From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #424 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Monday, August 13 2001 Volume 01 : Number 424 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 12:23:07 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Medved's Arguments > On Wed, Aug 08, 2001 at 09:49:33PM -0600, Jacob Proffitt wrote: > > If rated G really rocks like these people claim, why isn't Don Bluth > > a household name? Titan AE (the last movie I know about from Don > > Bluth) is an awesome movie. I have to take you upon that - It was a horrid pile of SF cliches. Not one original idea, line of dialouge or creative thought went into it. My wife and I made a game of figuring out where we had heard those lines before - every line in the movie except for one has probably been in at least a dozen other SF flicks - most of then low grade ones that show up on MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre 3000) - in fact, Titan AE is perfect MST3K fodder. It was awful - I couldn't find anything original or redeeming in it. My wife hated it even more. (I'd say we actually considered suing Don Bluth for the 90 minutes of our life we want back - but we decided it was our fault - we had been warned by others). - --Ivan Wolfe - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 14:46:46 -0600 From: luannstaheli Subject: Re: [AML] Editing Literature Terri Reid wrote: Now, perhaps if enough people voted with their money - through not buying a video, not going to a movie, not watching a TV show - perhaps then, Hollywood would get the message. Because Hollywood is not interested in art - Hollywood is interested in money. Terri, >From The Hollywood Reporter August 2001 Theatrical Release movies by Rating showing % of box office total, # of films in rating, total B.O.$, average per film R - 31% 170 films $2,433.49mil $14.31 mil PG13 - 49% 80films $3,739,58 mil $46.74mil G - 7% 15films $ 519.49mil $34.63mil PG - 12% 27films $ 907.62mil $33.62mil So, the audience seems to be telling film makers that PG13 are the best financial expendature and R rated the worst, but more R rated films are made than any other category. It seems that the order of "best buys" for studios would be: PG!#, G, PG, R by looking at the average made per film. But as we all know, averages don't often work out to be a true picture of the way life is. To prove that, come into our Utah classrooms where the public is told class size averages are 23-25 students and notice the classrooms that actually have 40+ students per class period. Lu Ann - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 03:58:28 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons My memory of those novels read long ago is hazy, but I'm pretty sure that the male protagonists of Welyand's novels _Peppertide_ and _The Understudy_ are influenced in their conversions by female Mormons with whom they have a romantic interest. I also remember a Church video about 10 years ago about member missionary work, which featured a pretty Mormon girl who had made a committment to not date non-Mormons. The handsome non-Mormon boy who asks her out, and is rebuffed, is impressed by her committment, and soon takes the missionary discussions and is baptized. Andrew Hall >From: Ronn Blankenship >Having not read a lot (if any) of this type of fiction, I have a >question: does Weyland (or someone else) ever write stories where it's a >non-member guy who falls for a Mormon girl and converts, or is it always a >male RM continuing his missionary work after returning home? If the >latter, does anyone have any ideas why the other version is not used? > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 02:37:37 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Medved's Arguments Jacob Proffitt wrote: > I haven't seen "Air Force One" so I probably shouldn't use "every" in > any case. The "Air Force One" president was also pretty apolitical. But I heard that Harrison Ford told Bill Clinton that he used him as his model for playing the president. Personally, I don't see the connection at all. Modeling the "Air Force One" president after Bill Clinton would be like playing the Pope and modeling him after Larry Flint. > Movies I *have* seen with U.S. Presidents? "Dave", "Dick", "Wag the > Dog", "Contact", and, um, I'm drawing a blank here. Truthfully, my > comment was probably just an example of my continuing disgust with > "Dave" and Barbara Streisand. What was so bad about "Dave"? I thought it was a rather sweet movie that had little politics in it. The politics that did exist were there as window dressing, not part of the main plot or of any agenda. The fact that window dressing politics from Hollywood would turn out to be Democratic isn't terriby surprising. But I didn't get any sense of agenda in the movie. "Dick" was a spoof and was hilarious. Of course it lambasted a Republican administration, but that was because it was Nixon's administration, which frankly was ripe for lampooning. I thought it was all in good fun. "Wag