From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #848 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 Wednesday, October 2 2002 Volume 01 : Number 848 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 09:39:21 -0700 From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Not All Bad in Mormontown > 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 09:28:56 -0600 (MDT) From: Fred C Pinnegar Subject: [AML] Narratives from LDS Medical Practitioners 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 09:41:01 -0700 From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 16:15:20 -0400 From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel Memorial 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 14:55:27 -0600 From: "ROY SCHMIDT" Subject: Re: [AML] Elijah Abel: Fact and Fiction 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 13:13:42 -0800 From: Stephen Carter Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good & Bad 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 11:12:48 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] New Sugar Beet 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 15:57:34 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 16:16:05 -0600 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Movie Clean-up Commentary > >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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 16:37:57 -0600 From: "Amy Chamberlain" Subject: Re: [AML] New Sugar Beet 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 17:26:51 -0600 From: "Marianne Hales Harding" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Culture: Good and Bad >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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 16:53:03 -0500 From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Sept. 27 02 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 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2002 11:58:02 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Sitcoms 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 ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #848 ******************************