From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #954 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 Saturday, January 25 2003 Volume 01 : Number 954 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 15:20:50 -0800 (PST) From: David Dayton Subject: Re: [AML] Singles Ward In response to Richard Dutcher=92s vitriolic critique of The Singles Ward, I think it is rather baffling how certain individuals in our community have gone out of their way to lambaste the film. I don=92t see what this accomplishes. Is it for the constructive betterment of LDS cinema? If it isn=92t, what=92s the point? If Scorcese were to critique Spielberg=92s work, I=92m certain it would be both constructive and respectful=96or if he found nothing of value, then he would exercise restraint and, perhaps, not say anything. Although Kieth Merrill=92s comments about the film in his Meridian Magazine article had the same smug and condescending tone, at least he had the pretense of being constructively critical. The funny thing is I didn=92t really care for The Singles=92 Ward either. The humor was broad and obvious. Some people like that kind of thing, some don=92t. I don=92t expect a lot of maturity out of a genre in its nascent stages (if LDS cinema really is a genre). I just find it interesting that so many have taken offense to this relatively harmless and inconsequential film. It doesn=92t pretend to be something it=92s not. Should anyone be shocked that a romantic comedy doesn=92t have verisimilitude? =20 And yes, these are accurate caricatures of the LDS singles population (I=92ve been in a singles ward for the past 6 years). It may be depressing that so many Mormons identified with the film but I=92m not about to go and hang myself. I don=92t take myself that seriously. And certainly my testimony does not hinge on the LDS audience=92s proclivity for gaucherie or one filmmaker=92s perception of LDS culture. If it did, I would have been gone long ago. Maybe we could learn a lesson from the Jewish community about teamwork and boosting each other up (see The Jewish Phenomenon: Seven Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People by Steven Silbiger). They seem to have done well in Hollywood. David Dayton =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 11:42:56 -0600 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Music Clarification Letter Thank you, Steve. This was enlightening! Linda At 12:35 AM 1/21/03, you wrote: >Below is the text from a letter from the 1st Presidency dated November=20= > >7, 2002,=A0 regarding "Music for Church Meetings." Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo/linda - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 15:37:13 -0800 From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Poetry and Readings for Romance I absolutely love Donne's "The Bait," I think it's one of the most romantic things I've ever read. And it's all about fishing! haha. (I actually memorized it and recited it for my husband. He doesn't like poetry but knew me well enough to ask, "So are you going to tell me what that all means?" :) > One of my very faves in this category is John Donne's "A Valediction: > Forbidding Mourning." > Amy Chamberlain I'll have to check out this one next. Susan - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 16:39:06 -0700 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Kieth Merrill on Book of Mormon movies Intense article by Kieth Merrill on Meridian regarding the two forthcoming Book of Mormon movies, titled "Are We Ready for the Book of Mormon Movies? Part 3 - Does the Church Have An Official Position?" http://www.ldsmag.com/arts/030120movie3.html (This is part 3. There are also links to parts 1 and 2.) Sample quote: "The Book of Mormon is sacred writing. Many people gave their lives to bring it to us and endured enormous persecution. I suspect in my heart that our Heavenly Father will be less than supportive for people who try to tamper with something so sacred or do anything less than use the finest possible spiritual sensitivity and production value in creating a film." So now, not only will I hate the Book of Mormon movie, but God will too? "Even Joseph Smith was warned very clearly and many times that if he ever tried to use this scripture for his own gain, the Lord would not permit that. That's the type of protection that hangs over this book." And what about Keith Merrill? Has he done his church films for free? Thom - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 17:12:04 -0700 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Val Kilmer News For some reason that I have apparently buried deep in my subconscious, I am suddenly inordinately interested in an actor I've never cared one whit about in the past. In the current Entertainment Weekly, Kilmer talks about his movie _Wonderland_ coming out this summer. It's based on the infamous porn star John Holmes. "I'm not playing a porn star," Kilmer says. "I'm playing a guy who USED to be a porn star." Holmes claimed to have slept with 14,000 