the Dog" I haven't seen purely by accident. Just haven't gotten around to it yet, even though I have a copy on tape at home. "Contact" used Clinton simply because he was president at the time, and not for any discernable political agenda that I could see. The blank you're drawing must certainly include "American President," which was clearly agenda-laden and caustically anti-conservative. I never watched it because I heard about it, then when I had a chance to see it on satellite TV, just happened to come in on that infamous speech scene. After being exposed to that, I knew that watching the film would raise my blood pressure to unhealthy levels, so I never bothered, ignoring how nice the story may have been. > How many of you can name *a* conservative actor, director or > producer? Now at this point, aren't we supposed to bring up Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Charlton Heston? - -- 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 http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 16:47:16 -0600 From: "Sharlee Glenn" Subject: Re: [AML] GA Interview for Irreantum Jonathan Langford wrote: > Another good candidate for the interview would be Jeffrey Holland, who I > believe has an advanced degree in English, and if my memory serves me was > listed as a member of the English department during his tenure as BYU > president and may even have taught a course or two for the department from > time to time. > > I don't have details about his area of specialty, literary activity, or the > like. I think that before conducting the interview, you would need to get > someone who is informed on these matters and revise the interview questions > accordingly, including some of the same material but focusing also on areas > of his own personal activity in English. Does anyone on the List know about > this? His area of specialty is American Literature. Richard Cracroft would be the man to consult before approaching Elder Holland. Good luck, Chris. This is an interview I would LOVE to read. Sharlee Glenn glennsj@inet-1.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 19:36:14 -0600 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: Re: [AML] Introductions: Paul Bishop "I knew a Bishop Bishop once. I also met a pair of missionaries, Christopher Meek and Frederick Humble. You know, Elder Humble and Elder Meek (a true story)." I can beat that. I knew of a companionship made of Elder Hooker and Elder Virgin! Annette Lyon - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 17:35:39 -0600 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: Re: [AML] Email Essays On Thu, 9 Aug 2001 16:41:49 -0600 "Jacob Proffitt" writes: > We *could* discuss what I consider to be a new literary genre if we > wanted. Since many of us publish in it, it might be interesting to > see if it qualifies as a genre and what rules might apply. I'm talking > about the email essay of course. > Personally, the time spent crafting many of my replies can best be > measured in hours. I'll read through a proposed post several times > for flow and clarity and sometimes I'll ask Melissa to read over it to > make sure I'm making sense before sending it off. I'm hoping that > I'm not the only one who does that You're not. I do it too which is why I'm a rather sporadic contributor to the list. Most of the time I just don't have the time or the energy to respond the way I'd like to. When I do respond, however, I usually spend a little bit of time with it. And, like you, I save most of the bigger ones, the Email Essays as you call them. I've started saving them in a folder titled "Musings." The main purpose for this is that I don't keep a journal, and since most of my email essays are sort of journal-like, I figure if I spout off enough around here eventually I'll have something that's almost a journal. I also save a few of the email essays that I send to family and friends on occasion. And the year end update that I send out at Christmas. I usually hate those things, but I do my best to make ours entertaining or provocative in some way so that my friends won't say, "Oh, another one of those stupid Christmas letters all about the Bronsons. I hope it doesn't rhyme." J. Scott Bronson -- Member of Playwrights Circle - ------------------------------------------------------------------ "The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do." Galileo - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 02:17:20 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons Ronn Blankenship wrote: > does Weyland (or someone else) ever write stories where it's a > non-member guy who falls for a Mormon girl and converts, or is it always a > male RM continuing his missionary work after returning home? If the > latter, does anyone have any ideas why the other version is not used? Well, I'm at work and the Weyland book is not, so I can't verify it, but I don't recall any females converting males off-hand. That may be nothing more than Weyland being male, therefore writing male protagonists. All my protagonists are male by default, unless I have a specific reason to do otherwise. I know the internal functioning of a male better than a female, so why make things harder than I need to? - -- 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 http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 10:48:42 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] GA Interview for Irreantum Jeffrey Holland. He has an advanced degree in English, and is a former = university president (only the BY, but hey, that counts.) He's the = obvious choice.=20 Eric Samuelsen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 11:30:39 -0500 From: Ronn Blankenship Subject: Re: [AML] Medved's Arguments At 06:20 PM 8/9/01, Jacob Proffitt wrote: >I'll say that with Independence Day, I didn't get a sense of >politics at all. Not surprising for a movie that dealt with the >aftermath of an alien invasion. Hard to be liberal or conservative when >the White House was just blown up. Yes. Everybody in the theatre cheered at that scene, obviously without regard to ideology. - --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 http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 11:20:51 -0600 From: Chris Grant Subject: Re: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons D. Michael Martindale writes: [...] >I never complained about an isolated Weyland story that >presented one of these conversions. It was the relentless >pattern of story after story where boy meets girl, and days >later girl is taking missionary discussions. [...] >>I've looked around a little bit, but haven't been able to >>figure out what collection you could be referring to. Do >>you remember its title? > >_First Day of Forever_ _First Day of Forever_ is a collection of 12 short stories Weyland originally had published in the _New Era_. (Weyland has had about 60 short stories published in the _New Era_ overall.) I would say that 2 of the 12 fit the pattern D. Michael mentions above: "Charly" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers". In a third, "The Least of These, My Brother", a non-LDS girl attends Church with an LDS boy, who then tries to develop whatever interest she has in the Church. It turns out that she really doesn't have any interest; she doesn't take the discussions and ends up dumping the boy when he chooses to stay home to baptize the school "loser" rather than go away with her and her parents for the weekend. Each of these stories is about 5000 words long, which may help explain why things move along quicker than many of us would perceive as normal in real life. In a separate message, D. Michael writes: >Ethan Skarstedt wrote: > >>The Jack Weylandesque choices that are being bandied about >>so much seem to be, stated specifically, "Do I marry this >>non-member now or do I try and convert them first?" > >No, Jack doesn't even deserve this much credit. The >characters do not even expend that much brain power in the >process. Some of the stories literally state that the >characters meet and the nonmember starts taking the >discussions within a paragraph or two By my count, it's 47 paragraphs between the meeting and the missionary discussions in "Charly", and 84 paragraphs between the meeting and the missionary discussions in "Onward, Christian Soldiers". (These are short paragraphs, mostly dialogue.) >--with nothing to justify the occurrence, not even a >no-brainer decision like you postulated. I agree that deciding whether or not to marry someone you've only known a few days is probably a no-brainer. _The American Heritage Dictionary_ defines a no-brainer as "something so simple or easy as to require no thought." How should an author show a character experiencing the absence of thought necessary to make a no-brainer decision? Chris Grant grant@math.byu.edu - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 03:49:20 +0000 From: "Tami Miller" Subject: Re: [AML] Aspirations for Mormon Lit I agree with you about the lack of persistence in Mormon Literature for the most part. Many of the books I've read never come to mind again, with a few exceptions. One of these is _Paradise Vue_. The humor was light, but stayed with me. Everytime I think of the sister with mice living in her house, or the RF Sister who offered alcohol (albeit unknowingly) to the RF Presidency, I just can't help but search my memory for examples of ward members I have known who would have fit right into this story. There really isn't enough good, clean humor in LDS Literature. I hope to see more. I've been reading _The Whipping Boy_, also. It's very engaging, and thought provoking. I find myself thinking about the characters long after I've shut down my computer. I hope you keep writing J. Scott Bronson, I for one will read (and buy) everything you write. - -Tami Miller - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 13:03:39 -0500 From: Craig Huls Subject: Re: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons "D. Michael Martindale" wrote: > Ethan Skarstedt wrote: > > > The Jack > > Weylandesque choices