a colony of Mormons who settled on a planet inside the quarantined area and they all get eaten by these giant bugs. The Smith quotation: "How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition and continue to make war on it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together." The story tells how the Mormon high school kids had to take a federation-sponsored class in History and Moral Philosophy before they could get accepted to an accredited college (a cool inversion on seminary). A one-armed veteran of the bug wars taught the class and explained to these peace-loving Mormons that sometimes you just had to kill bugs. Of course the horrific climax occurs when the colonists gather into the temple for refuge and are slaughtered by the monstrous aliens. It was all very timely for me. I was feeling so good after General Conference that my church, who for years has seemed attached at the hip to Republicanism, had the moral fiber to stand and declare for the side of peace. Somebody had the courage to say that war was a moral issue and fit to be discussed from the pulpit. I was feeling part of the Mormon Mainstream again, and was happy to be included among its members. Then I hear these rumors that the church is back-tracking, playing kiss and make up with the war-mongers. I'm outside the loop, mostly, but can this be true? Have the bugs broken through the temple? Is this a case of when a GA speaks in GC it's the same as scripture, unless it could be interpreted as being anti-war-mongering? I'm all depressed about my church again. Anyway, the graphic novel is published by Dark Horse, ISBN 1-56971-314-6 (1998) Tony Markham -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: katie@aros.net Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 17 Oct 2002 20:30:59 -0600 Quoting "Aitken, Neil" : > 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and > cultures? Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? For the > most part Mormon Literature as it is presently documented reflects the > culture, tradition, and experience of those of pioneer stock and pedigreed > names. While their voices are important, it raises a question as to whether > the net is being thrown too close to the shore, or are there simply no > Mormon writers of other backgrounds presently writing? > There are a couple of British LDS novelists out there who I know of. One, Anne Bradshaw, has written a couple of LDS novels set in the 1960's in the British Isles. There's a character who gets involved in the IRA and it gets pretty interesting. The other, Anna Jones, has written a couple of books set in her native Wales, although the book I read really could have been set anywhere. I believe there may be another one or two publishing with Covenant at this point. And, if the Deep South counts as multicultural, Betsy Brannon Green has written a few LDS novels set there. She comes from there as well. This is more than we've had in the past. Although there are still a lot of cultures we aren't hearing from, more and more novels are being set outside of Utah. Eventually, I hope, we'll have literature from all parts of the world. --Katie Parker -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Re: Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 17 Oct 2002 04:55:22 -0500 >Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? Many of the best-selling and/or most talented Latter-day Saint authors are converts from other religious backgrounds, including Chris Heimerdinger, Thom Duncan, Ann Perry, Thom Duncan, David Doering, Kathryn H. Kidd, Linda Hoffman Kimball, Neil LaBute, Lee Martin, K. L. Morgan, Michael McNulty, Dave Wolverton/Dave Farland, Eliza R. Snow. Among these people are, let's see... [Preston Hunter] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] _Breaking Free_ (1995) (Movie Review) Date: 17 Oct 2002 13:07:58 -0500 Film: Breaking Free Year released: 1995 Production company: Leucadia Film Corporation Director: David MacKay Producer: David Anderson Writers: Barbara Clark Wanbaugh and Virginia Gilbert Reviewed by Preston Hunter "Breaking Free" is probably the best movie ever made about a blind horse jumper. This might NOT be true if there are any OTHER movies about blind horse jumpers. Jeremy London stars as "Rick Chilton," a 17-year-old juvenile delinquent who gets a chance to work as a stable boy at a ranch for blind kids instead of having to stay in the detention center. I'd like to say that London is a "bad boy with a capital B," because I like the sound of that phrase. But it's completely untrue. If you put London's portrayal of "Rick" in a lineup, he'd probably be picked out to be the first counselor in the priest's quorum. He is locked up because his parents died or something and he ran away from his uncle, and did some petty crimes, but there's just no getting around the fact that he's really, really, really not a bad guy. Yet the plot seems to indicate that he's supposed to be worse than he seems. The adult detention counselor (warden?) seems to think that Rick is trouble with a capital T, but that animosity is never believable Rick was raised around horses, and loves working with them, so he is thrilled to have a chance to work at the ranch instead of digging ditches as part of work detail at the detention center. He is surprised when he arrives at the camp and finds that it is a camp for blind kids, but he soon settles in and turns things around in the neglected horse stable. He soon meets a new guest at the ranch -- a newly blind former gymnast named Lindsay Kurtz (played by Gina Philips). Lindsay is extremely unfriendly and doesn't even want to be at the camp. She hasn't adjusted well to being blind. She exhibits a major case of Bad Attitude. Well, if you've seen a few After School Specials, you know exactly where the whole movie is going. There will be attitude changes for Rick and Lindsay. They'll fall in love or something approximating it, share a kiss. There will be a bunch of horse riding, a harrowing rescue of a helpless little blind boy on a cliff above a raging river, etc., etc. I didn't know anything about the movie, so the biggest surprise for me was when Lindsay decides she wants to compete in a nearby horse jumping competition, as a regular competitor among sighted riders. Can a blind person do this? is a question many people in the movie ask. Lindsay is so determined to jump horses competitively because she misses the rush she got competing as a gymnast. So if I understand correctly... She can't do gymnastics as a blind person, but she can jump horses? I don't know if that makes sense, but I don't know a lot about blind athletics. To its credit, the movie really sells the idea of Lindsay training to jump horses. She uses auditory clues to keep her bearings, and she counts paces, etc. And, after all, the horse does much of the work. Few concrete details were provided, but there were enough that I was willing believe it. The whole thing about the little blind boy who goes horseback riding in the middle of the night and gets lost and attacked by wolves and ends up hanging from a cliff face. That was a bit melodramatic. And I wondered why in the world Rick took Lindsay with him to search for the boy. Other than the fact that she's the female lead in the movie, there seemed to be no reason to do so. I was also annoyed by Rick's juvenile delinquent friends who plan to help Rick break free from the ranch (which he actually enjoys being at), so they can escape to New York City. This is despite the fact that Rick has only a few weeks left to finish serving his sentence, and he'll be completely free anyway. Completely idiotic. But I guess if they were highly intelligent, they wouldn't be juvenile delinquents with warrants out for their arrest. There's also a stock character pretty-boy jerk camp counselor who resents Rick, a romance between the detention center warden and the camp director, and a few other plot elements like these which do little to enhance the movie. "Breaking Free" was directed by David MacKay and produced by David Anderson for Leucadia Film Corporation. Leucadia is the Utah-based film production company which made feature length family-friendly films, including Sterling Van Wagenen's "Alan & Naomi", Blair Treu's "Just Like Dad", "The Paper Brigade" and "Wish Upon a Star", and "Windrunner", written by Mitch Davis. Like all Leucadia films (except for the theatrically-released "Alan & Naomi), "Breaking Free" went straight to the video and TV movie market. That's a good thing, because by no means is it up to the standards of theatrically-released feature films. It should even be classified as a "lesser" Leucadia film. Although all of the company's movies are low-budget productions, most of them at least have a little more life and character than "Breaking Free." The acting isn't bad. The cinematography is very straight-forward and serviceable. The movie has no objectionable content, which is good. Unfortunately, the main character arcs for Rick and Lindsay, as well as their relationship, are predictable within the first few minutes of the movie. Overall, the film is competently made, but it just seems flat. Except for the unusual matter of blind horse jumping, "Breaking Free" is a forgettable film. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:39:38 -0400 I wrote: > >A literary work must stand on it's own. to which Roberta Gomez wrote: >Nonsense. Taken to its logical conclusion, this argument would imply that >legitimate literary works must all cater to the lowest common denominator >of >readership. How is this the logical conclusion? You didn't build on my premise. I know that a piece of literature may not be read and fully UNDERSTOOD by everyone--or even a majority of te work's readers. The readers may not fully understand certain aspects of the story or the culture or historical period in which it is set; they may not have life experiences similar enough to those of the characters' to fully appreciate their situations, motivations, etc. But that is very different from not comprehending the LANGUAGE because it has been distorted by the "impish" author playing a game--in effect, using language against itself. This is nothing more than linguistic nihilism. >There's nothing wrong with a work being unable to purely "stand on its >own." I disagree. Can you give me some more evidence on why it is a virtue for a literary work to NOT stand on it's own? >Nothing does; all of our knowledge and experience exists in a complex web. "NOTHING does?" I disagree. I disagree because now you're talking "apples and oranges." The human faculty for LANGUAGE indeed IS something existing in a complex web. Nevertheless in that web, there is LOGIC at work. The very purpose of that web is to connect totally different existents to one --in the cause of language, connecting sounds and visual representations with concepts and abstraction, which in turn are connected to the information supplied by the physical senses to the brain. >The fact that a reader may have to put some work and study into >understanding a particular piece of literature can make it more valuable, >not less so. Having to study or work harder to understand a particular piece of literature has, in my opinion, nothing whatsoever to do with the value of THAT PIECE. Some may grasp a complex piece easily; other may have to study and work to understand a simple piece. The whole process is very subjective and based on the intelligence of the reader, not the talent of the author or the inherent literary value of the piece. The true test, I would think, is whether or not you are left >with a reward (knowledge or an aesthetic experience) that is at least >proportionate to the effort you have to make to understand the work. If the true test is regarding the literary value of the work, I would disagree because this is, again, too subjective an approach to making an OBJECTIVE evaluation. >(Though I think that many modern works of art and literature do in fact >fail >this test and are nothing but facades with no real substance behind them.) While rejecting the basis for the above True Test, I agree that many modern works of art are facades with no substance. I would place Joyce's later works in this category. QUestion: what is the real substance in these works? >On some level "Finnegan's Wake" is meant to be a sort of game, or even a >joke (it is filled with puns and word play). I agree. It is a nihilistic joke; an attack by an impish author on...on what? On language? On rational thought? Or perhaps it is Joyce's joke on the modernist literary critics of the early 20th century. \ Among the things they discovered was that, when closely read and >analyzed, Joyce's book made perfect sense, and they had a great deal of fun >deciphering it. I'm sure they had a ball deciphering it. I really would like to know more regarding what they discovered. What is the meaning behind the text? What is the "perfect sense" behind it all? The fact that this sort of effort may not be in your taste >or mine doesn't make the book any less of a true literary work. But I'm NOT making my judgment based on my subjective tastes. There are works of literature that I personally despise, but I nevertheless consider them great works of arts. The same goes with drama, film, painting and music. I never said that Joyce was nonsense based on my personal tastes. My argument has always been that based upon the purpose of language itself, Joyce's later works fail--not just as great literature, but as literature at all.It is a nihilistic attack on language and concept formation. I know this is blasphemy according to modernistic and post-modernistic philosophies. It's just a >_different_ form of literary work than one that may be more easily and >universally understood. I say it is universally incomprehensible--though I'd bemore than happy to be persuaded otherwise. The criteria for being persuade must be based upon the same principles on which language itself rests. Until I am shown otherwise, however, I can only continue pointing that the Emperor is naked. ROB. LAUER _________________________________________________________________ Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try MSN! http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 22:16:35 -0600 Thom Duncan wrote: > Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? Yes. And the first councilor wears a full beard now and again. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Covell, Jason" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 13:59:47 +1000 Not my bishop, but a friend's dad sported a neat, blond m[o]ustache all the time he served as bishop in an Alpine, UT ward. Now he's a branch pres at the MTC (I think). Jason Covell -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:33:48 -0600 ---Original Message From: Laraine Wilkins > > I tend > to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a > church employee. Hope you weren't being serious. I learned long ago that church employees can be some of the very least informed. I won't go so far as to impute motives, but this assumption that they have secret knowledge is, to say the least, unsupported. Frankly, I'm most suspicious of those who imply they have access to something others do not. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: [AML] RE: Membership Records Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:33:48 -0600 ---Original Message From: Greg Taggart > "BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that > character could be > a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that > bishops must be > married?" > > I have a question to add to Barbara's list of one: Wouldn't > the Sheriff/Bishop have picked up on some discrepancies in > the murderer's membership records? Or maybe I simply live in > a la-la land where you can fool the Social Security > Administration, but you'll never fool the membership > department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day > Saints. Or maybe Dutcher has a pre-quel in the works: > "Snowflake Second Ward Clerk's Office." Speaking as a former Ward Clerk I have to say this brought a long chuckle. I spent more time trying to straighten out bad records than I like to think of. And the plain fact of the matter is that once you know how it works, you can pretty much change anything you want to if you have the top-level membership password. Once, as an intellectual exercise, I worked through the steps it would take to mess up the records for some unsuspecting General Authority. Fact is, it wouldn't take much, but then, it would hardly be undetectable either--let alone irreversible... Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: [AML] WELCH & HALL, _Charting the New Testament_ (Review) Date: 17 Oct 2002 21:30:14 -0700 Review ====== Title: Charting the New Testament Author: John W. Welch and John F. Hall Publisher: FARMS Year Published: 2002 Number of Pages: 490 Binding: Oversize Paperback ISBN: 0-934893-64-0 Price: $24.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle The short form of this review is as follows: Buy this book! I suspect you want a bit more... "Charting the New Testament" follows "Charting the Book of Mormon" as a large volume of study aids for students and teachers of the scriptures. When I first saw the Book of Mormon volume, I thought it was enormously helpful and has a place in my permanent library. The New Testament volume surpasses the earlier effort and is highly recommended. Scripture study, as a rule, has been something of a linear practice in official Church publications. The presentation is familiar -- cite the scripture, tell us what the General Authorities have had to say about it, then apply it to our daily lives. Quite apart from the desireablity of this approach is the limited appeal it has to serious scripture scholars. A more analytic approach often yields added insights and opportunities for growth. "Charting the New Testament" offers this very approach (much as the Book of Mormon volume did for that work of scripture). A few random examples should suffice. One chart is titled "Witnesses to the Resurrection." The chart lists their names, and then in columns, the appropriate scriptural reference, the day or time of the witness, the place of the witness, what transpired, and other items of interest. An entire section details "Jewish Cultural and Literary Backgrounds," essential for understanding the New Testament documents in their own cultural setting. Included is a very helpful chart comparing and contrasting the beliefs of the three main Jewish sects mentioned in the New Testament -- the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. This is followed by a section filled with information new to me -- "Legal Views of the Pharisees and Sadducees." What did they believe about capital punishment? What were their beliefs about the angels, about fate? This is an excellent summary of this topic. We all know that heavenly beings appeared often in the New Testament. But can you name *all* of these appearances? This book lays it out for you, giving scripture references and other details of the visitations. "The Lives of Joseph and Jesus" is a terrific addition to this volume. Here we have analyzed the parallels between the two men, showing an amazing congruence that is worthy of study. And moving beyond the New Testament period, we have a comparative chart of the historic creeds of the Christian Church. You can easily compare the creeds and see how the different ideas are expressed therein. Enough of the detail. A few words about the general approach. First, let's say this. Given the time, money and motivation, you could probably save the twenty five bucks and flesh this out by yourself. You could probably also spend the next few years designing handouts for your classes with that information. Or, you could buy this book. You can reproduce any of the charts for teaching purposes, giving you a tremendous leg up on the task of producing interesting and innovative lessons. And that, I think, is the key. The Church has always been faithful in its production of lesson manuals for the various teaching levels. Those who observe such things cannot help but notice that the manuals are getting smaller. More is being left up to the teacher to make the lesson interesting and provocative. This isn't always an easy task. "Charting the New Testament" injects into the teaching curriculum an exciting, and in my opinion unmissable, addition to the resources available to educators. And it is presented in a concise, easily-understood format that will appeal to teachers and students alike. Another thought -- I found myself thinking how much non- Mormon Bible students and teachers would appreciate this book. There is some Mormon content -- for example, a study of Joseph Smith's understanding of Revelation as contained in the D&C -- but the vast majority of the book is solidly biblicist. I hereby declare this book to be an excellent Christmas gift for non-member friends who are Bible believers! I can't wait to see the Old Testament volume; I can only assume one is forthcoming. I highly recommend this book. All teachers and students of the scriptures will find something to celebrate in this series. ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:33:48 -0600 ---Original Message From: Rob Lauer > > > 2. A literary work must stand on it's own. If the reader is > told that > > he, in order to understand the work, must read what critics have > > written or that he > > must understand the author's culture, religion, > nationality, personal > > history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the > work CAN'T > > stand > > on its own. No work of literature stands on its own. The expectation that literature must stand on its own is absurd to me. At the very least you can't divorce yourself from language. To stand on its own, a work of literature would have to include everything from "See spot run" to classical physics (after all, what is this gravity people keep talking about?). I'm not a fan of James Joyce (I can't honestly remember ever reading any), but however impenetrable he may be, you can't discard him just because people find him inscrutable. Works have more and less dependence on outside works, but that's a sliding scale with no standard, a huge variance, and no absolutes. I have had extremely rewarding experiences with both T.S. Eliot and William Faulkner--both of whom are deemed rather obscure and certainly don't stand on their own. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:27:05 -0700 I'd have to say I agree with Craig about "Johnny Lingo" and how it could help a youth who struggles with self-worth because I was that kid. And for a change, it was something that didn't just say, "read your scriptures and pray about it and everything will juuust fine." Those are important concepts and I have found great strength, comfort and inspiration in that practice, but what if one does that and you are still teased, mocked and left out? The film acknowledged that some people's view of themselves is greatly affected by how they are perceived and treated by others. "Cipher In The Snow" takes into account what it's like to be emotionally neglected and feel like you're just part of the wallpaper. I saw it in my psychology class in high school. The teacher felt there the reaction by the stepfather was overdone. But she liked the movie overall and felt it had a good point to make. And for the record, I considered her an excellent teacher who liked to push us to think. (Tangent note: I was one of two top scores on a persistence test she gave all her classes). And yet, if one has a teacher, friend or mentor of some kind that comes along and sees beyond the facade, chip-on-the-shoulder attitude or whatever walls or defense mechanisms someone has developed to protect themselves and perceives the true potential that lies within and is somehow able to get past the barriers to help bring that person out of their hole, that's a good thing. I was lucky to have some of those kinds of people in my life at Church, school, and in the person of a dear friend and her family. FWIW, I walked away from class the day I saw "Johnny Lingo" feeling like somebody got it, somebody understood a person like me. Cinematic genius, it ain't. If I saw it again, I might come away thinking it's quaint, or sexist or whatever. But at the time I saw it, it gave me something I needed. "Brigham City" provided the depth and sophistication I crave and need as an adult. But sometimes even adults can use a simplistsic story too. Hope they do well with the movie version. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: [AML] The Bridge (was: Johnny Lingo) Date: 18 Oct 2002 09:26:43 -0600 Yep, "The Bridge" (or whatever the title is) was made in the 1970's. It stars Chip Boynton. He used to be a BYU star. I wonder if he's doing theater anymore. Anyway, I've heard one of my colleagues talk about the story this movie tells--about the trainmaster allowing his son to be killed in order to save the train's passengers--as about the worst analogy in _Especially for Mormons_. This particular colleague lost a son years ago, and someone said to him, "You must really understand how Heavenly Father felt, then, when Jesus was killed." My colleague replied, "No, I certainly do not." He then went on to explain that our earthly losses do not in any way compare to the atonement. "The Bridge" was one of the stories which galled him the most, because it completely ignores the Savior's OWN CHOICE to be The Lamb. I agree with him. [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 09:30:04 -0600 One of my former bishops was a widower. He was told he needed to get married so that he could be called as a bishop. He did and then was. There's another story--the auditions for "Future Bishop's Wife." Every never-married, once-married, divorced, middle-aged person in the county tries out with brownies, green jello, and cross stitch. I definitely want to be in that cast. I want to be the feminist who actually marries the bishop--after he comes to a deep understanding of gender issues and realizes that he probably drove his first wife to an early death. [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 09:37:36 -0600 Nope. June Oaks died while Elder Oaks was "in office." Elder Perry's wife also died. Both men have remarried. Elder Scott was a widower the last I heard. I don't know if he's remarried. He's fluent in Spanish, and I have a bunch of Hispanic friends who'd love to date him if he's available. Kathy Fowkes wrote: > Wasn't Elder Oaks a widower when he was called to be an apostle? I seem to > recall something about it, but can't remember for certain. > > Kathy Fowkes > > -- > AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eileen Stringer" Subject: [AML] Types of Bishops (was: Single Bishops) Date: 18 Oct 2002 11:11:17 -0600 > Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? > > Thom Yes my current bishop had mustache. In my sisters ward all members of the bishopric have some form of facial hair. I have also had a bearded bishop, a bald bishop, a bishop who wore only bolo ties, a bishop who wore cowboy boots and brightly colored western shirts, a bishop who was a sheriff, one who was a State Trooper, a bishop who was single (wife died of cancer) a bishop who was the water master, a bishop who was a magistrate and one who was a trial attorney, one who was the president of a credit union, one who owned the local bank, one who was deaf, but very deft at reading lips - he also had a mustache, and one who was a former Anglican priest, also bearded and single at the time he was called, but was engaged to be married. They were all good bishops, in their own right, with their own package of strengths and weaknesses and by and large attempted to do the best they could to bless the lives of the people in their wards. They each made some so-called "enemies" as most bishops do and each was a character worthy of a story. I admit to personally liking some better than others, but that is a normal course in human relationships. Their facial hair or lack thereof, jobs or background, or way of dressing attributed to their personality, but I do not think it diminished their ability to perform their duties as a bishop. Each was worthy of their own story or at least a chapter in "The Bishops in My Life." Eileen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: [AML] Teaching at BYU (was: Mormon Culture, Good and Bad) Date: 18 Oct 2002 15:12:05 -0600 (MDT) Amelia Parkin said about BYU: =93That will only happen when fear is not the dominating motivation b= ehind what is and is not taught in the university, and when both professors and stu= dents alike approach their studies with openness and honesty.=94 Two aphorisms: First, people who complain about teaching at BYU have not taught long= enough elsewhere.=20 Having taught at three major institutions and a dozen smaller schools= , I love BYU. They pay me three times more than any other place I have worked= , they treat me well, no topic is closed to discussion and analysis in my cl= assroom, and no one has ever hassled me about the content of my courses. If t= here are occasions when you get brutalized there, it is no worse than what hap= pens to you at any other institution of higher education. That is the nature of = the higher education beast where, as Nibley pointed out to us, we are clothed in= the robes of a corrupt and fallen priesthood, and, as Dr Finstermacher at the U= niversity of Arizona was fond of saying, the mitre was invented to protect stu= dents from the contents of chamber pots emptied upon them by the towns people as= the senior class passed by on their way to the graduation ceremonies. Second, if you think a climate of fear dominates BYU and you lack aca= demic freedom there and can=92t talk openly about things there like you can= at other institutions, try talking about the Restoration at a state-sponsored = institution and convincing your students that Jesus is the Christ and that we oug= ht to give heed to the words of his apostles and prophets=96try that and see wha= t happens.=20 You have infinitely more freedom at BYU to cover all aspects of knowl= edge than you do in a state school. I taught English 252 and several other English courses at BYU between= 1991 and 1996, and I currently work for GE and Honors teaching intensive writi= ng classes and a few literature courses. English 252 was a second semester writi= ng course for English majors with a literary criticism emphasis. We used one o= f the best literary theory texts I=92ve ever seen: David Cowles The Critical Exp= erience, and we covered 13 major theories in the class. I also touched on a dozen= others. =20 Historical Criticism Moral/Philosophical criticism. Rhetorical criticism Mythic and Archetypal criticism. Marxist criticism Psychoanalytic criticism Feminist criticism Structuralist criticism New Historicism Post-Structuralism Reader Response criticism=09 Multicultural criticism/ Ethnic Studies =09Chicano =09Native American =09African American =09Asian American Pluralism Religious Approaches (LDS aesthetics) Cultural/Gender Studies Comparative Literature Genre Studies, such as: =09Gothic =09Fantasy =09Folklore=20 Film Studies Queer Studies etc My students wrote 4 papers, selecting a different theoretical perspec= tive for each one. Students of literature should know and understand literary= theory and criticism, since theory is always applied whenever we talk about Lit,= either implicitly or explicitly, and whether we know it or not.=20 The problem is, however, that for some people their literary theory b= ecomes their religion, and they are no longer able to see it as theory. The= ory becomes ideology.=20 I think it is important for students of literature to know and unders= tand literary theory, for it provides a framework for talking about and un= derstanding literature, and lacking it most people slip instantly and instinctive= ly into plot summary and moralizing. In literary criticism your objective is = to create a four way dialogue between the literary text, the critical tradition a= ssociated with that text, literary theory, and your own voice as critic. Ultima= tely, one involved in the discipline should be able to identify herself by the = critical theory or theories she uses. You are also known in the discipline by= the theory or theories you espouse. =20 Regards Fred Pinnegar -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Irreatum Editorial Positions Open Date: 18 Oct 2002 15:20:21 -0600 Irreantum, the AML's printed literary quarterly, has as many as four editorial positions we're looking for volunteers to fill. If we don't find enough volunteers, it's possible that some of the following positions could be combined (such as memoir/essay editor or film/drama editor). Following are some specific details about what each editor would do. In general, all editors work with authors to refine pieces, follow up with authors on assignment, and turn in finalized, proofread copy for their department on four annual deadlines (March 15, June 15, Sept. 15, Dec. 15). MEMOIR EDITOR (Irreantum uses the term "memoir" to cover personal essays, creative nonfiction, and any other narrative writing that primarily tells stories of actual personal experience, mostly autobiographical but also biographical.) * Reviews unsolicited submissions and notifies authors of acceptance or rejection * Actively seeks good pieces by contacting prospective authors and other means * In coordination with the review editor, recommends book-length memoirs to be reviewed and suitable reviewers * Recommends memoirists to be interviewed and conducts the interviews ESSAY EDITOR (This department includes all article-length nonfiction that doesn't primarily tell a narrative story. In other words, articles in the primary mode of literary analysis, literary philosophy, literary criticism [including review-essays, as opposed to simpler, shorter reviews], literary reportage, etc.) * Reviews unsolicited submissions and notifies authors of acceptance or rejection * Actively seeks good essays, including contacting prospective authors with suggested ideas FILM EDITOR * Finds stand-alone screenplay excerpts to publish in Irreantum, and occasional full-length screenplays if space and editorial plans allow * Lines up film reviews, deciding which films to review and who to review them * Lines up and conducts interviews with film screenwriters and/or directors * Provides film-related news items to the literary news editor DRAMA EDITOR * Finds stand-alone script excerpts and one-act plays to publish in Irreantum, and occasional full-length plays if space and editorial plans allow * Lines up drama reviews, deciding which plays to review and who to review them * Lines up and conducts interviews with playwrights and/or directors * Provides drama-related news items to the literary news editor If you are interested in one or more of the positions, send a detailed note to chris.bigelow@unicitynetwork.com. Your physical location doesn't matter because all our editorial work is conducted via e-mail (although in the case of film and/or drama editor, someone on Utah's Wasatch Front will be preferred because he or she can more easily attend Mormon-related films and plays that premiere mostly in Salt Lake and Provo). Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Re: Membership Records Date: 18 Oct 2002 16:29:37 -0600 I like this idea, the female bishop. A comedy based on membership = records, hmmm . . . . Actually, see, I'm dead. I was listed on my old ward's membership records = as 'deceased.' Been quite an experience, being dead. I'm not sure what = to do with it fictionally speaking, but it's interesting. As far as single bishops go, though, here's my question. What's the = difference between an active, devout, caring, spiritual single man and a = married one? The single one, presumably, has never had sex. So am I = missing something, or is it the official position of the Church that sex = confers wisdom, or spiritual insight, or some other bishoply attributes?=20= Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad Date: 18 Oct 2002 15:32:31 -0700 Or try reading a feng shui book in church. ;-) Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA Barbara Hume wrote: > At 03:07 PM 10/15/02 -0600, you wrote: > >> The sf paperbacks, especially, have back covers that >> are every bit as lurid as the fronts (though I was able to >> successfully read >> a couple of Orson Scott Card's paperbacks anyway; when asked I reminded >> folks that Card is Mormon). > > > Just try reading a romance novel in church. > > barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Re: Mormon Villains in Movies Date: 18 Oct 2002 17:54:06 -0500 Tony Markham: I'm reminded of >a film I worked on years ago, fresh out of BYU film school based on the >Martin and Willie companies. Called "Perilous Journey," written and >directed by John Linton in Sandy, UT. We have long had "Perilous Journey" listed among straight-to-video dramas made for Latter-day Saint market on our page about films with Latter-day Saint characters: http://www.ldsfilm.com/lds_chars.html - Preston Hunter www.ldsfilm.com There is information about "Perilous Journey" here, on the website of its apparent current owners or agents: http://www.filmsourceco.com/titles/aec/PerilousJourney.htm The Film Source Collection "Tragedy and Triumph on the Pioneer Trail" (Based on Historical Fact) Western - Family Adventure USA / 1984 /95 mins / Color / Rated Starring DAVID ELSE, JANENE PEARCE with Karen Thomas Tisha Reed and Curtis Linton Written and Directed by JOHN LINTON Executive Producer Ken Israel Director of Photography Michael L. Schaertl Associate Producer Paul Del Ray Smith Production Executive Blanch Yardley In 1856 Samuel and Margaret Pucell decide to join a hastily formed band of Mormon pioneers who wish to escape religious persecution by crossing the Rocky Mountains and settling near Brigham Young's community. With their children - Ellen, Maggie and Arthur, the Pucells build a crude handcart and set out on foot with their meager possessions. Having left in haste ahead of the cold weather, the pioneers are poorly prepared for the hardships of the journey. Provisions run low and the group is trapped in the mountains of Central Wyoming by early blizzards. Samuel Pucell is killed in a tragic accident and Margaret Pucell succumbs soon after from the rigors of the cold and hunger. With both parents buried along the trail, 18-year-old Ellen Pucell is forced to care for her younger brother and sister. Some days later, Ellen's heightened sense of responsibility leads her to heroically, but foolishly, leave camp with food for the group leaders who had departed earlier in search of a path out of the mountains. When the leaders return with a rescue party from Sall Lake City, they learn that Ellen has been lost in the wilderness for three days. Extensive efforts to find her prove unsuccessful, and the pioneers soon give Ellen up as another trail tragedy. But as the group renews their journey, one young man teaches them a lesson in courage and fortitude. Through his faith, the Pucell family is spared another death. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Roberto Gomez" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 18 Oct 2002 18:40:30 -0400 >To quote Jeff Bridges as "the Dude" (not in Johnny >Lingo, BTW, in case you were wondering if I found some bootleg copy): You don't need to get a bootleg copy- you can order the real thing from the Online Distribution Center for six bucks. Go to www.ldscatalog.com and type item # 53147000 in the search box- "Johnny Lingo" is included on a tape called "The Worth of Souls." Roberto Gomez -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Utah Names on Radio West Date: 18 Oct 2002 16:46:30 -0600 Two of my grandsons are named Braden and Jaden (sigh). Thom >-----Original Message----- > >Radio West, KUER 90.1 (www.kuer.org) is doing a piece today on >Utah Baby Names, to kick off their Fall Fund raiser. They've >compiled a book called _Raising LaVon_ (or is that spelled >LaVaughan?) with Pat Bagley illustrations, to use as a thank >you gift. The show will be rebroadcast at 7:00 tonight. > >"Caden, Braden and Jaden are all popular Utah names just now," >a caller just said. We have all three in our ward. But there >still aren't too many . . ., uh, what was that long-winded >guy's name who sometimes goes by Hollow Cluck? -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 16:43:12 -0600 At 10:21 PM 10/16/02 -0700, you wrote: >Being widowed doesn't make Mormons single. (And >technically, neither does divorce.) Ewww! Then I'm glad I got divorced before I joined the church! That reminds me of something that disturbed me in some of Anita Stansfield's fiction. As I remember it, her main character's first husband was LDS, but he was a big fat jerk. After he died, she married a man who was not LDS, but a decent human being. Eventually, he did join the church and become active. But the story implied that the children he had with her were not his at all, but would belong to the jerky husband in the next life. I can't believe that. Is it folk culture, or what? A few things like this have kept me from enjoying her books. barbara hume barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Aitken, Neil" Subject: Re: [AML] Utah Names on Radio West Date: 18 Oct 2002 15:51:33 -0700 For those interested in "Utah Names", I stumbled across the Utah Baby Names site a while back. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3450/ Enjoy :) Neil ============================================================ Neil Aitken neil@lone-crow.com http://www.lone-crow.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 18 Oct 2002 16:51:23 -0600 At 11:11 PM 10/16/02 -0600, you wrote: >What is one to do if one is unchosen? Well we get all kinds of talks from >church authorities telling us that our prince will come in the millenium, >but frankly I believe that is cold comfort. Well, my business partner has come up with the theory that my eventual husband was killed in the Napoleonic Wars. Since I have an obsession with noble, early nineteenth-century British officers, resplendent in their scarlet regimentals, heroically perishing as they save their entire regiment not to mention the entire free world from the depredations of the Corsican Monster, I kind of like that idea. If he took a ball to the heart before a female of his own time could get her hooks into him, he has been able to wait for me all this time. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jerry Tyner" Subject: RE: [AML] I'll Build you a Rainbow Date: 18 Oct 2002 15:54:31 -0700 --Ivan Wolfe wrote: >> He said that he and his partner (I forget the name) knew that "I'll = build you a >> Rainbow" failed nearly every requirement for a good song. After it = was pitched >> to them, he had a dozen reasons in his head for why it was a lousy = song and why >> the church shouldn't buy it. His partner did as well. But before = they said >> anything to the guy pitching it to them, he and his partner looked at = each >> other, and they both had tears in their eyes.=20 >> >> His lesson - "Sometimes, even if your intellect tells you its a lousy = song - if >> it works, it works." I like what Ivan said here. Many might say this song exploits emotions = but what it did for me the first time I heard it (and most every time I = hear it) is remind me of my mother. I was not a child when she passed = away but my son was 18 months old and my wife and I had celebrated our = second anniversary. Before the song was over both my wife and I had = tears in our eyes. We are not music aficionados (at least I'm not) but = this song reminded me that my family had been sealed for Time and all = Eternity and we would be together again. Music, to me, brings into my mind things Heavenly Father wants to remind = me of (principles of the Gospel) and many times reveals things to me as = well. I do not have to look beyond those things. Sometimes it has no = effect and other times the same song brings things into my mind with = force beyond anything worldly. For that one thing I am grateful for = other people's musical talents, no matter how schmaltzy they may be. Jerry Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 19:01:49 EDT In a message dated 10/18/02 4:10:11 PM Mountain Daylight Time, dmichael@wwno.com writes: << In "Brigham City" both the wife and his child was killed so he (the Bishop) did not have any children to care for after he came out of his coma. As hard as it is there is potentially a reason for people to be left in these positions and at some point I'm sure the Stake President would council the Bishop to start looking for a wife. "Brigham City 2"? >> Odd that you should mention such a thing as BRIGHAM CITY 2. A few weeks ago I was playing a game with my brain. I tried to come up with a plausible, powerful, spiritually important sequel (to a story I thought was sequel-proof). And, man, I came up with a great idea, one of those that will be hard to let go of. It doesn't have much to do with Wes looking for a wife. It has more to do with the nature of evil. I doubt many investors will want to roll the dice on a sequel to a financially unsuccessful movie. I'd do it, though. Maybe I'll have to get wealthy and spend my own money on it. It would be worth it. I hear the lead actor is available. Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 18 Oct 2002 17:15:44 -0600 At 04:26 PM 10/17/02 -0400, you wrote: >One of the stories in this comic began with a >lengthy quotation from Joseph Smith, and the whole story was about a colony of >Mormons Heinlein apparently had warm feelings about Mormons; there are many favorable references to Mormons in his novels. However, I'm not sure how to feel about that, since the worldview he espouses more and more openly throughout his canon is basically disgusting. Wonderful storyteller, though. I used to pick up his novels vowing to analyze his techniques, only to find myself a few hours later at the end, having been carried along by the story. (After Stranger in a Strange Land, though, the ick factor becomes just too strong.) barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 18 Oct 2002 18:04:31 -0700 > Quoting "Aitken, Neil" : > > > 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and > > cultures? Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? For the > > most part Mormon Literature as it is presently documented reflects the > > culture, tradition, and experience of those of pioneer stock and pedigreed > > names. While their voices are important, it raises a question as to whether > > the net is being thrown too close to the shore, or are there simply no > > Mormon writers of other backgrounds presently writing? > > I'm a product of the "mission field." I was born on the wrong side of town, raised in a dysfunctional home, with an alcoholic father and a codependent mom. I'm also LDS, and I Write. So I guess that makes me "a Mormon writer of other backgrounds." I haven't really been published yet, but I feel like I'm getting closer all the time. I have a problem with the definition of the word writer anyway. My take on the word is: "All authors are writers, but not all writers are authors-- YET!" I'm working to finish my first novel "Guardian Angel" about my alcoholic dad who dies in the first chapter and enters the third estate, in Spirit Prison. The rest of the book is about how he progresses in SP, becomes my GA, and how he is effected by, and how he effects my life as I slowly find my way into the church and learn to forgive and appreciate my parents. The conclusion will be when I eventually do their genealogy and temple work. I don't know if my book will ever be published, but I'm enjoying the journey as I write it. Regards, Bill Willson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Jericho Road, Charly CD reviews (Deseret News) Date: 19 Oct 2002 00:48:50 +0000 Deseret News Friday, October 18, 2002 Jericho Road's new CD a great collection By Carma Wadley Deseret News senior writer JERICHO ROAD, "True North" (Shadow Mountain) 4 starts Jericho Road, the local guy-group composed of Bret Bryce, Dave Kimball, Abe Mills and Justin Smith, burst on the scene a year ago with a debut album that sold more units than any other in Deseret Book history. Now the group is back with a second album, "True North," that may be even stronger. The album features a collection of songs that fit squarely in the contemporary Christian genre =97 songs of faith and finding strength= in=20 belief. A number were co-written by Nashville songwriter Steve Siler, including the opening "Finding My Way Back to You" and the tender "You Melt the Madness." The group also infuses Kenny Loggins' "Conviction of the Heart" with deep feeling. But there are some substantial songs by local songwriter/ producer Tyler Castleton and a variety of collaborators. "Lift Me Up," by Castleton, Jerry Williams and John McVey; and "A New Day," by Castleton and Jenny Frogley, are particularly nice. The varied pacing, the mix of arrangements and background=20 accompaniments =97 from the a cappella "If I Lose My Way" to the keyboards= and=20 strings on "Let Me Reach You" to the piano and guitar on "All I Do" - give the CD a fresh and exciting sound. Some entertainers get by on looks and personality, some rely on good material and others have the musical ability to make any material sound good. Jericho Road is a complete package - earning full points in all three areas. There's no question that the group's engaging stage presence and youthful energy win fans among teens - and their mothers. (They have recently released a backstage DVD especially for these fans.) But their songs have powerful messages that can be enjoyed on a number of levels. And their music is solid - filled with tight harmonies, good range and heartfelt emotion. "True North" takes Jericho Road in the right direction. VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Charly: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (Cinergy Records) 3 1/2 stars "Charly," the movie, may be getting mixed reviews. But "Charly," the album, has a lot going for it. The music, composed for the film primarily by newcomer Aaron Merrill (with some help from Cherie Call, Jeremy Elliott, Brett Raymond, Cassey Golie, Alex Boye and Alexander E. Jenkins), features a= =20 mix of styles and genres from pop to jazz, with a bit of rap thrown in. The CD is divided into two sections, the first part a collection of songs and the second of instrumental tracks. Jenny Jordan brings tender emotion to "A Heartbeat Away" in both the initial offering and the reprise. Raymond nails the bluesy/jazzy= =20 "Got a Thing for You." Same goes for his "This Craziness Is Love." Call's "Restless Soul" has a pretty melody, but her punchy delivery is also effective. "Living Out Loud" by Golie and "Cold Hard Streets" from Boye are filled with energy. The soundtrack section works nicely as a tone poem of sorts. Mostly, it has a fanciful feel, light and airy, but with some depth. The flow is interrupted a bit in a few places, but overall it makes for nice, easy listening. Knowing the movie's storyline can give the music a meaningful context, but this is also a CD that stands on its own. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Surf the Web without missing calls! Get MSN Broadband.=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Aitken, Neil" Subject: RE: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 18 Oct 2002 18:22:40 -0700 Neil Aiken asked: >> 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and >> cultures? Jana Remy replied: >My husband's short story, Ojiichan's Funeral, might fall into this category. >It's about a Japanese/American missionary who attends his Japanese >grandfather's Buddhist funeral. Look for it in the next issue of Sunstone, >which should be out any day now. Sounds familiar to me. I had a similiar experience as a Chinese-Canadian missionary attending my uncle's Buddhist funeral. In my uncle's case, he had left the church for a time, but was in the process of returning when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. His mother was a devout Buddhist and his brother a Buddhist monk-in-training, so their wishes outweighed my aunt's desire to have an LDS funeral. I wonder if this type of experience is a common one for Mormons of two distinct cultures. The funeral as the meeting place between two cultures of seemingly divergent beliefs with the LDS member negotiating the roles of missionary and blood relation. Neil Aitken =============================================================== Neil Aitken neil@lone-crow.com http://www.lone-crow.com =============================================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: [AML] RE: Single Bishops Date: 17 Oct 2002 23:33:48 -0600 ---Original Message From: Barbara Hume > > BTW, no one has ever answered my question about how that > character could be > a bishop now that he's single. Am I wrong to think that > bishops must be > married? I've known Branch Presidents who were single. As far as I know the only requirement to be bishop is to be a High Priest in good standing. The bible says a bishop must be "the husband of one wife" (1 Tim 3:2) but I've heard that interpreted as "no more than" (mainly by Catholics come to think of it). I understand that Rabbi's had to be married during biblical times (and modernly as well if orthodox), but I don't recall what my source for that is and it could be wrong. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 18 Oct 2002 19:50:43 -0600 Thom Duncan wrote: > That doesn't mean a thing when it comes to whether a film, play, or book is > good. There are objective qualities by which these things can and should be > judged. There are objective qualities by which these things can and should be judged--*if* your goal in making judgment is to interpret the artistic quality of a thing. If your goal is to determine how much you enjoyed it as an individual, then objective qualities are completely and totally irrelevant. Why are we required to view all things through a single set of filters? Why do we spend so much energy "proving" that the cinema we dislike is artistically inferior, and thus unworthy of *any* sort of appreciation? Why can't people take their enjoyment in a film regardless of its adherence to a list of objective qualities? I'm a sucker for _It's A Wonderful Life_ even though the film is generally overwrought, sentimental, and at best adequate in its cinematography, editing, script writing, and portrayals of real human behavior. I agree with the objectivists who point out the flaws in internal logic and the cartoonishly evil Mr. Potter. I find its theology disturbing and its doctrine weak. And it still touches me every single time I see it (well over thirty times now), despite my recognition of all of its flaws. I cry every time George's friends show up at his house and contribute their gifts to him despite his own despair, because I envy that kind of unconditioned concern for the welfare of a good person. I cry when they sing that stupid song at the end despite my strong resolution not to. So I watch it and I appreciate it and I own it on video. Not because it's good by objective standards, but because it entertains me and moves me and touches me. Objective standards can hang for all I care; I like it anyway. I have my own reasons for liking or disliking a film. Why can't others have their own reasons? > Popularity should mean nothing. Why? Why should popularity be irrelevant? If a thing isn't at least marginally popular it languishes and eventually fails, ensuring that few such works are produced in the future. Isn't it the goal of most people producing for a commercial audience to find some level of popularity--even if it's a small popularity that speaks only to a selected target audience? The fact that a film is popular is not a reason to overlook its flaws. But there are more reasons to watch and enjoy a film than technical quality or artistic value. Flaws of craft may be irrelevant to people looking for a certain kind of story--even if that story is escapist, unrealistic, and sentimental. Heaven knows _xXx_ falls somewhat short of an artistic success, but people responded to it on an emotional level. _The Matrix_ was visually spectacular and almost completely devoid of actual content. Why is that so terrible? Popularity is part of the working artist's world--at least if that artist wants to keep working. > A poor film that speaks to people > says more about the sorry state of the people who are moved by it. I simply disagree. A poor film that speaks to people says only that people found something to like in the film other than its objective qualities. Since even the experts disagree on those qualities and how they're best offered, that leaves only the subjective individual response. Not all filmmakers are artists, and not all stories have to be important. I understand the concern that Mormon filmmakers seem to be settling for sentimental and manipulative rather than trying for important and well-made, and I agree with your concern. I think Mormon filmmakers have taken the easy way out far too often, and I wish they would choose the artistic high road more often. We will never develop a complete, well-rounded Mormon literature if we tell only one kind of story. What I disagree with is the notion that "unartistic" cinema has no right to exist and that the people who enjoy it are morally bereft. What value is there to declaring people morally inadequate because of their tastes in stories? What good does it do the greater Mormon market to create those lines in the sand and make exclusive judgments against each other? Any story that touches an audience has a right to exist, IMO, even if I can't understand why those people are touched (or is that "tetched?"). Even if it isn't art. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lajackson@juno.com Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 18 Oct 2002 21:20:44 -0500 > Barbara Hume: > [I]n 32 years as a member of this church, I've never heard > a satisfactory reason why a bishop has to be married. Has to be married? No. Much better if he is, yes. Would a single man be approved to be called? Probably not. Much of what a bishop does relates to strengthening families. A man who has never been married would have little ability to deal with the challenges coming his way in interviews concerning family matters. He would also be very vulnerable in other ways. Not that he couldn't. It would just have to be a very exceptional person to do so, IMO. The process of getting a bishop approved can happen within a week. Usually it takes several weeks. Unless it has changed, if the recommendation is in Salt Lake by Tuesday afternoon, it is considered Thursday morning. The letters go out Friday. So, add mail time each way, the decision making process up front, the call and time to get to a Sunday, and that's how long it takes to make a change. I know two bishops who received new callings one Sunday at a stake conference, creating two vacancies, and whose replacements were sustained the following Sunday. > Thom Duncan: > Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? I think I've told the story of the man who had a big red bushy beard who was called by the stake president to be bishop and asked to shave his beard. The man replied that he loved the Lord and was willing to serve, but that he and the beard were an item, and if the Lord wanted him to be the bishop, the beard came along. He was sustained shortly thereafter--with the beard. A few years later, he shaved his beard. He was running for election to a judicial position. The party told him they could get him elected as a Mormon, but they couldn't get him elected with the beard. So by the time he was released as bishop, he was the honorable clean-shaven bishop, a judge in Israel and a judge down at the county courthouse, bringing new meaning to the words of a famous professor on the occasion of a formal Church university function, "Here we stand in the robes of a false priesthood." (I paraphrase that last part, being too tired after a long week at work to actually look it up and see if I got the story right.) What I know, I know. And what I don't know, I just do the best I can. It's the only way to write. Bishops come in all stripes. There is a provision in the Church Handbook of Instructions pertaining to members who have a legal duty because of their occupations to report to government authorities facts that are likely to be disclosed in interviews and on other occasions. It doesn't mean they can't serve, and they often do. It just means that if you confess certain things to Bishop Wes in Brigham City, he might have to lovingly handcuff you at the conclusion of the interview. Whereas, if you confess those same things to one of the other 16 bishops in town, they will lovingly go with you to see Sheriff Wes, because they don't keep handcuffs with their scriptures. It all works out. It's a wonderful Church. The literary opportunities never end. It's just that everybody gets offended if you use names. Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 19 Oct 2002 09:14:29 EDT I don't know if I have ever seen a scripture about the subject, but I know that ecclesiastical leaders in ancient Judaism had to be/have been married. (Which gives one pause when looking at the Savior, as it lasted through his time period as well.) And gaining knowledge of something shouldn't necessarily be considered off topic, because it gives background potentially useable in one's writing. Karen [Tippets] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 19 Oct 2002 08:59:02 -0600 Tony Markham wrote: A one-armed veteran of the bug > wars taught the class and explained to these peace-loving Mormons that sometimes you just had to kill bugs. Interesting! We don't talk about killers much in Mormon lit, do we? I just want to know if when anyone else pinches bugs they feel they are getting the experience of being a killer? I do. Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: [AML] Brigham City 2? Date: 19 Oct 2002 09:18:20 -0600 All right, Michael, you're asking about Brigham City 2, so I have to say something on the list, although it's a big commitment and I'm aware I should probably keep my mouth shut. But I'm working on it. Richard Dutcher approached me at last year's writer's conference and asked me to write the sequel "Kirtland County." However, I told him I had to write "Brigham City" first. And he said, "Yeah, I can see that." And I have definitely found a "prequel" to include in that work. And I find it a fascinating and circuitous ride to write about a killer. I'm planning to discuss it at this year's writer's conference, and I will also write a paper for the AML meeting. Structuring a novel around this story has been an experience to die for! So now everyone knows! Kudos! Marilyn -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 19 Oct 2002 09:39:38 -0600 Margaret said: "So we just did the logical thing." In spite of the fact that I've used up my posts today (haven't talked for three days) I must put a word in for Margaret. My dear friend, I happen to know there were other reasons for your marriage besides the fact that Bruce Young needed to be married and you needed free tuition! (Grin) Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jonathan Langford Subject: [AML] Mod Message: List Overload Date: 22 Oct 2002 13:05:50 -0500 Folks, I just want you to know that there are currently over 35 posts in my in-box (and I've sent out several already toward today's limit of 30). I know that I've been inconsistent recently, and even missed a few days, because of my own work commitments. I plan to work on that, when I get the time to set up a system of sharing the work... In the meantime, please be understanding if some of your posts don't go out in a timely fashion, or are "bumped" because they are either not on-topic or less substantive than others. If you have something that's time-sensitive, send it directly to me at jlang2@pressenter.com, with "urgent for AML-List" in the subject line. Thanks. Jonathan Langford AML-List Moderator -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Travis Manning" (by way of Jonathan Langford ) Subject: [AML] Criticism of Mormon Art (was: _Charly_ Film Review) Date: 22 Oct 2002 13:24:13 -0500 Margaret Young wrote: >The truth is, I really wish good literature would sell better than it does. I know the truth of American culture, however (and of many other cultures I've participated in), and recognize that most folks want an easy escape and simply have not cultivated the taste for the finer fare available to them. Perhaps we need a smorgasbord of artistic Mormon art and text. As Mormon artists we purport to preparing (writing) and feasting (then enjoying well-written literature) as our vision of, say, a filet mignon with crab and jumbo shrimp, N.Y. cheesecake and an expensive drink, as the main course, as "the best" or tastiest dinner imaginable. But some people don't like steak or seafood, or they don't drink wine, or juice, or water, or whatever= it is. They may be content with a cheeseburger and side salad, a _Charley_. Perhaps there are those who stick with "the basics" because that's all they know, and they're content with their literary selections= becasue they haven't been schooled to critically examine "art." If this is so,= shouldn't all "levels" of Mormon artistry, be it the filet mignon level or= the cheeseburger level, be considered as vital incremental steps for the= maturing Mormon audience. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a= little, there a little we move an audience along. =20 Critiquing art is not something we overtly teach in the Mormon church --= except for Don't watch rated R movies, and, once in a while the D & C is= quoted with regards to seeking learning out of the best books; and, there= are the occasional roadshows, concerts, plays, musicals, talent shows, and= other special programs that wards and stakes sponsor, some are well done,= many not. =20 I think improving the hunger for Mormon art comes down to what Wayne Booth= has been saying for years: Mormons haven't had the "critical community" necessary to= push most quality Mormon art. Booth has said a musically educated and= critically minded church has produced the Tabernacle Choir--because there= were enough talented vocalists and a high enough interest level, enough= "critics" or musicians to sustain the artistic medium. Today, I think we= are well on our way to amassing these "critical community" forces in music= and other artistic genres -- but we're in for the long haul en route. = There is much to pursue and improve within Mormon art. We may have to= begin at the bottom and feed the masses cheeseburgers, or _Charleys_(book= or film), to introduce them, then we move Mormon art consumers along the= this "food chain," teaching them to critically examine and connect with= their Mormon-ness and art at other levels of meaning and importance. =20 As Margaret Young states, we need to "cultivate the taste for the finer= fare." Idly accepting what we're spoonfed is not cultivating art. We need= to, as Gideon Burton has said, borrow critiquing tools from all literary= schools, taking the best from other critical communities to help build our= own so we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps another answer to the Mormon art dilemma lies with film, arguably= the most influential of the mass media for our time. Perhaps film needs= the *most* criticism, first and foremost, if we -- Mormon artists -- will= substantially alter the Mormon mindset, and thus art by and about Mormons. = Let quality Mormon art trickle down from quality Mormon film. Travis K. Manning Travis K. Manning=20 "Men and women die; philosophers falter in wisdom, and=20 Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered=20 and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength=20 to amend, and solace to heal." (Jane Eyre)=20 ---------- Surf the Web without missing calls!=A0Get MSN Broadband.= Click Here =20 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 19 Oct 2002 17:22:53 -0600 I'm getting a little tired of all the dissing of Johnny Lingo, especially by seemingly anyone who has been through the BYU College of Fine Arts. (Please correct me if possible!) Yes, Lingo may be racist and offensive to specific Pacific Island cultures and to women in general, and probably to cows, but that just shows that great works of art can be interpreted on so many levels. Just remember, its Ugly Duckling storyline and message of kindness to homely women have made it a powerful cultural symbol. Do y'all think you can come up with a more memorable motto than "Mahanna-you Ugly! Come down from that tree!" I think if we all took its message to heart, and started dropping from our cultural trees (what a metaphor for Mormon Letters!) and became the beautiful brides that the Lord intended for us to be, then the world would be a better place and the second coming could happen and all that good stuff. More Lingo and his attitude about the expendibility of cows, and the inevitability of wife inflation. Come to think of it, if you don't like Lingo, you are probably anti-women and only spent a lame goat when your time came. Oh, yes, and hide the mirrors (last scene). Oh, and don't let the women go to the Lingo Movie when it comes out--they might start questioning what you offered. What kind of message is that to our Beehives? Alan Mitchell > Yes, Eric Samuelsen is correct: it's sexist, racist and an awful film. Very politically incorrect. > >> a commercial film based on Johnny Lingo depresses me more than I can say -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: AML Subject: [AML] LAST CALL: Mormon Writers Conference Date: 21 Oct 2002 08:34:33 -0700 This Friday, Oct. 25, is the deadline for preregistration to this year's Mormon writers conference, sponsored by the Association for Mormon Letters. (Note: You can register at the door, but the price will be $10 higher and you will not be guaranteed a luncheon.) To preregister online with your credit card, visit http://www.wwno.com/register.htm. To preregister via snail-mail, visit http://www.wwno.com/regmail.htm. You'll need to mail the form within the next day or two! For complete details about the conference, including an updated schedule of events, visit http://www.wwno.com/aml.htm. If you have any questions, contact us at irreantum2@cs.com. For more information about the sponsoring organization, visit http://www.aml-online.org. ==================================================================== Update your profile here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2W.batlYA.YW1sLWxp Unsubscribe here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2W.batlYA.YW1sLWxp.u Delivered by Topica Email Publisher, http://topica.email-publisher.com/ -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] WDA Readings Date: 21 Oct 2002 10:47:57 -0600 To the List: I would like to invite you all to the first set of readings in the WDA = (Writers/Directors/Actors) workshop. You may recall that we workshop = three plays for the first half of the semester,and three more for the = second half, with readings following each working period. Anyway, the = first set of readings will take place this week, Tuesday through Thursday, = Oct. 22-24, at 5:00, in the Nelke Theatre in the Harris Fine Arts Center = (HFAC) at BYU. Admission is free. Tues. Oct. 22, we will be reading a new play by me, Eric Samuelsen, called = Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is about the last day in the life of George = Washington. He's visited by a man from our time, an African American = history professor, who promises Washington a few more years of life in = exchange for . . . well, I'll let that be a surprise. =20 Wed. Oct. 23, we will read a new play by Melissa Leilani Larson, working = title A Play About A Movie. That's a lousy title, and will change. It's = about female film directors in the silent film era, and it's a comedy. = Fun piece. Thurs Oct. 24, we will actually read a screenplay. Last Dance in the = Heartland, written by Laird Roberts, to be produced and directed by Kirt = Strickland. It's a lovely movie about a small farming town facing a wave = of foreclosures from the local bank; the main character is the banker. =20 Anyway, hope you can make it to at least one of these readings. Thanks. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jonathan Langford Subject: [AML] Bishops with Facial Hair (Comp 1) Date: 22 Oct 2002 13:35:15 -0500 [MOD: LOTS of responses on this (extremely marginal) topic. I'm trying to combine some here. And now, since the point has been established, perhaps we can move on...] >From LSWeber@aol.com Fri Oct 18 06:43:14 2002 In a message dated 10/17/2002 11:58:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, ThomDuncan@prodigy.net writes: > Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? > No, but a counselor in our bishopric has a full, but trimmed, beard. Lloyd the Lurker >From russa@candesa.com Fri Oct 18 09:37:32 2002 Yes, so does the first councilor. Russell Asplund >From roy_schmidt@byu.edu Fri Oct 18 11:03:23 2002 I had one when we lived in California. Not as nice as mine, though . Roy Schmidt >From JenniferV@vmh.com Fri Oct 18 11:06:36 2002 I did--everyone in the bishopric had one--until a visiting high council speaker made some stupid remark about mustaches and the next week the first counselor showed up with a bald upper lip and a sheepish look. --Jennifer >From bmdblu2@attbi.com Fri Oct 18 14:29:06 2002 No, but I have known a lot of very fine men who had mustaches, and who would have made wonderful bishops. Back in the late seventies, I served in a bishopric as second councilor, and the first councilor had a mustache. He is still one of my very best friends. Regards, Bill Willson >From fcp@email.byu.edu Fri Oct 18 15:17:12 2002 My bishop, in Orem, has a full beard. Regards Fred Pinnegar >From adamszoo@sprintmail.com Mon Oct 21 14:32:47 2002 Our previous Bishop wore a mustache. Linda Adams >From OmahaMom@aol.com Tue Oct 22 06:41:03 2002 I have a Bishop who served for a time with a long braid. He's Native American by lineage, and for sometime, wore his hair long. He's cut it since--though I am not a position to know if it was his idea, or if someone hinted. Karen Tippets -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 19 Oct 2002 10:47:25 -0700 | She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously | from the very beginning because a sheriff would never be | called to be a bishop. ___ >Hmm. I don't see why. My last bishop and his councilor were high up in the Springville police department. Admittedly we were a "BYU" singles ward. So perhaps we don't count. But still... My husband was cop for 12 years, time split between two different forces in Utah--Centerville and Vernal. To me that the character was in law enforcement and a bishop said VOLUMES about the man and the town. Most LDS cops I've know have had a difficult time not becoming jaded and inactive because of the stress/schedule of the work. It is possible for a man like "Wes" to exist, but he would be a real anomaly in law enforcement, and therefore an even stronger character. A White Knight. A Do Good/Be Good person that really lived up to his credo. Which is probably why I like "Wes" so much in _Brigham City_. My husband struggled with activity in the church during his cop years. Yet it was the church who gave him the biggest chance to be a hero and the emotional strokes that were needed. After not coming for a long while, one day we sat in sacrament meeting, a missionary homecoming, and an old woman in the front of the chapel keeled over. My hubby, EMT trained as a cop, was able to take charge of the situation, administer CPR, help the family remain calm and send for help. Two trained ER nurses were there as well, but they weren't used to dealing with crises like that without all their medical paraphernalia around them and were quite flustered. It took about 10 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, during which time my husband quietly had the bishop end the meeting and clear the chapel. It's very odd to hear a hasty prayer as you can hear a low male voice directing "one and two and three and four and five now blow, blow" as he performed two person CPR with one of the nurses. The woman, in her 80's, survived, albeit with two broken ribs from my husband's strong arms keeping her heart pumping. The family sent him the biggest fruit basket you've ever seen. He never missed church again. He was a hero, because he was a cop, and well loved in his community. There is an unspoken history to the sheriff in _Brigham City_. Only a small portion is disclosed to the audience. It is this rich sense of unspoken layers communicated non-verbally that makes the film artistically excellent. A person who can't take the film seriously "because a sheriff would never be called to be bishop" is a person with a limited amount of knowledge about law enforcement and the multi-faceted lives of the people involved. This is one small thing Dutcher brought alive in his film. Those who are ignorant about law enforcement could have been exposed to a deeper level if they had allowed themselves. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 19 Oct 2002 10:37:19 -0700 >Thom Duncan writes: "Popularity should mean nothing. A poor film that speaks to people says more about the sorry state of the people who are moved by it. (Again, I have not seen Charly and offer no opinion as to its artistic integrity -- I speak generally)." In general, I find that statement to be harsh. If the people watching a movie are a)less educated about the arts b)emotionally sensitive, which many times has to do with a maturity level, it doesn't necessarily follow they are in a "sorry state". In my view, it would be more accurate to say that "the people this film appeals to are in general less mature and less educated about artistic excellence". And even those people can usally sense the flaws, even if they can't articulate them. _Charly_ had flaws, but had redeeming qualities too. I'd be interested to hear what Thom says about the film after he has seen it. Now let's talk about _Handcart_ which is so flawed, wooden and manipulative that MOST of the audience is repelled, even the less educated and emotionally immature. I've heard many people say they felt like they were watching a poorly made seminary film from the 70's--they even noted the inadequate quality of the media used to make the movie. (I'm not sure if I'm talking the right lingo here...but I've heard people note it seemed to be made on bad video tape or something. Anyone know what was used?) I spoke briefly with Richard Dutcher about this via e-mail and he pointed out that those problems were the director's fault, not the actors or anyone else. I found that fascinating, as I know little about how a director hurts or helps a movie. It's personally painful to me that such a Shakespearean level drama as the _Handcart_ story is reduced to ashes in this movie. The "sorry state" that seems to be developing is the quality of Mormon films, which is what Thom seems to be worried about in his original post; yet he lays accountability for it in a "sorry" audience--I'm assuming for paying money to view the work in the first place. I find it worrisome too, but not as a statement of audience reaction. My worry is for the one LDS filmmaker who has proven his ability in the arena of quality--Richard Dutcher--and he is struggling with raising funds to further his work--specifically, _The Prophet_. Is that a direct and negative outcome of the lower quality LDS films now on the market? >We Mormon artists should not settle for films or plays or books that are only popular. I agree with this statement. However, I do think we ought to see/read as many offerings as we can, so we can share informed opinions with others as to why we found the work to be artisically inadequate. Many people see these things and feel hollow or bugged, but can't express why. They just say "I hated it" or "I liked it". Those who say "I liked it" when speaking of something inferior may be educated as to how the work could improve. In the book arena, the track record is long established, and the audience has sorted itself more or less into "popular/less educated, less mature" and "literary/requiring more artistically of a work". LDS film is so new to the scene that audience sorting hasn't happened yet. Maybe if enough educated LDS artists see the work and talk to LOTS of people about why it's inferior, how it can be improved, we can make an impact that could translate into money flow on the box office/production end of things. And maybe I'm just up in the night. Kim Madsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: [AML] Dean HUGHES, _Troubled Water_ (Review) Date: 19 Oct 2002 14:09:57 -0700 Review ====== Title: Troubled Waters Author: Dean Hughes Publisher: Bookcraft Year Published: 2002 Number of Pages: 419 Binding: Hardback ISBN: 1-57008-861-6 Price: 22.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle "Troubled Waters" is the second volume of the second series dealing with the Thomas family and its many offshoots. The story began with the five volume "Children of the Promise" series, wherein we meet the family and follow their development through many decades and across several continents. The current series, "Hearts of the Children," is projected to likewise contain five volumes. An author's note at the back of the book speaks something of my mind about this second series: Since I published "The Writing on the Wall" -- the first book in this series -- a number of people have mentioned to me that it "feels" different from my "Children of the Promise" books. That's true, of course, and the difference is in the eras the books portray. World War II, however difficult, tended to bring people in America together. But the sixties were divisive. Generations discovered a "gap" that had never seemed quite so important before. People divided along the lines of race, gender, political opinion, and "lifestyle" choices -- and no one spoke softly. (p. 415) Well, yes, he does have a point. But I think he stops short in describing the substantive difference between the two series, one that I pointed to in previous reviews of several of the volumes. The key word, I think, would be "realistic." And this is not to say that Hughes told untruths in the previous volumes. I don't mean that at all. I do mean that, in my view, the volumes in the first series were a bit too rosy in outlook for me. The people didn't seem quite real; their struggles, and their solutions, weren't as convincing as I would like. But the second series changes all this. The players become multi-dimensional, multi-faceted individuals enduring real trials and suffering real losses. "Troubled Waters" is an excellent title for this volume. It describes, not just America (and, for that matter, the rest of the world) in the 1960's, but the challenges faced by the members of the Thomas family. Each of the main characters in this volume is in the process of growing up, in an era when *I* grew up. It was a bad time -- political assassination (Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr.), a vexing war (Vietnam), a presidency in trouble (Johnson), civil rights demands boiling over into riots and killing. It's an era I don't want to re-live. Now, a few of the main characters: Elder Gene Thomas is serving a mission in Germany. Plagued by a desire to be more successful, incipient ambition boiling just below the surface, Gene struggles through the mission experience, learning more about himself than he ever bargained for. The portrayal of mission life is marked by what some might call the "underside" of being a missionary -- fudging on your time sheet to present more hours, infighting in order to advance in the hierarchy, jealousy and fear of defeat. All of this combines to form a fascinating picture of the life of a missionary. Hans Stoltz lives on the other side of the Berlin Wall, in East Germany. His challenges are quite different. Having been caught previously trying to escape the Communist regime, the German secret police have been watching him. He lives in constant fear of being discovered. And then, in an attempt to aid a friend, his life is turned upside down. Does he have sufficient spiritual resources to carry him through? Kathy Thomas, the most fully developed character in the previous volume, is a young Mormon woman, headed off for college, ready to make her mark in the world. In Volume 1, Kathy and her aunt LaRue travelled to the deep south to participate in the Freedom Marches. Kathy became a full- fledged civil rights advocate. And in this volume, her leanings toward radical politics are furthered as she joins the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Anyone who lived through that era remembers SDS as a radical left, sometimes violent, organization. Kathy finds her own inner values challenged as she tries to accommodate her beliefs to her very conservative Mormon family in Utah. Some of the best narratives in this book are between Kathy and her various family members. And Dean Hughes is amazingly skilled at presenting the narratives without biasing the reader in either direction. Kathy is sometimes pictured as radically left-minded; her family, in particular her grandfather, is sometimes portrayed as unthinkingly right-minded. The reader is left to decide which side is correct. Her cousin, Diane Hammond, is quite different. A strikingly beautiful young woman, she has never had a problem attracting the boys. Like Kathy, she also is beginning college, not entirely clear what she wants to do with her life. She seems unaffected by the war, by poverty, by the things that seem to motivate Kathy. Instead, she wants only to marry, raise a family, be part of a typical Mormon family. But Diane must face her own superficiality, her own inability to judge righteous judgment, as she makes some life-changing decisions. "Troubled Waters" raises questions that I've rarely encountered in Mormon fiction from the standard publishers. Take, for example, Gene Thomas. While on his mission, he and his companion baptized an older couple. Soon the couple wanted out of the Church. Why? First, they complained that the image they had of the Church as a place where everyone was friendly and loving just wasn't true. Second, they were told that, if they tithed their income, they would be blessed. They paid their tithing, and they were now flat broke. How could that happen? And more to the point, how do missionaries confront this kind of issue in real life? Likewise, the attitude of members of the Church toward the nation's leadership in times of what some considered an unjust war is explored. Must one honor the President when one is convinced that the President has lied and sent thousands of young men to their deaths? This is complex, difficult stuff, and Hughes handles it well. And all of this reflects back on the reality of tension within LDS families, and the acknowledgement that, while "families are forever," that "forever" sometimes takes a break as these families try to heal wounds created by diverging paths and differing ideologies. I can barely wait for the next volume. So many threads were left unresolved, and I found myself genuinely caring about the characters. I know how I want certain situations resolved. I'll have to wait to find out how Hughes brings it all together. "Troubled Waters" is a very good book, a very nice continuation of the series. It raises so many difficult questions, and doesn't offer pat solutions. It demands more of the reader than other novels, and this is good. I recommend this book to adults and older youth alike. Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: [AML] Re: _The Bridge_ Date: 19 Oct 2002 17:34:38 -0600 (Seriously now) A few years ago as a Ward Mission Leader in Oregon, one of the sister missionaries put the Bridge in the VHS TV in the middle of the Baptism ceremony of some converts. For Jeff, the middle is some spare time after the baptism when the freshly baptized are drying off and the congregation is waiting for them before the confirmations. The sister hadn't previewed it. Anyway, it was a major downer and the missionary apologized and we had to sing a song to get back in the spirit of the baptisms we had just witnesses. So I agree with you. Question to the List: Does art that deals with the Atonement have to be so guilt-inducing? Shouldn't we feel guilty when repenting--but then happy as we accept forgiveness. Alan Mitchell -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike South Subject: [AML] Re: Johnny Lingo Date: 21 Oct 2002 10:05:09 -0600 Preston Hunter wrote: > "Johnny Lingo" and "Mahanna" and "8-cow wife" have > been emblazoned on kitchy products at LDS bookstores, such as T-shirts, and > have been referred to by pop music songs, films, and literature. Here in Utah there used to be a bluegrass/punk band called Johnny Q. Lingo and his Eight-Cow Banjos of Death. I think that will always be one of my favorite band names. --Mike South -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Satire in BYU Freshman English Date: 21 Oct 2002 22:10:04 -0400 I think there is another reason people don't like satire--and not just Mormons. They don't get it. I have one daughter who really just doesn't get it. Her really good friends have a way of gently teasing her about her not getting it, but other people are not so nice. They deliberately bate her, and then not very nicely tease her about not "getting" it. It hurts her feelings. It is mean and hateful. I imagine there are many others in her category. When satire gets equated with mean and hateful it's no wonder that many people think it would be better left unsaid. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Roberto Gomez" Subject: [AML] Re: Reading in Church Date: 21 Oct 2002 23:57:41 -0400 If you really want to get away with reading in church, try doing it on your Palm Pilot. There's a good selection of free Palm-format texts at: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html They've got the Bible, too, so you can always claim you're just looking up the scriptures! Roberto Gomez -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Villa Contest, etc. (SL Tribune) Date: 21 Oct 2002 01:23:44 +0000 Sunday, October 20, 2002 Salt Lake Tribune Theater Notes Louise Helps of Provo was the winner of the third annual Villa Institute for the Performing Arts playwriting contest for her play "The Day After," a family comedy about mistaken identity. Second place was awarded to BYU student Jessica Woodbury for her untitled comedy about truth serum. Third place went to Jaren Hinckley, Provo, for a one-act play, "Povey Playhouse Presents . . ." Honorable mention was given to Jeff Bierhaus, Loren Lambert, Alan Mitchell and Bonnie Vernon. The contest is for development of family-style dramas, comedies and musicals. Comical Competition The Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City recently announced the creation of the first annual Ruth and Nathan Hale Comedy Writing Awards, a competition looking for family- friendly three-act comedies. The competition is open to students from any of Utah's universities,=20 colleges and junior colleges. The top prize is $1,000, with $500 for second and $300 for third. Scripts must be turned in by April 30. For more information, call 801-984-9000. LDS Christmas Play The curtain for "Savior of the World," an original musical drama presented by the LDS Church, is expected to go up once again this Christmas season Nov. 22 through Dec. 28 at the Conference Center Theater. Tickets are available at www.lds.org/events, 801-240-0080 and 1-800-LDS-TIKS, or at the Conference Center ticket window (door 4). The cast of nearly 100 performers will be accompanied by members of the Orchestra at Temple Square. All material found on Utah OnLine is copyrighted The Salt Lake _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access for only $21.95/month.=A0 Try MSN!=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 21 Oct 2002 14:41:07 -0500 http://www.bookofmormonmovie.com/cast/index.html CASTING SESSION An open casting session will be held on November 2, 2002 at the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel, 255 South West Temple, from 9:a.m. to 5:p.m. All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical condition, with EXCEPTIONAL acting talent and ability. Please bring "head shots" if you have them. This is a non-union production. NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Actors should come prepared with a memorized selection of their choice (not to exceed two minutes), showing good emotional range. The following parts are available: Nephi Male. Age 21-26. Must be large in stature. Minimum of 6 feet or, preferably taller. Must be muscular and very attractive with a "leading man" face. Lehi Male. Age 55-65. Must have a kindly face. Sariah Female. Age 40-47 Laman Male. Age 22-30 Lemuel Male. Age 22-30 Sam Male. Age 22-27 Zoram Male. Age 25-35 Moroni Male. Age 40-50 Ishmael Male. Age 60-75 Wife Female. Age 55-70 Several Males Ages 20-30 Several Females Ages 18-30 For further information call (801) 557-3515. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ (SL Tribune) Date: 21 Oct 2002 08:15:02 +0000 Salt Lake Tribune 'Peculiarities' Tantalizingly Explores the Edge Monday, October 21, 2002 BY CLAUDIA HARRIS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE "Peculiarities" is an apt title for Eric Samuelsen's new play at the Villa Playhouse in Springville. A twist on the Mormon nickname peculiar people, peculiarities refers to the dance many sexually charged college students do to test the boundaries. Brigham Young University is never mentioned by name, but this is clearly a Mormon setting with all the talk about how much to tell their bishops. Four couples occupy separate parts of the large Villa stage and come alive briefly when the roving light focuses on them. The distinct but interrelated stories unfold as each vignette reveals yet another piece of the puzzle. Ted and Kendra (Ben Sansom and Sarah Ratliff) are returning from a Nevada weekend. At first they seem like any couple worrying about whether they should have left the hotel key in the room or returned it to the front desk. But as their scenes progress, Kendra's emotions fluctuate from despair to anger to disgust; she refuses to even stop for food. They agree on an acceptable cover story to tell roommates about where they were for the weekend. And at the end, the audience is left wondering if they will see each other again. At the other side of the stage are Alexis and Jason (Diane Rane, Jeremy Selim), also sitting in side-by-side chairs driving in a car. Alexis has accepted a ride home from a fellow temporary employee. First they talk about work and a supervisor from hell, then the talk gets personal. Alexis shares how hard it is to keep her daughter quiet to please her perpetually studying husband Steve. She asks Jason to park out of sight of her Relief Society president's home, and they continue talking, forming a dangerous liaison. Then back to center stage left are Charlene and Courtney (Shelly Burton, Sarah Nielsen), roommates sharing a couch, a pizza and a titillating movie. Charlene is embarrassed by Courtney's questions about male anatomy and her desire to "do it" just once to know how it feels before she settles into her celibate, career-driven life. Charlene and Courtney represent the multitude of Mormon women who do not date much and find themselves living a single life. Charlene focuses her yearning for closeness on the oblivious Courtney. On the couch center stage right, Kim and Trent (Suzanna Florence, Jesse Harward) are playing the most dangerous game -- how far can you go and remain a virgin. As they make out and Trent breaks away, trying repeatedly to leave, Kim tells him she "trusts him to stop" and pushes him to also play "truth or dare." The truth reveals that both of them have significant others whom they have not pushed into sexual play. While Trent expresses=20 guilt, Kim argues that this is her way of staying moral. At the end, Trent asks Kim not to call him anymore, but the audience knows that she will call and Trent will come to continue their year-long dance. In the cavernous Villa theater, the clever dialogue was hard to hear at times. Nonetheless, Samuelsen says what ought to be said. And after-play discussions led by director Tony Gunn give audiences an opportunity to confront directly these usually unspoken issues. "Peculiarities" is a brave exploration of what often bubbles just underneath a seemingly virtuous society. Through Oct. 26 "Peculiarities" is playing at the Villa Playhouse Theatre, 254 S. Main, Springville, 7:30 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays until Oct. 26. Tickets are $8 ($7 seniors and students). Call 801- 489-3088 for information. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free!=A0 Try MSN.=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "R.W. Rasband" Subject: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ (Review) Date: 21 Oct 2002 16:54:19 -0700 (PDT) PECULIARITIES, a new play by Eric Samuelsen; presented at Villa Playhouse Theater, Springville, UT October 19, 2002 People are never stranger than when they are involved with sex. Even Mormons, and much comedy (and tragedy) can follow. "Peculiarities" is a new play by Brigham Young University professor of theater Eric Samuelsen. It's playing at the Villa Theater in Springville Oct. 24-26. If it were a movie it probably would get a PG-13 rating; there's no cursing or gratuitous language. But it will get you thinking with its provocative dialogue and take on that seemingly most dangerous subject for Mormon audiences and artists. When you enter the theater you hear a blasting selection of modern rock songs that all seem to deal with heartbreak.The play itself is made up of four separate but interlocking tales. The locale is obviously Utah valley. The characters in the play are students probably from BYU. "Tahoe", the first segment we see, is for me the weakest. Ted (Ben Samson) and Kendra (Sarah Ratliff) are driving across the bleak Nevada desert, returning from a weekend spent at the resort of the title. They think they have discovered a loophole, a way they can have sex and deny they have done anything wrong. If we weren't church members, it wouldn't be a big deal, they tell themselves; we would just be two people going out. But things aren't that easy and the holiday atmosphere degenerates into arguing and acrimony (about everything *except what actually happened.)This is well-acted, and the bickering is funny and nauseatingly familiar. But these two are just too stupid and unaware of themselves and each other that it's very hard to care about them. If you met them in real life you would run as fast as you could in the opposite direction (I suppose Samuelsen would say "That's the point.") The next segment, "Pizza and a Movie", has Charlene (Shelley Burton) and Courtney (Sarah Nielsen) in their apartment watching television while their roommates are off on a group date (that famous Mormon courting innovation.) They eat pizza and veg out on old movies ("'Road House!' Two hours of Patrick Swayze without his shirt on!") and MTV's "DisMissed", a show largely about sex and rejection. Charlene is sanguine about her lack of marriage prospects ("I'm going to work and get a house and lots of cats.") Courtney is wistfully romantic and as we learn, terribly lonely. They wonder what "it" looks like live ("I've seen statues and changed my little brother's diaper but as for actually seeing one...I've heard it gets bigger just before, you know..") Charlene says she intends to stay "pure and all that stuff" but would love to "feel what it's like, just once." Courtney struggles to come to terms with her impending spinsterhood (as she sees it.) Samuelsen is greatly gifted with dialogue. His words sound entirely natural and spontaneous. It's only when you examine them that you can see how carefully wrought they are. He explores with great tenderness the painful situation in which these "good girls" find themselves. It's an extraordinarily compassionate piece. "Temps" takes us along in a carpool with Alexis (Diane Rane) and Jason (Jeremy Selim.) She is a young wife and mother; he is a single, slightly older working stiff. The both have clerical jobs under the petty tyrant Rita. They talk about popular music--he loves Nirvana, she has a guilty fondness for mellow '70's rock. Gradually we learn her life has become constricted beyond all measure. Her husband is totally wrapped up in his dissertation and ignores her entirely. Her toddler demands ever moment of her attention once she gets home. Her "crappy job" is actually the one thing to which she looks forward. Jason's wry advice: This too shall pass--it's like home teaching. If you thought you had to do it for the rest of your life you would go crazy, but if you think of it as only temporary, well... He thinks she's great. It becomes clear that he wants her but would never push the situation. She can see how he feels and responds in a joking, bantering way. The whole thing is a skillfully-written exercise in sexual tension, a portrait of two unhappy people fumblingly trying to comfort each other without it going too far. (This story kind of hit home for me--years ago when I was a student and worked at BYU I became good friends with very sweet but very married girl. In fact, she was pregnant the last months I knew her. There was never the shadow of adultery as there is in Samuelsen's tale. But it was interesting and a little painful for both of us, I think, to negotiate a friendship where we liked each other but were unavailable to each other in the most important ways.) Anyway, "Temps" is peculiarly sad; a study in love, frustration, and loss. The most dangerous segment of the play is "NCMO" (somebody should ask Samuelsen what this title means; it's probably an abbreviation the hip people already know.) One would have to say this is about a sadomasochistic relationship in a discreetly LDS way. A suggested theme song would be Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." Kim (Suzanna Florence) and Trent (Jesse Harward) both have serious significant others, but meet regularly in her apartment and have everything except actual intercourse. Kim says, "I'm going to be married in the temple and be a virgin on my wedding night", but until then she is willing to push thing with Trent right up to the edge. They know nothing about each other except their names. She controls what they do and how far they go. She likes to play mind games--she demands of Trent, "Have you ever lied to your Bishop? Do you look up porn on your computer? You were a bad missionary, weren't you?" (All the men in this play are at the mercy of their women; an interesting twist for a depiction of such a "patriarchal" society. It's especially striking because actress Florence is so tiny, Harward towers over her, but she dominates him with ease.) Trent is guilt-stricken and tries several times to break things off, but just can't. And maybe in the end Kim isn't as tough as she lets on. "Why do we do this," she cries out in anguish, "why do we have to do this?" That question is at the heart of this play. The cast of young BYU-affiliated actors is first rate; really professional. The night I went to the Villa there was an enthusiastic but small crowd. This should really be playing at the Harris Fine Arts center on the BYU campus where I'm sure it would draw packed houses. It's a fearlessly honest, bullseye picture of 18-30 years old Mormon life. Watching it, I was sucked back into all those old feeling and memories and remembered the sheer *hardness* of the way things were for everybody back then. And though this play gets very serious, it's very entertaining. It's frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious. Eric Samuelsen has a cold eye, a warm heart, and a sharp mind (and tongue.) This play is a searching inventory of our attitudes towards sexuality. One can imagine the apartment bull-sessions that would follow a viewing of this play. And I think this kind of candid discussion would be very healthy. Who knows when you will get the chance to see 'Peculiarities" again, so you should definitely get to Springville before it closes Oct. 26. ===== R.W. Rasband Heber City, UT rrasband@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Spring 2002 Dialogue Date: 22 Oct 2002 02:26:00 +0000 Dialogue is spitting out issues at a good clip this year, working at=20 catching up with its publication dates. Last year they were about a year=20 and a half behind, but now they are almost caught up. In September they=20 published vol 35.1, dated Spring 2002. Part of the way they could do this= =20 was two double issues recently. Vol. 34.1-2 which came out early in the=20 year, was a 35th anniversary issue, which included significant articles and= =20 essays from the past--kind of a Mormon clip show. It is nice to have some= =20 of these classic essays, like Poll's essay on Iron Roders and Liahonas,=20 without having to go back to my parents' house and raid their collection. = =20 Soon afterward came Vol 34.3-4, which stretched the meaning of the term=20 double issue, it only had about 20 more pages than a regular issue. Still,= =20 it had lots of good articles, guest edited by Douglas Davis, a British=20 scholar, and including several scholarly works by European authors given at= =20 recent Mormon studies conferences in England. The new issue is largely a tribute to Eugene England, one of Dialogue's=20 founders. It reprints remarks from his funeral by Bert Wilson, Levi=20 Peterson and Douglas Thayer, along with tributes our own AML-list member=20 Stephen Carter (who was his assistant during England's last year at UVSC),= =20 Allison Pingree, and Robert Rees. There is a reprint of Clifton Jolley's=20 "Selling the Chevrolet", and a long poem by him about England. I found them= =20 all fascinating reading. Then there is a section of essays by England, Blessing the Chevrolet from=20 1975, a intruiging one on marriage and polygamy from 1987, and a previously= =20 unpublished one called "The Weeping God of Mormonism." The last two in=20 particular are theological essays, something we don't see too often. In the= =20 last, he restates his ideas about a finite and eternally progressing God,=20 for which Bruce R. McConkie publically criticized him back in the 1970s. He= =20 talks about how these concepts, which he bases on Joseph Smith's King Follet= =20 discourse, Enoch in the Book of Moses, and quotes by Brigham Young, are to= =20 him central parts of Mormonism. However even Joseph did not fully=20 understand them at first, alllowing the Lectures on Faith, chiefly written= =20 by Sidney Rigdon in Kirtland, to put forward a more traditional protestant= =20 view of God. Brigham Young sided with Joseph's later understanding, and=20 demoted the Lectures on Faith to a sub-scriptural level. Others,=20 particuarly Orson Pratt Joseph F. Smith and his family, (including his son= =20 Joseph Fielding Smith and grandson-in-law McConkie) have shied away from the= =20 concepts, fearing that they could lead people to discount Christ's power to= =20 save. The more Protestant-style notion of God has been recently strengthed= =20 in popular Mormon thought by Stephen Robionson's recent works, his 1997=20 collaboration "How Wide the Divide" and his "Believing Christ" series. =20 Although England highly praises Robinson's contribution in general, he=20 voices his concern that he is helping to move Mormon thought too close to=20 Protestant ideas, including limitations on free will, deemphasizing personal= =20 responsability in salvation, and abandoning the neat Mormon solution to the= =20 problem of why evil exists. Dialogue also includes an England poem, "Two=20 Trains and a Dream", which expresses these same ideas in literary form. =20 Anyway, I found it to be fascinating stuff, I recommend it highly. Then there is a section reprinting talks from the 2000 Mormon Historical=20 Association conference in Denmark, including three essays about Virginia=20 Sorensen's novels, in particular Kingdom Come, which was based her Danish=20 ancestors, who converted in Denmark and then immigrated, eventually settling= =20 in Sanpete County. I am excited to read that novel. There is one fiction short story, "Out of the Woods" by Karen Rosenbaum (who= =20 also had a story in the last Irreantum). It is about an inactive Mormon=20 woman going with her husband to see her daughter in her high school=20 play--thinking about her family history and her crippling arthrities, which= =20 helped to destroy her faith. It is a touching story. There is several more things I haven't read yet, like an essay by Harlow's= =20 mom Bessie S. Clark. Then there is a book review of Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint,= =20 which I want to talk about, but I'll save for a separate post. Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan _________________________________________________________________ Surf the Web without missing calls!=A0Get MSN Broadband. =20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Authenticity in UDALL, _Edgar Mint_ Date: 22 Oct 2002 04:12:25 +0000 In the Spring 2002 Dialogue there is a book review of Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, written by P. Jane Hafen, a professor of English at UNLV. Like much current literature scholarship it is not interested in the literary quality of the book, but rather discusses questions of race and authenticity. Hafen basically feels that Udall, a white guy, does not portray Indian culture authentically, and is disturbed that his Edgar is not particularly interested in his own ethnicity. She also criticizes previous newspaper and AML-list reviewers for not expressing similar annoyance. (I must thank Hafen for mentioning my name, along with fellow AML-list reviewers David Hanson and Terry L. Jeffress, in a footnote. It is the first time my name has appeared in Dialogue, pretty cool!). She places Udall's work next to Ian Frazier's On the Rez and Tony Hillerman's novels as examples of white-guy inauthenticity. The only example she gives of a white person who did a good job writing about Indians was Udall's great-grandmother Louise Udall's 1969 "Me and Mine: the Life Story of Helen Sekaquaptewa", a non-fiction work, in which the elder Udall let the Hopi woman basically speak for herself. Apparently, Hafen sees little hope for non-Indians writing novels about Indians, or I guess anyone writing about people other than themselves. She never comes out and says so, but her overall argument, and the fact she used no other positive examples, leads me to that conclusion. The most amazing part of her essay is this line: "By assuming the first-person voice of Apache boy Edgar Mint, Udall, however sympathetic he may be, is writing from a world view he can only imagine." She goes on to show how this is a bad thing, comparing it to the frequently annoying inaccuracies by non-Mormons writing about Mormons. How many years of being pounded by academic life does it take one to say something like this? Writing from a world view one can only imagine? Good gracious, Hafen is a scholar of literature, at some point she must have loved reading books because of imagination, because the author could take her somewhere else. When did this get pounded out of her? Can authors only write about their own lives? Okay, there are some good semi-autobiographical novels about authors, I like The World According to Garp, for example. But a little of that goes a long way, I am pretty tired of reading about authors. I say, use the imagination, let it go wild! Sure, go for authenticity, I want my author to study his subject. This doesn't seem to be enough for Hafen, however. Maybe Udall could have strived more for authenticity. But he was writing about a boy who was cut off from his culture at a young age. The Indian school/juvenile detention center contained boys from a mixture of tribes, all of whom were cut off from their cultures, and were reduced to a more primitive, barbaric way of life. Hafen seems to think that Udall portrays their barbarism as connected to their ethnicity, but I do not think so, it was due to their current environment. Also, I think Hafen overlooks the possibility that Udall was very aware of the academic interest in ethnic authenticity, and was purposely thumbing his nose at it. Udall genuinely seems to think that ethnic identity is not as important to our inner lives as some make it out to be. Hafen notes that Udall includes a minor character that is a "thinly veiled representation of Sherman Alexie, a 'Native American poet of great stature, author of five books at only thirty years of age, a voice of his generation.'" (The quote is actually about the fictional character, although Hafen seems to say that it describes Alexie equally well). Hafen quotes Alexie's criticism of Ian Frazier's "On the Rez", saying,=20 "Frazier admires the Oglalas because of who he believes them to be, not because of who the Oglalas believe themselves to be . . . Does Frazier ever admit that somebody from 'the rez' has a different life experience than somebody who is just writing about the rez". Hafen does not mention the context in which the Alexie-based character appears. The school officials at Edgar=92s school/detention center invite the poet to give a presentation at an assembly. The juvenile delinquent Indian boys treat the Alexie- based character as a fool, mocking his Indian nationalistic clothing and poetry, because to them it is =93inauthentic=94, not relevant to their own lives. Udall, therefore, appears to be very aware of the academic questions of authenticity, and goes out of his way to express the "inauthenticity" of what some academics would laud as "authentic." I don=92t think Udall is personally saying that he finds one trope more authentic than another, just that there is a wide spectrum of experience and perspective, and that no one has a corner on authenticity. The vagaries of individual experience can trump a supposed ethnic identity. So Edgar, who has lost most of his memory due to a car accident, comes to have a greater sense of community with fellow hospital-patient Art than with most of the Indian boys at the school. Rather than use what appears to be the boiler-plate "inauthenticity" argument, I think it would have been more interesting for Hafen to go to the next level, and ask why Udall is purposely mocking the authenticity position. Like I say, authenticity is nice, I want authors to show they have done their homework, but it is limited. I remember hearing a scholar complaining about George Gershwin's attempt at depicting southern blacks in Porgy and Bess. But can a modern black scholar claim greater authenticity about 1930 Georgia than George Gershwin? Which is greater, the distance between a white New Yorker and black Georgian who are contemporaries, or between a black person from 1930 and one from 2002? Can the modern scholar really claim greater authenticity (perhaps there should be a "19th-century Anti-defamation League")? Unless authors just write about themselves (a proposition I immediately throw out as dull, dull, dull), complete authenticity can not be achieved. It is a factor, but I personally am interested in several other factors as well in my evaluation of a book. I'm don't read much academic literary criticism, but I get the impression=20 that positions like Hafen's are pretty common. What do you say, literary=20 scholars out there? Is this an actively debated question, and if so, where= =20 is the debate headed? Andrew Hall Fukuoka, Japan _________________________________________________________________ Surf the Web without missing calls!=A0Get MSN Broadband. =20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Eric SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Date: 21 Oct 2002 23:16:45 -0500 At 01:37 PM 10/17/02, you wrote: >Peculiarities only plays this weekend and next, closing Oct. 26. > >Eric Samuelsen Dang! I'm missing this one AND My Turn on Earth on my one shot to get to Utah. Is anything out there playing (besides Charly in movie theaters. . .) on Friday/Sat Nov 1-2? Linda P.S. Eric, since I'm missing it, could I get a copy of the script? Pretty please? ============= Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "BJ Rowley" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 21 Oct 2002 22:08:20 -0700 > > > >I'm working to finish my first novel "Guardian Angel" about my alcoholic dad >who dies in the first chapter and enters the third estate, in Spirit Prison. > Sounds cool. Except, as I understand it, the Spirit World (paradise/prison) is not the third estate. It's part of the second estate. Exaltation is the third estate, and only available to those who fully keep their second estate -- just as the second estate was only available to those who kept the first. -BJ Rowley -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Date: 22 Oct 2002 08:40:12 -0400 My husband's grandparents were Buddhist, though many of their children are Christian, yet still sort of Buddhist. My mother-in-law is the only LDS member. When David's grandparents died we went and did the Buddhist stuff--bowing so many times and so forth, but they also asked David's dad to dedicate the grave. It was a mix of Chinese culture, Buddhism, Christianity, and specifically LDS Christianity. It was also a wonderful experience. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 22 Oct 2002 07:24:28 -0600 "Eric R. Samuelsen" : wrote: So am I missing something, or is it the official position of the Church that sex confers wisdom, or spiritual insight, or some other bishoply attributes? Well, accourding to kundalini theory (I threw the theory part in to make Fred Pinnegar happy) sex is one of the tools availible for making kundalini rise, which leads to wisdom, gentleness, the greatest of all loves, joy and elevated consciousness. The term "kundalini" refers to a pool of energy that exists in the sacrum. It originallywas envisioned as a snake wrapped two and a half times around the sacrum. When the snake it climbed up the spinal colimun through the same space that is occupied by the spinal cord. It's rea;;y magnificent. Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] _Breaking Free_ (1995) (Movie Review) Date: 22 Oct 2002 08:08:51 -0600 (MDT) > Film: Breaking Free > Year released: 1995 > Production company: Leucadia Film Corporation > Director: David MacKay > Producer: David Anderson > Writers: Barbara Clark Wanbaugh and Virginia Gilbert > > Reviewed by Preston Hunter > > "Breaking Free" is probably the best movie ever made about a > blind horse jumper. > > This might NOT be true if there are any OTHER movies about > blind horse jumpers. > You've never seen "Wild Hearts Can't be Broken" - a Disney film about a blind horse jumper? --ivan wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Peter Chamberlain" Subject: RE: [AML] Reading in Church Date: 22 Oct 2002 08:36:18 -0600 I found it difficult hiding the full color glossies that are in Bon Appetit and my cookbooks. I love reading in church but the teachers and speakers usually bother me. Peter Chamberlain -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 22 Oct 2002 11:17:41 -0400 I don't know, but here are some (perhaps lame) possibilities. Could it be that it is felt that a married man would do a better job of all the marriage counseling that Bishops end up doing. In this case, the experience within marriage of sex would possibly come into the equation. Of course, some Bishop's wives might have something to say about their husband's abilities to counsel anyone on the institution. Or maybe it is felt that there is an emotional security, or perhaps constraint is a better word, with a married man doing all the counseling of single women that Bishops have to do. I have heard of instances of a Bishop being unfaithful with a member he was counseling, but being married would certainly put a barrier there. Maybe it's just cultural. A married man being seen as more secure, having his life more together, or being more obedient to the prime directive (morally clean, mission, eternal marriage) than a single man. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] RE: Accuracy of Church Sources Date: 22 Oct 2002 09:28:35 -0600 When I was a Church employee and news editor of the Ensign, no less, I got most of my real news about the Church from the Salt Lake Tribune. Chris Bigelow -----Original Message----- > > I tend > to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a > church employee. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] _Charly_ Press Release Date: 22 Oct 2002 07:07:19 -0500 Contents of "Charly" press release: CONTENTS OF "Charly" press release: Fans and critics agree... We have been overwhelmed with emails and calls from people who are loving CHARLY. Here is just one email we wanted to share with you: "I loved 'Charly!' You guys did an excellent job portraying Charly's personality. Heather Beers was perfect. I have seen it three times and I plan to see it a few more times. You know it's a great movie when nobody leaves the theatre after it's over--this happened all three times I saw it. I liked how the story wasn't cheesy. Also, the technical work was very professional. You did a super job! I hope 'Charly' does well. I have been telling all of my friends to go see it. Thank you so much for making 'Charly' a movie. You couldn't have done a better job!" --E. Smart And here's what the critics are saying: "A Must See Film&A well-done modern romance&.Heather Beers is not only exceptional, shes a find&.Anyone who has ever fallen in love, lost his faith, or suffered unspeakable heartache will appreciate this movie." --Ron C. Eggertsen, Journal Publications "Heather Beers was the perfect Charly.[Director Adam Anderegg] shows a lot of potential and may be one of the bright, young hopefuls in a growing LDS-based movie industry&.And lest I forget, take a lot of Kleenex." --Steve Salles, Standard Examiner "Charming and Sincere" --Brian Davidson, Post Register "Directed with great competence and compassion by first-timer Adam Thomas Anderegg, the film version of the book (adapted by Janine Whetten Gilbert) is true to Weyland's story while expanding and improving it. The movie's sentiments are lovely." --Eric D. Snider, Daily Herald To find a theater near you or to watch the trailer, visit the official CHARLY web site, www.charlythemovie.com. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 22 Oct 2002 10:14:12 -0600 On Barbara Hume's Stansfield question, my understanding after researching the question as an Ensign reporter and as a concerned individual is that sealings of children follow the mother, not the father. So whatever man the mother is sealed to, so are the children, regardless of their biological father. I admire Stansfield for not romanticizing this situation. The power of romantic love does not overrule order in God's kingdom, in my opinion. In the Stansfield case Barbara described, she is correct unless the sealing is broken and the character is sealed to the new husband, in which case all the children follow her to him, including any from the first marriage. (I don't think you can break a sealing with a dead spouse, since they have to give their consent, but presumably the sealing could be broken in the afterlife, if all parties agree.) Otherwise, any children born to this character are born under the existing covenant with her first husband and are sealed to him and her. The new husband is a companion for mortality and a sperm donor for the dead man. It's like in the Old Testament when a man died and his brother was supposed to raise up seed to him with his wife, which Onan famously refused to do. Now, I have heard that sometimes women can be sealed to two or more men, with the understanding that a future choice will take place and ultimately she will remain sealed to only one man. But I think that only happens posthumously, doesn't it? Or is it now policy that a woman whose sealed husband has died can also be sealed to her new husband, with the understanding that the real choice will be made later? These are rich complexities for fiction. For about three years, I was sealed to two women, but then my ex got our sealing canceled when she got remarried. I attended her sealing to her new husband because I had given consent for the daughter my ex and I adopted to be sealed to my ex and her new husband at the time of their temple wedding, since she'd never been sealed before our divorce and it was really the only option for getting her sealed to SOMEONE, which is always better than nothing. (Also present at the sealing ceremony were my ex-wife's husband's ex-wife and the birth mother of the son my ex and I previously adopted. I assume that adopted son, who we had sealed to us, is now automatically sealed to my ex and her new husband. I'm sure I love him more than his step-father does, but I'm completely free of romantic turmoil about it. The patriarchal order trumps love, or there would be chaos.) Chris Bigelow -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Laird Jim Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 22 Oct 2002 09:22:47 -0700 on 10/16/02 10:11 PM, Gae Lyn Henderson at gaelyn@mstar2.net wrote: ... it does bring up some interesting issues that are very relevant today, just asin the 70s, about how a women is valued in Mormon culture. > Gae Lyn Henderson I haven't heard of a culture yet that values women any better. Beauty is always valued, and there is nothing that will change that. The fact that what is considered beautiful changes over time is irrelevant--there will always be somebody left out because of the general unfairness of life. I have been asked approximately 13 Trillion times when I'm going to get married. It's very annoying, but really only my mother thinks I'm a prize catch. One would think from the incredulity displayed that I'm NOT married that I look like Brad Pitt and have Bill Gate's money. And of course either one would get me a wife lickety-split, though the money would naturally be a surer bet. You gets what you gets and you does what you can. Johnny Lingo was handsome and rich, and picked a girl that nobody else wanted. Why this is sexist I don't know, other than the fact that the culture they came from is inherently sexist. So much for multiculturalism. In the film the girl who played Mahanna was no great beauty, but she managed to shine even on camera, which does not require good nutrition or a pretty mommy. One can tell a woman's life story from her looks, which is one of the reasons its so valued even by sensible men. Go to the nastiest part of town you know and look at the women there and you'll see what I mean if you haven't already. Even some of the hard-core misogynists I work with are willing to admit as much. One of them was explaining to me yesterday how he'd met a girl that really wasn't very pretty but was for reasons unknown was very attractive. He could find all sorts of fault with her physically but was still attracted because of her voice, eyes, laugh, and overall demeanor. And this is a guy who thinks any girl that weighs more than 110 is fat. There's more to things than mere beauty and there's always bad luck, too. I've been engaged three times and yet here I am still unmarried. Sometimes dice get involved when they shouldn't. I think this unwarranted denigration of Johnny Lingo (the character, not the film), and Mahanna is silly. I admire his character. I don't see any reason to think he's lying when he says he loved her from boyhood. There's no reason to judge so harshly, particularly out of the context of the presented culture. Cripes, who would want to be held to such a standard? I can't imagine trying to hold somebody accountable to standards he's never even heard of. That's injustice, plain and simple. Life would be unfair enough even if nobody was ever intentionally unjust. Jim Wilson aka the Laird Jim -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Laird Jim Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 22 Oct 2002 09:32:49 -0700 The Verhoeven movie is IN NO WAY based on the novel by Heinlein, unless one counts the names. They bear NO RESEMBLANCE WHATSOEVER to one another. I will not see any Verhoeven film ever again after his sadistic treatment of that novel. Even if I hated the novel I would despise such a dishonest treatment of somebody else's work. I would rather die in hopeless poverty than have any work of mine ruined so thoroughly by a 'liberal' like Verhoeven. It happens that I like _Starship Troopers_, and perhaps a decent movie will be made someday. If I ever meet Verhoeven I shall punch him in the throat while composing a ballad. As far as "war mongering" goes, I'll just quote from _Lord of the Rings_ instead of scripture. "It takes but one foe to breed a war, not two. And those who have not swords can still die upon them." I don't think the current band of Gadianton robbers sometimes called Al Qaeda would be impressed by an Anti-Nephi-Lehi kind of demonstration. They wouldn't stop at a mere 2 or 3 thousand dead. Jim Wilson aka The Laird Jim -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Teaching at BYU Date: 22 Oct 2002 11:51:57 -0600 >Second, if you think a climate of fear dominates BYU and you >lack academic freedom there and can't talk openly about things >there like you can at other institutions, try talking about >the Restoration at a state-sponsored institution and >convincing your students that Jesus is the Christ and that we >ought to give heed to the words of his apostles and >prophets-try that and see what happens. OR, to test your hypothesis about the openness of BYU start talking about the importance of the BofM as an extended symbol of the condescension of Christ. Make sure you suggest every so often that maybe we place too much emphasis on the book being all that historical, it's the spiritual content that matters. I predict that you and the pro-Mormon teacher at Utah State would both be trying to find jobs elsewhere. BYU and State schoold have their own orthodoxies. >You have infinitely more freedom at BYU to cover all aspects >of knowledge than you do in a state school. Teach a course on Jaunita Brook's Mountain Meadows Massacre and then get back to me on how much freedom you have to cover "all" aspects of knowledge. Have your class read _Sacred Covenant_ which suggests that polygamy was legeally sanctioned by the Church Presidents clear up into the early 1920's. That guy standing next to you in the unemployment line with the self-satisfied smirk on his face will be me. My point is that BYU is no opened minded in its ciricula than any other school. Thom Duncan -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Subject: [AML] Training for Bishops Date: 22 Oct 2002 14:50:50 -0400 [MOD: I see this as an interesting informational point, but not directly connected to Mormon letters per se.] Pardon my ignorance, but what are the formal basic requirements for becoming a bishop? (I think we've established that you don't have to be clean shaven and don't 100% necessarily have to be married...) Is there something in the Handbook of Instructions or elsewhere that specifies preferred previous callings, etc.? Is there a usual church "career path" to becoming a bishop? Is there some sort of boot camp for new bishops? The fact that the Church relies on a lay clergy creates both strengths and vulnerabilities. As some people have pointed out, dependence on church leaders who have no formal academic training for the ministry means that they also never get formal training in counseling and so forth. I had a friend who was going to the seminary to become a Lutheran minister, and he said that part of it included what was essentially training in basic psychotherapy and counseling (empathic listening, etc.). A lot of people who go to their clergy have problems that to some degree could be better helped (or helped in part) by mental health professionals. It's a good idea to at least have church leaders who can at least make basic judgements on when to refer a member to other sources of help. I don't have a clear idea about the training or instructions that LDS bishops get for these situations. Roberto Gomez -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 22 Oct 2002 14:09:08 -0600 When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most insignificant insect. I have read about them, but can't remember all the details. Does anyone remember the name of this group? I don't have time to look it up. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 22 Oct 2002 14:21:16 -0600 Personally, I find nothing offensive with the MESSAGE of Johnny Lingo. It's the WAY the message is presented that is offensive. The film is badly directed, acted and the wigs don't fit. The script is also a little bit too much in your face. The message is telegraphed from practically the first scene. It is the standard practice of either the incompetent or the fearful to emblanzon the message of one's art is gold leaf letters that shine in the darkest of nights. The assumption is that the audience are idiots and so subtlety takes a back seat. Big time movies do this also. Even Disney got caught in this trap, thinking for awhile that what people wanted were inoffensive movies, so they did things like Million-Dollar Duck. What they have finally come to realize is that it's the entetainment value that is the watchword, not the level of "family-friendliness." The reason Johnny Lingo is so much fun to diss is not because of its message but because of its method. Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: [AML] "Jack Mormon" Question Date: 22 Oct 2002 15:18:28 -0600 Found this in my Word of the Day message. Could this be the source of the term "jack-Mormon"? barbara hume jackleg \JAK-leg\ (adjective) 1 a : lacking skill or training : amateur b : characterized by unscrupulousness, dishonesty, or lack of professional standards 2 : makeshift Example sentence: There we were, stuck in Nowheresville with a jackleg mechanic who told us he'd fix the car but we'd have to wait a few days unless we wanted to pay him double. Don't call someone a "jackleg" unless you're prepared for them to get angry with you. Throughout its more than 150-year-old history in English, "jackleg" has most often been used as a term of contempt and deprecation, particularly in reference to lawyers and preachers. Its form echoes that of the similar "blackleg," an older term for a cheating gambler or a worker opposed to union policies. Etymologists know that "blackleg" appeared over a hundred years before "jackleg," but they don't have any verifiable theories about the origin of the earlier term. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: [AML] Generalizing from Experience (was: Bishops and Facial Hair) Date: 22 Oct 2002 17:34:30 EDT In a message dated 10/22/02 12:39:18 PM Mountain Daylight Time, jlang2@pressenter.com writes: << [MOD: LOTS of responses on this (extremely marginal) topic. I'm trying to combine some here. And now, since the point has been established, perhaps we can move on...] >> I don't agree that this is a marginal topic. It should be interesting to us, as Mormon writers, that even those of us on this list tend to universalize our personal LDS experience. As experts on Mormonism, as all of us would surely claim to be (on some level), we dismiss the representation of anything outside our own limited experience as implausible, unrealistic or simply wrong. We may reject or mock someone's work because of our own, and not the author's, ignorance. You'd be surprised how many negative criticisms I've received as a result of including events, characters, props, wardrobe, etc., based on my own life experiences. Here are some examples: 1. Bishops and facial hair, of course. Yes, I did have a bishop who wore a full beard. For the entire duration of his service, I believe. 2. Occasionally imperfect men, some of them even "brusque," are called to be mission presidents. 3. Sometimes missionaries do travel alone (I often did). And sometimes those who are supposed to pick them up at the airport arrive late. 4. Sometimes missionaries who have been seriously ill, even with cancer, are allowed to serve missions. And sometimes the cancer returns. And sometimes, the missionaries are allowed to stay and serve. And sometimes they die. The character of Elder Dalton, in fact, was based on a real missionary from the L. A. mission whose cancer returned and who served in the field until the day he died. Incredible, but true. 5. Sometimes the mission doesn't have brand new Ford vans in which to transport the missionaries. In my mission, we used a beat-up former delivery van, which if I remember correctly, had been donated by a man who had used it for a neghborhood ice cream truck. Not long after GOD'S ARMY was released I received a "thank you" from a recently returned missionary from a U.S. mission who drove the mission van...an old VW bus. 6. Sometimes people are baptized in the ocean, even in the United States. The actor who played the mission president, who was in real life an adult convert, was baptized near the beach where we filmed the GOD'S ARMY baptisms. Why in the ocean instead of in one of the fifty-seven fonts in the area? Because that's what he wanted. Apparently salt water is just as effective at washing away sins as tap water. 7. Sometimes single men ARE allowed to serve as bishop. It may be rare, but it happens. 8. Bishops CAN be sheriffs. In fact. some of BRIGHAM CITY's biggest fans are bishop/sheriffs. I may have to go out and find an unmarried bishop/sheriff with a mustache and see if I can get Eric Snider to write an article about him. Maybe then we could put this one to rest. Oh yes, as far as the discussion of falsifying church records is concerned...Come on, guys. Someone with 1/100 of the dark talent and imagination of Mark Hoffman (remember him?) could figure that one out in about twenty minutes. I would have included the specifics in BRIGHAM CITY, but I figured the audience was a little more interested in how the killer committed multiple murders rather than how he sneaked one past the ward clerk. I could go on and on and on. Sometimes attractive women do serve full-time missions (I had several in my mission), some missionaries have actually taken photographs of their companions on the toilet, sometimes missionaries let their hair get a little longer than it should be before they cut it, sometimes they walk past prostitutes (I often did)...What else? The LDS experience is so much more varied than we believe. It seems strange that we would nit-pick over the employment of unusual characters, occurrences, and events in our storytelling. Are we to be confined to that which is ordinary? And not only to that which is ordinary, but to that which is generally understood by 99% of us to be truly ordinary? Perhaps one of the unforeseen benefits of LDS filmmaking will be the inevitable broadening we will experience as we publicly share our experiences and points of view. Perhaps we are more naive of the real LDS culture than we think. I must confess a gap in my own Mormon experience: My wife and I moved to Utah three years ago (after ten years in Los Angeles). Before then, even after three decades as a member of the church, I truly had no idea that green jello had anything to do with Mormonism. Of all the ward socials, dinners, funerals, whatever, I cannot remember once seeing green jello on the table. I started to hear jello jokes immediately after moving to the Great Basin and, I'm ashamed to admit, those jokes flew right over my naive little head. I now get the jokes, but I still don't find them very funny. I promise that jello will never figure prominently in any of my future movies. Wait...Not so fast. How about this? A superficial Utah Mormon, who can no longer feel anything spiritual because his life has become a burden of religious externals and incidentals, slips during a tour at the General Foods Manufacturing Plant and falls into a huge vat of green jello. He drowns in a graphic and extended death scene before his family can pull him to safety. Nah. Sounds like CHARLY 2 to me. Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Des News on Center Street Theater Date: 22 Oct 2002 14:43:17 -0600 Trio eyeing home for LDS theater By Sharon Haddock Deseret News staff writer OREM - A trio of local drama hounds, Thom Duncan, J. Scott Bronson and Paul Duerden, have had it with what they call "guerrilla Mormon theater." "My Turn on Earth" cast members strike pose at Orem's Center Street Theatre. Jason Olson, Deseret News So they've created the Nauvoo Theatrical Society - playwrights dedicated to seeing that Mormon theater gets its fair chance on stage. They're tired of having to cast about for places to put on LDS-oriented shows and musicals each time a new one is written, essentially starting over every time one is produced, renting school auditoriums and taking leftovers for space. At the new Center Street Theatre in Orem, playwrights with a show for the Mormon audience will have a known home, where shows with an LDS following will be welcome. "We exist to make it known Mormon theater is not as limited as people think," said Duncan. He was a technical writer for Novell before he decided to invest his money, time and energy into the Nauvoo Theatrical Society with Bronson and Duerden. "Our definition of Mormon theater is anything written by a Mormon or about Mormons written by anybody. We want to do anything that pertains to the community." "I' ve always been intrigued by the fact that in Happy Valley we have no Mormon theaters," said Duerden, who works for the box office at Brigham Young University and became interested in the enterprise after his theater production class at BYU studied their plan. "We're not just adding another theater to the valley. There's enough theater already," Duerden said. "We want to say we're going to be here (for Mormon audiences and theater) instead of continuing to take the guerrilla kind of approach, one time here and another time there." "There's a whole lot more Mormon theater than people realize," said Bronson, a well-known local director who is currently directing "Deathtrap" for the Provo Theater Company. "We know the public perception is that you have "Saturday's Warrior" and a few dozen roadshows, but there is so much of it and so much of it is good." Duerden said there's actually enough material to run the theater for 15 years without repeating a show, including pieces written by Tim Slover, Marvin Payne, Eric Samuelsen, James Arrington, Thomas F. Rogers, Josh Brady, Elizabeth Hansen, Steven Kapp Perry, Julie Boxx Boyle and Susan Lewis, as well as by Bronson and Duncan. "We're not just talking fluff. We're talking serious and sometimes controversial material," Duerden said. Bronson said while BYU provides a limited forum for new Mormon material, it's not enough. "They used to introduce three original scripts a year. They're now down to two, and those are usually written by a student or a faculty member," he said. Other scripts go begging for a place to be seen. "BYU has a playwriting course, but once these students graduate, where do they go to get produced?" asked Duerden. Duncan, Bronson and Duerden hope it will be at the Center Street Theatre, which opened shakily Sept. 27 with "My Turn on Earth" after some tussling with Orem building inspectors. "We didn't know until the day we opened if we were going to be able to open," Duncan said. "That made it hard to do any serious publicity." The Center Street Theatre has 4,000 square feet of black box-type space and 130 seats that can be moved around to accommodate a number of production demands. It's open every night except Sundays and Tuesdays with shows starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person with discounts for students, senior citizens and children. "My Turn on Earth" plays through Saturday, followed by "Joyful Noise" by Tim Slover, "The Way We're Wired" by Eric Samuelsen, "Stones" by J. Scott Bronson and "Wedlocked" by Marvin Payne. The box office can be reached at 225-3800. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lee Allred" Subject: [AML] Re: Starship Mormons Date: 22 Oct 2002 22:00:16 -0600 Oddly enough, the novel STARSHIP TROOPERS is one of the few Heinlein novels _without_ a Mormon reference, the movie/comics to the contrary. The most Mormon-ish Heinlein novel is METHUSELA'S CHILDREN...which also doesn't have any Mormon references in it. At least overt ones. I'm personally convinced, however, that Heinlein patterned the first half of the book on elements in Mormon history. The book chronicles the plight of the Howard Family, a genetically immortal (or nearly so) closed culture living among shorter-lifed normals. They have had to go "underground" (aka "The Masquerade"), pretending to live like everybody else. Their secret is discovered and they are forced to hide, then are caught and rounded up, then flee to the stars to escape their tormentors. The parallels to the polygamous era of Mormon history are striking. Howard Family members living "The Masquerade"/Mormon polygamists living "on the underground." Fleeing earth/Fleeing Nauvoo after their secret of longevity/polygamy becomes public. Etc. All of which, of course, could just be circumstantial or even just wishful thinking on my part. Such parallels could be draw against any number of oppressed groups. Except for one small detail. The chief executive of the (planetary) government Heinlein sets up, and who leads the persecution of the Howards, is named...Governor Ford. Not President or King or Prime Minister, but Governor. The governor of Illinois when the Mormons were run out of Nauvoo was Governor...Ford. (Heinlein seemed sufficiently versed in Momron history that he patterned the miraculous transfiguration or taking on the mantle of the First Prophet Neimiah Scudder by his sucessors in "If This Goes On--" (REVOLT IN 2100) after the miraculous taking on the mantle of the first prophet Joseph Smith by Brigham Young in Nauvoo after the martyrdom. Assuming therefore that Heinlein was familiar with the historical Governor Ford of the Nauvoo-era is not that farfetched.) Ironically, at the end of CHILDREN, the Howards are able to return to Earth safely when they discover that _everybody_ on Earth, all the non-members of the Howard Family, are now Howards, too, having been "adopted" so-to-speak (via artificial procedure) into the Family and into gaining, um, eternal life--a Mormon parallel I don't think Heinlein meant to plumb. :) Lee Allred leea@sff.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: Re: [AML] Dean HUGHES, _Troubled Water_ (Review) Date: 22 Oct 2002 21:23:29 -0700 ----- Original Message ----- > > I can barely wait for the next volume. So many threads > were left unresolved, and I found myself genuinely caring > about the characters. I know how I want certain situations > resolved. I'll have to wait to find out how Hughes brings > it all together. > > "Troubled Waters" is a very good book, a very nice > continuation of the series. It raises so many difficult > questions, and doesn't offer pat solutions. It demands > more of the reader than other novels, and this is good. > > I recommend this book to adults and older youth alike. Amen to this review, Jeff. I just finished my copy of _Troubled Waters_ yesterday and I wholeheartedly agree with you. I would add that not only is this book an excellent analysis of a very difficult time in US history, but it also feels very current--exploring many of the same issues that we are facing right now. Jana Remy -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Date: 23 Oct 2002 02:07:06 -0600 "Eric D. Snider" wrote: > In this case, being inclusive didn't matter. The film reportedly cost > $400,000 to make (and to look at the film, someone must be > walking around with $398,000 in his pocket, but that's another > matter). Knowing this information makes the poor quality of _Singles Ward_ even more shameful. Oh, the film I could make with 400 grand! -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 23 Oct 2002 01:12:29 -0700 > That reminds me of something that disturbed me in some of Anita > Stansfield's fiction. As I remember it, her main character's first husband > was LDS, but he was a big fat jerk. After he died, she married a man who > was not LDS, but a decent human being. Eventually, he did join the church > and become active. But the story implied that the children he had with her > were not his at all, but would belong to the jerky husband in the next > life. I can't believe that. Is it folk culture, or what? A few things like > this have kept me from enjoying her books. The Gospel according to Brother Robert is as follows: Picture the Celestial Kingdom. I'm there with my wife, my kids are there with their spouses, etc. etc. We are each gods and goddesses, priests and priestesses, kings and queens. We each have our own assignments. Who says we're all going to be in the same house? I think the issue of 'which parents do the children "belong" to' is a red herring. It doesn't matter. What matters is being sealed, period. I don't see the family relationships in the CK as being a herd of nuclear families. I see it more like a stereotypical spider web (a bunch of 'spokes' and concentric circles). Are you on the web? Great. I think the "belong" concept of children/parents -- on earth as in heaven -- is bogus. If any of us belong to anyone, it's all of us to Heavenly Father and/or Jesus. ObLiteraryTie-In: A novel about a person (girl?) whose abusive member father dies, whose nice mother remarries a nice man, and how the girl reconciles her hatred for her father's actions and her growing respect and love for her stepfather with the fact that she's sealed to dad and not stepdad. And how she grows into nonetheless having a love and forgiveness for her father, and loving being part of a family with her stepfather, and realising that worrying about who she's sealed to (who she "belongs" to) is a bogus worry. If any of y'all steal this idea and turn it into a book before I get off my sorry butt and do it myself, please at least give me a free copy and a mention in the acknowledgments, m'kay? Robert ********************************************************************** Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.ca ...with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin too 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 2002/10/03 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 23 Oct 2002 02:46:05 -0600 Barbara Hume wrote: > Heinlein apparently had warm feelings about Mormons; there are many > favorable references to Mormons in his novels. However, I'm not sure how to > feel about that, since the worldview he espouses more and more openly > throughout his canon is basically disgusting. Wonderful storyteller, > though. I used to pick up his novels vowing to analyze his techniques, only > to find myself a few hours later at the end, having been carried along by > the story. (After Stranger in a Strange Land, though, the ick factor > becomes just too strong.) I read "Stranger" about a zillion years ago. (By the way, in it the main character dismisses the Book of Mormon along with a pile of other religious books as being irrelevant, so not all his references to Mormonism are friendly.) "Stranger" started out great, but halfway through abandoned all the elements that made it great. I think somewhere in the middle of writing it, the real Heinlein was devoured and replicated by an extraterrestial pod creature, because his writing was never the same after that. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Oct. 18 02 Date: 22 Oct 2002 19:01:57 -0500 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of October 18, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 15 Punch-Drunk Love 1,480,932 78 10 Actors: David Stevens, 2,045,863 Nathan Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens, Michael D. Stevens (brothers) 53 Jack Weyland's Charly 43,285 30 24 Adam Anderegg (director) 331,651 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 57 Master of Disguise 36,973 104 80 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 39,867,996 58 Minority Report 36,771 60 122 Gerald Molen (producer) 131,976,147 60 City by the Sea 30,439 54 45 Eliza Dushku (actress) 22,271,212 62 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 29,650 6 899 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,154,226 103 China: The Panda Adventure 4,487 4 451 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,883,008 108 Mark Twain's America 3D 2,808 2 1571 Alan Williams (composer) 2,277,684 110 ESPN's Ultimate X - The Movie 2,577 8 164 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,187,736 115 Galapagos 2,170 4 1088 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,747,594 123 The Other Side of Heaven 547 1 311 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,718,431 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) YOU WILL HEAR IT HERE FIRST - Next week there will be a MAJOR announcement about an upcoming LDS Cinema film, and we've got the scoop on it. LDSfilm.com co-webmaster Thomas C. Baggaley (a film composer) sat down for an exclusive three-hour interview with the producer of this exciting new film today, and we have been given permission to release the results of this interview and, in fact, all of the information on this upcoming multi-million-dollar production a full 24 hours before the press conference where the production will be announced to the rest of the world. (No, Baggaley will not be scoring this particular film, so that means if you hurry you'll probably still be able to afford his services for your own project.) Anyway, stay tuned for the exclusive scoop! BE CAREFUL! HANDCART'S IN WYOMING AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME - "Handcart", the eagerly anticipated feature film directed by Kels Goodman about the Martin Handcart company, is opening in Wyoming at Evanston, Wyoming. The Strand (1028 Main) - (307) 789-7040. OPENS WEDNESDAY OCT 23. NUMBERS - In addition to not having numbers for "Out of Step" or "Handcart" - which we have never been able to report beyond an approximate estimate - "The Singles Ward" also did not report any box office totals this weekend. When this has happened in the past, it is just because the numbers have come in slowly, and we imagine that numbers will soon be available, although "The Singles Ward" is now only playing in a few theaters and the video/DVD has already been released. 5 LDS FILMS IN THEATERS: It was interesting to note that last weekend there were 5 LDS-themed films playing in commercial theaters. "Charly" was still going strong; in 28 theaters in Utah and Idaho, it was the top LDS-themed feature film in its 3rd week of release. In second place was "Handcart" in 18 theaters (in Utah and Cardston, Alberta) during its debut week. Then there was "The Singles Ward," still playing in 9 theaters (Brea, California; Mesa, Arizona; Idaho Falls and Rexburg, Idaho; Utah; Othello, Washington), even though the DVD had been on sale for 2 weeks. It is unusual for movies to continue their initial theatrical runs after being released on DVD/video, but they were doing it, taking in $3,633 over the weekend at the box office. DVD and video sales were strong as well. The LDS bookstore in Dallas twice sold out a standalone display case full of "The Singles Ward" videos and DVDs. "Out of Step" was STILL showing in at least one theater (the Carmike 12 in West Jordan, Utah), now over a month after its SECOND theatrical release. And "The Other Side of Heaven," now ten months after its initial release, was STILL playing in 2 theaters, one of them in Payson, Utah. This means that out of the 7 Latter-day Saint-themed feature films released thus far, only the earlist two -- Richard Dutcher's "God's Army" and "Brigham City" -- were not being shown in commercial theaters. At least four of the five were still in theaters this weekend. While "Out of Step" was no longer playing at the Carmike and we are unaware of it playing anywhere else, "The Other Side of Heaven" was still playing in a single theater and "The Singles Ward" was also still in theaters including the Showcase Cinemas 6 in Salt Lake City. CHARLY SOUNDTRACK REVIEW - The Deseret News reviewer gave "Charly" soundtrack CD 3.5 out of 4 stars. The review noted that the music was "composed for the film primarily by newcomer Aaron Merrill (with some help from Cherie Call, Jeremy Elliott, Brett Raymond, Cassey Golie, Alex Boye and Alexander E. Jenkins), features a mix of styles and genres from pop to jazz, with a bit of rap thrown in." Also: Jenny Jordan sings on the "Charly" CD. AML CONFERENCE - This Friday, Oct. 25, is the deadline for preregistration to this year's Mormon writers conference, sponsored by the Association for Mormon Letters. (Note: You can register at the door, but the price will be $10 higher and you will not be guaranteed a luncheon.) For complete details about the conference, including an updated schedule of events, visit http://www.wwno.com/aml.htm GOOD THINGS UTAH - The Salt Lake Tribune featured an article about "Good Things Utah", a new show on KTVX casting a spotlight on local celebrities and even regular people. THE BEST TWO YEARS FILM - We have received additional confirmation that Scott S. Anderson is developing a feature film version of his play "The Best Two Years of My Life." The movie is currently scheduled for a Fall 2003 theatrical release. LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2002 - The 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2002 is on its way. Get ready for a weekend of new films, filmmakers and discussions. The festival will be held NOVEMBER 13-16, 2002, at the PROVO CITY LIBRARY at Academy Square. On invitation of the theatre department, the LDS Film Festival will also visit BYU-Idaho November 8 and 9 to present finalists of this year's and last year's festival program. Two 2-hour screenings are scheduled. Additionally, workshops and filmmakers' presentations are planned for Saturday, November 9. Several filmmakers including Bryan Lefler, Andrew Black and Christian Vuissa will answer audience questions and prepare workshops and presentations for those interested in the filmmaking process. The 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL 2002 had an astonishing 50% increase in submissions compared to last year's entries, totaling more than a hundred entries for the film and screenplay competition. 62 films have been submitted for the festival competition, compared to 41 last year, totaling more than 14 hours of programming. Only a third will be selected for festival screening. Due to demand the festival accepted feature length screenplays for the first time. With 25 feature scripts and a total of over 40 screenplays, this year's screenplay competition is the biggest of its kind. The festival is planning on establishing a script library that can be accessed by filmmakers looking for original material. First 24-hour-instant-filmmaking marathon - The LDS FILM FESTIVAL will launch its first 24-HOUR-INSTANT-FILMMAKING MARATHON. Get together with a group of friends and be part of this exhilarating competition. On November 14 at 9.30 a.m. you'll receive a theme for a short film, and on November 15, no later than 9.30 a.m. you hand in your finished film. That same evening your film will be screened and judged at the 2ND LDS FILM FESTIVAL. The entry fee is $ 20.00. All participants contribute to the prize money that will be awarded to the winner of the competition. The best film will also be part of the "BEST OF 2002" program and tour around the world. This is your chance to become an accomplished filmmaker in 24-hours... Finalists and program TBA soon - We are in the final stages of selecting the finalists and putting together the program for this year's festival. This is a difficult task, considering the number of entries and quality of work. We look forward to an exciting festival schedule that includes great films, filmmakers and film lovers. For more information visit http://www.ldsbox.com OPEN INVITATION AND CALL FOR FILMS - LDSFilm.com is passing along this note/press release from Dan Harville: "Many LDS filmmakers have good films but can't seem to find a distributor or market for them. One of the largest video merchants online has opened its doors to the indie filmmaker, giving anyone who owns a film, a place to sell that film. LifeIsAMovie.Com (www.lifeisamovie.com) - specializes in rare, hard-to-find, and niche films, TV shows, and documentaries. LDS filmmakers constitute a niche. says site owner and LDS filmmaker Dan Harville. Any LDS filmmaker who wants to put his feature, short, experimental, student film, or documentary on DVD, VHS, or VCD, do a little jacket insert artwork, and write a description of the film can offer it on the site. Everyone gets exposure. Everyone gains access to the film viewing and buying public. I'm interested in the lesser-known films by movers and shakers as well as up and comers. There's a market for them all." Contact: daniel@lifeisamovie.com for details. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: [AML] Grant PALMER, _An Insider's View of Mormon Origins_ (Review) Date: 22 Oct 2002 20:11:26 -0700 Review ====== Title: An Insider's View of Mormon Origins Author: Grant H. Palmer Publisher: Signature Books Year Published: 2002 Number of Pages: 296 Binding: Trade paperback ISBN: 1-56085-157-0 Price: $24.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle It was with some trepidation that I learned that I am nearing my 100th review for the Association for Mormon Letters. I was only marginally aware that I had read, and reviewed, so many books. This produced several real fears -- among them, the certainty that folks would be tired of reading my reviews, and a suspicion that I was spending altogether too much time reading Mormon books. The real fear, however, is that of repetition. How many reviews can a person write before he starts repeating himself, expressing the same views, sounding a bit like a broken record? And when I received this book from Signature Books, my fears rose to the surface. I have, after all, read and reviewed a few "debunking" books. And thinking back, I can't remember that I had anything original or particularly interesting to say. Palmer's book gives me a genuine opportunity to break out of that mold. I hope this will become evident as you read this review. Palmer devoted 34 years of his life as an Institute Director for the Church Educational System (CES). As such, he has been responsible for the teaching of Church history and doctrine to the youth of the Church. Now retired, he has had a chance to look back at his vocation, his mission, and has come to question some of the things he formerly taught as truth. But Palmer's book is different from others that I've read. Typical of such books is a spirit of triumphalism, the feeling that the writer has gotten the better of the Church. "Aha! I found you out!" Such works have their merits, but such a spirit tends to diminish the value of the work as an objective effort to distill truth from the massive volume of evidence. Instead, Palmer expresses the view of one who has put so much time and effort into teaching the history and doctrine of the Church, and then discovered that these needed some clarification. There is a profound sadness that undergirds the entire book. And Palmer, I think, wants to ensure that his readers are ready to grow beyond what they learned, perhaps, in his own Institute classes: First, this book is not intended for children or investigators. So much of our attention is directed toward children and potential converts that long- standing adult members rarely have an opportunity to speak freely to each other. We worry that tender ears may overhear. I am a fourth-generation Mormon, and I want to addresses this discussion to other second-, third-, and fourth-generation Mormons who will better understand where I am coming from. Lest there be any question, let me say that my intent is to increase faith, not to diminish it. Still, faith needs to be built on truth -- what is, in fact, true and believable. (p. ix) This introductory statement is a bit perplexing. Palmer is certain that some of the founding stories are, in fact, not accurate, and yet he seems to be willing to allow children and investigators to be taught these stories. How can this make any sense? I'll say more about this later. But it occurs to me that, despite his hopes, he is a realist, and understands that the Church will continue to teach the stories of Mormon origins, as they constitute the corpus of knowledge as it has been passed from generation to generation. Is Palmer saying to children and investigators, in the finest Jack Nicholson style, "You can't handle the truth!"? Or, more likely, does Palmer understand that any good that may be accomplished by exposing children and newbies to these studies will be overcome by the dissonance, and likely disengagement, of these people? One cannot build faith effectively while occupying the mind with the details of the stories. And, in his closing word, Palmer finally clarifies the whole issue by suggesting that the Church needs to re- direct its focus: I cherish Joseph Smith's teachings on many topics, such as the plan of salvation and his view that the marriage covenant extends beyond death. Many others could be enumerated. But when it comes to the founding events, I wonder if they are trustworthy as history. (p. 261) In many sacrament meetings, the tendency remains to simply mention Jesus' name and then talk about other matters rather than to discuss him and his ministry. In our Sunday classes, the Gospels are taught for several months once every four years; the lives and teachings of modern prophets are studied each year. As the apostle Paul, who was capable of speaking on a variety of religious subjects, said of the early church: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). I would hope for a greater focus on Jesus Christ in our Sunday meetings. (p. 263) And so, we come to the end of the book and realize where it's all headed -- that the Church needs to change its focus, on a global and local level, from Joseph Smith to Jesus Christ. He acknowledges that the Church as an institution has tried to put forth such an image, emphasizing that it is the Church of "Jesus Christ," but he also suggests that, on the local level, the wards haven't quite caught up. The motivation, then, seems curative, rather than merely critical. It allows for the continuation of the current teaching program of the Church, while also making provision for seasoned students to delve more deeply into the mythos of Mormonism. Let's look at the chapters themselves: 1. Joseph Smith as Translator/Revelator What does the word "translator" really mean? Did Joseph Smith use the word as we use it today? There is abundant evidence that he did not, and that we can only understand the process of revelation vis a vis Joseph Smith as we come to understand how he "translated," not just the plates of the Book of Mormon, but other artifacts. Palmer recounts some of the eyewitness testimony of those present at the creation of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, and other Mormon scriptures. While a consistent story is difficult to put together, there is some evidence that Joseph "translated" the Book of Mormon without having the plates present at all. This, at the very least, stretches the concept of translation to say that the end product is not reliant on the text. Oddly, Palmer moves on to the translation of the Book of Abraham, showing how a direct translation of the text does not yield "The Book of Abraham," but the Egyptian "Book of Breathings." I wondered why, given his acknowledgement of textual independence in the "translation" process, this mattered. I'm still unsure. 2. Authorship of the Book of Mormon Palmer moves on to the question, "Who wrote the Book of Mormon?" He rehearses much material that will be familiar to the seasoned student, drawing heavily from B.H. Roberts' research. But Palmer moves beyond the standard arguments for and against authorship and zeroes in on intent, drawing a conclusion I found to be very healthy. Rather than condemning Joseph Smith as a visionary fraud, as some have done, he reads into Joseph's history a passion for holiness early on, a sincere religious quest that he sought to satisfy via the narrative of the Book of Mormon. What Joseph perceived as wickedness and spiritual alienation caused him deep distress. The Book of Mormon would help remedy the agnosticism and confusion that people of the day felt over religion. As found on the Book of Mormon's title page, it was intended to convince "Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ." It was to promote piety by enhancing belief in the Bible. Mormon 7:9 states explicitly: "For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe [the Bible]." The Book of Mormon called a hypocritical Christian world to repentance. And perhaps more than any other volume except the Bible, it successfully motivated people to confront their sins and come to Christ. (p. 65) I sense here a distinct voice in the reconstruction of Mormonism. It is a voice that wants the message of Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon to be heard, and taught, and believed. The content of the message is solid; it's the packaging he perceives needs more study. 3. The Bible in the Book of Mormon In a largely evidentiary chapter, "The Bible in the Book of Mormon" documents the astounding parallels between the Bible narratives and motifs, and those of the Book of Mormon. In exquisite detail, Palmer compares and contrasts portions of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. An example: the exodus story compared to the story of Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem and travelling to the Promised Land. By Palmer's count, there are twenty points of convergence in the story, and he cites these, with scriptural references. Other parallels are mentioned, most of them familiar and discussed at length by critics for many years. 4. Evangelical Protestantism in the Book of Mormon To what degree did the religious situation of Joseph Smith's time influence the content of the Book of Mormon? Palmer does a fine job of researching statements made by the evangelical preachers of Joseph's time, along with accounts of camp meetings and revivals. He demonstrates similarities in the Book of Mormon, making a case for Joseph's use, in the narrative, of surroundings and situations with which he would be familiar. Much like chapter 3, this chapter is largely documentation. I found myself tiring of the reading about the middle of the chapter, and soon realized that this material, much like an encyclopedia, is more palatable taken in small bites. There is no question that the research is good, though. And his explorations of the relationship of the Book of Mormon's theology and Christology to that of the evangelicals of his time are fascinating. Of particular interest to me was the final part of this chapter, "Religious Feeling and Truth," in which he finds some basis for "Moroni's promise," and which presents a challenge to Mormons: Most of us have felt this spiritual feeling when reading the Book of Mormon or hearing about Joseph Smith's epiphanies. What we interpret this to mean is that we have therefore encountered the truth, and we then base subsequent religious commitments on these feelings. The question I will pose is whether this is an unfailing guide to truth. Is something true because I and others find it edifying? Hundreds of thousands of people believe in the truthfulness of their own religion because of similar confirming experiences. As one example, many people, including myself, felt this confirming spirit when we heard the World War II stories of Utah Congressman Douglas R. Stringfellow. Stringfellow's experiences were later revealed to be a complete hoax. (p. 132-133) The reader is quick to note that Palmer does *not* deny experiencing the feelings promised in the Book of Mormon. He does, however, question whether these "feelings" are a basis for establishing objective truth. His example demonstrates the obvious answer. 5. Moroni and "The Golden Pot" What, pray tell, is the "Golden Pot"? People believed that forest and dale held spirits and hidden treasures that the spirits guarded. A pick and shovel would be insufficient to find and exhume such wonders. An example is found in a popular short story published in Germany in 1824, introduced to America in 1827. The author, E.T.A. Hoffmann...is best known today for "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and "The Sandman." In his day, one of the most influential stories was "The Golden Pot," notable for the fact that although it involved gold and money, the principle [sic] attraction was esoteric knowledge. For our purposes, its parallels to Joseph Smith's experiences are of interest. (p. 136-7) Palmer then narrates the various stages, "or vigils," of the Hoffmann story, demonstrating the parallels to Joseph Smith's own story. It is fascinating reading. 6. Witnesses to the Golden Plates I will say little here, since the material in this chapter is mostly a rehash of information widely available. It calls into question the validity of the testimonies of the witnesses, and shows how other, non-canonical works, were likewise accompanied by such testimonies. 7. Priesthood Restoration Central to the concept of the Restoration is the return of the priesthood keys to the earth with the advent of the prophetic ministry of Joseph Smith, Jr. Angelic visitations, the laying on of hands, etc., are all familiar accounts to Latter-day Saints. Palmer, however, speculates on how much of the standard story is derivative, and how much is based in history. Citing widely from diaries and other contemporary accounts, Palmer shows how the accounts evolved over the years, finally coalescing into a faith-promoting narrative as it is taught today. As in his accounts of an angel and the gold plates, Joseph was willing to expand on another foundational narrative. The events surrounding priesthood restoration were reinterpreted, one detail emphasized over another. A spiritually charged moment when participants felt that the veil between heaven and earth was thin became, in the retelling, an event with no veil at all. The first stories about how Joseph received his authority show that, like other prophets and religious founders throughout history, he and Oliver first received their callings in a metaphysical way. Within a few years, their accounts became more impressive, unique, and physical. (p. 232) I must say that this explanation manifestly does *not* deny the reality of the restoration of the priesthood. And this is critical in understanding Palmer's approach and deep beliefs. One may quarrel with his methodology, or with the conclusions he reaches, but he does not allow these to distance him from what he perceives is the heart of his faith, his Mormonism. 8. The First Vision Finally, this chapter, much like Chapter 6, covers familiar territory. That there were several versions of the First Vision account is no secret. And it isn't particularly scandalous. After all, Bookcraft published an entire volume on the subject some years ago. What sets Palmer's account apart, in my opinion, is his belief that Joseph was motivated by a sincere desire for spiritual enlightenment, open to the moving of the Holy Spirit. So many critics are quick to attribute carnal motives to Joseph's religious story, but Palmer will have none of it. And so, this book is something of an enigma. It is written by a self-styled "insider," and as a retired Institute Director, I suppose he qualifies. He has spent 34 years teaching things that he now confesses are not accurate. Or does he? His approach is cautionary. He supposes that it's fine to teach the distilled versions of the stories to children. In that sense, he at once stifles critics who would accuse him of radical deconstruction, and at the same time provides some justification for the work of his lifetime. Much of the material is familiar; some of it was new to me and was welcome. This book will serve the new student of these new views of Mormon history very nicely. It is written on a popular level, and gives readers enough background material to enable them to decide the issues for themselves. And, let it be known that Palmer remains a Latter-day Saint, honors and finds valuable the core values of his faith, and wants to dig ever deeper into the history and lore of his Church. Much as a treasure hunter seeks gold in the ore, Palmer has set out to mine and explore the mountain of materials available to the Mormon historian. And in so doing, while he has journeyed from the simplicity of his CES teaching, he may be heading toward the Promised Land of clarity and truth. This book will be a good addition to your library. ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com or jeffneedle@tns.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 23 Oct 2002 08:19:24 -0600 (MDT) > I've known Branch Presidents who were single. > > Jacob Proffitt I;ve know Brach Presidents that were 20 year old missionaries assigned to that Branch - so they were definetely single. --ivan wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: [AML] Marvin PAYNE, _One Man_ (Review) Date: 23 Oct 2002 04:42:26 -0600 ONE MAN Marvin Payne, composer and performer 1972 Available on CD for $15.00 "The Best Kept Secret in LDS Music" It was in Bowling Green, Ohio, the most easterly place I'd ever been. Why a Minnesota stake chose that local for a youth conference, I'll never know. The visiting General Authority was Paul Dunn, back in the days when he was cool and his stories were true. My buddies and I, whose soul purpose for attending youth conferences was to check out new LDS babes (an important activity when growing up so far from Utah), were snooping about the college facilities, far away from the legitimate activities of the conference. That's when we came across him. He was all alone as far as we could tell, at one end of the gymnasium, busily plucking away at his guitar and crooning into the microphone. Probably some sound guy was adjusting settings somewhere, but we couldn't see him. That was our introduction to a phenomenon we had never experienced before: somebody who wrote and performed popular songs about being Mormon. That evening we attended his concert. His name was Marvin Payne. We were overwhelmed. We loved his songs. We made complete asses of ourselves afterwards when we had a chance to meet him, as teenage boys are wont to do, but he was a perfect gentleman to us. I've had encounters with him a number of times since then, and he's always been a perfect gentleman to me every time, whether I deserved the treatment or not. And those songs, sung in that melodic vibrato-heavy voice, have haunted me all these years. I headed out to BYU as a freshman, and Marvin made an appearance in Minnesota while I was gone. My mother, knowing how much I liked his music, bought an album for me, which I found waiting when I returned home. That album was called _One Man_. It had an ugly cover. Bland white background with a black and white photograph of Marvin walking outdoors. He had autographed it for me: "Dean's album." I listened to it. Mostly just Marvin Payne singing to his own guitar accompaniment. Sometimes a woman joined in. Sometimes he accompanied himself on the piano. Some of the songs had been performed in Bowling Green. All of the songs were a pleasure to listen to. Fast forward to the year 2002. I read on AML-List that Marvin Payne albums are available again on CD after a long hiatus. Marvin has gone through the old master tapes and salvaged all he could. In my capacity as an airport shuttle driver, I am dispatched one day to the home town of Marvin Payne. I know where he lives, thanks to some interaction in the past: that rustic looking home that is the origin of his email address: paynecabin. I pass by it with my passenger, drop her off, then can't resist as I return. I stop and knock on the door. I don't expect a response--he's probably not home. But within seconds he answers, greets me, and invites me in. Always the perfect gentleman, he wouldn't let on if I was intruding, so I immediately go into my reason for dropping by unannounced: I'm interested in his CDs. I ask how much all of them would be. He has twelve of them, two of which I already have a copy of in one form or another, and I'm not ready that day to cough up the cash it would require to purchase the other ten, even at the volume discount he offered. So I order five. I choose the first one because I want to hear what the earliest Marvin Payne sounds like, the one with love songs because I want to hear what Marvin Payne love songs sound like. And, of course, I choose _One Man_. I tell him to select the last two because I have no basis to decide on the rest. I pay him and walk out with three already-made CDs that were available at the moment, and a promise that he will burn and mail the other two. One of the already-made CDs was _One Man_. With a good forty minute drive back to the airport ahead of me, I waste no time sliding _One Man_ into the CD player. Immediately I am transported back in time. I am surprised that, for a thirty-year old recording on a shoestring budget whose master tape has been languishing neglected somewhere, the sounds of the first song come through beautifully, with only the slightest whisper of tape hiss. Marvin's guitar rings crisply; Marvin's voice warbles beautifully. Some of the other tracks don't fare as well, with a touch of distortion on some of the louder moments, and the occasional piano accompaniment sounding tinny in its reverberation as if recorded in the Relief Society Room on the ward piano. But the haunting compositions still retain their power. And I listen with the schizophrenic ear of a teenaged boy discovering a new wonder and a jaded adult who has long ago wearied of the mushy shinola that permeates LDS art. One of the songs brings a tear to my eye. His messages were often simple and sentimental. In the hands of a modern LDS artist, such messages would all too often be presented in a maudlin fashion with a capital M, using that obligatory Macleanesque musical style. Marvin's songs had lilting, catchy melodies that stimulate the mind rather than anesthetize it, and he spoke their messages with refreshing poetic creativity, using lyrics far removed from Sunday School phraseology. Marvin Payne may very well be the only LDS songsmith who has successfully synthesized traditional, inspirational LDS messages with vibrant, innovative musical composition. And he was doing it back when I graduated from high school, decades ago. To compare modern LDS artists to Marvin Payne would be like comparing the Backstreet Boys to classic folksingers like Jim Croce or Woody Guthrie. The modern artists may have advanced technology and comfortable budgets to produce something of technically superior quality. But the music that contains a soul is to be found in the folksingers of yesteryear. My rediscovery of Marvin Payne showed me that's as true of LDS music as of any other. I run into few people who have even heard of Marvin Payne, let alone are familiar with his music. And since those album-cutting days, he has branched out into theater, leaving behind the regular production of Marvin Payne recordings. It's a shame that his compositions receive such little circulation. Marvin Payne is the best kept secret in LDS music. But not in my airport shuttle van. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lisa Olsen Tait" Subject: Re: [AML] Dean HUGHES, _Troubled Water_ (Review) Date: 23 Oct 2002 13:04:10 -0500 Thanks to Jeff for this review. I read this book, and the previous volume, a couple of weeks ago and I meant to post a review. Jeff's is better than what I would have written anyway, but I want to make a couple of comments. Actually, I've wanted to make a couple of comments about Hughes's books for awhile. Jeff states that he feels this series is more realistic than the original Children of the Promise series; those books were "a bit too rosy in outlook," as he says it. I thought this was especially true of the last volume of Children, which I found to be an unsatisfying conclusion to a series that I had really enjoyed and highly recommended. Several people I know had the same response. On the other hand, I think we could make a case that people's outlook in previous generations was more "rosy" than it is today. I know, I know. I'm grossly over-generalizing, but in my experience, I have seen an optimism and positive attitude in people of my grandparents' generation that seems to be lacking nowadays--a simpler approach to life that looks like rose colored glasses to those of us raised on David Letterman humor and the 24-hour news cycle. Because I didn't like the last book of the Children series as well, I put off reading the books from the new series until recently when I was sufficiently desperate for something to read that I picked them up. I ended up devouring them pretty quickly. Hughes is especially good at characterization. In this series, I am particularly interested in Hans and Kathy. I followed Hans's struggles with interest, as I have a 15 year-old son who is going through some similar thought processes. The crisis of faith and disillusionment rang true with me, and I thought Hughes handled it well without tidying things up too easily. Likewise, Kathy's interests and struggles are well portrayed. I have done some reading by and about people in the various movements of the sixties, and I think Hughes has captured well the feeling of many who did not want to be extremists but who truly believed in the principles and need for change that they were espousing. What I am interested to see, though, is how all of this gets worked out in the end. I have reason to be concerned. In the first series, I thought that one of the most interesting story lines was Bobbi's dilemma in choosing between the non-Mormon professor, whom she seemed to truly love, and the Mormon guy, Richard. For most of the time, her choice didn't seem like a foregone conclusion. In the end, though, the professor got killed and she married the 'right' guy. I felt a little cheated by the way that was resolved. I thought Hughes set up an interesting and realistic situation but then resolved it too neatly, substituting Richard's post-battle trauma for the inner conflict that Bobbi had previously tried to work through. Likewise, in the first series, LaRue, the teenage daughter with a rebellious streak, was a complex and compelling character, and I'm not entirely satisfied with how Hughes has developed her situation. She went away to school back East and has become an economics professor at Smith College, where Kathy goes. LaRue supposedly espouses "liberal" ideas that keep her at odds with the family, and yet in her discussions with Kathy she is quite orthodox. What I'm trying to say, in too many words, is that I think Hughes missed out on the chance to tell a couple of the most interesting stories about his characters. He could have written a whole book on LaRue's experiences instead of skipping over almost 20 years and putting her in the background. How did she come around from being the rebel, so to speak, to being basically an orthodox Mormon? How has she reconciled the "worldly" learning that has become her life with the gospel? Did she _have_ to become reconciled to the church? In both cases, LaRue's and Bobbi's, I felt that it would have been more realistic to have them make the "incorrect" choices and then deal with the fallout. Surely a lot of Mormon girls from good families married non-Mormon guys in the war. Surely a lot of very intelligent young Mormons went off to school in "the world" and found that they could not reconcile the gospel and the church they grew up in with the education they were receiving. Not that either character would have to end up miserable and excommunicated. But I think their stories were heading in one direction and the detour didn't quite ring true to me. That said, I am wondering where Kathy will end up. I hope that by the end of the series her difficulties haven't been too neatly resolved. Whatever the case, I, too, am eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. [Lisa Tait] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dhunt_aml@juno.com Subject: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 23 Oct 2002 18:36:28 GMT I've been writing LDS genre novels off and on for the last fifteen years, and inspirational poetry before that, but am considering a move into LDS screenwriting. I watch ten times more movies than I read books, so I think it makes for me to make this change, but its into uncharted waters for me. A few years ago, I took a writing course from Dave Trottier, the author of "The Screenwriter's Bible," and I bought his book, but that's about it for my exposure to screenwriting, aside from reading scripts from a few movies that I've seen. I also have a cousin (wife's cousin, actually) who is an actor and likes to make his own amateur movies. He's been in a couple of Disney Channel movies and stars as Joseph Smith in a new church video. I think he also starred as Joseph Smith in the production that the church put on with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the Olympics. Anyway, he and I have gotten together and decided to pool our talents. I want to write a simple script for him to produce. Nothing fancy, just something to get our feet wet and have fun. Hopefully I can gain a little experience with scripts so that maybe I can actually produce something that might be marketable later on. I'm not new to writing by any means, but I do want to try my hand at something new and possibly shift my writing focus, given the current advances in LDS filmmaking lately. Is there anyone who can give me any advice on how to get started into screenwriting? Or possibly more specifically, into LDS genre screenwriting? I would LOVE to get any help from anyone who's been doing this. Also, I'm looking forward to the writers conference and meeting you all again. See you there! Darvell Hunt Saratoga Springs, Utah ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Teaching at BYU Date: 23 Oct 2002 13:12:33 -0600 Fred Pinnegar wrote: >First, people who complain about teaching at BYU have not taught long = >enough >elsewhere.