women, was acquitted in the 1981 Wonderland Ave. murders (hence the title), and died of AIDS in 1988. Asked why he took 9 months to decide to do this project, Kilmer said he didn't want to be attached to the world of pornography and have more bad things said about him. But his mind was changed by Kate Bosworth, who plays Holmes's girlfriend. "And I really got excited about this guy who slept with thousands of women but who was hopelessly in love with one girl." Asked if he wears a prosthetic member in the film, Kilmer admits they talked about it. "You've got to address this guy's, uh--the reason the story takes place is because of how he was built." In the end, the director decided it was stronger if viewers didn't see "it." >From what I can tell, Kilmer really seems to be responding to roles that are off the beaten path. . . Chris Bigelow - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 16:41:00 -0800 From: "Susan Malmrose" Subject: Re: [AML] Why Not PG? > Like I said before, I respect people who decide not to view rated R movies. > I can understand why they've chosen not to. What I can't understand is when > people avoid movies (or books or art of any kind) that "makes them > uncomfortable." Isn't being uncomfortable, in a nutshell, why we're all > here?? There's a difference between being *challenged* and being *uncomfortable.* I've been having an internet conversation about the tv show the Shield. A lot of people I know online love it. I watched it last night and found it to be lazy, predictable garbage. I turned it off near the end because of a scene that made me uncomfortable. A cop is trying to find a criminal that had shot his partner, and goes after the criminal's girlfriend. He ends up threatening her with rape if she doesn't tell him where her boyfriend is. I didn't just turn it off because it made me uncomfortable, though--I also turned it off because it was so completely asinine. (It's not a challenging show at all.) Susan M - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 18:17:57 -0700 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: RE: [AML] R-Rated Movies HENRY V, Kenneth Branagh's. Good news, Jamie, this one is not rated R. We actually watched it in my high school English class. Great show. Go ahead and see it now. Annette Lyon - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 17:35:21 -0800 From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] Card, Sister 'B', and Other Stuff My review of Sister B will appear, I think, in the next Irreantum. I loved the book -- what a clever and wonderful story! I understand that the review will appear here after the print version comes out. 1/21/2003 9:21:59 PM, "Andrew Hall" wrote: >I noticed some posts from Linda Hoffman Kimball recently, I haven't noticed >you on the list before Linda, welcome (sorry if I am dense, and you have >been here a while). >You recently published your second novel at Signature, The Marketing of >Sister 'B'. I wonder if you could tell us anything about the process. How >was Signature to work with? They have a reputation for taking a long time >to publish, and not publicizing their novels much, how are they doing with >you? - ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com "I have a personal philosophy of deeply confused ambivalence." (Jasmine Cresswell, "The Conspiracy") - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 17:56:06 -0800 (PST) From: David Boyce Subject: Re: [AML] Card, Sister 'B', and Other Stuff - --- Andrew Hall wrote: ... > From: David Boyce > In other words, I am guessing "Saints" by Orson > Scott > Card. While I have yet to read the book and don't > know where my copy is, I have heard about other > complaints concerning it from OSC, himself. > > Card's comments about Saints that I have seen have > never > complained or expressed regret about about the > content of the book, it was > about the origional packaging. The publisher > changed the title to "A Woman > of Destity", and gave it a Harliquin style cover, > kind of a bodice-ripper > type, if I remember correctly. He eventually had it > republished under his > chosen title (Saints), and had a new cover made. > The A Woman of Destiny > paperback is no longer available in bookstores, just > the Saints one. I have > a copy of A Woman of Destiny at in storage in the > US. ... Sorry if I did not make it clear the first time, but the complaints I were refering to were ones that Card received about it but not made about it. David Boyce __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1970 21:25:14 -0800 From: Jared Walters Subject: Re: [AML] R-Rated Movies Most of the bans occurred in countries where Islam is the main religion which was a little frustrating for the filmmakers as they consulted a lot of major Islamic scholars for the film and had their approval. As for box office returns, the movie's final count was $102 million in the U.S which may sound good, but when you consider the fact that the film cost in the neighborhood of $85 million to make plus another $30 million for