that are being bandied about so much seem to be, > > stated specifically, "Do I marry this non-member now or do I try and > > convert them first?" > > No, Jack doesn't even deserve this much credit. The characters do not > even expend that much brain power in the process. Some of the stories > literally state that the characters meet and the nonmember starts taking > the discussions within a paragraph or two--with nothing to justify the > occurrence, not even a no-brainer decision like you postulated. Weyland > stories act as if this were a law of nature and needs no explanation. Part of the problem related to the rising statistics in the Church of backsliding, divorce and more, IMHO. [not Jack W. but the attitude of membership in the church is all that is needed to be happy.] "Good" Mormons, to me are people who make mistakes, repent, make restitution and grow from their experiences. On the other hand, start preaching in a novel and you definitely run the risk of losing your market. I suspect many read fiction to escape their current existence. They are probably not willing to get another dose of that shalt not's in a fiction work. Could be one of the reasons Sci-Fi is so popular amongst LDS Youth. I believe there is a place for real life problems with real life people making real life mistakes and recovering and going to their Bishop or maybe a Stake H.C. Disciplinary action to get things set right. It might motivate some who fear such events to repent and get on with their lives. Many do not realize the love and growth that can come from doing just that. I have sat on enough of them to see great things happen to individuals and eventually families because of real life repentance. So why not write about it, in an encouraging manner. And I see nothing wrong with a character who refuses to repent and is excommunicated and moves on with his/her life in an otherwise positive manner. It is ok to do that. God gave us our free agency for a purpose. What we do with it, with the exception of taking life or property from someone else, is up to us. As for those lucky ones [maybe unlucky actually] who are Born to Temple wed parents, who get FHE, Scripture Study, eat it all up, no temptations to worry about, just do it all right. Well we should sprinkle some of them in there too. They may actually be the fictional characters in the first place. As someone once said. "Church is for the perfecting of the Saints, not for the Perfect Saints." I haven't personally talked to anyone that I felt was close to being translated in the near future. So if we write and we feel the need to say something that indicates the character has a flaw or two, or none at all, then that IMO is what should be written. Craig Huls - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 11:10:28 -0600 From: "Cathy Wilson" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Monasticism Re homeschooled kids as William Morris asked: My first five kids were homeschooled and the last four not. Of course, I responded to their re-entry differently than they did. They went into public school as young teenagers extremely bright and academic whizzes, and they had a lot of friends instantly. I thought it was a great success. They however felt that they were always second-class citizens because they hadn't been part of the gang all the time. However now, grown up and functioning in the real world, they bless my name ;) because their intellectual and experiential skills have allowed them to excel in a real world that rewards skill and good thinking--most of the time anyway :). Cathy (Gileadi) Wilson Editing Etc. 1400 West 2060 North Helper UT 84526 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 05:43:39 +1000 From: "helena.chester" Subject: RE: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons - -----Original Message----- Having not read a lot (if any) of this type of fiction, I have a question: does Weyland (or someone else) ever write stories where it's a non-member guy who falls for a Mormon girl and converts, or is it always a male RM continuing his missionary work after returning home? If the latter, does anyone have any ideas why the other version is not used? - --Ronn! :) I've personally experienced both situations happening to friends. And in both cases, I was the one who introduced them to each other. (Just call me Yenta, the matchmaker). The first case was a very devout SDA lady, and a Methodist widower who I met at a combined churches choir practice. He was not interested in becoming an SDA when I first met him, but he and my friend really got on well and planned to marry. Without telling her, he arranged a baptism and surprised her the week before the wedding, with his baptism at the SDA church. They have been happily married and united in their faith for about 17 years now. The other situation was a devout LDS guy and a Catholic lady. I introduced them and they really liked each other. She became a Mormon because she realised that he would not even consider someone who wasn't a Mormon, as a partner. That situation is still working itself out, but they are both glad I introduced them. Now, anyone else out there need my services! [Helena Chester] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:13:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Rich Hammett Subject: Re: [AML] Fw: MN New AP Stylebook Still Recommends "Mormon Church" On Fri, 10 Aug 2001, aml-list-digest wrote: > Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2001 13:01:53 -0700 > From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" > Subject: [AML] Fw: MN New AP Stylebook Still Recommends "Mormon Church" > > >There is a church called The Church of Christ so calling our church The > >Church of Jesus Christ would be confusing for alot of people. > > "A lot" would seem to be a serious overstatement of the case. There are a > handful of small independent churches that use the name, and another > handful of Mormon schismatic groups that use the name. All told, there is a > grand total of probably fewer than a couple thousand people belonging to > churches that use the name. And those 20-some small churches probably don't > even know about -- let alone interact with -- one another. > > I hope I'm not misunderstanding what you say here (I missed the original post), but if you are saying that there are only a couple of thousand people who belong to a church called "Church of Christ," you're wrong. I live in the heart of CoC territory, and there are tens of thousands of members in north Alabama alone. Also, a quick check of the link you provided http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#families shows that Churches of Christ are the next largest denomination behind LDS (in the USA), with 1.6 million adult adherents (on a list which shows LDS with 2.5 million adult adherents). So, I think that it is a measurable group, at least. Of course, they complicate things by refusing to be known as a "denomination", not recognizing any organization above the level of the local church. rich - -- Rich Hammett http://home.hiwaay.net/~rhammett rhammett@hiwaay.net The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. --GBS - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:10:29 -0600 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Medved's Arguments - ---Original Message From: Terry L Jeffress > > If rated G really rocks like these people claim, why isn't Don Bluth a > > household name? Titan AE (the last movie I know about from Don > > Bluth) is an awesome movie. But my understanding is that it lost > > money (again, who knows? But supposedly, Don Bluth has said he lost > > money, though I can't remember where I read that--supposedly he'd > > know). > > Your example does not fit your own criteria. _Titan A.E._ > got a PG rating for action violence, mild sensuality, and > brief language. Ah. I wasn't aware of that. Makes sense, I guess. But that just pushes my point back a bit. If Don Bluth's G movies were so profitable, why move to a PG? Though I suppose having (reportedly) lost money on Titan A.E. might be a point against me. Still, all the movement I see is going *away* from G movies, even by people who are successful in that genre. If they are so profitable, why isn't the movement the other direction? I can think of a number of reasons, with Medved's argument that it is due to Hollywood being evil as one of the least likely. Jacob Proffitt - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 10:47:42 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: [AML] Writing About "Good" Mormons All of Weylands characters speak in "clever" dialogue, too, much like what you hear on some TV sitcoms. Read only the dialogue in a Weyland novel and you'd swear it was the same person thoughout. Thom \ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 10:56:13 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: [AML] Editing Literature Chris Grant wrote: >Even if we accept the hypothesis, must the conclusion follow? >After all, I can believe, with C.S. Lewis, that pain is used >by God as a "megaphone to rouse a deaf world" without being >obligated by that belief not to try to avoid certain painful >experiences, can't I? > Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, to name a few, had no qualms to tell it like they saw it. Sometimes they were kind, sometimes they were rather harsh. I see that as a sign that either method can be a workable solution based on the audience your talking too. If you're talking to Whited Sepulchres in Dead Mean's Bones, it would seem perfectly acceptable to be pretty harsh. If you're audience is the disenfranchised (e.g., the Woman at the Well), maybe you would cast your work in a more kindly tone. Thom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 14:41:57 -0600 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Medved's Arguments - ---Original Message From: Eric R. Samuelsen > But of course this is true. All artists do this. That's the > fun thing about being an artist; you get to dramatize your > life, your concerns, your issues. I mean, that's topic A on > this list, right? How do we as LDS artists get our concerns, > lives, issues out there. And what's this 'real world' thing anyway? Um. That was kind of my point. And the 'real world' was my little dig at my own point of view. Subtlety just doesn't do well in a written format. > >Or that a successful professional can light up > >a joint in the middle of a session with no other affect on the > >character (seriously, a 50 plus year old professional woman tokes up > >like it's no big deal and she's not spacey or furtive or any other > >indication of what that would mean for the character? C'mon.)? It > >bugs me. > > I had bosses who did that. I used to manage a restuarant in a > big national chain, and the VP who came to visit us used to > toke up with us. (Not with me, of course, but you know what > I mean.) I'm not just referring to bosses. I'm referring to professionals who have to support their own practices based on their own achievements. Specifically, I'm referring to the Bette Midler character in "What Women Want". She plays a successful psychiatrist. I can believe a big chain restaurant manager might toke up (my manager at, um, a national chain restaurant, used to as well--come to think of it, he was the franchise owner) without having to account for it too much in the character. I just balk when a professional psychiatrist with a lavish office tokes up without affecting any other aspect of her character. An obviously successful *psychiatrist* casually, even gleefully, takes a mind altering (I hate the neutrality of that word--it should be mind dampening, or maybe just "it makes you stupid") drug without *any* supporting or clarifying character elements. Riiiiiiiight. In a professional practice, you sink or swim based on your work alone. You can't push responsibilities off on subordinates. > >And even Disney is busy trying to branch out into R-rated movies > >(through subsidiaries). > > Touchstone isn't a subsidiary; it's part of Disney. It's > just another label. Disney doesn't want to branch out into > R-rated movies; it just wants to make movies, like any studio. Well, my point is that they support the Touchstone label at all instead of beefing up the Disney releases. If G movies were the guaranteed hits implied by Medved I would expect Disney to drain resources from Touchstone in order to maximize their Disney profits. Like you said, they know which films are successful and they know that some of their films are stinkers. I agree with you about your other points about Disney enough that I just clipped them. Jacob Proffitt - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 13:33:27 EDT From: Irreantum2@cs.com Subject: [AML] Irreantum fiction contest winners The Association for Mormon Letters is pleased to announce the winners of the first annual Irreantum fiction contest: First prize ($100) goes to Darlene Young for her short story "Companions." According to contest judge Tory Anderson, the story "is a sensitive piece exploring the lives of two young visiting teaching companions. This story explores the distance that exists between human beings in the face of all that tries to bring two people close, such as marriage, wards, or being companions in teaching the gospel. 'Companions' also explores the sources of hope that exist to keep people searching for a way to close that distance." Second place ($75) goes to Sam Brunson for his short story "Tony Gwynn International." This story "deals with a stolen dog named Bob and kissing a smoker. It's a fast-moving story in a fast-moving setting that explores unusual situations with charm. In spite of the fast pace and the unusual situations, 'Tony Gwynn International' subtly keeps its ties to the Mormon culture, perhaps in ways that are not wholly unusual in this day and age." Third place ($50) goes to Karen Rosenbaum for her short story "Price." This story "explores the Mormon culture from what some would call off center. In this story you have faithful Mormon women who have not married faithful Mormon men. 'Price' explores, among other things, happiness and how it can exist where some may think it shouldn't." All three winning entries will be published soon in the quarterly literary magazine IRREANTUM, and next year's contest will be announced next spring with a probable entry deadline of July 31, 2002. Judge Tory Anderson writes, "The entries in the first annual Irreantum fiction writing contest revealed both the ties that keep the Mormon culture intact and the differences that keep the culture healthy. Next year we look forward to double the entries to get an even broader and more in-depth look at the Mormon culture." For a sample copy of Irreantum's current issue, send $4 to the address below. For a one-year subscription to Irreantum (4 issues), send $12. To join the nonprofit Association for Mormon Letters, send $20 annual dues (includes Irreantum subscription, a copy of the book-length AML Annual, and discounts to AML events). Make checks payable to AML and mail to AML, P.O. Box 51364, Provo, UT 84605-1364. To join the free AML-List e-mail discussion, send an e-mail message to majordomo@xmission.com that reads: subscribe aml-list. If you have any questions about anything related to the AML, see our website at www.xmission.com/~aml or e-mail us at irreantum2@cs.