=20 >Having taught at three major institutions and a dozen smaller schools, I = >love >BYU. =20 I agree with Fred on this point. I've taught at two other schools, and I = also love BYU. I plan to stay here for life. I love the kids, and I = enjoy my colleagues, and the bureaucratic nonsense that exists here, and = the limitations on academic freedom, while galling at times, are no worse = than those that prevail at other institutions. Having said that, we = should acknowledge that there are limitations on academic freedom, and = there is a certain amount of bureaucratic nonsense. To say 'well, it's = bad other places too,' while true, does not also mean that we shouldn't = acknowledge genuine problems here, and work to overcome them. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 23 Oct 2002 14:22:09 -0600 Eric Samuelson said: What's the difference between an active, devout, caring, spiritual single man and a married one? He's got a wife. Maybe we women make a bigger difference than we know . . . When my father was called to preside over a mission and my parents were in training, they were told how mission presidents were called. Something along the lines of--they look for someone deeply spiritual, committed, hard working, good looking, and so forth . . . and then call her husband. : ) Seriously, there are probably lots of reasons, but I think one might be the fact that a bishop would be able to help his flock better if he understood what most of them are living. A married bishop has been single, but a single bishop (not divorced or widowed) wouldn't know first-hand what marriage is like. Just a thought. I'll have to pass on some of these single bishop posts to my husband, to defend Brigham City. One of his complaints about both it and GA were that they had circumstances that could never happen, the single bishop in BC and a missionary dying of cancer in the field in GA. At least I can vindicate the former complaint--although I must agree that no mission president would be allowed to keep an elder with a terminal illness. Not that the fact kept me from enjoy the film. Annette Lyon -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 23 Oct 2002 17:08:44 -0600 > Alan Rex Mitchell wrote: Just remember, its Ugly Duckling storyline and > message of kindness to homely women have made it a powerful cultural symbol. Arrgh! I know that Alan didn't intend unkindness, but that term "homely women" is exactly what pains us. So many of us doubt our beauty and no "message of kindness to homely women" (ouch! ouch!) is going to change that. What we NEED is a message that we are loved outside of the realm of our looks. Seriously, I never believed I was beautiful till I remarried (almost 50) and now I'm almost sort of perhaps starting to believe it. The media messages of what our culture (at the moment) decrees is beautiful are too overwhelming. What if Mahanna was truly plain and Johnny Lingo, the gorgeous great catch of the universe (another dilemma--is ending up with a handsome hunk necessary to the happy ending? Are any of the men in the audience cringing because they know that they aren't really such a handsome hunk as Johnny?) still adored her. Now that would be an encouraging story. Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ (Review) Date: 23 Oct 2002 17:33:54 -0600 On Mon, 21 Oct 2002 16:54:19 -0700 (PDT), R.W. Rasband wrote: > The most dangerous segment of the play is "NCMO" (somebody should ask >Samuelsen what this title means; it's probably an abbreviation the hip >people already know.) It stands for Non-Committal Make Out and is pronounced "nic-mo". = Meaning, when two people get all passionate and kissy and don't want anything else from the relationship, but stop short of physical intercourse (or = sometimes it's just one person who sees it as a NCMO, which seems a lot sadder to = me). And no, I don't know this from personal experience. It was a common term when I was at BYU. Melissa Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 23 Oct 2002 17:41:30 -0600 On Fri, 18 Oct 2002 16:29:37 -0600, Eric R. Samuelsen wrote: >As far as single bishops go, though, here's my question. What's the = difference between an active, devout, caring, spiritual single man and a = married one? The single one, presumably, has never had sex. So am I = missing something, or is it the official position of the Church that sex = confers wisdom, or spiritual insight, or some other bishoply attributes?=20 But the married one doesn't go out and have sex with just anyone; he has = it with his WIFE. From what I hear from bishops, a wife's support is = essential to success in their calling. But I suppose your theory could be tested, = if you could convince a married bishop to go celibate for a few months.... Melissa Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 23 Oct 2002 18:01:03 -0700 Jim Wilson wrote: > I don't think the > current band of Gadianton robbers sometimes called Al Qaeda would be > impressed by an Anti-Nephi-Lehi kind of demonstration. They wouldn't stop > at a mere 2 or 3 thousand dead. For those who might consider putting the Anti-Nephi-Lehi scenario in a fictional setting, you should know that the trick used there wherein more joined the Church than were killed is par for the course. It was the same during the Roman persecutions of the Christians. Far more people joined the Church than were put to death by the Romans until the Romans wised up and stopped trying to kill them. Later persecutions were aimed exclusively at notable leaders, scripture burning, and the taking of Church property. Whenever one of the later Emperors forgot and started killing Christians willy-nilly he was always reminded of the facts of life by a huge increase in the ranks of the Christians. Richard Hopkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: [AML] Re: _Brigham City_ Date: 23 Oct 2002 18:24:26 -0600 At 05:34 PM 10/22/02 -0400, you wrote: >You'd be surprised how many negative criticisms I've received as a result of >including events, characters, props, wardrobe, etc., based on my own life >experiences. I bought Brigham City the other day and showed it to my family. They all thought it was great. They tried in vain to guess who the killer was ("It's him! No, it's him! No, it's her! No, it's gotta be him! No, he's too obvious!") and they all understood what Wes was going through about denial. My daughter has a friend whose uncle was bopping all the little girls in the family, but nobody would believe it and he kept right on sitting up on the stand every Sunday. Her sister married at 15 to escape from that--the first guy who asked her. She's the young woman who was recently murdered in Spanish Fork by that very guy she hoped would provide her safety from the pedophile at home. My daughter's friend told on her uncle and he lost his job as a teacher. The friend was scolded for washing the family laundry in public, and the perp had his lawn mowed by the Boy Scouts in the ward while he was awaiting trial. Wes did not want to admit that there are black sheep in the fold, but he had the intelligence and integrity to face up to it when it was right in front of him. Some among us still refuse to admit it. barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 23 Oct 2002 18:41:12 -0600 Nan McCulloch asked: > When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before > they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most > insignificant insect. I have read about them, but can't remember all the > details. Does anyone remember the name of this group? I don't have time to > look it up. I believe those are the Jaina. Depending on who you talk to, Jainaism is viewed as either an early form of Hinduism or as a separate religion that predates Hinduism. They have a similar philosophy of reincarnation to the Hindu, though without the caste system. They believe that the works of your previous life determine what kind of creature you are in this life, but have a much more liberal view of how one begins the path toward enlightenment. Basically, any animal of five senses (pretty much any mammal) has the ability to reach the fourth level of enlightenment and set their feet irrevocably on the path toward enlightenment (a concept not entirely unlike our own concept of "calling and election made sure"), at which point all carma will drop away from the soul and it can rise to the top of the universe to unite with the divine. Since all animals (I'm not sure what their take on plants is) contain a spirit with equal potential to all other animals (humans included), all animals (including insects, spiders, and arguably bacteria) are viewed as equivalent in worth. So the orthodox Jaina go to extraordinary efforts to preserve animal life, including using a peacock feather to brush small insects from their path so they don't inadvertantly step on them, and wearing a cheesecloth mesh across their mouths to ensure they don't accidentally inhale a gnat or other flying insect. They tend to be strict vegetarians, and to intentionally eat as little as possible to maintain their own health. One of the fundamental paradoxes of Jaina philosophy is that to live one must eat, and to eat one must kill. They can't simply stop eating because then they would be guilty of the inten tional death of an animal--themselves--with the result that they would regress in the cycle of lives and doom themselves to another turn of the wheel. Since plants are viewed as the lowest of all forms of life, they are consumed as sparingly as possible and with profound respect (I recall a statistic that devout Jaina eat a starvation diet of about 40% less than would be considered necessary for minimal health; I can't confirm the validity of the statistic, though). I once wrote a fantasy short story about a Bengal tiger that reached the fourth stage of enlightenment (out of twenty four total stages) while literally in mid-chew of our POV character. Jaina philosophy founded the basis of my world creation and I did a fair amount of reading on it ten years ago. Their deep respect for life changed my own approach. While I won't sweep the ground of bugs before I sit and I still eat plenty of animals, I've at least taken to shooing most bugs and spiders out of my house rather than simply squashing them like I used to. FWIW. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "BJ Rowley" Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 23 Oct 2002 17:38:09 -0700 > > >(I >don't think you can break a sealing with a dead spouse, since they have to >give their consent, but presumably the sealing could be broken in the >afterlife, if all parties agree.) > I'm sure it's extremely rare, but it has been done. My sister was temple-married to a returned missionary, and they had had three children born in the covenant when her husband died in an accident. At that point, he had been inactive for some time. I don't know all the details, or the exact justifications or processes involved, but I DO know that several months after his death, their sealing was anulled or broken (or whatever the correct term), and she re-married in the temple, for time AND eternity, and was sealed, along with the three kids, to her new husband. They have had three more since then, and all six are theirs. -BJ Rowley -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Reading in Church Date: 23 Oct 2002 18:54:17 -0600 I took courage from your posts and took along a book last Sunday--_Bonds that Make Us Free_ by Terry Warner, which, by the way, is hitting my top ten list, a book that I, the last of the cheapskates, would by buy the box and give for gifts. It is an extremely important book. When I'm all done reading it, I will definitely review it for the list. However, I think my family was less embarrassed by my reading this book than my usual Sunday behavior, which is drawing sketches of people in my sketchbook :). Reading the book and sharing passages with my 16-year-old as I went along, I assure you that I had a much much better time in Sacrament Meeting than I've had in a long time. Thank you for emboldening me :). Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 23 Oct 2002 19:03:37 -0600 Barbara Hume wrote: > At 10:21 PM 10/16/02 -0700, you wrote: > >Being widowed doesn't make Mormons single. (And > >technically, neither does divorce.) > > Ewww! Then I'm glad I got divorced before I joined the church! > You know, of course, that when two previously temple-married and then civilly divorced people want to be sealed, the wife's former sealing is cancelled while the husband's remains intact and he is given a clearance for the subsequent sealing. I guess there are good reasons for that, and definitely there will always be free agency. Still it makes me think that despite our protestations we Mormons remain ambiguous about polygamy. Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 23 Oct 2002 21:15:08 -0600 D. Michael Martindale wrote: > I think somewhere in the middle of writing it, [Stranger > In a Strange Land] the real Heinlein was devoured and > replicated by an extraterrestial pod creature, because his writing was > never the same after that. Actually, while writing _Stranger In A Strange Land_ Heinlein had a stroke, and it's been argued that his altered brain physiology did in fact change the way he both viewed the world and how he communicated that viewpoint from that point on. In many ways he literally became a different person after the stroke. Which raises an entirely different set of issues about how physiology affects both perception and our ability to choose, and what that means in terms of agency. But that's a completely different topic... Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 23 Oct 2002 22:26:39 -0600 > Jim Wilson said: > I haven't heard of a culture yet that values women any better. Beauty is > always valued, and there is nothing that will change that. If a woman doesn't happen to be beautiful, then where will she find her value? I believe that in Mormon culture where it is preached from birth to death that a woman's highest glory is in marriage and motherhood that an unattractive woman has an especially difficult time. Yes I agree that one's smile, energy, intelligence and personality can make a big difference. Physical beauty is not everything! However, women that are significantly overweight or that have severe complexion problems, may have a difficult time dating, much less being proposed to. Yes, they can tell themselves that in the next life they will have a chance at marriage, but again that is a long time to wait! Like is unfair as you say. But if our culture did not place constant emphasis on the MOST important role being that of wife and mother, it might be easier for women to feel equal and validated in terms of work. Yes, an unattractive man may have the same struggle. But truly I believe men are often valued more for their work, their achievement, their financial success. I think these methods of judging are sexist and not to be encouraged, but still a reality in our culture today. I think this unwarranted > denigration > of Johnny Lingo (the character, not the film), and Mahanna is silly. I > admire his character. I don't see any reason to think he's lying when he > says he loved her from boyhood. I don't think he is lying and I'm not judging Johnny negatively. I just think that he is, as you say, responding to a beautiful woman in a way that is time-honored. It is just too bad that life is unfair and that every woman can't have a fairytale wedding like my new daughter-in-law had a couple of weeks ago. She's a lovely petite young woman, my son is a large handsome young man. One girl at their wedding luncheon said, "I'm so jealous!!" I feel empathy, that's all. There's no reason to judge so harshly, > particularly out of the context of the presented culture. > Cripes, who would > want to be held to such a standard? Just because I'm critiquing the sexist equation--that values women for beauty and men for money--does not mean I'm criticizing Johnny or men in general! Gae Lyn Henderson. > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Ben Christensen" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 23 Oct 2002 22:22:48 -0600 > When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before > they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most > insignificant insect. I have read about them, but can't remember all the > details. Does anyone remember the name of this group? I don't have time to > look it up. This is a belief in Jainism-most monks only own a broom with which they sweep away insects and a bowl to collect food from people Jessie Christensen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jim/Laurel Brady" Subject: RE: [AML] Types of Bishops Date: 23 Oct 2002 22:19:04 -0600 Laraine wrote: "She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously from the very beginning because a sheriff would never be called to be a bishop. Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. I tend to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church employee." And Fred wrote: "By the way, Lt Edwards of the Orem Police Dept, doesn't seem to feel any conflict of interest in his stake presidency calling. In fact, his high calling often helps perps "come to Jesus" in the interrogation room." So now I'm writing: I happen to work at the Orem PD with Fred's friend, Doug Edwards. Doug doesn't do much interrogating these days as he's serving in the administration end of things right now. But he and I were chatting today when I mentioned this thread on the list and the whole "can cops be Bishops" question. Interestingly, Doug said there apparently HAS been a policy change in just the past year or so and cops really are no longer supposed to be called as Bishops. He said there is not (to his knowledge) any restriction on them serving as counselors or in stake callings, but they aren't supposed to be Bishops anymore. And this is not just chiefs or department heads, but ANY police officer. It was his understanding the new policy is intended as a protection for the officers who frequently find themselves in uncomfortable situations where they have to arrest ward members and neighbors. It has always been a sort of unwritten policy in the police departments where I've worked that whenever possible, officers are not assigned to cases that involve family, friends, neighbors, and frequently, ward members, since it invites difficulties and emotional turmoil and bad feelings and all that. If this actually is a new church policy, it's interesting to see the church thinking the same way. So I guess some of us might owe that poor church employee an apology. Maybe she DOES know all kinds of secret stuff. Laurel Brady -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jim/Laurel Brady" Subject: RE: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 23 Oct 2002 22:50:45 -0600 [MOD: I'm letting this through, but let me remind one and all that determining what Church policies are is not technically part of AML-List's brief. At a time of heavy volume, I'd like to not get too wound up in such relatively peripheral (for our list) questions. On the other hand, the later part of Laurel's post is completely appropriate to AML-List, dealing as it does with conceptions of how the LDS version of heaven would be and how it can be depicted in Mormon literature.] Chris wrote: Now, I have heard that sometimes women can be sealed to two or more men I believe the actual wording of this policy (which if memory serves was new sometime in the late 80's) is to the effect that a woman can be sealed to any man that she has been married to in this life, even if it's more than one. It's one of those things that will get straightened out in the next life, whatever that turns out to mean. And in the sealing of children, it's my understanding that what's important is the ordinance itself, not the "who". Again, one of those things that will work itself out in the next life when we're all a little less worried about some of the picky details because we'll finally "get" a lot of stuff that we are currently a little too temporal minded to accept and understand. I sometimes envision the Celestial Kingdom as kind of like a really big ward where we (gee, I hope I'm part of the "we") all somehow are grouped in family units, but also bonded closely to our whole "ward family." Of course, we each have our own idea of how all this will work and I wish we'd explore the next life a little more in our literature - there's hours and hours of fun to be had. If we were a little more able to laugh at ourselves, I think there's tons of good sitcom material there, and about a million fun novels. I might add, I'm looking forward to getting to the next life for several reasons, not the least of which is because half of my kids have courageous and loving birth mothers they will probably never meet in this life. Those kids were sealed to my husband and I, but I am certain they will have a deep and eternal bond with the birthmoms that loved them so deeply long before I did. I like to think these good women will somehow be a part of our family in some beautiful eternal way. Laurel Brady -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Authenticity in UDALL, _Edgar Mint_ Date: 23 Oct 2002 23:10:09 -0600 Andrew, I agree totally with your take on this review. Edgar Mint had no memory of his life before the accident. He had no conscious cultural identity. How could he have absorbed culture from his hospital stay and his brief time at the Indian school. I think that is unrealistic. This is a very good book. The only criticism I have is that from start to finish the book is so well written and it is such exciting reading that the ending seems somewhat disappointing. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 23 Oct 2002 23:42:22 -0600 Marriage doesn't just confer sex. Marriage carries with it a unique and intimate relationship that takes you out of your own head better than any other. As such, it confers a chance for wisdom that is impossible in a single person. Not that a single person can't be as wise, just that the married person has a wider opportunity to challenge pre-conceived notions--is forced into uncomfortable consideration and self-examination that can be avoided by non-married people. A married person confronts a truly alien perspective as a matter of course. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Dewey Remy Subject: RE: [AML] Generalizing from Experience Date: 23 Oct 2002 22:48:03 -0700 Richard Dutcher said: "even those of us on this list tend to universalize our personal LDS experience. As experts on Mormonism, as all of us would surely claim to be (on some level), we dismiss the representation of anything outside our own limited experience as implausible, unrealistic or simply wrong. We may reject or mock someone's work because of our own, and not the author's, ignorance." [snip!] I think that this issue is a complex one. Consider the following: I wrote a semi-autobiographical story about a young Mormon who attends his grandfather's funeral in Japan while serving a full-time mission (shameless self-promotion: it will appear in the next issue of Sunstone Magazine). In real life, I received permission from the Mission and Area Presidents to cross six missions, travelling alone, to attend the funeral. When I crafted the story, I felt it necessary to create a companion to accompany the main character to make the situation more believable to my Mormon au dience. I stopped reading Tom Clancy because I had a hard time accepting some of the out of the ordinary events he included in his books. He made terrorists nuke a SuperBowl Stadium in Denver and had a Japanese pilot fly an otherwise empty jumbo jet kamikaze-style into the U.S. Capitol building (I think that most of the Democrats die in this attack...perhaps this is the real reason I stopped reading Clancy? ;^) Years later, real-life terrorists fly jumbo jets full of men, women and children into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. If Clancy, or anyone else, had inserted this horrible scenario into a story or a movie before September 2001, would the readers have accepted the event as plausible within the confines of the world the author created? I think that we can all point to bizarre experiences that support Mark Twain's observation that "the truth is stranger than fiction." Writers still have to consider their audience, however. While Richard states that we shouldn't limit our presentation to the plain and ordinary, I caution that just because we can point to examples of the out of the ordinary in our own experience doesn't mean that we can safely include them in our works. We can't lose our audiences by inserting things which is beyond belief. The writer has to carefully convince the audience to suspend their disbelief. Writers have the tricky task of keeping the audience in a delicate bubble of virtuality for the duration of their experience. This means that they can't burst that bubble by subjecting the audience to events that they can't accept. This may have been part of Stephen Spielberg's motivation when he chose not to display some of the Nazi's most hideous acts in _Schindler's List_ (he specifically gives the example of SS troops throwing Jewish babies into the air for target practice). That said, _God's Army_ and _Brigham City_ were two of the most realistic and believeable Mormon movies I have experienced. By contrast, the more mundane presentations are too ordinary to reflect acceptable reality. John Remy UC Irvine -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 24 Oct 2002 00:29:48 -0600 > CASTING SESSION > All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical > condition The very first requirement. This ought to be some inspirational adaptation of the Book of Mormon. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jennifer Ellsworth" Subject: Re: [AML] Training for Bishops Date: 24 Oct 2002 07:51:24 -0600 I doubt this experience generalizes to the training of all bishops, but when my husband was the 2nd councilor in a BYU student ward he was invited to attend a seminar put on a by local therapists in private practice. The meeting was for bishopric members and addressed both basic counseling skills (e.g. empathic listening) and when to consider making a referral to a mental health professional. Although he's no longer in the bishopric, my husband still occasionally receives announcements through the mail from the same group offering similar seminars. -Jennifer Ellsworth -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: Re: [AML] Reading in Church Date: 24 Oct 2002 08:42:13 -0500 At 10:57 PM 10/21/02, Roberto Gomez wrote: >If you really want to get away with reading in church, try doing it on your >Palm Pilot. There's a good selection of free Palm-format texts at: > >http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html > >They've got the Bible, too, so you can always claim you're just looking up >the scriptures! Not necessarily: <> --Ronn! :) I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed that I would see the last. --Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 24 Oct 2002 09:03:53 -0500 At 09:59 AM 10/19/02, Marilyn Brown wrote: >Tony Markham wrote: A one-armed veteran of the bug > > wars taught the class and explained to these peace-loving Mormons that >sometimes you just had to kill bugs. > >Interesting! We don't talk about killers much in Mormon lit, do we? I just >want to know if when anyone else pinches bugs they feel they are getting the >experience of being a killer? I do. When I find a bug (Earth type, not giant SF monster) in the house, if possible, I frequently try to catch it and then release it outside. Unfortunately, since I have not learned the language necessary to communicate my intentions to insects, all too often they try to get away from me and they end up getting mortally injured in the process . . . (For some reason even my cats just sit there watching a bug crawl/fly around and wait for me to attempt to round it up rather than "playing" with it . . . ) --Ronn! :) I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed that I would see the last. --Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 24 Oct 2002 08:56:19 -0500 At 02:41 PM 10/21/02, Preston wrote: >http://www.bookofmormonmovie.com/cast/index.html > >CASTING SESSION > >An open casting session will be held on November 2, 2002 at >the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel, 255 South West Temple, from >9:a.m. to 5:p.m. > >All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical >condition, IOW, unless you look exactly like the Friberg illustrations, you need not apply? --Ronn! :) I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed that I would see the last. --Dr. Jerry Pournelle -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: [AML] re: Generalizing from Experience Date: 24 Oct 2002 14:00:44 -0600 "The character of Elder Dalton, in fact, was based on a real missionary from the L. A. mission whose cancer returned and who served in the field until the day he died. Incredible, but true." Richard, I stand corrected. New motto: never say never. :) Annette Lyon -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Janelle Higbee" Subject: [AML] Re: Starship Mormons Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:47:23 -0600 -----Original Message----- "When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before= they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most insignif= icant insect." My favorite stories about American folk hero Johnny Appleseed say he would = douse his campfire at night for fear a mosquito would inadvertently fly i= nto it and be killed. And he would sing hymns to the rattlesnakes he met= along his path. =20 By all reports, Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) was a very religious man, a= zealous follower of the Christian gospel as preached by Emmanuel Swedenb= org, and along with his apple seeds used to distribute pages of Swedenbor= gian texts while crying, "Good news! Good news fresh from heaven!" (Whet= her he learned his love of animals from Swedenborg, I couldn't say. Chap= man was also kicked in the head by a horse at a young age. That may expla= in some of his eccentric behavior later in life.) I always wanted to grow up to be Johnny Appleseed. I still invoke his examp= le every time I carefully step over a line of ants marching along the sid= ewalk, or release a spider from the confines of my bathtub. -Janelle Higbee -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Janelle Higbee" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:31:16 -0600 -----Original Message----- Jacob Proffitt: "the married person...has a wider opportunity to challenge pre-conceived no= tions--is forced into uncomfortable consideration and self-examination th= at can be avoided by non-married people. A married person confronts a tru= ly alien perspective as a matter of course." As a single woman over the age of 30, I submit (and testify) that an unmarr= ied Mormon confronts an alien perspective when dealing with married peopl= e every day. Especially when dealing with married Mormons. Believe you m= e, there is no shortage of my opportunity to challenge pre-conceived noti= ons. It is such stuff as dramatic conflicts are made on. Janelle Higbee -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: katie@aros.net Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 24 Oct 2002 08:17:07 -0600 Quoting Robert Slaven : Robert Slaven: > ObLiteraryTie-In: A novel about a person (girl?) whose abusive member > father > dies, whose nice mother remarries a nice man, and how the girl reconciles > her > hatred for her father's actions and her growing respect and love for her > stepfather with the fact that she's sealed to dad and not stepdad. And how > she grows into nonetheless having a love and forgiveness for her father, and > loving being part of a family with her stepfather, and realising that > worrying > about who she's sealed to (who she "belongs" to) is a bogus worry. This is actually how the Stansfield books work out (I assume you're talking about the "First Love and Forever" trilogy). They do hash out the idea that Emily is sealed to her first husband and can't be sealed to Mr. Wonderful. And the idea that all of their kids will be sealed to her and Husband #1 gets them down for awhile. But eventually they realize that the Lord will bless them with the righteous desires of their hearts, and they have full faith that in the next life they'll be together. In another book, it's mentioned that they've asked their grown children to have them sealed to each other after their deaths. (You have to remember that Stansfield books always end with the characters living happily ever after! ;) --Katie Parker -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ken Burton Subject: [AML] Re: Types of Bishops Date: 24 Oct 2002 08:56:26 -0600 My bishop in Nevada when I was in high school was sheriff and at another time constable. Ken Burton -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marianne Hales Harding" Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 24 Oct 2002 09:23:42 -0600 >All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical >condition, with EXCEPTIONAL acting talent and ability. >Please bring "head shots" if you have them. This is a >non-union production. NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Gosh, usually people are looking for untalented and grotesquely ugly people to be in their movie...I'm so glad they specified their unique requests in all caps. Marianne Hales Harding _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Rachel Ann Nunes" Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 24 Oct 2002 09:42:13 -0600 > Now, I have heard that sometimes women can be sealed to two or more men, > with the understanding that a future choice will take place and ultimately > she will remain sealed to only one man. But I think that only happens > posthumously, doesn't it? Actually, Chris, this was how Anita Stansfield resolved this in a later book. The first husband (now dead) was neglectful to the point of abuse while the second was a faithful, loving spouse. He had crises of faith, however, because he feared that she would end up with the first husband and not with him (as had happened before when she chose to marry the first husband because he was a member and at the time the second was not). Finally, she made her children agree to seal her to the second husband after her death, and he had to trust that she would ultimately chose him. In my research, I've run across women who have been sealed to two men. And one case even at the same time while they were all living (in the early church era). Can't quote the source for you now, though. Been too long. Rachel -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 24 Oct 2002 09:48:06 -0600 Is that the same group that wears face masks to avoid breathing in (and thereby killing) any air-borne microorganisms? I don't remember the name, but Philip Roth has a character join that group in his phenomenal _American Pastoral_, which would make good background reading on the subject if you're looking for that. Chris Bigelow -----Original Message----- Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 2:09 PM When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most insignificant insect. I have read about them, but can't remember all the details. Does anyone remember the name of this group? I don't have time to look it up. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 24 Oct 2002 13:48:44 -0400 At 04:29 PM 10/15/02 -0700, you wrote: >Richard Johnson wrote: > > >> That's the rule. According to the scriptures "The husband of one wife". >> I'm not sure how they wiggled that for my ancestor who was a bishop (and >> mayor of Ogden) with six wives. > >Actually, I believe the Greek text suggests that a bishop must be the >husband of [at least] one wife. Polygamy was not uncommon at that time, and >was expressly provided for in the Mosaic Law. > >Richard Hopkins Not reading Greek (nor for that matter not having read commentaries on Titus that explicated them)I now understand why our Stake President discussed the one wife issue as the High Council was discussing a Bishop call, but never explained my ancestor. (His name was Luman A. Shurtliff, by the way) Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 24 Oct 2002 10:52:27 -0600 Okay (sigh), once more into the breech. Yes, all texts convey multiple meanings, yes, some texts speak so = powerfully to some audiences that those of us who don't belong to those = audience should probably keep mum, and certainly, absolutely, all us BYU = professor types are frequently, if not exclusively, up-in-the-night = elitists. Guilty as charged. =20 All that aside, I really don't know how it's possible to miss the primary = message of Johnny Lingo: the worth of a woman is determined by men, based = on a man's appraisal of her physical attractiveness. Mahana is 'ugly.' = But no! Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for her! Turns out she's beautiful! = And so Johnny Lingo's assessment of her wins out. =20 But Johnny Lingo (the character and also the movie) isn't asking us to = reevaluate our notions of what constitutes 'worth' or 'value' or what = weight we put on other human qualities, or anything of the sort. Johnny = just thinks she's hot, and that her family and friends are dopes for not = having seen it. But he's using precisely the same assessment criteria = everyone else is using. =20 Now look, some of y'all say this film has been valuable, even life-changing= ly positive, in the lives of some students who have seen it. I don't have = any reason to doubt you, I just don't know those kids. The kids I know = take great pleasure in mocking this film. But I can't see how anyone can = get anything positive out of it except, 'guys may not like you now, but = someday, one guy will consider you pretty, and you'll find that life is = wonderful.' Reaffirming the movie's central premise, in other words. 'Hey = young lady, you may have real nagging doubts about yourself, about your = looks and your ability to attract men. Fact is, you won't ever marry = unless some guy thinks you're hot. But odds are, some guy will. So feel = good about yourself!' We don't really question the underlying cultural assumptions of this film, = because in LDS culture, we continue to put a premium on female physical = attractiveness, and we tend to accept unquestioningly the values of our = (American, western) society. But am I really so off base in asking if = those values aren't in fact carnal, sensual and devilish? That the = inherent worth of any human being, any son or daughter of God has NOTHING = to do with some accident of physiognomy? That Mahana's 'worth' depending = on how much some guy is willing to pay for her is an utterly offensive, = repugnant notion at practically every level? Okay, I'm standing here on this soapbox, and feeling more than a little = foolish. Some of you have had positive experiences with this film. I = haven't, and I haven't met anyone who has. So, different worlds. But = those of you who say that this film has had a positive impact on the lives = of LDS kids you've taught or dealt with, let me ask this question. Is = that positive impact actually rooted in the gospel? Is it actually rooted = in some actual truth about life or God or humanity? Or is it at the level = that says 'it's true, your worth will be determined by some guy. But = don't worry! That guy exists! When you meet him, he'll think you're = worth eight cows! Have hope!" Reaffirming the apostate, diabolical, evil = message that I find at the heart of this ludicrous little film. Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Trading Characters Date: 24 Oct 2002 11:03:35 -0600 Trading Characters: a family game, played for fun and profit. What you do is, you trade the main characters of two literary works, to = see how much damage you can do to both. The classic example is Hamlet and Othello. If Hamlet were the main = character of Othello, there wouldn't be a play. Hamlet is way too smart, = and skeptical and cynical not to see through Iago in about ten seconds. = He wouldn't do anything about Iago's treachery, but he'd see through it. = Meanwhile, Othello would hear the Ghost out, say 'okay, kill Claudius, no = prob', look him up, run him through, and that would be that. =20 I was thinking about this in relation to Charly and Single's Ward. In = Charly, an outgoing, vivacious, fun young woman finds herself stuck in an = incomprehensible marriage with Sam, the ultimate stick-in-the-mud. In = Single's Ward, Jon, a stand-up comedian and a really fun character, is = stuck with Cammie, this humorless drip. Sam and Cammie, though, there's a = match made in heaven--quiet evenings at home, reconciling their palm = pilots. And Jon and Charly would have a lot of fun together. Of course, = there'd be no conflict in either film, and so they'd neither of them work. = Which is all to the good. . . .=20 Eric Samuelsen =20 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] The Bridge Date: 24 Oct 2002 16:44:47 -0400 I never saw (or even heard of) the movie, but the story therein is one of my pet peeves. I have heard it from the pulpit many times. Now, I am much less antagonistic to speeches in Sacrament meeting than most of you who have commented. I ENJOY Sacrament meeting generally speaking and an deeply fed spiritually. (I am of an age when I do doze once in a while-- but rarely) But this story is so inaccurate in its symbolism. Christ was not trapped by his life, mission and crucifiction, he volunteered. My second son was sitting next to me last Sunday when one of the missionaries began that talk. He stood, harrumphed, and stomped out of the place, to return after the change of speakers. I am embarrassed to say that I didn't follow him. I followed Scott's admonition and read a book. (so okay, it was the priesthood manual, but I don't carry other books- its just the way I am.) Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Membership Records Date: 24 Oct 2002 16:53:23 -0400 At 04:29 PM 10/18/02 -0600, you wrote: >I like this idea, the female bishop. A comedy based on membership records, hmmm . . . . > >Actually, see, I'm dead. I was listed on my old ward's membership records as 'deceased.' Been quite an experience, being dead. I'm not sure what to do with it fictionally speaking, but it's interesting. > This reminds me of my wife's grandmother. She was an active member all her life. He husband left her for another woman when she still had four small children. It never occurred to her to go to the temple until she was in her eighties. She got her recommend and showed up at the temple to find out that she had received her endowments by proxy almost ten years before. If you think hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you should see the fury of a woman who was counted out dead. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 24 Oct 2002 19:04:35 EDT In a message dated 10/24/02 4:41:07 PM Mountain Daylight Time, dhunt_aml@juno.com writes: << Is there anyone who can give me any advice on how to get started into screenwriting? Or possibly more specifically, into LDS genre screenwriting? >> To Darvell Hunt: First of all, stay away from thinking about writing something in the "LDS genre." If you go about it with that mindset, you're going to find yourself writing down to your audience. You're not some guy behind the counter at Burger King filling somebody's order. The only genre you should be concerned about is the "Darvell Hunt genre." Write the stories that are deep within you and that are dying to get out. Don't worry, they'll be Mormon enough. At least they will be if you are enough of a Mormon. If you don't think you have any stories deep within yourself, keep looking. If you still can't find any, then do all of us Mormons a favor and don't write. The last thing we need is one more Mormon businessperson pretending to be an artist and cluttering up our movie screens. As for books and such: beware of any screenwriting guru who preaches any formula or structure for success. Just write from the gut of your soul. Richard Dutcher -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:46:44 -0600 >-----Original Message----- >Christopher Bigelow > >On Barbara Hume's Stansfield question, my understanding after >researching the question as an Ensign reporter and as a >concerned individual is that sealings of children follow the >mother, not the father. [snip] >These are rich complexities for fiction. For about three >years, I was sealed to two women, but then my ex got our >sealing canceled when she got remarried. I attended her >sealing to her new husband because I had given consent for the >daughter my ex and I adopted to be sealed to my ex and her new >husband at the time of their temple wedding, since she'd never >been sealed before our divorce and it was really the only >option for getting her sealed to SOMEONE, which is always >better than nothing. (Also present at the sealing ceremony >were my ex-wife's husband's ex-wife and the birth mother of >the son my ex and I previously adopted. I assume that adopted >son, who we had sealed to us, is now automatically sealed to >my ex and her new husband. I'm sure I love him more than his >step-father does, but I'm completely free of romantic turmoil >about it. The patriarchal order trumps love, or there would be chaos.) > You call what you just described NOT chaos? I'm more confused about the true order of things then before I read this. Can you try again using Husband One and Husband Two. I got lost trying to keep track of all the "he's." Thom Duncan >Chris Bigelow > > >-- >AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon >literature online.org/list/index.html> > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:44:19 -0600 At 07:03 PM 10/23/02 -0600, you wrote: >Still it makes me think that despite our >protestations we Mormons remain ambiguous about polygamy. I'm no longer ambiguous about the concept of plural wives. I reject it. I may be proven wrong, but a system that treats one gender as deserving of more privilege than the other is not consistent with the God I know. I guess I've just seen too much "But it's different for men" excuse-making in my life. If I had a husband who brought home some chick and told me that he'd be sleeping with her from now on, by golly. . . . . . [bleep] H'mmm. I seem to be with Emma on this one. But no one has vowed to come get me if I wind up in the hot place. . . . . barbara hume -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "BJ Rowley" Subject: Re: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:16:51 -0700 I bought the software MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER a couple of years ago, which I have found to be fairly popular. As a purchase perk, I receive regular e-mails with tips and tricks and other good stuff from the Screenwriter folks. It's mainstream (not specifically LDS), but very professional. A good place to look. -BJ Rowley -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Dean HUGHES, _Troubled Water_ (Review) Date: 24 Oct 2002 17:42:00 -0700 Thanks, Lisa, for this excellent addition to the thoughts on this book. Tell the truth, I hadn't given much thought to Bobbi after the close of the previous series, but I fully agree with you about LaRue, without having been conscious of this when I was reading the later volumes. You're dead on right, LaRue merited more discussion, and Hughes may yet develop her beyond the point where she was in this latest book. She was more of a re-actor than an actor, and this was a departure from her rather active role in previous volumes. Yes, I too eagerly await the next volume. Thanks again for the good thoughts. ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com or jeffneedle@tns.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] The Truth About Charlie Date: 24 Oct 2002 21:50:55 -0500 Jonathan Demme's "The Truth About Charlie" opens nationwide this weekend, just one month after the similarly-titled Latter-day Saint-themed feature film "Jack Weyland's Charly" opened on September 27th. There is far more to comment on than the mere similarity in names... "The Truth About Charlie" director Jonathan Demme is one of Hollywood's most acclaimed directors. He received the Best Director Academy Award for "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991). He is also the director of "Philadelphia" (1993, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, 5 Academy Award nominations, including 2 wins). His other pictures include "Beloved" (1998) and "Married to the Mob" (1988). But, of course, Latter-day Saint film historians remember him as the director of "Melvin and Howard" (1980), the quirky and critically acclaimed film based on the true (according to Demme) story about Melvin Dummar, a Mormon gas station owner in Willard, Utah who helped out a bum he found on a road, a bum who turned out to be billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes. "Melvin and Howard," which was filmed in Utah, earned actress Mary Steenburgen a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for playing Latter-day Saint housewife Lynda Dummar. Along with Dustin Hoffman's Oscar for "Rain Man", this is one of only two Academy Awards ever given to an actor for playing a character based on an actual Latter-day Saint person. (By the way, this has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the fact that last year Steenburgen last year starred in two feature films by Latter-day Saint filmmakers: Mark Andrus' "Life as a House" (2001) and Richard Rich's "The Trumpet of the Swan.") Jason Robards received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for playing Howard Hughes. Dabney Coleman had a fondly-remembered role as a Mormon judge, but didn't win any awards. The story in the movie "Melvin and Howard" is tied intimately to Howard Hughes' famous so-called "Mormon Will," in which Hughes left $156,000,000 to Dummar and his wife. That will was eventually dismissed by courts. The "Mormon Will" associated with Dummar should not be confused with the actual settlement that went to Hughes' one-time wife, actress Terry Moore. (Moore recounts her experiences as a devout Mormon who ends up in a very odd marriage to Hughes in her autobiographical The Beauty and the Billionaire, New York: Pocket Books, 1984.) Screenwriter Bo Goldman received an Academy Award for his "Melvin and Howard" screenplay. Bo Goldman, by the way, is NOT related to writer William Goldman, who won a Best Screenplay Academy Award for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), about the famous Mormon outlaw Butch Cassidy, played by Paul Newman, and some other guy played by Utah resident Robert Redford. While it is true that every movie about historical Mormons written by a person named Goldman has earned the writer an Oscar, we don't recommend this as some kind of strategy. Peter Jackson and Frances Walsh earned an Academy Award nomination for their "Heavenly Creatures" screenplay, about real-life Latter-day Saint convert Juliet Hulme, played by Kate Winslet. (Hulme is better known today as best-selling mystery novelist Anne Perry.) Alas, Jackson and Walsh lost out to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," and they probably would still have lost had one them been named "Goldman." Kate Winslet, by the way, did NOT receive an Academy Award nomination for her role as the young Latter-day Saint-to-be, but she later picked up nominations for "Sense and Sensibility" (1995), "Titanic" (1997) and "Iris" (2001). Winslet's bare bossom in "Titanic" launched an entire new film editing industry based in Utah, which is another story entirely. A story which might not have taken place had "Titanic" director James Cameron not had his film career launched by a consortium of rich Latter-day Saint dentists who funded his first film, "Xenogenesis" (1978). Oddly enough, the Mormon characters in Demme's "Melvin and Howard" may help explain the Utah setting and ostensibly Mormon characters found in another movie this month, P.T. Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love," which is being heralded by critics as one of the year's best films. "Punch-Drink Love" stars Adam Sandler, who runs afoul with a crooked businessman based in Provo, Utah (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, no relation to Dustin Hoffman, nor to Mark Hoffman, for that matter), who sends four brothers (played by Latter-day Saint actors David Stevens, Nathan Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens and Michael D. Stevens) after Sandler. The brothers are identified by reviewer's and Anderson's website as Mormons, although the movie doesn't identify them as such. (Perhaps they are four blonde Episcopalian brothers from Provo, Utah.) So why Utah? Why Mormons? On P.T. Anderson's own webpage he lists three director's on a page titled "PTA Influences": Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme. The page states that Demme's "Melvin and Howard" ranks as one of PTA's favorite films and he notes, "...a lot of my first film, Hard Eight, is patterned after Melvin and Howard's kind of structure..." Of course, the situation with the characters is inverted -- in "Melvin and Howard" the Mormon/Utah characters were the heroes of the movie, and in "Punch-Drunk Love" they are the bad guys, but Demme's movie could be a source of inspiration. Which brings us back to "The Truth About Charlie," a remake of Stanley Donen's classic Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant film "Charade" (1963). One of the most notable aspects of "Charade" is its beautiful cinematography, often heralded as an homage to Paris. The stunning cinematography was done by Charles Lang, a native of the small town of Bluff, Utah who received 17 Academy Award nominations during his career. When Jonathan Demme proposed doing a remake of "Charade," his fan and friend P.T. Anderson nominated himself to be the screenwriter. Demme and Anderson went on a research trip to Paris, where Anderson made many of the suggestions that formed the new movie. But Anderson dropped out of the project to focus on making "Punch-Drunk Love." In the Audrey Hepburn role, Demme eventually cast Thandie Newton, the Zimbabwean-English actress best known for starring in "Mission: Impossible II" (2000), which was filmed partially in southern Utah. So, is "Charlie" in "The Truth about Charlie" so named because of fondness Demme and Anderson had for Jack Weyland's classic novel? Well, no. The lead character in both movies is named "Regina Lampert." Newton's character is NOT "Charlie." Charlie is the name of her murdered husband. The plot in both movies revolves around finding out the truth about Charlie Lampert's past, and how that led to his murder. I suspect that the title "The Truth About Charlie" was chosen by Demme in order to allude to, but be distinct from, the title "Charade." So are there any French Latter-day Saints in "The Truth About Charlie"? I doubt it. But who knows... I haven't seen it yet. Preston Hunter -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Hugh Stocks" Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 24 Oct 2002 22:26:51 -0400 My Great Grandmother divorced her husband after 30 years of marriage (in part because he refused to enter polygamy). Then after he died, she wrote to Pres. Grant, "I cannot live with that man in this life or the life to come." and got her sealing canceled. So it happens. -- Hugh Stocks hstocks@fuse.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Hugh Stocks" Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 24 Oct 2002 22:31:59 -0400 I guess this is my AML night. When I set out to marry again after my divorce, I filled out the request for cancellation of sealing forms re: my first temple marriage, and voila! the sealing was canceled. I have yet to meet another man with this experience, but at least I know for a fact it happens sometimes. To the enormous gratification of my lovely (and ONLY) eternal wife. > You know, of course, that when two previously temple-married and then > civilly divorced people want to be sealed, the wife's former sealing > is cancelled while the husband's remains intact and he is given a > clearance for the subsequent sealing. I guess there are good reasons > for that, and definitely there will always be free agency. Still it > makes me think that despite our protestations we Mormons remain > ambiguous about polygamy. > > Cathy Wilson -- Hugh Stocks hstocks@fuse.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Major Productions Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 24 Oct 2002 22:25:46 -0500 on 10/23/02 3:22 PM, Annette Lyon at annette@lyfe.com wrote: > Eric Samuelson said: > What's the difference between an active, devout, caring, spiritual single > man and a married one? > > He's got a wife. Maybe we women make a bigger difference than we know . . . Let's not forget the simple fact that being single is tough--especially being a single parent. If you're a man and a breadwinner and a single parent--where would you find the *TIME* and *ENERGY* to serve as a bishop?! Maybe it's as simple as the fact that a bishop needs someone holding down the fort.... Just a thought from a single parent with no chance of ever becoming a bishop... :) Robbin Major Missouri City TX. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paul Pehrson" Subject: RE: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ (Review) Date: 24 Oct 2002 23:39:27 -0600 > The most dangerous segment of the play is "NCMO" (somebody should ask > Samuelsen what this title means; it's probably an abbreviation the hip > people already know.) I don't know how many times I've heard my BYU roommates use this one so, I feel qualified to respond: "Non-Committal Make Out" -- as you can guess, the chance to make out with somebody without any commitment to even talk to the person again. N. Paul Pehrson paul@abinidi.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 25 Oct 2002 00:29:14 -0600 ---Original Message From: Richard R. Hopkins > > For those who might consider putting the Anti-Nephi-Lehi > scenario in a fictional setting, you should know that the > trick used there wherein more joined the Church than were > killed is par for the course. It was the same during the > Roman persecutions of the Christians. Far more people joined > the Church than were put to death by the Romans until the > Romans wised up and stopped trying to kill them. Later > persecutions were aimed exclusively at notable leaders, > scripture burning, and the taking of Church property. > Whenever one of the later Emperors forgot and started killing > Christians willy-nilly he was always reminded of the facts of > life by a huge increase in the ranks of the Christians. Didn't work so well for Jews in Nazi Germany. Or Buddhists in modern Tibet. Or scholars in Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Or intellectuals in Stalinist Russia and/or Communist China. I could go on (Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, or even colonial North America). I'd hardly call the example of Christians in Rome or Anti-Nephi-Lehis "par for the course". And increased converts is cold comfort for sudden widows and orphans . . . Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 25 Oct 2002 10:02:07 -0400 At 08:19 AM 10/23/02 -0600, you wrote: > >> I've known Branch Presidents who were single. > >> Jacob Proffitt > >I;ve know Brach Presidents that were 20 year old missionaries assigned to that >Branch - so they were definetely single. > >--ivan wolfe I've BEEN Branch Presidents that were 20 year old missionaries assigned to that branch, and so have two of my sons (me in Finland, them in Japan and Korea.) I always lived in the boonies (church wise,) and have been, or served with Branch Presidents or Counselors who had long hair (serious pony tail length) beards, tobacco habits (of more than one kind), mustaches, who never wore white shirts and ties (sometimes colored shirts, with and without ties, sometimes turtlenecks, one who was partial to black tee shirts with cardigan sweaters). I never knowingly served with any who had alcohol problems, but I wouldn't rule that out- - On the other hand I knew one who wouldn't give temple recommends to anyone who ate chocolate (caffein, you know). Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Authenticity in UDALL, _Edgar Mint_ Date: 25 Oct 2002 09:18:39 -0600 Jane Hafen is a Native American and a great defender of Native American culture. She is a brilliant woman and a strong critic of anyone that pretends to understand Native Americans without the lifetime experience. I don't doubt that she was harsh with Brady Udall's work. She has also been very critical of Michael Fillerup's (and Michael has lived in or near Navajo reservations in Arizona for years). I personally love Michael's work. He has told me that mission presidents have their missionaries read his stories as preparation for their work. However, being as aware as I am of my own limitations in writing about black culture--something I know I couldn't do without the guidance of a Darius Gray--I genuinely appreciate Jane's criticism and her insistence that all writers should exercise caution when writing about a culture not their own. My experience suggests that it's wise and probably essential to have someone deeply entrenched in the culture read and relentlessly critique the book before it's published. [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings of Children Date: 25 Oct 2002 09:29:17 -0600 When my first sealing was cancelled prior to my marrying Bruce, I asked specifically about having my daughter sealed to my new husband. I was told that the sealing ordinance seals the child to the COVENANT and the blessings that issue from it. So, though my sealing was cancelled, my daughter's was not. As far as I know, at least on paper, my daughter is sealed to a MARRIAGE which no longer exists. I've actually written about this in a very short story called "Project" in _Love Chains_. [Margaret Young] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 25 Oct 2002 10:24:11 -0600 By that logic, all Church leaders should first be single, then married, then divorced, because if you think you are wise when you are married, let me tell you that that wisdom is nothing compared to the insights you develop after your marriage goes in the can. I THOUGHT I pretty much knew all there was to know about having a good marriage until my wife suddenly, with no preamble, left one Friday a year and a half ago. To this day, I have no clue -- absolutely no clue -- as to why life with me was so unbearable that she felt she had to run away from our relationship. Let me give you (generic you) the following words of wisdom: Never think you are wise about marriage and relationship. You can be in what you think is a perfectly good one, and then one day you wake up and find yourself living alone through no fault (of which you may be aware) of your own. Can a Bishop who's never been divorced give good advice on divorce? Thom -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 25 Oct 2002 10:29:29 -0600 (MDT) > When we were in India we came across a religion or sect that sweeps before > they walk or sit, because they don't want to kill even the most > insignificant insect. I have read about them, but can't remember all the > details. Does anyone remember the name of this group? I don't have time to > look it up. > > Nan McCulloch It's the Jain religion, most likely. There are two main sects, Shvetambaras ("white-clad monastics"- i.e. they wear clothes) and the Digambaras ("sky-clad monastics" - i.e. they go around naked). check out this link for more info: http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_10040.html --ivan wolfe -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: Re: [AML] Generalizing from Experience Date: 25 Oct 2002 10:40:44 -0700 John Remy wrote: > I stopped reading Tom Clancy because I had a hard >time accepting some of the out of the ordinary events he included in his books. He made terrorists nuke a >SuperBowl Stadium in Denver and had a Japanese pilot >fly an otherwise empty jumbo jet kamikaze-style into the >U.S. Capitol building (I think that most of the >Democrats die in this attack...perhaps this is > the real reason I stopped reading Clancy? ;^) Years >later, real-life terrorists fly jumbo jets full of men, women >and children into the World Trade Center and the >Pentagon. If Clancy, or anyone else, had inserted this > horrible scenario into a story or a movie before >September 2001, would the readers have accepted the >event as plausible within the confines of the world the >author created? This struck a chord with me, and I find myself compelled to respond. I have often thought that writers/authors have a responsibility to not let our imaginations fuel the minds that are striving to formulate diabolical plans for the destruction of the world. We need to realize that whatever we can dream up, or imagine, can become the reality of the future. When I was a boy I used to read "Buck Rogers" comics, and think, how wonderful it would be to fly to the moon, and explore space. Now we are doing it. Writers need to be careful that we don't create worlds, we are not willing to have our grandchildren live in, or in light of the exponential advance of modern technology, worlds we are not eager to live in ourselves. Regards, Bill Willson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 25 Oct 2002 15:42:26 -0600 > Which raises an entirely different set of issues about how physiology > affects both perception and our ability to choose, and what that means in > terms of agency. But that's a completely different topic... > > Scott Parkin With my students -- we are studying brain chemistry and I am seeing things in a brandnew light. Our brain chemistry affects everything--Falling in love, making choices, understanding what's going on in our world. It almost seems like a possibly losing setup, till we tried this simple experiment in class. After discussing the basic brain chemicals, I suggested that we can alter our brain chemistry just by giving an "order" or suggestion to the brain: "More dopamine, please," or "More endorphins, please." The kids wanted to try it, so I told them just to quietly look down at their desks and make the command. Amazing! They relaxed, perhaps laughed a little quietly, and looked refreshed. About two thirds of them experienced a positive change in this slight experiment. I suggested that gratitude was a powerful source for endorphins :). So now I think that yes, brain chemistry governs our world, but we can influence that chemistry pretty easily. That's today's supposition, anyhow. Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Sept. 11 Tape Date: 25 Oct 2002 15:37:58 -0700 I'm curious what the final song list was for this compilation? ...And can I get a copy? :) Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] The Bridge Date: 25 Oct 2002 17:01:16 -0700 I didn't really see the film as an allegory for the atonement. I saw it more as an allegory for what HF had to go through in sacraficing his son. But even then it wasn't really very well done--I mean, the people Christ saved weren't exactly complete strangers to HF. But it did make me try to put myself in HF's shoes a little bit. Susan M -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 25 Oct 2002 18:16:11 -0600 >Now look, some of y'all say this film has been valuable, even >life-changingly positive, in the lives of some students who >have seen it. I don't know why such an excuse finds resonance among Mormons. We don't settle for this wrt our preaching to the world. Instead, our message is, "Yes, you may have some good things you believe in, but at the very best, they are not complete. Here's our message." As missionaries, we don't settle for the idea that because your religion speaks to you, makes you happy, or whatever, that it is therefore, okay. Why should we not be similarly malcontent with those who "believe" in an inferior art? We claim to have a better understanding of religion and therefore consider it our duty to enlighten the masses. Simlarly, people like Eric and I, who have a better understanding of what "true" art is should consider it our duty to enlighten the masses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] Inverting Stories (was: Johnny Lingo) Date: 25 Oct 2002 18:56:03 -0600 Eric R. Samuelsen opined: >>> But Johnny Lingo (the character and also the movie) isn't asking us to reevaluate our notions of what constitutes 'worth' or 'value' or what weight we put on other human qualities, or anything of the sort. Johnny just thinks she's hot, and that her family and friends are dopes for not having seen it. But he's using precisely the same assessment criteria everyone else is using. <<< (please pardon this moment of shameless self-promotion and personal exhibitionism, but I can't help myself; the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak...) I once wrote a story (obliquely refered to recently by our own Hollow Cluck in his survey of AML-List contributors) that questioned our concepts of beauty. In thinking about it the story is an almost complete inversion of Johnny Lingo, which makes me wonder if that film had some impact on my own handling of a similar idea. I know I never consciously thought of Mr. Lingo as I wrote the story, but now I can't help but wonder... It's a science fiction story, so those who are repulsed by stories of that ilk should skip the next paragraph. In my story a virus has rendered most women on planet Earth sterile and has reversed life-long sterility for a tiny number of genetically ambiguous women (about 2000 total). POV is a young woman who is marginally unattractive, but who has come to think of herself as broken and valueless because of her sterility. When the genetic plague reverses that she finds that people all over the world have redefined "beautiful" as "fertile" and that she has suddenly become the icon of feminine beauty. To express her bitterness at the random fickleness of definitional beauty that led her to hate herself in the first place she becomes a stripper so she can taunt everyone with what they used to think of as ugly. The story explores an experience that causes her to rethink her rage when a strip club patron seems more interested in her as a human being than as a fertile woman. She finds both acceptance and friendship from another stripper--an attractive young woman who has always treated POV with respect regardless of her appearance or fertility or private rage. An at least partial (if not complete) inversion of Johnny Lingo. Yes, a man's attention causes her to rethink her ideas (which I suppose proves my own sexist attitude), but she perceives him as the enemy and it's another woman who helps her come to peace with herself. Her peace comes as a result of private conversation and internal consideration, not grand public expressions. Other peoples' perceptions are not affected by her own change of viewpoint. She realizes that many people have valued her as a person (and still do) but that her (legitimate) rage at the public's fickle definitions of beauty has blinded her to that knowledge. The more I look at it, the more I realize I may not have inverted the story after all; maybe I just retold Johnny Lingo with strippers and a genetic plague--an interesting exercise on its own, though one I would never have consciously done. Whether I succeeded at inverting Johnny Lingo or not, it's a technique I find myself using a lot these days. My third short story sale came when I inverted a sweet story about how mythic unicorns made the flowers grow and turned it into a dark story about how alien monocorns made the wheat die (and threatened the lives of an offworld colony). In an odd exercise a few years ago I plotted out a novel that inverted the major plot elements of _The Christmas Box_ to come up with a story that satisfied my own ideas about other kinds of stories that good Mormons can tell. Just last week I finally read _The Lord of the Flies_ for the first time (another book that left me feeling dissatisfied at the end) and when I played the inversion game on it I came up with almost exactly the same plot line as when I inverted _The Christmas Box._ I'm not sure what that means, but it amuses me more than a little bit that the inversion of those two very different stories results in the same basic plot line. Does that mean that TCB and TLotF are somehow conceptually linked? I think that bears a little more thought... How often do we see inversion or direct conceptual counterargument in our literature? It seems like many of the world literary classics were written as responses to the ideas that others were offering, a sort of dialogue-by-novel (or short story) that often explored common themes from widely differing viewpoints. It doesn't seem like we see a lot of that in general market LDS fiction, which I see as something of a shame because I think it lessens the power of our cultural literature. (In non-fiction I have to admit that I really enjoyed the sophic/mantic debates of a few years ago; are there similar debates going on now?) Is that dialogue happening and I just haven't recognized it? Or worse, is only one side of that dialogue being published? Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 25 Oct 2002 21:05:52 -0400 At 05:47 PM 10/24/02 -0600, Janelle Higbee wrote: >My favorite stories about American folk hero Johnny Appleseed say he would douse his campfire at night for fear a mosquito would inadvertently fly into it and be killed. And he would sing hymns to the rattlesnakes he met along his path. > >By all reports, Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) was a very religious man, a zealous follower of the Christian gospel as preached by Emmanuel Swedenborg, and along with his apple seeds used to distribute pages of Swedenborgian texts while crying, "Good news! Good news fresh from heaven!" (Whether he learned his love of animals from Swedenborg, I couldn't say. Chapman was also kicked in the head by a horse at a young age. That may explain some of his eccentric behavior later in life.) His brother-or brother's son (memory goes when you are old) Throop was an early member of the church, according to family legend baptized by Brigham Young. Any way the Chapmans have a long history in the church and are one of the lines through which my dear wife decended. You can only imagine the reaction when one of my sons, during a Johnny Appleseed discussion in elementary noted that his (I don't remember how many greats - four I think) great grandfather was Johnny Appleseed's brother. He was sent to the office for lying and came home in tears. You might also envision the teachers reaction when Janet marched over there genealogy in hand and demanded an apology. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 25 Oct 2002 18:44:19 -0700 10/24/2002 8:23:42 AM, "Marianne Hales Harding" wrote: >>All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical >>condition, with EXCEPTIONAL acting talent and ability. >>Please bring "head shots" if you have them. This is a >>non-union production. NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! > >Gosh, usually people are looking for untalented and grotesquely ugly people >to be in their movie...I'm so glad they specified their unique requests in >all caps. > >Marianne Hales Harding > And, of course, you always want to go for realism. ALL of the Book of Mormon charcters were, no doubt, attractive and in excellent health. No homely Nephites for THIS project, I say! And I trust they'll cast a blonde, blue-eyed Adonis for the part of Jesus Christ. You know, keeping with realism.... ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com or jeffneedle@tns.net -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: RE: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 25 Oct 2002 22:07:10 -0400 Concerning my contention that a work of literature must stand on its own (in= =20 this case Jame Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses), JACOB PROFFITT=20 wrote: >No work of literature stands on its own. ROB.LAUER: But this would mean one couldn't read the book and comprehend the ideas it= =20 conveyed (even if the work is presented in one's native language)unless one= =20 referred to another work What other work? Cliffnotes? A critique by literary critic or academic? JACOB PROFFIT: The expectation that >literature must stand on its own is absurd to me. ROB. LAUER: So DON'T expect people to comprehend what you write? You expect them to HAVE= =20 to go to someone else or to ANOTHER literary source in order to comprehend= =20 YOUR work? JACOB PROFFITT: At the very least you >can't divorce yourself from language. ROB. LAUER: THAT'S EXACTLY MY POINT. Of course, you can't. I agree with you. Literature,= =20 by it's very nature, can never be divorced from language. That's the basis for my entire argument concerning the merits of Joyce's=20 later works. Joyce perverts the use of language ( or SUBVERTS it as=20 modernists and post-modernists would say.) "Finnegan's Wake" is pure=20 jibberish. The words refer to nothing outside of Joyce's subjective whims at= =20 the time he put them to paper. For a writer to communicate, he must share a= =20 common language with the reader of his work, which means that the words used= =20 must be understood by both to refer to certain mutually accepted concepts. JACOB PROFFITT: To stand on its own, a work of >literature would have to include everything from "See spot run" to >classical physics (after all, what is this gravity people keep talking >about?). ROB. LAUER: Sorry. That's ridiculous. If a person is able to read the language in which= =20 the book is written and/or published, then they should, on some level, be=20 able to comprehend the basic ideas contained therein. Or in other words, the= =20 book can stand alone. There is no need for "see spot run," because to qualify as a reader of a=20 given work, one must already be able to read.Nor need the reader know=20 anything at all regard the laws of physics--which laws may have nothing to= =20 do with the story. If knowledge of certain laws of physics was needed to=20 understand a particular literary work, it would be the AUTHOR'S job to lay= =20 these principles out, in context of the genre in which he writes, within the= =20 text so that the reader could comprehend them without pulling out a science= =20 text book. (This doesn't mean that the author should digress into a physics= =20 lesson; the information should be integerated into the narrative, action,=20 etc.) After all, how much did you know about physics when you discovered the joys= =20 of reading great literature? I didn't comprehend physics--although I knew if I threw myself off a roof,= =20 I'd fall to the ground; thus I understood through life experience the basic= =20 concepts of gravity and some other natural laws. Nor did I know much about= =20 biology, math, history, etc. when I first read the works of Mark Twain,=20 Jonathan Swift, Victor Hugo, Jack London, Chekhov, Walt Whitman, Rudyard=20 Kilping, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Hawthorn, the Brontes, etc. And yet BECAUSE the works of these great writers each stood on its own, my= =20 mind was opened to concepts and knowledge with which I would not have come= =20 into contact UNTIL I took a course in (or read a book on) science, history,= =20 language, philosophy or ethics. This is why reading literature is such an important part of becoming=20 educated. A work of art can take the most complex CONECPTIONS and make them= =20 seem like PERCEPTIONS. JACOB PROFFITT: I'm not a fan of James Joyce (I can't honestly remember ever >reading any), but however impenetrable he may be, you can't discard him >just because people find him inscrutable. ROB. LAUER: Of course I can. In fact, this seems like the only rational reaction to Joyce's later works. If the language of a given literary work is so perverted that it can no=20 longer be used to communicate (if it is inscrutable), then I have no choice= =20 BUT to discard it. If a ragged street person were to approach you in public quoting "Finnegan's= =20 Wake" you would think him demented, for the language(though the words are=20 English) would convey no objective meaning; you would consider it=20 jibberish--and would be utterly justified in your evaluation. Likewise, I consider Joyce's later works the products of either a demented= =20 mind or an extremely clever one--a mind intent on perpetrating a literary=20 hoax on the critics who ignored his earlier (and much better) works. This=20 latter theory is the one I tend to accept. JACOB PROFFITT: Works have more and less >dependence on outside works, but that's a sliding scale with no >standard, a huge variance, and no absolutes. ROB. LAUER: I completely disagree. There is an absolute to which EVERY SINGLE literary= =20 work can be held. That absolute standard is LANGUAGE itself. A sound or a series of markings= =20 on a page refer to a concept held mutually by both the writer and the=20 reader. THIS is an absolute standard for ALL linquistic comunication--most= =20 particularly written works. The purpose of writing something is to communicate particular concepts=20 without the use of the human voice or physical gestures; to perserve one's= =20 ideas so that they "outlive" one. If I need to be present to explain to=20 future generations would I meant when I wrote this or that (or else they=20 will not COMPREHEND AT ALL what I wrote), then I have failed as a writer. JACOB PROFFITT: I have had extremely >rewarding experiences with both T.S. Eliot and William Faulkner--both of >whom are deemed rather obscure and certainly don't stand on their own. ROB. LAUER I had rewarding experience reading the works of both of these men over=20 twenty years ago. To this day I have never read a single critique or=20 footnote or annotation on any of their works. Granted, reading such works=20 might help me discover deeper layers of meaning in the texts, but even=20 without them, THE LANGUAGE OF THE TEXT WAS COMPREHENSIBLE. INSCRUTABILITY IS NOT A STYLE ELEMENT; IT IS AN ATTACK ON, NOT ONLY=20 LITERATURE ITSELF, BUT THE HUMAN MIND. _________________________________________________________________ Get faster connections=A0-- switch to=A0MSN Internet Access!=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kellene Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 25 Oct 2002 20:36:22 -0600 > From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" > > We don't really question the underlying cultural assumptions of this film, > because in LDS culture, we continue to put a premium on female physical > attractiveness, and we tend to accept unquestioningly the values of our > (American, western) society. Eric, please don't take offense at this statement; I don't even know you. But it is statements like this that bother me exceedingly when they come from individuals in a group of people who claim to be past close-minded judgment. I understand that there really may be real people in this "we" that you mention above. Maybe the "we" that you mention above is exclusively male; maybe not. What I do know is that the "we" that I know does not continue to "accept unquestioningly the values of our (American, western) society." In fact, the we that I know (and work hard to be part of and who happens to be the majority of people I know) is working hard to consistently, carefully, painstakingly, and thoughtfully send messages, both subtle and unsubtle, that there is much more to beauty than what meets the eye--for both male and female--that each one of us, young and old, but especially our youth, our children, our young men and women, are absolutely beautiful, absolutely divine, absolutely special. Now, I am not naive enough to think that our voices are louder than those of the current culture, but I am hopeful and faithful enough to think that occasionally our voices are heard. And I am absolutely determined that, despite the volume of our voices, I not be included in the "we" you describe above. Kellene Adams -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "robert lauer" Subject: Re: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 25 Oct 2002 22:09:59 -0400 I think that in the posting below, Richard Dutcher has said all that needs to be said about writing Mormon literature or creating Mormon art. Amen, Richard, and Amen!!!! ROB.LAUER > >First of all, stay away from thinking about writing something in the "LDS >genre." If you go about it with that mindset, you're going to find yourself >writing down to your audience. You're not some guy behind the counter at >Burger King filling somebody's order. > [snip] -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 26 Oct 2002 00:51:02 -0400 I haven't watched Johnny Lingo for years, I'm one of the people who take some pleasure in mocking the film. It comes off too pat and cheesy for my tastes. But in my memory it was not a question of outward beauty. He saw her inner worth, and because he did, and treated her that way, it was reflected in her outward appearance. Her outside came to reflect what he knew was on the inside already. I've seen this happen in real life. Someone who is not what is the current society's idea of beautiful, by any stretch of the imagination, meets someone that truly values them. And they glow. It may be that they start taking a little more care over their appearance, but not always. Some how that confidence--that knowing that someone loves them warts and all--shines through in their eyes, in their walk, in the way they then believe in someone else. It's not always in a romantic relationship. It can be with the unpromising kid who meets that teacher who absolutely sees them and not the punk image. It could be a co-worker, a neighbor, a friend from church. Or it could be a spouse. Someone who looks at you and says "you're beautiful" and you feel like telling them to get their glasses checked. But they really mean it. Eric, you had a character in Singled Out who, I think, did not really think herself outwardly beautiful, yet wanted her potential partner to be able to see her as beautiful. And he did. If I remember right, in the end he told her she was beautiful. What was he seeing? Physically she wasn't "beautiful". But he came to love her insides, and that lent beauty to her whole being. If the story had gone on, what effect would that have had on her? She had been in a tough relationship, been on her own, come to a realization that she was of worth......But what would that mean to her to have this male person be able to honestly look at her and say to her "You're beautiful." Don't you think it would have an effect? I think it is important that she felt a sense of self-worth before he said it. And maybe if the story of Johnny Lingo would have gone on Mahanna would have come to that, too. Poor Johnny, lost at sea, rescuing the young guy out in the storm where he had no place being. And suddenly he's not there to give Mahanna her boost in esteem. But by then she already had a growing feeling of eternal worth and, as she relied on her Heavenly Father through the crises of losing Johnny, she came to know even more clearly how much she was valued as a child of God. But it started with Johnny seeing past the tangled hair, knocked knees, and family disdain. He always knew she was beautiful. Tracie Laulusa -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 25 Oct 2002 23:19:07 -0600 [MOD: I will go ahead and post this, but I really, really don't plan to let us get into a discussion of the doctrinal pros and cons of plural marriage. Just not. Literary dimensions, yes; cultural dimensions, okay; doctrinal dimensions, no.] Barbara, read what Eugene England has to say on this subject in Dialogue in the Spring 2002 issue _On Fidelity, Polygamy, and Celestial Marriage_. This is compelling stuff. It will surprise some of you. England doesn't believe that celestial marriage will be polygamous. I consider this a very important essay. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] The Bridge Date: 25 Oct 2002 23:46:37 -0600 Richard Johnson wrote: > > But this story is so inaccurate in its symbolism. Christ was not > trapped by his life, mission and crucifiction, he volunteered. Whatever shortcomings this film or story may have, to complain about the inaccuracy of its symbolism is to misunderstand symbolism. I believe the phrase is "pushing an analogy too far." The point of "The Bridge" is to help us understand the sacrifice the Father made. How the son came to be in peril is incidental and irrelevant to the point the analogy is trying to make. And if you disagree with me and think analogies need to be accurate in every particular, then you'd better take up your beef with Jesus, because his parables were just as inaccurate. Consider the parable of the unjust king in particular. A widow who was wronged petitioned the king to give her justice. The king, neither regarding God nor man, didn't care and did nothing. But the widow continued to petition him until he got sick of it and granted her petition, not because he cared, but because he was fed up with her bothering him. The point of this parable was to teach us to keep praying for that which we desire. In other words, the merciless king represented God. So Jesus taught us to keep praying for what we want, because God doesn't care about us, but will nonetheless grant our petition because he grows weary of our prayers. Now that's what I call inaccurate symbolism. Either that, or pushing the analogy too far. Symbolism is meant to address one point, and going beyond that is forcing the symbolism to do work it was never intended to do. If you use a hammer to install a screw, you really shouldn't complain if the results are not to your liking. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Sealings Date: 26 Oct 2002 02:18:17 -0700 > You know, of course, that when two previously temple-married and then civilly > divorced people want to be sealed, the wife's former sealing is cancelled > while the husband's remains intact and he is given a clearance for the > subsequent sealing. I guess there are good reasons for that, and definitely > there will always be free agency. Still it makes me think that despite our > protestations we Mormons remain ambiguous about polygamy. > Actually, I believe that policy has been changed. I divorced civilly in 1988, and married my current wife in the temple in 1992, and as you say, I didn't have to have my first sealing annulled. However, I recall hearing some time in the last decade that the policy had changed, and if I was marrying after a divorce now, I *would* have to get my first sealing annulled. I'm afraid I don't have a reference here; maybe Larry can crack open his CHI vol.1 and fill us in. ObLiteraryTie-In: A sequel to Charly and Sam taking place in the spirit world as Charly and (what's Sam's second wife's name again? haven't read the books for over a decade) have to learn to get along with each other.... Robert ********************************************************************** Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.ca ...with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin too 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 2002/10/03 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lwilkins@fas.harvard.edu Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 26 Oct 2002 09:13:03 -0400 One of the other dangers about the message of _Johnny Lingo_ is what it teaches men about love. Being a rescuer for someone who's been abused all her life is likely to result in a relationship that's fraught with trouble. It would be interesting to do a "20 years later" version. Perhaps Johnny's good looks and character would be overtaken by his troubled sense of identity that had led him to love a young woman who is so needy. But I can see ways to redeem the message of the film. Johnny seems to recognize that it is a cultural norm for women in the village to brag about the price their husbands paid for them. He recognizes that practice as a cultural reality that can't be ignored. He has known Mahana since she was a child, knows her soul. Not many cultures these days seem to exist in which people marry those whom they've known since childhood. One might also see Johnny as a sort of divine Christ-figure, the one who sees the soul and is able to redeem the person from the pain inflicted by a callous social order. But those potentially redeeming aspects of Johnny's character and the story don't get explored. I think a remake is definitely in order... Laraine Wilkins -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kumiko" Subject: [AML] Critical Response to Christian Market Feature Films (incl. LDS) Date: 26 Oct 2002 11:30:36 -0500 Critical Response to Christian market feature films RottenTomatoes.com ratings, based on reviews from reviewers nationwide. List of Christian niche market films from: http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/christian.htm LDS Film Title Director Pos Neg % Positive ---------- -------- --- --- ----- Brigham City Richard Dutcher 16 5 76.2 God's Army Richard Dutcher 5 4 55.6 The Singles Ward Kurt Hale 4 4 50.0 Jack Weyland's Charly Adam Thomas Anderegg 2 3 40.0 The Other Side of Heaven Mitch Davis 9 27 25.0 ["Out of Step" and "Handcart" are not listed on RT.c] Non-LDS Film Title Director Pos Neg % Positive ---------- -------- --- --- ----- Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie Nawrocki/Vischer 35 16 68.6 Carman: The Champion Lee Stanley 3 6 33.3 Mercy Streets Jon Gunn 2 4 33.3 Joshua Jon Purdy 4 16 20.0 Left Behind Victor Sarin 6 32 15.8 Megiddo: Omega Code 2 Brian Trenchard-Smith 2 11 15.4 Extreme Days Eric Hannah 1 6 14.3 Omega Code Robert Marcarelli 2 18 10.0 Road to Redemption Robert Vernon 0 1 0.0 The Judas Project James H. Barden 0 1 0.0 Revelation Andre Van Heerden 0 1 0.0 ["China Cry: A True Story" and "The Ride" are not listed on RT.c] COMBINED Film Title Director Pos Neg % Positive ---------- -------- --- --- ----- Brigham City Richard Dutcher 16 5 76.2 Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie Nawrocki/Vischer 35 16 68.6 God's Army Richard Dutcher 5 4 55.6 The Singles Ward Kurt Hale 4 4 50.0 Jack Weyland's Charly Adam Thomas Anderegg 2 3 40.0 Carman: The Champion Lee Stanley 3 6 33.3 Mercy Streets Jon Gunn 2 4 33.3 The Other Side of Heaven Mitch Davis 9 27 25.0 Joshua Jon Purdy 4 16 20.0 Left Behind Victor Sarin 6 32 15.8 Megiddo: Omega Code 2 Brian Trenchard-Smith 2 11 15.4 Extreme Days Eric Hannah 1 6 14.3 Omega Code Robert Marcarelli 2 18 10.0 Road to Redemption Robert Vernon 0 1 0.0 The Judas Project James H. Barden 0 1 0.0 Revelation Andre Van Heerden 0 1 0.0 - Preston Hunter -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jim/Laurel Brady" Subject: [AML] AML Conference Update Date: 29 Oct 2002 10:46:51 -0700 (Moderator: Would you mind posting this to the list - the AML Conference schedule that is online is a bit deceptive and I don't want there to be any misunderstandings. Thanks.) ******* I need to update/clarify a portion of the AML Conference schedule that is posted online. At 3 p.m., I am (last time I checked anyway) listed as a presenter for a two hour block on screenwriting - lest there be any confusion, please note, the actual presenters will be other (and much more talented) people and I will only be making introductions and moderating a Q&A session. Since it's not on the schedule yet, I'd like to announce presenters for the first hour will be Mike Schaertl and Pepper Gregory, who will speak on selling film rights, screenplays and teleplays to producers, directors, actors, etc. The second hour will be a Q&A session where Mike and Pepper will be joined by Colleen K. Whitley and Sue Bergin, who have both written scripts, some of which have been optioned and produced. For those of you who don't recognize the featured speakers' names: Mike's credits as writer, producer, director, and/or cinematographer include: "Christmas Mission" (1999), "High School Spirits" (1988), "Once Upon a Time", "Just Kids", "Beware! Ghosts!!" (1986, with Neil LaBute), "Saturday's Warrior" (1989), "Perilous Journey" (1984), as well as work on numerous TV series including: 20/20 Downtown; 20/20; Touched by an Angel; Dateline NBC; Rescue 911; Primetime Live; Runaway with the Rich and Famous; Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. He's also worked as camera operator or second unit director of photography on numerous feature films and TV movies, including: Just a Dream (2001); Before He Wakes (1998); Zack and Reba (1998); Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998); Meet the Deedles (1998); Dumb & Dumber (1994); Neon City (1992); Windwalker (1980). (He also a musician and toured as a drummer, but that's a different story and don't tell him that I told you that...) Mike is a great guy and you'll all want to meet him and get to know him. Pepper Gregory is also fascinating - she has written music, books, screenplays, documentarys, commercials, and scripts for television shows. Pepper has worked with Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival, judged over 10,000 scripts for the New Century Writer's and Writer's at Work screenwriting contests, has been on many panels representing the film industry and taught screenwriting workshops. As the marketing/PR director for Redman Movies & Stories, she has worked on such programs as "Touched By An Angel," "Promised Land" and feature films shot in Utah. Pepper has written scripts for "The New Love Boat," "Touched By An Angel," Disney, Saban, Showtime, Lifetime, and is an advocate for family films without violence. In 1998, she started Gregory Media Group. Her motto is "Movies Change Lives." She is a certified grief counselor and working toward a Ph.D. in psychology. Mike and Pepper have a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable for anyone hoping to market any of their work to film and/or TV. They're great people and you'll definitely want to at least say 'Hi' to them. Oh, and did I mention there will be a drawing for a screenwriting software package that is, I'm told, worth $300!!! Hope to see you all there, Laurel S. Brady -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jim Cobabe" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops Date: 26 Oct 2002 13:06:04 -0400 Plain talk about matters of sexuality seems to be a closed subject in the=20 church, even amongst supposedly open-minded and tolerant "liberal" groups. = =20 No wonder--particularly with those of us who are supposed to be happily=20 humming "families can be together forever" it's so often a glaringly=20 irrational and inconsistent issue. Airing out the truth is plainly very=20 uncomfortable. It must be particularly embarrassing for bishops to confront their own=20 marital problems, particular those stemming from marital sexual relations. = =20 In my personal conversation with men in this circumstance, I have observed= =20 that bishops and their wives frequently seem to have serious problems of=20 this nature. In part the problems appear result from the emotional trauma= =20 inflicted on bishops when they are exposed to the sometimes horrific=20 personal revelations of those who confide in them for counsel. Many of them= =20 seem to have their protective shell of naivte ripped away in such=20 experiences. Not surprising that men of compassion would be troubled to=20 share such confidences. One of my former bishops described the experience= =20 as like looking on the peaceful scene of a placid pond, then for the first= =20 time being plunged beneath the surface to see the scum and pollution, the=20 lurking corruption and filth harbored there. --- Jim Cobabe jcobabe@hotmail.com http://members.tripod.com/~jcobabe When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor= =20 less. _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free!=A0 Try MSN.=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] The Bridge Date: 26 Oct 2002 13:11:48 -0600 ---Original Message From: Richard Johnson > > I never saw (or even heard of) the movie, but the story > therein is one of my pet peeves. I have heard it from the > pulpit many times. Now, I am much less antagonistic to > speeches in Sacrament meeting than most of you who have > commented. I ENJOY Sacrament meeting generally speaking and > an deeply fed spiritually. (I am of an age when I do doze > once in a while-- but > rarely) But this story is so inaccurate in its symbolism. > Christ was not trapped by his life, mission and crucifiction, > he volunteered. My second son was sitting next to me last > Sunday when one of the missionaries began that talk. He > stood, harrumphed, and stomped out of the place, to return > after the change of speakers. I am embarrassed to say that I > didn't follow him. I followed Scott's admonition and read a > book. (so okay, it was the priesthood manual, but I don't > carry other books- its just the way I am.) Melissa, bless her for her patience with me, has helped me through my disdain for this story and others like it (shudder: Footprints in the Sand). She pointed out that the context of the story is (supposed to be) an effort for understanding the position of the Father. It is wildly inappropriate for understanding the Son, but is much more reasonable if you try to identify with the Dad. It doesn't fully redeem the story, IMO, but it makes it tolerable for me to sit through and catch the point the speaker is trying to make. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 26 Oct 2002 13:22:21 -0600 ---Original Message From: Janelle Higbee > > -----Original Message----- > Jacob Proffitt: > "the married person...has a wider opportunity to challenge > pre-conceived notions--is forced into uncomfortable > consideration and self-examination that can be avoided by > non-married people. A married person confronts a truly alien > perspective as a matter of course." > > > As a single woman over the age of 30, I submit (and testify) > that an unmarried Mormon confronts an alien perspective when > dealing with married people every day. Especially when > dealing with married Mormons. Believe you me, there is no > shortage of my opportunity to challenge pre-conceived > notions. It is such stuff as dramatic conflicts are made on. Ah. A great point. Frankly, I hadn't considered single women when I wrote the above (not because I'm irretrievably sexist--which may also be true--so much as that the topic was Bishops) and my statements are mainly concerned with single men. Frankly, I don't think my comments apply to women at all. Most women are used to considering the alien/other as something they do every day. It has to do with community, sociality, and other stereotypical "discourse" tendencies found common among women. One of the powerful things about the gospel is that it encourages men to become more like women (and women to become more like men). Men need to overcome their natural tendencies to develop love, compassion, and community. That's why I say it is beneficial for a Bishop to be married because one benefit of marriage for men is forcing them to compromise and work together with someone who makes decisions based on criteria he would never think of. Marriage is something else entirely for women and perhaps a good topic for an off-shoot discussion. Jacob Proffitt -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Marvin PAYNE, _One Man_ (Review) Date: 26 Oct 2002 14:24:29 -0600 Ah, this review from Michael brings back memories for me, too. As a college student, I felt very connected to Marvin Payne listening to his songs. His voice has that personal connective quality -- and I've always loved the folksong quality of his music. And then much later of course with Scripture Scouts, my kids and I enjoyed him together. On the very rare occasion in Scripture Scouts, Marvin sings in his own voice; we particularly loved a piece on Zion. Most of the time, though, you get Marvin as Boo Dog. I remember going into a guitar store with one of my boys then age eight or so. "Look, Avi, there's Boo Dog!" I said. "Hi, Avi, how are ya?" Marvin said in Boo Dog voice. Avi could hardly hold himself in his skin :). He's a college freshman himself these days, and he still remembers that. Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lajackson@juno.com Subject: [AML] Re: Membership Records Date: 26 Oct 2002 21:09:54 -0500 Richard Johnson: ... my wife's grandmother ... showed up at the temple to find out that she had received her endowments by proxy almost ten years before. If you think hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you should see the fury of a woman who was counted out dead. _______________ One of my more memorable funerals as a bishop was for a man I did not know. The neighbors said he had recently been talking to "the Mormon boys on bicycles", so I was contacted, given his name and date of birth, and asked if the Church could locate any relatives. I spoke with a most wonderful sister in the membership department (who probably stretched a few rules), and located an aunt and a nephew in distant parts of the state by way of their bishops. And since she had the membership record on her computer screen, I asked if she could record the death date on the record. She paused a moment, chuckled, and then said she would update the death date shown on the record. I was surprised, but she said she had seen it happen a time or two before, and even told me the original date and the name of the ward and stake where he had been reported dead about ten years earlier. I decided it would serve no purpose ever to reveal the location. I am certain the bishop and clerk have long since been released, and I didn't think I would like it there, even if I ever wanted to hide from the Church. Larry Jackson lajackson@juno.com ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Johnson Subject: [AML] Fate Date: 26 Oct 2002 22:28:53 -0400 As fate would have it, I was asked last Sunday to teach the priesthood lesson in the High Priest's group tomorrow. I accepted with some pleasure since it is "open sunday" and Harlow Clark had written a post which I had wanted, for some time, to share as a basis for discussion. When I printed up the article, I realized that it was so full of Hollow Cluckisms that I would spend more time explaining the language than we would spend discussing the content. Okay, sez I, I really would like to use Jeff Needle's last review (the 30 year Institute Director who was rethinking the history he had taught.) I went to my Jeff Needle file and it was not there. Could I have transferred it to the wrong file? My little search engine couldn't find it. The AML archive. Not posted yet. That's what I get for trying to use material not published by--- those others. Richard B. Johnson, (djdick@PuppenRich.com) Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www.PuppenRich.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: RE: [AML] Teaching at BYU Date: 27 Oct 2002 12:43:40 -0700 (MST) I think Thom and I are actually in agreement on this issue. I didn't say that BYU was open. My point was that the concept of academic freedom is an illusion. The state school serves the interests of the state, and the church school serves the interests of the church. There is also a big difference between teaching a concept as a theory and making a theory the keystone of your personal religion. My point was also that greater freedom exists at BYU to explore a variety of perspectives. The list of literary theories I taught iin my English 252 class is clear evidence of that, and I don't have any trouble talking about any of the concepts you suggested--they are all interesting alternative perspectives. I especially don't have any objections to Juanita Brooks. She is, after all, my great aunt (by marriage), and one of my colleagues in Honors 200 is using her book as a course text this semester. However, why would I, personally, want to advocate as true either on of those twin darlings of the apostates and disaffected--that Brigham Young ordered the MMM and that the Book of Mormon is anything less that what it claims to be? I don't think there is any place at BYu for someone who would make those claims; nor would the state school long tolerate the teacher who insisted on opening his class with prayer each day. As you said, "BYU and the State School both have their own orthodoxies," and neither is "open minded in its curricula." So, now, remind me: when was the last time the Book of Mormon (as either a literary or literal construct) was used as a course text at a state sponsored school? As Eric S indicated, in contrast to other institutions, BYU is a great place, and we can work on the problems. Fred Pinnegar GE and Honors, BYU -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: [AML] SAMUELSEN,_Peculiarities_ Date: 27 Oct 2002 22:56:31 -0700 Barbara Hume and I saw _Peculiarities_ on closing night and we were very = glad we didn't miss the opportunity. What a thoughtful piece. In fact = I can't stop thinking about it. I can think of few other cultures where = these kinds of situations would play out. The 8 characters in this play = have something in common. They are all lonely and they are all sexually = frustrated. So they all seek to satisfy these basic needs in different = ways. This becomes an exercise in rationalization about the letter of = the law, so that technically they won't sin and have to confess to their = bishops and others. Because these characters are all so self-absorbed, = they choose paths that are destined to leave them more lonely, empty, = unfulfilled and guilt-ridden. None of the characters seem to really = care about their partners. It seems to be a *what's in it for me* = exercise. All characters have some redeeming qualities, although you = have to really look hard to find out what they might be. My heart went = out to these people. They seemed so clueless. To me this is a sad = chronicle of the times. It would take another play to explain how we = got to this point. (I know this is only a cross-section of students, = not a blanket statement.) It is an end of innocence (but not an end of = naivet=E9). What happened to romance, to caring, to unselfishness? The = sexual frustration part has always been with us. We have all had to = deal with it, but I don't remember the hopelessness that I felt in this = play. Thank you, Eric, for being honest and for putting a face on these = tragic challenges facing our young people. I feel like the mother. I = want to understand and I want to make it all better, but I know that I = can't. This is a lonely journey each of us must take. Now I know why = my husband prays daily for the *youth of the church*. Heaven knows they = need our prayers. =20 Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" Subject: [AML] Re: Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 27 Oct 2002 22:28:38 -0800 >CASTING SESSION ... >All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical >condition, ... Can we just write the review on this movie now and get it over with? I already hate it. --lmg -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] STEWART/JENSON, _Almost Perfect_ Date: 28 Oct 2002 12:10:11 +0000 Desret News Sunday, October 27, 2002 "ALMOST PERFECT," written by Doug Stewart, with music by Merrill Jenson, will debut Nov. 1-9 in UVSC's Ragan Theatre. The school's theater department chair, James Arrington, is directing the new show. Unlike most of Stewart's scripts ("Saturday's Warrior," "A Day, a Night and a Day"), this is not a "Mormon musical." Arrington says the plot of "Almost Perfect" has no LDS characters. The story is set in 1941 in New York City, where con-man Jack Riley (Jeff McLean) is in the midst of his biggest con when he unexpectedly falls in love with Anna Caruso (Andrea Ingles). The production contains 20 new songs, written by Jenson, who is best-known for his film scores, ranging from Kieth Merrill's 1980 "Windwalker" to the LDS Church's big-screen "The Testaments" and "Legacy." The musical is being choreographed by Elaine Hansen. Performances will be 7:30 p.m., on Nov. 1, 2, 4, 7 and 9, with one matinee at 2 p.m. on Nov. 7. General admission ranges from $5-$9, with group rates available (863-8797). Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free!=A0 Try MSN.=20 http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] EVANS, _The Last Promise_ (DN) Date: 28 Oct 2002 12:13:13 +0000 Deseret News Friday, October 25, 2002 Books: Leisure reading 'The Last Promise' By Richard Paul Evans Dutton, $22.95. Evans, a local ad executive who proved he was a master of self-promotion when his self-published book, "The Christmas Box" was picked up by a national publisher, has done it again. The subject of this one, set in the Tuscan countryside surrounding Evans' new home, is how to choose between the love of a child and romantic love. It focuses on Eliana, a talented artist who leaves America for Italy to marry her Italian suitor. But the marriage sours, and Eliana is left to herself to care for her young asthmatic son. When Ross Story, a handsome American, rents an apartment on the property, Eliana's marriage is thoroughly tested. She is drawn to the American, but she wants to be true to her marriage vows. Returning from a business trip, her Italian husband, Maurizio, discovers a partially finished portrait Eliana has been painting of Ross, causing the plot to thicken. The new locale provides Evans with new descriptive material to use, but his writing remains wooden and cliched. - Dennis Lythgoe Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 28 Oct 2002 08:44:20 -0700 > >All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical > >condition, with EXCEPTIONAL acting talent and ability. > >Please bring "head shots" if you have them. This is a > >non-union production. NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! We wondered about the definition of ATTRACTIVE. Marilyn Brown -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: AML Subject: [AML] New Issue of IRREANTUM Date: 28 Oct 2002 07:42:59 -0700 IRREANTUM Magazine: Exploring Mormon Literature ==================================================================== Special Environmental-Themed Issue Supported by a grant from the Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, IRREANTUM is Mormonism's only magazine devoted to the literary arts. Our new 108-page issue (summer '02) features the following: Interview with Terry Tempest Williams (pictured above, if you receive e-mail in HTML format) and an excerpt from her memoir LEAP Essays by Gideon O. Burton, Harlow Soderborg Clark, Patricia Gunter Karamesines, Todd Robert Petersen, Levi S. Peterson, Neila C. Seshachari, and Dan Wotherspoon Poetry by Paris Anderson, Leon Chidester, Dennis Clark, Danielle Beazer Dubrasky, Stanton H. Hall, George Handley, Susan Elizabeth Howe, Bruce Jorgensen, Patricia Gunter Karamesines, and Darlene Young Fiction by M. Shayne Bell, David M. Clark, Darin Cozzens, and Julie West Staheli Reviews of books by LaVon B. Carroll, Colleen Down, Gerald N. Lund, B.J. Rowley, Emily Watts, Terry Tempest Williams, and Julie Wright Plus Mormon literary news and more Click here to order a copy of this issue. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&item_number=&no_note=0&cancel_return=&item_name=Copy%20of%20Irreantum%20(summer%20'02%20issue)&amount=5.00&bn=topica&undefined_quantity=1&return=&business=irreantum2@cs.com&no_shipping=0 Click here for a 4-issue subscription to IRREANTUM. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&item_number=&no_note=0&cancel_return=&item_name=Irreantum%20subscription&amount=16.00&bn=topica&undefined_quantity=1&return=&business=irreantum2@cs.com&no_shipping=0 To order by snail-mail, click here for a printable order form. http://www.aml-online.org/irreantum/order-form.html Click here for more information about IRREANTUM magazine. http://www.aml-online.org/irreantum/index.html ==================================================================== Update your profile here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2W.batlYA.YW1sLWxp Unsubscribe here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2W.batlYA.YW1sLWxp.u Delivered by Topica Email Publisher, http://topica.email-publisher.com/ -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marianne Hales Harding" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 28 Oct 2002 14:42:44 -0700 >All that aside, I really don't know how it's possible to miss the primary >message of Johnny Lingo: the worth of a >woman is determined by men, based >on a man's appraisal of her physical attractiveness. Mahana is 'ugly.' >But no! >Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for her! Turns out she's beautiful! > And so Johnny Lingo's assessment of her wins out. > >But Johnny Lingo (the character and also the movie) isn't asking us to >reevaluate our notions of what >constitutes 'worth' or 'value' or what >weight we put on other human qualities, or anything of the sort. Johnny >just >thinks she's hot, and that her family and friends are dopes for not >having seen it. But he's using precisely the same >assessment criteria >everyone else is using. Oh I read it completely differently from that. I think that the fam and everyone but Johnny evaluates her based on her looks. Johnny, on the other hand, has known and loved her since they were children and because he knows her and her wonderful qualities she is beautiful to him. He thinks everybody else is a dope for not seeing those qualities besides physical attractiveness (or unattractiveness, as the case may be). When Mahana feels loved and valued (ie assessed) for things other than physical beauty (or lack thereof) she becomes more confident and that turns out to be quite attractive. The village folks are amazed because they perceive her to have suddenly transformed into someone who is considerably physically beautiful. Johnny knows, though, that she was always this wonderful...they just couldn't see past the physical to see it. They can only think in terms of physical beauty and so that's how they see it...Johnny knows that the physical beauty they see is just a reflection of her inner beauty...the inner beauty he always saw. And that's why I like Johnny Lingo! :-) Marianne Hales Harding _________________________________________________________________ Internet access plans that fit your lifestyle -- join MSN. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kumiko" Subject: [AML] Press Release: Gary Rogers' Book of Mormon Movie Date: 28 Oct 2002 20:50:15 -0600 PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Gary Rogers (801) 557-3515 sregor@aros.net http://www.bookofmormonmovie.com THE BOOK OF MORMON IS COMING TO THE SILVER SCREEN! Salt Lake City, Utah - October 29, 2002 -- The Salt Lake Hilton Hotel will be the site of a press conference announcing the production of an epic, multi-million dollar motion picture, "The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume One!" To members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon is a sacred record of an ancient people who migrated from Jerusalem to the America's some 600 years before the birth of Christ. The book covers approximately one thousand years of their history, including a visit by Jesus Christ, after his crucifixion and resurrection in the old world. "This is a very unique motion picture," stated Gary Rogers, the film's producer, writer and director. "Virtually every member of the Church I've talked to has told me they have waited all their lives to see a movie about the Book of Mormon! It really is a filmmaker's dream. However, the biggest challenge will be to produce a film that satisfies the audience. Most of the nearly 12 million members of the Church have already "seen" the movie many times in their minds! The prospect of meeting the expectations of millions of people is a very frightening but exciting challenge," say's Rogers. "The Book of Mormon Movie will have special appeal to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, the movie is designed to appeal to all viewers," stated Rogers. "The movie has all the same elements that make up any good motion picture: mystery, drama, action, intrigue, murder and romance. This will be an epic motion picture in every sense of the word." Rogers said the Book of Mormon Movie would actually be a "series" of movies. The Book will be filmed in eight or nine installments or volumes, approximately two hours each in length, over the next seven years. Volume One covers Lehi's treacherous journey through the Arabian desert, crossing the great ocean to the "Promised Land" and the early years in the New World. Shooting will take place in Salt Lake City, for interior shots of sets, the California desert and Central America. In addition, "pick-up" shots without actors, will be filmed in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Robert C. Bowden, former "Emmy" award winning Musical Director of the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus and former Conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, will compose the musical score. Mr. Bowden will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the same orchestra that performed all the music for "Star Wars." "No celebrity actors will be used in filming the movie," stated Rogers. "I think a celebrity would actually detract. Tom Cruise playing Nephi or Jack Nicholson playing Lehi just wouldn't work! They bring too much 'baggage' with them, not to mention their enormous price tag! The Book of Mormon is the draw here, not the actors," say's Rogers. However, Rogers was quick to emphasize that the actors must be able to act as well as any actor in the world. Rogers hopes to use as many local actors as possible. "We have an incredible talent pool right here in Utah." An open casting call will be held Saturday, November 2nd at the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel. Casting information can be found on the Company's website at http://www.bookofmormonmovie.com, or by calling (801) 557-3515. The movie's anticipated release date is spring of 2003. The movie will open first in the Utah market and then be released nationally. After the theatrical release, the movie will be available on DVD and Video. The DVD version will allow the viewer to see and hear the movie in Spanish with the simple click of the remote! Also, at any point during the movie, the viewer can click the remote and text will appear on the screen showing the exact chapter and verse in the book that relates to what the viewer is watching on screen! The DVD version will also show how the movie was made, including outtakes, special effects and interviews with cast members. -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 28 Oct 2002 21:05:59 -0700 Thom Duncan wrote: > I don't know why such an excuse finds resonance among Mormons. We don't > settle for this wrt our preaching to the world. Instead, our message > is, "Yes, you may have some good things you believe in, but at the very > best, they are not complete. Here's our message." As missionaries, we > don't settle for the idea that because your religion speaks to you, > makes you happy, or whatever, that it is therefore, okay. Why should we > not be similarly malcontent with those who "believe" in an inferior art? My only argument is that "incomplete" is not the same thing as "of no worth" or "morally dishonest" or "spiritually corrupt" as is so often argued when discussing sentimental or inartistic works. I don't accept these works as successful art, but I do accept them as attempts to express some kind of hope or desire or truth. I wish more people would express those same ideas with more artistic compentence because I want real truth clad in the best possible robes offered with the clearest possible vision. And as a missionary I know that my best success came with extending what people already had and bringing them to more complete understanding rather than shouting "No! No! No! You've got it all wrong!" then trying to break through the hostility that inevitably followed (and yes, I used both methods with varying degrees of success; Germans actually have a fair tolerance for direct, beligerent confrontation--though that tolerance is neither infinite nor guaranteed). Each of us has to do what we think is right in order to create the world we want to live in. As it turns out, you and I have amazingly similar artistic goals but nearly perfectly opposed methods for realizing those goals. May we both go forth with vigor to create the future as best we can. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kathy Fowkes" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Date: 29 Oct 2002 21:37:34 -0700 > Can a Bishop who's never been divorced give good advice on divorce? > > Thom Only by the Spirit. Thom, I'm so sorry you've been through that. Watching my parents go through it was hellish (even though in their case absolutely necessary) - and I don't mean just the divorce, but all the aftermath that goes on for years and years within the family. It's been more than 30 years and there are still lingering effects, serious and otherwise. Kathy Fowkes -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Starship Mormons Date: 28 Oct 2002 21:45:35 -0700 ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 9:29 AM I hope Richard Dutcher will forgive me for quoting him without permission, but his comment on the *sky-clad monastics* was that when you go around naked it is important to sweep because one doesn't want to sit on any bugs. Nan McCulloch -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "jana" Subject: [AML] LDS Horror Folklore? Date: 28 Oct 2002 21:12:02 -0800 Hi Folks: Does anyone out there know if there is any truth to the rumor that Boris = Karloff (nee William Henry Pratt) is a Mormon and/or a relative of = Parley P. Pratt?? Thanks! Jana -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dhunt_aml@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 29 Oct 2002 05:02:43 GMT >I think that in the posting below, Richard Dutcher has said all that >needs to be said about writing Mormon literature or creating Mormon >art. >Amen, Richard, and Amen!!!! >ROB.LAUER Richard Dutcher: >>First of all, stay away from thinking about writing something in the "LDS >>genre." If you go about it with that mindset, you're going to find yourself >>writing down to your audience. You're not some guy behind the counter at >>Burger King filling somebody's order. And now me (Darvell Hunt): I agree with both what Rob Lauer and Richard Dutcher said about writing for the "LDS Genre," but I also have a bit of a concern with it as well. A few years ago, I wrote what I consider to be a great novel with a great story. I still think so. I wrote the story for myself and possibly close relatives, but I believed it would have great appeal to the general LDS audience, as it indirectly dealt with early church history in Utah. But I couldn't get anybody to publish it. At least editor from one of the "big LDS publishers" said that they liked it and the writing style was very good, but that they had already published a story somewhat similar to it and it hadn't sold very well. Hence they rejected my story. My point is, that to get something published, it HAS to be marketable. Sure, it can be written for myself and be the most powerful piece of literature TO ME, but if it doesn't sell and isn't marketable, it won't be published. That doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't good writing, just maybe not marketable. And that may be okay, unless I feel the need to get something publishable. So I think that you HAVE to do both. You can just have a powerful piece with a small audience or you can have a boring work with a general audience. But to really succeed with it in the paying world, you must have both. I can also see where some people who may have considerable natural talent (I would say, like Richard Dutcher or Orson Scott Card, because I've heard both artists say similiar things) don't need to try as hard as those of us who struggle to learn. Some people have their first work praised and published right away. Then there are others who work and work and work and finally achieve greatness. Advice from those who instanly achieve greatness may not work for those who work very hard at it, or vice versa. I hope this makes sense. I just wanted to say that there are as many ways to tell a story as there are tellers. I've worked at my craft for over 15 years now and I've developed my own style. But I haven't sold anything yet. (Actually, I've written for a local newspaper for almost two years now and get paid almost weekly for writing that I do. But that's not what I'm talking about here.) So I've concluded that either I'm doing something wrong, haven't been doing the right thing long enough, or just need to learn something new. I hope I found out which one of these very soon. ;) Darvell Hunt ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Justin Halverson Subject: RE: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 29 Oct 2002 01:19:25 -0500 I've been interested in the ways this debate has shaped up and wanted to weigh in. I have a problem with Rob Lauer's polemic that language is only valid when it is instrumental; that is, when it is used to "communicate" something. He writes, "If the language of a given literary work is so perverted that it can no longer be used to communicate (if it is inscrutable), then I have no choice BUT to discard it." There are many (myself included) who would argue that a very significant--even essential--part of literature's being literature is precisely its refusal to be purely communicative. Most of the literature I *enjoy* reading has a high degree of referentiality to the world I live in (or can imagine living in), and operates instrumentally to convey clear pictures, images, even "messages" in much the same way as the instructions for assembling my daughter's tricycle do. But literature also possesses a higher degree of mystery, of indeterminacy, of a refusal to allow its words (common as they may sound) to be fixed in place and "understood" than bicycle instructions. That is one reason that I can read something like Levi Peterson's story "The Gift" or Karl Sandberg's poem "Scripture Lesson" more than once and find new and renewed meaning in them reading after reading without completely and wholly--and exhaustively--understanding them. Joyce's fiction falls on the spectrum between the opposing poles of the completely instrumental and the completely non-referential so close to the latter that I don't personally enjoy reading him. Or, I should say, that I don't enjoy reading him for the same reasons I usually read. There is something exciting for me about his refusal to let his words "mean," and the questions that refusal raises about my own identity and experience in the world: for example, to what degree do fixity (required of meaning, of promise, of committment) on the one hand and change (necessary for growth, progression, etc.) interact in me? What do I give up or gain as I move closer or further from these poles of my personality? Is such movement even possible, and in what ways.... I digress. I would also suggest that Joyce is usually viewed as writing within a very specific historical and philosophical moment, one in which he and many others felt that art was being taken over (and ultimately destroyed) by an ever-growing, ever-consuming bourgeois culture that only allowed production of "art" that would sell. Joyce (and Eliot and Pound and Wolff, and a bunch of others, none of whom really do it for me) reacted against what they saw as the complete instrumentalization of language and literature--a new economy of language, that is, a linguistic economy where words had to do what things or tools did: make money. (This is of course a gross oversimplification, but, I think, to the point.) Joyce's language is extremely non-referential at least in part to combat this, to assert a value for language and literature and art outside and apart from its instrumental value, its use value. We could even call it random, but it is self-consciously random, random on purpose. One thing it is not (and as made up of sentences, of words in relation to each other and to the reader's own repertoire of meaning, can NEVER be) is wholly "inscrutable," precisely because no sentence "stands on its own" and IS, in a very real sense, dependent on the reader's experience with everything from "see spot run" to quantum physics--even if she or he has no experience at all, which is why TS Eliot said we read in the first place, to gain experience we don't have time or opportunity to have ourselves. I don't like to read Joyce in the same way I like to read other things (in fact, I really dislike Joyce on that level), but I do like that it tries to save language from being converted into simply a tool for me to use to transmit a specific idea. I don't want my language to be *just* a tool, I don't want to be able to use it *exactly* as I might use a pen, or a knife, or a hammer. I want it to have that ability, but not solely that ability. And no, I'm not being wishy-washy. I just want to be able to read my favorite books and poems again and have it be, in a sense, new. I don't want you or anyone else--including myself--to EVER be able to say: "This is exactly what Lear means, and that's all." There's even a little of this (or maybe more than a little) indeterminacy going on in the scriptures, which is one reason *I* think we're asked to read them every day... Justin "Sorry, I just get excited" Halverson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Adams Subject: [AML] Get-together Friday Night? Date: 30 Oct 2002 12:48:20 -0600 [MOD: Given the immense backlog, and the fact that I am currently unreliable (deep apologies), I recommend that anyone interested in this reply directly to Linda, as well as AML-List. I will try to keep my eyes open for possible notices on this topic.] Hi, I'm sorry to ask about this last-minute, but I wasn't sure I'd be available for anything until now. Turns out I *will* have a little free time Friday evening after I fly into SLC for the Writer's Conference. Does anyone want to get together with me then? It's probably too late to find an open ward building in the area , which would have been my first choice, but I've had a few other suggestions for a location: Sizzler on 9000 S State in Sandy Hometown Buffet on State Street in Sandy a couple blocks north of 10600 S, near the Southtowne Mall Or The Sandy Library on 1300 E and about 10000 S (guessing on that one). Salt Lake Community College in the College Center, which has some lounging area. Redwood Road at about 4500 S in West Valley. Any preferences, of the above, or is there any interest in getting together? Probably around 6-ish, up to 8 or 9, will be best for me, Friday November 2nd. You can post me privately at if you like. Thanks! Sorry for the short notice! It couldn't be helped. It's a very in-and-out trip for me and I'll be traveling with my 8-mo. old son. Lots of variables! Linda Adams ============================ Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 29 Oct 2002 00:13:25 -0800 Actually, the thing I notice about these casting calls seems to be: NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Why? Because they have to be paid more? And for all you folks on the list who are big supporters of organized labor-What say you? In my experience, there is almost no industry that has more need of a union as does the entertainment industry. I have watched union rules knowingly violated on sets by people I knew were supporters of democratic causes by public reputation or inclination. I understand the need to save some bucks, but I'm curious-All you folks that are involved in casting-be it for plays for or by LDS people or in the emerging cinema end of Mormon Letters- Is it standard practice not to cast SAG members, and if so, why? Strictly financial? Or are there other components to such a policy? Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Generalizing from Experience Date: 28 Oct 2002 18:57:39 -0700 Bill Willson wrote: > Writers need to be > careful that we don't create worlds, we are not willing to have our > grandchildren live in, or in light of the exponential advance of modern > technology, worlds we are not eager to live in ourselves. I can't disagree with this more. It still amazes me that people think they have the right to tell other writers what and what not to write. If we followed the above prescription, the vast majority of all our stories would disappear, and some of the most inspiring ones too. Who wants to live in a world where a man who steals a loaf of bread because his family is starving is caught and ends up serving nineteen years in a dismal prison, then can't make an honest living because he's a convict, so resorts to stealing again, even from a bishop who gave him food and a place to sleep? So you'd better throw out Victor Hugo's _Les Miserables_. Who wants to live in a world where a man who won't betray his people to aid an old friend who became a powerful leader in a conquering nation, is then framed by the old friend for the attempted murder of a government official, is sentenced to a lifetime of servitude, and has his family thrown into a dungeon where they develop leprosy? There goes _Ben-Hur_. I would hate to live in a world where every move I make is watched and every product I buy is manufactured by the government and is of pathetic quality; where I can't trust any piece of news to tell me anything remotely resembling the truth; where when the government says something is so, I am forced to believe it, no matter how false I know it to be. Goodbye Orwell's _1984_. Science fiction has uncounted stories of dystopian worlds, worlds we'd all hate to live in, which worlds were created by authors who wanted us to think hard about the consequences of trends they see in society, and ask ourselves if we want to live in such worlds, and what can we do to avoid it. "Cautionary tales" they're called. Throw it all out. How do we ever learn about the negative side of life, the negative consequences of sin, the dangers of foolishness or mercilessness? Are we allowed only to learn about them first-hand in real life because we have nowhere to experiment with cause and effect in a safe environment, through imaginary tales? And this because we mustn't tell tales that paint pictures of worlds we don't like, on the off-chance someone will take our vision and try to realize it? Must we remain in a state of blissful ignorance that Adam and Eve fell to rescue us from? Writers need to be careful that they don't AVOID creating such worlds. Truth must be told, and if truth is ugly, so much more the need to expose the ugliness for all to see. Unrecognized ugliness cannot be dealt with. If no story were ever written that depicted an ugly world, would the bad guys suddenly lose all imagination and never be able to think up the evil acts on their own? If we would just stop writing novels, perhaps peace would break out and all sin disappear. -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Steve Perry" Subject: Re: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Date: 29 Oct 2002 07:47:10 -0800 I went to "Peculiarities" last Thursday at the Villa and was glad I went. I felt uncomfortable many times--not with the subject or the writing--but with the overwhelming urge to yell at the characters, "Stop it, you idiot, can't you see what this will do to your life?" What stopped me (besides the usual theatrical convention of not speaking to the actors during performance) was the fact that I found parts of each individual character I could relate to all too well. Well done, brother Samuelsen. :-) Steve -- skperry@mac.com http://www.StevenKappPerry.