an aggressive marketing campaign. The 102 million wasn't exactly giving the studio dollar signs on their eyeballs. Heck, the movie barely beat the total gross for the first Rugrats movie which was also released around that time. Video sales however did redeem the movie somewhat and the video prequel: Joseph King of Dreams was critically well received as a video release. The studio obviously feels there is a potential market for these movies, but a public suspicious at another Hollywood Bible lesson by a studio not named Disney makes these movies more of a labor of love than anything else. Most of the controversy I heard was from people nitpicking everything from the various changes in the story to parents unhappy with the scenes of violence and onscreen death of children. On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, at 05:24 PM, Ivan Angus Wolfe wrote: >> There's no doubt the Mel Gibson flick about Jesus is gonna create >> controversy no matter how much cooperation the producers got from the >> vatican. In 1998, "The Price of Egypt" was released after years of >> hard >> work and excessive consultation from leaders of various denominations >> spanning Christians (including Mormons), Muslims and Jews in hopes to >> make a definitive movie about Moses. The result was mediocre box >> office >> returns, people of all faith being offended that the movie wasn't >> showing "the true Moses", the film being banned in certain countries. > > > I know some countries ban any movie that isn't a radical tract for > whatever > religion is dominant, so I can understand that - but I wnat to know > what is > mediocre box office recipts? It made over 100 million in the USA, was > a good > seller on video and even though the follow up (Prince of Dreams) was a > direct to > video, they must have felt there was enough of an audience to do a > follow up. > > I don't recall any controversy over it - most people I know who saw it > loved it. > > [Ivan Wolfe] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 19:03:27 -0700 (MST) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] R-Rated Movies > Actually, I see it as something else, which I haven't > noticed come up in the discussion: violence is more > acceptable than sex, swearing, and drugs/alcohol. > rich I don't (nessecarily) agree with this position, but I beleive it is sidely held among those who do feel movie violence is more acceptable than other forms of so-called "degredation"" No matter how caught up you get in a movie, on some basic level, you still realize it's "just" a movie. It's not "real" - however, when people are naked on screen, they reallya re naked. When having sex, at teh very least (in non-porn) they are engaging in heavy petting. When swearing, they *really are* swearing. Drinking - I'm not sure, but at least sometimes they likely are actually drinking alcohol. But violence is almost always faked. When building is blown up, it's usually a minature or digitally created. When a guy gets shot, it's a packet of fake blood and a sound effect added later in. It's "not real" - but the sex, nudity and swearing are real. Not saying I agree (compeltely) with it, but I've heard some well-reasoned arguments for it (and I think it has *some* value as an argument). As I am not the one to defend this position, maybe someone else well pick it up from here. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 21:59:22 -0500 From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Sacred in Writing I was very disappointed in a Jan Karon novel I just listened to because it seemed to skirt the sacred in writing. The priest had been trying to help a man totally withdrawn from society with little effect. Father Tim had given up and turned the project over to God. The next thing you know this man is playing the organ at a big church celebration. I felt cheated. I wanted to know how, at least in Jan K's mind, this healing had taken place? What had changed? Tracie - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 22:00:38 -0500 From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: Re: [AML] Singles Ward and The Way We're Wired And we, who will probably never see the play produced in OH, love the book, as well. Tracie Laulusa - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 22:58:05 -0500 From: "Eric D. Dixon" Subject: RE: [AML] Dew Interview Questions I'd like to see a question that more explicitly asks whether depiction of immoral behavior is generally seen as contrary to DB's new policy. Is it a matter of the degree of explicitness? Does depiction of the consequences of immoral behavior require adverse consequences to be tangibly visible within the character's lifetime, or does a "simple" decrease in the quality of a character's spiritual life count as a sufficient depiction of the adverse consequences of sin? The consequences of sin aren't always apparent to outside observers in the real world; must they always be apparent to the readers of a novel, or is a character-independent affirmation of relevant doctrine sufficient? Eric D. Dixon - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 23:22:51 -0500 From: "Amelia Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] LaBute Story Collection Chris, could you decipher this? maybe i've been working too hard today but i can't really make sense of the last part of your post. you seem to be informing us that LaBute is coming out with a collection of short fiction. what is it called? who publishes it? any further info? thanks, Amelia (a committed LaBute fan) Christopher Bigelow >For LaBute watchers, here's a news item: > >Theatrical and feature film writer/director (The Mercy Seat; In the >Company of Men; Nurse Betty; Possession; etc.) Neil LaBute's collection >of short fiction, some of which has appeared in the New Yorker, the New >York Times, and elsewhere, to Morgan Entrekin at Grove/Atlantic, by >Suzanne Gluck at William Morris. > >Chris Bigelow > > >-- >AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 18:23:48 -1100 From: Subject: [AML] Orson Scott Card Interview in "Locus" The December 2002 issue of "Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field" (issue 503; Vol. 49, No. 6) has Orson Scott Card on the cover page, with a long, interesting interview inside. The interview was done while Card was visiting ConJose, the 2002 Worldcon held in San Jose back on Labor Day weekend. For more info, go to http://www.locusmag.com/2002/Issue12/Card.html To order back issues of "Locus", go to http://www.locusmag.com/About/BackIssues.html Regards, Frank Maxwell Gilroy, California - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 23:16:39 -0600 From: lajackson@juno.com Subject: [AML] Re: Dew Interview Questions Christopher Bigelow suggested this question: What concerns or challenges do you see in writing and publishing biographies in the Church, particularly the biographies of Church leaders and of those still living? And I would add: How did your experience writing President Hinckley's biography compare with writing President Ezra Taft Benson's? What were the differences? How did they affect you as you wrote? 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 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 22:18:04 -0800 From: Harlow S Clark Subject: Re: [AML] Multiple Views and Issues On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 Jacob Proffitt , replying to Scott Parkin's gentle task-taking writes: > He is quite right, of course, that Preston has every right to his > opinion. And doesn't need to find himself belittled by me. Since I > really *do* try hard not to attack people, I feel bad to have done > so here. I *am* truly surprised that someone can elevate health > care to the number one issue facing the United States. I read a riddle one time--I associate it with _Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor_ but I don't think it was in that book, maybe it was in Martin Gardner's _The Numerology of Dr. Matrix_. Anyway, you've been convicted of a crime and the judge will let you choose your own punishment, gold, silver, or lead. One is a $10,000 fine, one is five years in prison, one is strangling. If you choose a punishment you can't meet--like you choose the fine and don't have $10,000--you get strangled. You can ask two questions. What two questions do you ask? The answer depends on whether you have $10,000. If you do you ask, "Is gold the $10,000 fine?" "Is silver the $10,000 fine?" If you don't have $10,000 you ask, "Is gold the prison term?" "Is silver the prison term?" I've used this riddle as a guide to decision making (though I have a hard time making decisions (for example, should I put difficult, no arduous, no exhausting in parentheses after the word 'hard,' or just forego the joke?), because it suggests that decisions should conserve whatever resource is in shortest supply to you. The corollary is that whatever resource you need most and don't have is (or can be) a source of crisis. > It's a position I don't understand and it shocks me somewhat as I'd > have thought any number of issues come ahead of health care. I > felt fairly sure that even people who disagree with me fundamentally > politically would have other issues they'd place above health care. As that guy with the Federal Building in downtown Skedaddle named after him was fond of saying, "All Politics is Local." For a significant percentage of the U.S. population health care is the most vital issue. When I got laid off almost two years ago (got the job just before our niece-who-is-like-a-daughter went into the MTC and lost it the next business day after picking her up at the airport--Donna says the job was a great illustration of the blessings that come from having a missionary in the field) our COBRA payment for health insurance would have been $400, so we put Matthew on CHIP (childrens health insurance plan--part of Medicaid?) and paid $200/month for Donna and I went without. Lucky I have excellent health. Then overnight, a year into the program the premium went up 85% to $370. When the COBRA expired at the 18 month mark we would have been without insurance, except that Matthew's CHIP case worker told us the state had just started up a very limited insurance program for low-income adults who weren't eligible for Medicaid, called PCN. For people who have had to worry about medical bills and struggle with how to get insurance just in case Oz the Gweat and Tewwible huffs and puffs at the door, it can make a very inviting--even compelling--issue to build fiction around, and though I suggested in my other post that issue-driven art is often not very good, narrative--story, film, essay, painting, sculpture, dance, song, musical notes--is one way we help each other understand ideas or ways of living that we have no imaginative sympathy for. > Anyway, my apologies for the stridency. A movie too closely tied to > issues I strenuously disagree with will have a tough hurdle to clear to > get me into the audience. That's partly why I don't really want to see "John Q" (the movie that started this thread), because the tv ads make it sound like propaganda. But the tv ads may misreprent the film. When I was just getting ready to graduate BYZ in 1984 there was this obnoxious radio ad for Lindsey Phillip Dew's _The Trial_, with a teenage boy asking, "You're not going to get him off on a technicality, are you, Dad?" I decided it was a right-wing propaganda novel not worth my time. Five years later a copy came through Skedaddle D.I. for 80 cents and for some reason I started reading it, and bought it, and found it suprisingly good and included it a few years later in my paper, "The Deseret Book Book," about themes and plot lines you wouldn't expect in DB books. (My favorite line in _The Trial_ is where the narrator is trimming roses with his bare hands, and getting all scratched up. A neighbor comes by and asks what he's doing. "Atoning for my sins with my own blood." And he's only half-joking. DB targeted their ad to a particular audience, but in doing so misrepresented the book, and maybe the ads for "John Q" did the same--they had STINKER written all over them. But that may just be the marketing department's death wish scene. Harlow 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 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 22:30:21 -0800 From: Harlow S Clark Subject: Re: [AML] Black Pioneers On Mon, 13 Jan 2003 21:31:02 -0700 "Nan McCulloch" writes: > I think we can all learn a lesson from the *waving the resume* story, > but when I see a minority (black, Mormon, whatever) become a first > at something, I have a hard time not calling attention to the fact. Does > anyone else have this problem? I know it seems unenlightened and > politically incorrect to some. In grad school I took a couple classes from Colleen McElroy, who had just published _Queen of the Ebony Isles_ (poems) and _Jesus and Fat Tuesday_ (stories), neither of which I've read. Anyway I mentioned to someone (my in-laws? but they were my outlaws after my first year there and I think I took the classes my second year, after I took a year off to recuperate from tremendous loss) that she was the first full African-American woman prof at the U of Warshington. Whoever I was talking to was offended that I would bring up her race. "I'm just quoting from the newspaper article she has taped on her office door." On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 13:15:46 -0700 margaret young writes: > Her words to President Joseph F. Smith requesting her endowment > ("Inasmuch as this is the fullness of times and in Abraham are all > mankind blessed, is there no blessing for me?") are poignant and > painful. Indeed, they are, and I have an extended reflection on them and other words in the review of Standing on the Promises which is churning around in the great milk tank of my mind (That's just the image that came to me when I wrote the word churning--getting up once a week at 4 AM the summers I spent with my cousins on grandpa's farm to milk at the dairy in exchange for our daily milk.) One of the remarkable things about _Bound for Canaan_ is that _One More River to Cross_ sets up a kind of magical realist view of Nauvoo where people can walk 800 miles barefoot in the snow and survive, and even talk to angels, and _Bound for Canaan_ dismantles that view but still remains faithful to the reasons the Mannings walked 800 miles barefoot. > I won't say much more on this, except that we are all faced with > a huge temptation to portray characters the way Church leaders > and guardians of the Institution want them portrayed, which can > dismiss the realities of humanity and paint ideals we wouldn't > even want to try for. I suspect the temptation is actually to portray characters the way we think Church leaders want them portrayed. I am trying this year to read 10 pages a day from my vast collection of books and magazines and journals, (plus however many from library books) beginning with the top shelf of the red bookcase opposite the door of my study, which is a sort of repository of stuff I want to read first. The Fall 1997 issue of Dialogue (30:3) happened to be the first on the shelf (after several issues of Sunstone) and it opens with a wonderful piece about Lowell Bennion's doctoral dissertation on Max Weber. (Fascinating because in grad school I tutored an Iranian woman who was doing a paper on Weber and wanted some help with English syntax and phrasing. I've thought a lot about what I learned about legitimation crises from that paper) The dissertation was pioneering work and would have put Lowell Bennion in the forefront of American sociologists, but he sacrificed fame for the Kingdom of God. Anyway, there's a comment in there about how underlings try to do things they think their superiors will approve of, and how difficult it can be for the superiors to counter those actions. (Laurie Newman DiPadova, "Max Weber and Lowell Bennion, pp. 1-24. The comment in question is on pages 14-15.) About 10 years ago at the Wasatch Review Writer's Conference Ed Kimball talked about writing his father's bio, and said he didn't think it would have been published without his father's protection because there were people who thought it put SWK in too unflattering a light. Reynolds Price says something similar in _Three Gospels_ (his translations of Mark and John), that the gospels portray the apostles in such an unflattering light, as such doofuses, that they must be authentic, because with all the persecution the young church was enduring, members would hardly have preserved such accounts of their leaders sins if those accounts didn't have the leaders' endorsement and protection. Price sides with the tradition that Mark represents Peter's memories and that John really was written by the beloved apostle. As for the third Gospel, you'll have to read the introduction to know why Price wrote his own gospel--a reason that might recommend itself to many saints. 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 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 10:16:56 -0700 From: "Elizabeth Walters" Subject: Re: [AML] Singles Ward Richard, I'm sorry to hear that you hate Singles Ward so much and your opinions are well stated. "Mormon Cinema" as they call it, is still a genre in its infancy so naturally you're gonna get a lot of corny films with scripts that could've used at least 10 more treatments before getting the greenlight. I think we'll see better quality LDS made films in the future, but these things take time and a lot more money for budget purposes. Just curious, are there any LDS films that have come out in the last couple of years that you've liked besides your own? - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:13:31 -0700 From: Barbara Hume Subject: RE: [AML] Singles Ward and The Way We're Wired At 04:41 PM 1/21/03 -0700, you wrote: >Anybody who agrees with Richard and wants to see the plight of the >Single LDS treated with affection and in a way that will shed light on >human experience, don't forget to come see Eric Samuelsens's comedy "The >Way We're Wired" at the Center Street Theatre. Thom, for the forgetful among us, will you re-post dates and times for that play? Thanks. barbara hume - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 11:05:16 -0700 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Why Not PG? Matthew Lee asked: =20 >What about the excellent non R movies? Why focus on >the exceptions? Isn't it better to learn to live by >the rule and let the exceptions work themselves out? We were talking about excellent R rated films because that was the thread, = that was the specific topic being addressed. Certainly no one was = suggesting for a second that there aren't films of great value that are = not rated R: I'd put The Straight Story, Enchanted April and Oh Brother = Where Art Thou on my list of utterly brilliant films that I suspect = weren't rated R. Remember, I rarely know what films were rated; the = rating system has no bearing on my decisions in this regard. >Why the sense of superiority over those who >maintain a blanket policy not to view rated R movies?=3D20 >Superiority is certainly the underlying message many >of you have sent. =20 If so, I apologize. I do not regard my decisions in this regard as = superior to the decisions that others have made. I teach at BYU. Many of = my students have made the decision to not watch R rated films. Many have = not. Say it's 50-50. I believe with all my heart that those in either = camp must respect the decisions of those in the other camp, and must, = above all, not judge. That's all. >You've implied that you are immune >to the sexual images, the extreme and gruesome >violence, and the crude humor contained in many R >rated films My father loves mountains. He loves nature and the outdoors. He loves to = camp and fish and hike. He gains tremendous spiritual sustenance from = nature. He finds big cities to be damaging to his spirit and soul, and = has a genuine spiritual need to get away from cities whenever possible and = commune with nature.=20 I do not share his need. I like pretty scenery, and like it even better = when I can watch it from the comfort of my living room. I find nature = smelly, itchy and bug-infested. I love cities. I love the energy, the = raw humanity, the jostling for position, the huge profane teeming power of = cities. I would cheerfully live in London for the rest of my days. I = even like crowds. And I feel spiritually enriched, even closer to God, in = a big city than I ever do on a mountain. Does this make me superior to my father, or him to me? No, we're just two = different people, with differing spiritual needs. So it is with film. = For me, the way I am right now, I need to see lots and lots of films, good = films. This is a genuine spiritual need of mine. The rating is and = always has been, irrelevant to that need. >I don't believe anyone is able to maintain a >level of spiritually equal to the demands of the day >while willfully viewing things that normally merit an >R rating, for the sake of entertainment. It's a >contradiction to the principles by which the Holy >Ghost operates and communicates with man. Well, there's not much I can say to this except that you're wrong. I am = certainly willing to believe that some people are unable to maintain a = level of spirituality while watching R rated movies. I'd say that you = exhibit here an understanding of the principles by which the Holy Ghost = operates that is inconsistent with my life experience, and inconsistent = with my experience with the workings of the Holy Ghost. Which is simply = to say that your understanding of the principles by which the Holy Ghost = operates is, in this particular, insufficient. >Do you guys have kids? =20 Four kids, two of them teenagers. >How can you >teach them the standards of the gospel and hope to >maintain any sense of credibility while watching David >Lynch films, The God Father, Boogie Nights, or many of >the other movies that have be listed in this thread? None of the films you have mentioned has ever, in any way, proven a = detriment to my teaching my children the principles of the gospel. Those = films teach principles of truth, which inform my work with my family, = though I can't cite any specific films I've cited in relation to specific = gospel lessons. Just can't think of any. >'m sure I've just upset some people on this list >which should not be surprising. =20 Nah. I'm not upset. We just disagree, that's all. >If I was a betting >man I would place a wager that the majority of the >replies to this will be to criticize my approach and >my standards of judgment rather than to answer my >questions. =20 Well, sure. I mean, to answer your questions presupposes that we employ = your standards of judgement. It's those standards we disagree with, not = for you, but for us. > How about listing some of the non R rated films >that contain messages equally as powerful and well >presented, but without those elements that we have >been counseled to avoid? =20 Why? This is a thread about R rated movies. That's the subject being = addressed. =20 >Here are three to start; >Empire of the Sun, Les Mis=3DE9rables, and the Walt Disney >version of Hercules.=3D20 Well, I didn't think the Les Mis film was terrible. The other two films = I've seen, but didn't care for. Different tastes. Eric Samuelsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 16:54:31 -0700 From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: [AML] Nominations for AML Awards ASSOCIATION FOR MORMON LETTERS 2002 AWARDS CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Every year, the AML presents awards for outstanding literary works that promote excellence in Mormon letters. Beginning this year, in an effort = to consider as many works as possible, the AML is calling for nominations = from our members and from the AML-List. We ask that you submit the names of eligible titles in the following categories: Novel =46ilm Drama Screenplay Devotional Literature Essays and Criticism Poetry And what is an eligible entry? 1. It should be by, for, or about Mormons and the Mormon experience, whatever that might mean. We are particularly interested in works by = Mormon authors, but will not exclude stories by people of other faiths or of = none so long as the connection to Mormon letters is explicit and illuminative. 2. It must have been published during the calendar year 2002. We would prefer that you suggest titles which you believe might be = deserving of the award, but please don't omit something just because you think its literary qualities aren't highbrow enough. All titles will be considered during this stage. Please send your nominations to Melissa@Proffitt.com with the subject = line "Award Nomination." Include the title, the author, the category, and if necessary where the work in question might be found (particularly for essays, criticism, and poetry). You are also welcome to post suggestions= to this list for discussion. The deadline for nominations is February 1, = 2003. Melissa Proffitt AML Secretary - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #954 ******************************