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:58:03 -0600 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Monasticism - ---Original Message From: William Morris > This is stretching the definition a bit, but I think > that home schooling is a 'monastic' step that many > Mormons have adopted. I don't know enough > home-schooled children or adults to express how this > phenomenon might be treated in literature, but I would > imagine the interesting thing to explore would be what > happens when home-schooled kids step out in to a > setting where they experience cultural attitudes that > are different from their own. > > Now I'm sure that not all those who are home-schooled > are sheltered innocents, but I would imagine that, for > some, the transition (whether that be a transition to > high school, college, or the workforce) to that new > setting is an intense experience. I don't think that Home Schooling is a particularly LDS tradition (it is becoming a Religious Fundamentalist tradition which may or may not lie at the root of LDS motivation to Home School). Even if it were an LDS tradition, I think the monastic problem with Home Schooling is the same as the problem with missionary life in that people don't Home School in order to meditate on the divine, seeking spiritual enlightenment. My understanding of the monastic tradition is that it is a pursuit for the single adult. Any exterior entanglements outside of religious devotion and prayer are strenuously excised, particularly familial obligations of children and/or spouse (with sex being a *huge* bugaboo to the truly devoted monastic). Which might provide another reason why Mormons are so non-monastic--our emphasis on the importance of the family prevents a single-minded individual pursuit of enlightenment. I've heard Elder Packer quoted as saying that RMs need to actively seek marriage and that "the destiny of the church is at stake" if they won't. Similar to the quote attributed to Brigham Young that any man who is still single at age 26 is a menace to society. That kind of nixes any monastic potential until family is no longer a concern--i.e. with our older members. Back to Home Schooling. One of the biggest mis-perceptions of Home Schooling is this whole isolation thing. As a parent who decided to Home School their children, I'll tell you that my kids are far from isolated and won't experience any shock whatsoever when they experience attitudes different from their own (disclaimer: *some* people Home School in order to isolate their children, but they are like Mormons who write GAs to get people excommunicated--they are a small, vocal population given more importance than they deserve). My children will handle the transition from child to adult a whole lot better than kids who have been told all their lives that they can feel good about themselves without actually having to do anything to earn it. Transitions are always intense experiences and none more intense that moving from child to adult. Preparing children for that transition is the key role of a parent. How that is achieved *should* vary from family to family, and care should be taken when evaluating the choice of others. Obviously I'm being sensitive here, but labeling Home Schooling families monastic or even isolated is inaccurate at best. Jacob Proffitt - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:35:18 -0600 From: MGA Subject: [AML] Definitions of Art (was: Editing Literature) I don't accept the statement that the purpose of art is to "afflict the comfortable"--though, art may indeed do this. This statement is based on a supposed ethic that "comfort" is somehow inherently linked to what is "unethical." (Indeed, comfort MAY be unethical in certain conditions, but certainly not by it's nature.) This entire concept can in no way be logically linked to a DEFINITON of art. I would define "art" as a concrete (be it a literary work, musical composition, painting, sculpture, etc.) that embodies one or more abstractions. A person by reading, seeing or hearing this concrete is able to better understand very abstractions. In short, art is that which allows one to experience abstractions as if they were perceptions. A work cannot be labeled art merely on the basis of the abstractions it attempts to convey. (Do to so, would be to confuse art with pure propaganda. The entire concept of art would then be reduced to the realm of the purely subjective, thus destroying altogether the basis of any objective understanding of the topic.) This being the case, issues of "comfort" or "discomfort," "challenging" or "not challenging" are completely mote in arriving at a DEFINITON of art. ROB LAUER - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #424 ******************************