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mary Jane Jones" Subject: Re: RE: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ (Review) Date: 29 Oct 2002 09:37:43 -0700 >> The most dangerous segment of the play is "NCMO" (somebody should ask >> Samuelsen what this title means; it's probably an abbreviation the hip >> people already know.) =20 >I don't know how many times I've heard my BYU roommates use this one so, >I feel qualified to respond: "Non-Committal Make Out"=20 And as I recall, there was some stink a couple years ago about some = students that had started up a "nickmo" web site, where people could go to = find willing partners. BYU and Provo City tried to get that shut down = pretty quickly. Mary Jane -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Paris Anderson" Subject: Re: [AML] The Bridge Date: 29 Oct 2002 06:48:33 -0700 The biggest weakness I saw in the allegory was that the switchman's son really did end up dead. He wasn't there when the switchman got home. Of course, Christ wasn't Leaving the Big Guy forever. He was going home. "The Bridge" is a good story, but it's not a parallel story that is simpler and help us understand the bigger more complex story. Paris Anderson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo Date: 29 Oct 2002 09:24:21 -0700 Actually, though, we're mostly in agreement here. Kellene Adams: >What I do know is that the "we" that I know does not >continue to "accept unquestioningly the values of our (American, = >western) >society." In fact, the we that I know (and work hard to be part of and = who >happens to be the majority of people I know) is working hard to >consistently, carefully, painstakingly, and thoughtfully send messages, = both >subtle and unsubtle, that there is much more to beauty than what meets = the >eye--for both male and female--that each one of us, young and old, but >especially our youth, our children, our young men and women, are = absolutely >beautiful, absolutely divine, absolutely special. Of course. Count me in, I hope, as part of that 'we.' I just wish that = the majority of people I know felt this way too. That, unfortunately, is = not true. But that's the message we should be sending, either through = positive or negative examples. It's explicitly not the message I see in = Johnny Lingo, a film a lot of folks on this list were defending, probably = because they saw a very different message. =20 Tracie Laulusa: >He saw her inner worth, and because he did, and >treated her that way, it was reflected in her outward appearance. Her >outside came to reflect what he knew was on the inside already. =20 SNIP >Eric, you had a character in Singled Out who, I think, did not really >think herself outwardly beautiful, yet wanted her potential partner to >be able to see her as beautiful. And he did. If I remember right, in >the end he told her she was beautiful. What was he seeing? >Physically she wasn't "beautiful". But he came to love her insides, >and that lent beauty to her whole being. =20 Look, I'm a very unattractive man, physically. I say that without = self-consciousness or self-pity; it's just the way things are. I'm a = theatre guy, and very used to looking objectively at people, and when I = look at myself I see "character actor." Somehow, through some miracle, a = wonderful, beautiful woman looked past all that and saw in me someone = beautiful, and she enriches my life every day of it. That's the miracle, = the astounding phenomenon of love, and I thank God for it, that He gave us = this gift. I agree with all that. I just don't see it in Johnny Lingo. I don't see anything but female = objectification. I don't think it's a particularly loathsome film, = because it's too inept and silly to be dangerous. I find it a remarkable = mixture of atrocious acting, dreadful directing, horrendous writing and as = Thom pointed out, the wigs don't fit, all serving a horrid message. As = such, it's a perfect example of form serving content. Maybe a re-make = willl actually end up expressing all the positive values some of the rest = of you see in it. Power to 'em. I don't have much faith in that = particular artistic team, but you never know. But the big problem is that = for most folks I know, when we hear Johnny Lingo, we get the giggles. The = lingering horrors of the previous film will almost certainly color our = impressions of the re-make. =20 Eric Samuelsen -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Matthew Lee Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops/ Sealings Date: 29 Oct 2002 08:59:22 -0800 (PST) "Can a Bishop who's never been divorced give good advice on divorce?" That's a bit bogus. Can a Savior who has never sinned give good advice= on sin? Of course! I assume that President Kimball was never involved in= the vast majority sins he discusses in his book, The Miracle of= Forgiveness, yet I believe he does an excellent job covering the subject= matter. Isn=92t that what so many of you authors are trying so hard to= capture? An accurate feeling for those things that you have never fully= experienced?=20 Image how much more important is it that a priesthood leader be= enlighten beyond his physical abilities when helping someone who is= struggling to work out their our salvation. Thank goodness the Savior= "descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he= might be in all and through all things," (D&C 88: 6 ), that the Spirit can= work upon the leaders of the church to give council about things that they= may other wise, know very little about.=20 In addition, all these questions about Sealing=92s are really touching= on Holy ground. The President of the Church takes the giving and the= cancellation of these blessing very seriously. It=92s important to= remember that when a couple is =93sealed=94 they have entered into a= covenant with God and not with each other. So for an individual to request= that the Sealing they took part in, by covenant, be canceled, it removes= from them any entitlement to blessings associated with the covenant. = Unless they have someone else lined up to enter into the covenant with them= again, what they are doing, in essence, is removing blessings from there= own lives.=20 And as far as the woman who requested that her sealing be canceled= because she didn=92t want to be with her former husband in the after life,= it must always be remembered that =93No power or influence can or ought to= be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by= long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;" (D&C= 121:41). If after all persuasion and long-suffering has been expended, and= she still does not want to be with him she will not be forced into doing= so.=20 It=92s this same lack of compulsion that allows the President of the= Church to cancel sealing blessings, even when it breaks his heart to do so.= =20 Thank you, Matthew R. Lee -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paynecabin@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] The Bridge Date: 29 Oct 2002 12:10:02 EST In a message dated 10/28/02 9:38:41 PM, dmichael@wwno.com writes: << The point of this parable was to teach us to keep praying for that which we desire. In other words, the merciless king represented God. >> Although I didn't much like the film we're discussing, I think this is a good point. I've always been tickled by the Savior comparing Himself with a chicken. It works, but don't play the analogy all the way out if you want to stay reverent. Marvin Payne __________________ Visit marvinpayne.com! "Come unto Christ, and lay hold on every good gift..." (From the last page of the Book of Mormon) -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Melanie Dahlin Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Date: 29 Oct 2002 11:52:15 -0700 (MST) I have been dying to say something about the and novel, Charly. I needed to watch the movie for a class, but I don't know if I would have otherwise. It would have been my loss, to be honest. Granted, the movie has its flaws, so does the book. (What movie or book is perfect?) But, let's not forget what this book, and film, has done for the Mormon genre, specifically Mormon literature. I recognize that Mormon literature has been around for a great many years. Between the 1960s-70s it achieved a little more momentum, but I think it was Weyland (well, for the most part) that has really made it---dare I say---popular? Someone needed to set a foundation for Mormon literature. Without the pioneers, how can we expand, and better, the doctrine? Without meaning to be trite, I compare Weyland's literature to Sigmund Freud. Freud was not the only man practicing and researching psychology, but he was the one who made it well-known. Today, many psychologists see Freud's ideas as "half-baked"; however, he set the foundation for others to build upon. That is why Freud is the father of psychology. Not necessarily because his ideas and style are accepted, but because he paved the dirt road. I believe Weyland, and others like him, have done the same. Let's give them credit for their efforts. Melanie Dahlin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cathy Wilson Subject: Re: [AML] Inverting Stories (was: Johnny Lingo) Date: 29 Oct 2002 15:53:26 -0700 Do you remember the old Twilight Zone episode where a young blonde, attractive in a sixties sort of way, is agonizing because of her ugliness? She's in a hospital, isolated for her hideousness. The half-hour proceeds with her agony, till at the end we see her caretakers, all thinking themselves very beautiful--with pig-nose-faces, scary and hideous indeed when you're a little kid. There's an inversion for us. Cathy Wilson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Getting Started with LDS Screenwriting Date: 29 Oct 2002 15:44:32 -0600 >>>At 05:04 PM 10/24/02, you wrote: >The last thing we need is one more Mormon businessperson pretending to be >an artist and cluttering up our movie screens. >As for books and such: beware of any screenwriting guru who preaches any >formula or structure for success. >Just write from the gut of your soul. >Richard Dutcher<<<< While I agree with Richard completely on principle, I remember Darvell from another writer's group (it's been a while--hello!) and I think I understand his question, since I've had the same one myself. It is, how do you write that gut story in screenplay format? I understand how to write poetry, fiction (short and long), and have tried straight drama (with no luck getting produced, yet, so I don't know if my two plays are any good, really); but the format of screenwriting baffles me. What are the basic differences between a screen script and a dramatic script (which I understand how to do)? What do all those puzzling abbreviations mean? (I've learned a few: CU is close-up, INT is interior, EXT is exterior.) How important are the physical descriptions, camera angles, close-ups, long shots, music in the background, and where is all that supposed to go in relation to the dialogue? Is it my job to come up with all that, or the director's? When I've written drama, I use brief set and costume descriptions, etc., just enough to communicate my intent. I figure any director or producer will have their own vision and interpret those things for themselves, therefore it's a waste of time for me to bother putting that on paper, if they're just going to change it anyway. (Things like, describing a character as blond unless that means something to the story.) So, if I were writing a scene taking place in McDonald's, for the screen, how much description do I need to put in? Just this? "INT: McDonald's. Lunchtime. Long lines. DEAN is sitting at a booth. JANE is still in line, annoyed. JANE Dean. Dean, come here. DEAN I'm holding the table. What's your problem?" --Might be an incredibly boring scene there, but is that *what* you do? Is that enough? Or do I have to add: Trash on all the tables. Noisy. All but one table is clean and empty. Two registers are empty. Employees standing around doing nothing to move the line along. One employee obviously slow. Yada yada ya. I'd think all that is included by just saying, "McDonald's. Lunchtime." And the director can come up with those details that add to his interpretation of my script. I think that's what Darvell wants to know. I do too. How do I convert a story, novel, or stage drama over to the screen? Or take a new idea and write for the screen? I have at least two or three stories bouncing around my head that would be great movies. Movies *I'd* like to see, anyway, and I'm picky. And I think other people might like to watch 'em. But I don't have a clue how to set down what I see in my head in the right format for a film director to make sense of my vision. I have very little understanding of how a film actually *gets* made, from concept to finished product. Not to mention the artistry that goes into camera angles and drawing out storyboards. Is that the writer's job? What does the text of the script need to provide? And what books are out there that describe the filmmaking process in lay terms? That's what I want to know. Linda Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 29 Oct 2002 17:16:44 -0800 On Mon, 14 Oct 2002 13:03:12 -0400 Robert Lauer writes: > 1. What is the ESSENCE of Joyce? > (Essence is a word with a particular meaning. If one says that > Joyce's essence is incomprehensible, But who says this? I've never heard any Joyce scholar say that Joyce is incomprehensible. My father's first book (I think) was a monograph called, "Modern and Classic: The Wooing Both Ways," about how certain works from the modern period retell classic stories. Eliot's work retells Dante's Divine Comedy, Ulysses retells The Odyssey, etc. How is that incomprehensible? It's well-known that Joyce is retelling the Odyssey, just as it's well-known that the Coen Bros. are retelling the Odyssey in _O Brother Where Art Thou?_ I haven't read a lot of Joyce so I won't try to defend his work, but my own work owes probably as much to Joyce as he owes to the English Metaphysical poets (Cowley, Donne, et al). For my essay "Lucid Dreaming," I took my epigraph from Samuel Johnson's comments about the Metaphysicals in his Life of Cowley, "The most heterogeneous of ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons and allusions; their learning instructs and their subtilty surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and though he sometimes admires is seldom pleased." A great deal of my work as a critic has involved yoking heterogeneous ideas together, also a lot of puns--really dumb puns, and chains of associations. I will start writing about one subject and a pun will suggest itself and I'll play around with that before I get back to the subject. Maybe that's what Attention Deficit Disorder does, constantly diverts my attention and makes it difficult to recognize what things are most important. Or maybe Attention Deficit is not a disorder but a gift that allows me to see how all things are inter-related, and how rich experience is. I make a lot of dumb puns because the puns are related in complex ways to the things I'm thinking and writing about. I believe the same is true of Joyce's later work. He's not attacking language, he's trying to convey the richness and complexity of even small moments. Same thing Thornton Wilder was doing in Our Town, but Wilder chose to show the richness of experience in simple things, while Joyce chooses to show the richness of simple things in complex ways. When Emily asks the Stage Manager if anyone ever grasps every, every moment, he replies, "Poets maybe." And people like Joyce. How does trying to grasp the richness of experience, the richness of intruding thoughts and memories, the richness and texture of the world around us and work it into sentences and paragraphs mean that one has chosen incomprehensibility as ones essence? > 2. A literary work must stand on it's own. As the venerable Mike Royko said, Sez who? > If the reader is told that he, in order to understand the work, > must read what critics have written or that he must > understand the author's culture, religion, nationality, personal > history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the work > CAN'T stand on its own. Not at all. Consider the phrase "the dresser made of deal" in Wallace Stevens' "The Emperor of Ice Cream." What does it mean? There's nothing in the poem to tell you, except that Stevens uses a lot of images of temporary things. You might suspect that _deal_ means something different in the poem than "a bargain struck between two parties." But you have to know something about the author's culture to know what that something different is. You have to know that his culture speaks English and that within that language there is a word for a kind of very cheap wood, _deal_. (BTW, Leslie Norris has a wonderful story in _The Girl from Cardigan_ about cheap wood called, "A Piece of Archangel") How would you know that if you're not a carpenter? Look it up in the dictionary. Which is another thing you have to know about Stevens' culture. It's a dictionary-making culture, and a lot of poets use dictionaries as a resource to help their diction. Does that last paragraph sound insufferably self-righteous (or pedantic)? Let me rephrase it. Any work of art whose words or images we don't have to stop and think about stands on its own for us--we have enough cultural information to understand it. Every work of art will have an audience that doesn't have to puzzle through it, but every work of art will also have ideas and cultural details that will escape many audiences. I am 559/663 through the little green copy of Das Neue Testament, Luthertext, some missionary's copy, I bought years ago in a used bookstore. The Gospels are easy to read because I'm familiar with the English. The Epistles and Offenbarung I haven't read since 9th grade semerary, and they're harder to read, so I puzzle through them, and figure that when I read it again next year I'll understand better. It doesn't stand on its own for me. I don't know enough about the language, but often find that if I read a puzzling verse in English then read it again auf Deutsch I really did know all the words and the grammar if I'd been paying better attention. I'm willing to puzzle through because I want to learn and understand. When I took Steve Walker's MoBritLit class he told us what Marden Clark told his class years earlier, that if you're going to read Finnegan's Wake you should plan to spend about 100 hours getting into it. Steve told us he had read FW four or five (five or six?) times and still wasn't sure it was worth it. But he didn't say the essence of Joyce is incomprehensible. I've never heard anyone try to defend Joyce by saying that. I've never heard anyone say that who has taken the time to understand Joyce. BTW, I was looking through Marden Clark's copies of Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake the other night, lots of marginalia--which should be helpful, and I remembered one reason I hadn't read either one yet: The binding on FW is cracked. But, thanks to Paris Anderson and Michael Collings' class at last year's AML Writers Conference I now know how to repair it. > Also literature is written so that one can comprehend the author's > ideas through a personal reading of the work, without depending > on anyone other than the text itself. As Royko said . . . I agree that reading is personal, often deeply personal, but I also agree with what Lionel Trilling said in _Beyond Culture_, that modern literature specifically set out to engage its audience with the culture, not simply with the text itself. > Also punctuation is NOT a STYLE ELEMENT. That's what Charles Wentworth Higginson told Emily Dickinson. His meddling with her punctuation was one reason she didn't publish more poems in her lifetime. > As any actor or public speaker worth his or her salt knows, > punctuation is vital in recreating verbally not only the language > the author imagined but also its fine shades of meaning. Yes, and as many good writers know, some editors don't understand that they (the writers) know perfectly well what punctuation marks are supposed to do, and that writers rely on the audience's knowledge of punctuation to understand the effect a punctuation mark is supposed to have. Reminds me of a wonderful moment in the play _Wit_. I came across a video of the HBO production, after hearing about it on the radio. Emma Thompson plays a John Donne scholar dying of ovarian cancer. A rigorous, difficult teacher. Talking to us in her hospital bed she remembers the professor who introduced her to Donne, also a rigorous, difficult teacher, asking her if she thought the punctuation in Donne's "Death Be Not Proud" was arbitrary. The last line reads, in some editions, "And death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die." The professor says that's because the last line has two independent clauses, but the proper punctuation is a comma, (and death in lowercase, I think) "A comma, a breath, is all that separates this life from the next." At the end of the play the old professor is in town to visit a great-granddaughter, and stops by the hospital. She holds her old student, curled like a comma on the bed, and comforts her (wonderful, wonderful moment). > Language is an attempt to convey specific ideas. Yes. My language is often a way of conveying joy. As the Clown says to Cleopatra (and who could resist "If you want to flatter her / Say what Anthony told Cleopatterer"), when delivering the asp, "I wish you much joy in the worm." > When language is distorted the union of one individual > mind to another breaks down. Or builds up. Good puns not only unite words but people, because puns show us that words and ideas we might think unrelated are closely related, just as art shows us how much we share with other human(e) beings, even those very much different from us, even those we might think incomprehensible [Ah, I finally remembered the rhyme from _Chicago_, the one where the women are singing about the men they killed, and their reasons for doing so, "understandable, understandable, it's entirely understandable / comprehensible, comprehensible, it's entirely comprehensible /it's so defensible, it's not the least reprehensible." I was singing "Standerundable, standerundable, it's entirely standerundable" last night while carving pumpkins, and driving my niece crazy.] Harlow S. Clark ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "R.W. Rasband" Subject: [AML] Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and BELLESILES, _Arming America_ Date: 29 Oct 2002 16:49:36 -0800 (PST) Michael Bellesiles, professor of history at Emory University, has resigned after having been accused of academic fraud. He wrote "Arming America", a book which argued that there was no widespread gun ownership in early America, contrary to conventional wisdom. The book was widely acclaimed by critics (and liberals) and won the prestigious Bancroft Prize in history. However some scholars (and some bloggers) could not confirm the existence of many sources Bellesiles cited. An investigating committee appointed by Emory has recently concluded there is a strong possibility the professor lied about his sources. A member of the committee is Laurel Thatcher Ulrich of Harvard University, the noted Pulitzer-Prize winning LDS historian. The report cites a possible bogus story of Bellesiles using records from "a Mormon branch library." A summary of the report is at http://hnn.us/articles/1069.html __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/ -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Kumiko" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Oct. 25 02 Date: 29 Oct 2002 19:45:13 -0600 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of October 25, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 7 Punch-Drunk Love 3,308,223 481 17 Actors/characters: 5,861,261 David Stevens, Nathan Stevens, Michael D. Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens (James Smooth) 39 Master of Disguise 159,727 226 87 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 40,032,054 58 Jack Weyland's Charly 36,608 26 31 Adam Anderegg (director) 388,032 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 64 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 26,973 6 906 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,215,755 66 Minority Report 24,756 47 129 Gerald Molen (producer) 132,014,112 74 City by the Sea 13,822 31 52 Eliza Dushku (actress) 22,295,473 93 China: The Panda Adventure 8,184 4 458 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,903,323 108 Galapagos 3,179 4 1095 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,766,610 113 ESPN's Ultimate X 2,794 8 171 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,191,641 114 Handcart 2,790 6 17 Kels Goodman (director/DP) 56,623 David Greenslaw Sapp (producer) Mark von Bowers (screenwriter) Eric M. Hanson (composer) Actor: Jaelan Petrie, Stephanie Albach Chris Kendrick, Shannon Skinner, Gretchen Condie 120 Mark Twain's America 3D 1,455 2 1578 Alan Williams (composer) 2,279,281 123 The Singles Ward 1,113 3 269 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,249,570 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Cody Hale (composer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Sedra Santos, etc. HANDCART BOX OFFICE DATA IN THIS REPORT: We are pleased to report that this week we do have up-to-date box office numbers for "Handcart". (Thanks to Kels Goodman for sending them to us.) After three weekends, "Handcart" has grossed a total of $56,623 at the box office, which is more than one-sixth of its reported production budget. "Handcart" went against industry trends by doing better in its second weekend than in its opening weekend. 2nd weekend total box office for "Handcart" was 13% higher than 1st weekend, although the movie played in only 12 theaters the 2nd weekend, compared to 18 theaters the first weekend. This meant that per-theater revenue was 1.7 times higher the second weekend. Goodman tells us that they plan to slow down through the holidays (evident in that the film is currently playing on only six screens now) and make a new push on January 3 in places like Arizona, Iowa City, California, Montana and Idaho. He also tells us that "Handcart" has performed best in Canada, St. George and Evanston -- areas outside the Wasatch Front, where LDS genre films have been extensively available. Goodman feels the film will do well as it moves to other parts of the country. TEXAS: THIS IS THE PLACE - A new IMAX film is nearing completion. "Texas: The Big Picture" is being produced and directed by Scott Swofford, and photographed by T.C. Christensen (both are Latter-day Saints who have extensive experience doing Church film projects and are leaders in the IMAX industry.) The film is a documentary about the state of Texas, featuring locations such as San Antonio, the Hill Country, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and ranches and farms in West Texas and the Panhandle. It is scheduled to be released in April of 2003. Principal photography ended October 28. MORE TEXAS NOTES - And, as noted earlier, the Latter-day Saint-themed feature film "Suddenly Unexpected" wrapped filming in Houston, Texas last week and is in now in post-production. Crew members compared it to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Gods Must Be Crazy." The production and artistry is top-notch. Additionally, Dallas-based Latter-day Saint filmmaker Joshua D. Smith premieres his new feature film "Zombie Campout" this week and as previously noted, "Handcart", a feature film directed by Texan Latter-day Saint Kels Goodman, is now in theaters in Utah, and will be expanding to dozens of cities outside of Utah. SLC FILM FESTIVAL CALL FOR ENTRIES - The 2002 Salt Lake City Film Festival was highly successful and plans are well underway for the 2003 event. Entrants in 2002 were from all over the world and from various backgrounds, but the films featured are all without gratuitous, vulgar, inappropriate content. Latter-day Saints who won awards at the 2002 festival include Scott Tiffany, Best Documentary for "Forgotten Voyage", and Mark Goodman, SLCFF Audience Award and Best Feature Film for "Someone Was Watching." If you're going to have a film ready by February 28, 2003, check out the details: http://www.slcfilmfest.org/2_entries/index.html PUMPED FOR THE ECLIPSE - The Eclipse Film Festival is just a couple weeks away: November 8th and 9th. The official website now hosts a fantastic TV commercial (available in 3 sizes of QuickTime), as well as radio spots: http://www.eclipsefilmfest.com. (This festival will be awesome, by the way -- we've checked out the lineup, and we're very excited. Many of the names you see here on LDSFilm.com will be there as competitors or judges or other festival participants)... The TV commercial even shows a second of Christian Vuissa's short film "Daybreak", though as far as we know "Daybreak" will not be shown at the festival, only Vuissa's "Roots and Wings" will be shown. (Daybreak is a very nice-looking but weird little film, if you've never seen it. The whole thing can be downloaded from here: http://yfilms.byu.edu/finalcut/daybreak.mov But if you watch it, don't think that's what "Roots and Wings" is like. "Roots and Wings" actually has a story, dialogue and characters and is one of the best short film by an LDS director we've seen.) SMOOT ROCKS - "Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees", the latest IMAX documentary by legendary Latter-day Saint cinematographer Reed Smoot opened this week (25 October 2002) in Los Angeles. The Toronto Sun highly recommended the movie when it opened earlier this year in Canada. Smoot's previous IMAX films include: Ultimate X; China: The Panda Adventure; Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure; All Access: Front Row. Backstage. Live!; The Human Body; Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man; Olympic Glory; Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage; Mysteries of Egypt; and 3 IMAX films nominated or Academy Awards: "Special Effects: Anything Can Happen", "Rainbow War" and "Ballet Robotique". His non-IMAX films include: Disney's Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Gleaming the Cube, Russkies, The Wraith. His films for the Church include: Legacy (1990), The Pump, The Emmett Smith Story, Uncle Ben, John Baker's Last Race, The Lost Manuscript, Cipher in the Snow. Plus MANY more films. His films have grossed over $500 million at U.S. box offices. As is sometimes the case, especially with IMAX films, weekend box office gross totals for "Wild Chimpanzees" for this past weekend were not available. COMICAL COMPETITION - The Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City recently announced the creation of the first annual Ruth and Nathan Hale Comedy Writing Awards, a competition looking for family-friendly three-act comedies. The competition is open to students from any of Utah's universities, colleges and junior colleges. The top prize is $1,000, with $500 for second and $300 for third. Scripts must be turned in by April 30. For more information, call 801-984-9000. ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MICHELLE WRIGHT'S ACTION ACTING STUDIO - Hello, Everybody! Thank you so much for your overwhelming response and support to our new acting studio! We have some great classes coming up! For our Director's Workshop, Thursday Nov 7th at 7:00 PM we have FRANK E. JOHNSON, DIRECTOR OF TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL! Frank has had a great career in episodic television and this a wonderful opportunity to spend some time learning from Frank before he begins his schedule on this season of Touched and his feature film in January. Space is limited, so you need to register ASAP. The cost is $149.00. Plus: We've schedule 2 more EXTRA'S CLASSES! This cost is only $25.00 and that includes the class, the digital headshot for the database, and adding your info into the casting database! Also you can now register automatically for each class right on the web on our secure order form. Thanks again for the support and see you all there! - Michelle K. Wright, http://www.actionacting.com, 801-299-3688 (Michelle is the casting director for "The Singles Ward" and "The R.M.".) -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: [AML] SAMUELSEN: _Peculiarities_ (Review) Date: 29 Oct 2002 18:53:58 -0700 _Peculiarities_ by Eric Samuelsen; directed by Tony Gunn. Produced at The Villa Playhouse Theater, Springville, Utah. October 25th presentation. I went to see _Peculiarities_ for a number of reasons, including an interest in seeing any play that Eric has written, an interest to see how he addressed issues of LDS sexuality, and because it was discussed (somewhat) here on the AML-List. As it turns out, Eric thanked AML-List at the bottom of the playbill for this show. Interesting feedback loop. The theme of the night was the intersection of sex and intimacy and emotional need in a series of vignettes set at or near BYU that dramatize some of the ways that people deal with the powerful desires to love and be loved. Others have described the four plot lines of this play (Tahoe, Pizza and a Movie, NCMO, Temps) so I won't repeat them here, though I will offer some interpretations on those plot lines. The play finished its run last week, so I find myself a little stuck as to how to proceed. Whether I recommend the play or not is essentially irrelevant because there's no opportunity to go see it. The play could be produced again, but judging by the small size and generally conservative nature of Mormon theater companies I suspect it could be a long time before that happens. I can suggest that it's unlikely BYU will add _Peculiarities_ to the schedule next year; I think the play goes too directly at issues of sex and sexual politics to pass correlation there. Fortunately for me I can go ahead and spoil the play with my attempts to interpret meanings; the run is over. It serves no purpose to make recommendations at this point. Which is probably good, because I ended up feeling surprisingly ambivalent about the play despite its universal core subject matter. Staging was minimal, with mostly open space and very few set pieces. Performances ranged from adequate to sparkling, and I found myself particularly impressed with the efforts of Diane Rane and Jeremy Selim in "Temps." As mentioned in the Salt Lake Tribune review, sound was a bit weak and I often had a hard time hearing the actors deliver their lines, even from the third row; they should have been miked. There isn't much to say about the performances; each vignette was well presented. An odd combination of script and actor performance had the characters stepping on each others' lines a lot, a technique that seemed overdone and that I found increasingly annoying as the evening wore on. Yes, in real conversation we often interrupt each other or finish each others' sentences, but it seemed as though nearly every line was cut off. Too much of a good thing for this viewer. Perhaps that was intentional. To at least some degree each of these vignettes looked at power structures within a particular type of relationship, and in each case the sexually dominant player in a scene tended to step on more of the other player's lines. In "Tahoe" the balance seemed pretty equal and nearly constant; these characters were almost completely absorbed in their own perceptions and tended to disregard the others words except for the very few occaisions where their thoughts matched up. In "Pizza and a Movie" the characters didn't step on each others' lines much except when their conversation turned to sex. In "NCMO" Kim constantly spoke over the top of Trent, reflecting her position as the one driving a difficult, codependent relationship. In "Temps" the characters occaisionally stepped on each others' lines, but it happened rarely and mostly when the characters were embarrassed by how obvious their own desires had become. Interestingly, Samuelsen never made a male character dominant--nearly equal (once), but never dominant in driving the relationship. I struggled with that at first because I felt that it played into a cultural stereotype that places the blame for sexual misconduct at the feet of the woman. But as the play progressed I decided that Samuelsen was instead questioning that very stereotype with its underlying assumption that women are more responsible because they are less driven by desire. In showing all of his women as either equal or dominant in driving the situations I think Samuelsen reminds us that women are at least as passionate and sexual as men are, and are at least equally capable of impulsive or destructive behavior. Still, I would have liked one of the three men (perhaps Jason in "Temps") to be slightly more aggressive than the woman to establish gender equity on the issue. Each of the vignettes resolves with a gentle suggestion that these characters are unhappy, but will continue the behaviors that have contributed to that unhappiness. "Tahoe" is guilty and angry, but in the gaps between the storms the characters make plans to see each other again without addressing the sources of their guilt. "Pizza and a Movie" explores both peace and desperation in the minds of two single women who anticipate remaining single, and while it's the only vignette that directly addresses the underlying concerns it ends with one character speaking her heart while the other sleeps, effectively leaving the situation unresolved. "NCMO" has the characters recognize the sources of their unhappiness and the desperation that drives each to crave their non-committal makeout in the face of healthy potential relationships with other people, but while the characters recognize the the reason for their misery they are also clearly unable to resolve those causes on their own. "Temps" quietly escalates the tension between a young married woman who is ignored by her student husband and the charming, caring, single coworker who treats her as an equal, as a worthwhile and desireable human being. By the end, both characters recognize that they are treading dangerous ground, but her need for emotional intimacy is so great that she refuses to end the situation and readily plans for her next ride home despite the growing sexual tension between them and their shared understanding of what will likely happen at the end of their road. The situations didn't resolve--or at least none of them resolved with a sense that the characters could break the patterns of belief and behavior that had led them to their individually unique frustrations. No answers were given--easy, difficult or otherwise. The overwhelming sense as the lights went down was that of sadness and doubt that these characters would find the peace they each sought. The show I saw ended with a sort of panel discussion between the cast and the audience, led by the director. It turns out that the vast majority of the audience consisted of single BYU students, and most of them seemed firmly in the grip of the kinds of situtations depicted. The problem is that this discussion put the play into a limited context; it went from being a general audience work to being a therapy session for sexually frustrated students, with the result that my initial ambivalence about the characters and their situtions blossomed into an abivalence about the play itself. Were I Eric Samuelsen, and were I to produce the play again, I would consider leaving the panel discussion out. I think it hurt an otherwise generally thought-provoking play and reduced the play's scope to a foil for a focused group therapy session. Unless Eric intended the play to speak only to students, in which case it apparently succeeded admirably. Part of the problem is that I don't know whether I agree or disagree with the playwright's ideas because I'm not sure what question the play was asking me to consider. I don't need for the story to resolve in any particular way but I do need for it to ask some compelling question that I can chew over in my mind--something I'm not sure _Peculiarities_ offered me. Perhaps if I had gone home as the lights went down and thought about it more without distraction I might have come up with some form of that question and been satisfied. But when the panel discussion collapsed the play into a specific set of interpretations and observations (nearly all of which I disagreed with at some level), my ambivalence solidified. This is an area where I struggle with myself as both a storyteller and a story hearer. I don't want easy interpretations or neatly resolved packages, but I do want clear questions that I can consider at length in the privacy of my own mind. If the storyteller offers arguments I can either agree or disagree while still admiring the skill with which the question is asked and the arguments presented. Where no resolution is proposed and where I'm not sure what the question is all I can do is struggle for a while before giving up the effort as fruitless. I understand the argument that some questions are ambivalent or lie outside my direct experience, but I counter-argue that while a story may depict experiences that are not my own and situations that I have no direct knowledge of, the stories that most engage me in introspection are those that allow me to resonate with some aspect of the characters or their situations. It's not that I think Samuelsen needed to include additional situations or character types, or that I think he could have let one of his situations resolve well. It's not that I haven't directly experienced any of the behaviors he depicts in _Peculiarities._ As it turns out I quite enjoyed the film _Boogie Nights._ Despite the fact that I have never been a porn star or a drug dealer, the film resonates with me at a deeply personal level because I have sought desperately to feel like I belong somewhere, and I have been willing to subsume my own ego and hopes and desires in an effort to find acceptance. I've even lost hope in my own value as a human being and come to see myself as having value only insofar as I can offer gifts of materials or services to my friends. But I didn't identify with the characters in _Peculiarities_ at that level of personal acceptance. Recognize as realistic, perhaps. Resonate with at a personal level, no. I think part of the reason is that all of these characters seemed to view themselves as helpless against their situations or their desires or their predestined paths, with the result that I was left with a deep sense of hopelessness at the end of the play. Neither the playwright nor his characters made even a token effort to address the problems they faced, only to depict them. I don't dispute the inevitability or power of sexual desire and the need for intimacy, but I do dispute the idea that we are helpless against those needs and desires. I don't dispute the fact of compounded error and the sense of hopelessness that it can lead us to feel, but I do dispute that loss of hope is either inevitable or universal. Yet I'm not sure Samuelsen is asking me to consider these questions, because while the situations depicted in _Peculiarities_ were self-consistent and arguably real they seemed merely to illustrate the fact of pain, leaving me to nod my head and think "yes, that happens" without leaving me with an overarching question to ponder. Perhaps I'm supposed to wonder how good people with access to revealed gospel can get into these muddles, but that question is too big, too broad to really provoke me to deep introspection. I need a more pointed, specific question. I enjoyed all the parts and pieces of this play, and admire the playwright's skill in both conceiving and executing on a difficult theme. In the end, though, I didn't understand what question Eric Samuelsen was trying to ask with _Peculiarities,_ and so I left the theater feeling ambivalent about how well that question was asked. I was clearly outside the target audience for this play, but I'm not sure I was supposed to be. That's a question I don't have enough information to answer--or even to ask well. Scott Parkin -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Bill Willson" Subject: Re: [AML] Membership Records Date: 29 Oct 2002 19:06:16 -0800 > Larry JacksonWrote: >I decided it would serve no purpose ever to reveal the > location. I am certain the bishop and clerk have long > since been released, and I didn't think I would like it > there, even if I ever wanted to hide from the Church. > Maybe the newly deceased brother was the old ward clerk , where his death had been reported previously. Not a bad way to disappear, if you had a mind to. 8-) Might be an idea for a plot twist for a humorous novel about someone trying to hide from the church. Maybe the protagonist wins the lottery, and finds out he can't pay tithing on the winnings, so he decides to hide from all his church friends who want him to be charitable with his winnings. I don't know; it's just a thought. Regards, Bill Willson -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Justin Halverson Subject: Re: [AML] Book of Mormon Movie Casting Call Date: 29 Oct 2002 23:39:49 -0500 I think it's six cows or more... Justin Halverson At 08:44 AM 10/28/2002 -0700, you wrote: > > >All actors must be ATTRACTIVE, in excellent physical > > >condition, with EXCEPTIONAL acting talent and ability. > > >Please bring "head shots" if you have them. This is a > > >non-union production. NO SAG ACTORS WILL BE ACCEPTED! > >We wondered about the definition of ATTRACTIVE. Marilyn Brown > > >-- >AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Craig Huls" Subject: RE: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ Date: 30 Oct 2002 01:53:11 -0600 >And no, I'm not being wishy-washy. I just want to be able to read my >favorite books and poems again and have it be, in a sense, new. I don't >want you or anyone else--including myself--to EVER be able to say: "This is >exactly what Lear means, and that's all." There's even a little of this (or >maybe more than a little) indeterminacy going on in the scriptures, which >is one reason *I* think we're asked to read them every day... >Justin "Sorry, I just get excited" Halverson Justin, I too love finding new knowledge when I return to a book or at times even a movie. As we grow in experience even "Alice in Wonderland" takes on new meaning. Read it to your children over a wide enough time frame and you will find new meaning in it. Discuss it with them and you gain even more. If it were not so there are a great many excellent teachers of literature who would be mediocre for their lack of enthusiasm after a period of time. As that ol' motivator "Zig Ziglar" is fond of saying We are like a tomato, ...when we're green we're growing, when we get ripe we are rotten... I never want to get totally ripe. I love being able to be thrilled by new thoughts arrived at by returning to a work of art. Most particularly music,paintings, novels or even photographs. I've watched slides I took 40 years ago and seen something new in them for the first time. Things I have written in a journal take on new meaning to me ten years later. And they were written for me, God and no one else. Any great work for me is subject to new interpretation based on how I am growing and feeling on a given day. I prefer works that provide that kind of inspiration. Joyce isn't my cup of postum. But a vast number of other authors, composers, painters are. It is good that we are different and yet at times the same. I have difficulty believing in the finality of any work; if I revisit it with the intent to gain something new. So much of life depends on what our intention is as we explore it. When vistors look at my libary and say you ought to get rid of some of these, I say to myself. Ah shucks, another closed mind. What I enjoy most is walking with my dog while enjoying a Texas Sunrise where the Greatest Artist of all provides me a new and positive experience on the same street in the same park most every day. I think it is best experienced listening to Ferde Grofe's "Sunrise" on a portable CD Player. Ravel's "Bolero" works too. I want my authors and my composers and my painters or photograhers to allow that kind of reflectivity and variation when I experience their work. I pray that I can acquire the capability to do the same for others one day. I want to stay true to what I feel I have to say, without worrying about offending anyone. A tall order for a transplanted Texan drawing social security. Craig Huls -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature