From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V2 #117 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 11 2003 Volume 02 : Number 117 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 14:06:53 -0500 From: "Thom Duncan, replying from the Web" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormonism, Fundamentalism, and Polygamy at Borders The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (spelled that way in the blurb below) is an actual organization, the remnant of the church that Jesse Strang started after Joseph's death. They claim to have several hundred members. Thom - --- Original Message --- From: "Amelia Parkin" >i also found the first blurb interesting in the >distinctions it draws as to what kind of mormonism these various people >practice. "apostate mormon." "mormon fundamentalist." and "'authentic' >mormonism." and of course the almost-but-not-quite- right nod to the >church's wishes to be known as the church of jesus christ of latter-day >saints. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 11:15:26 -0700 From: "Walt Curtis" Subject: [AML] Definitions of GLBT etc. To help with an understanding of intersex, here is an excerpt from one of the sections of www.isna.org, to which I referred in an earlier post: "Simply put, intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that features 'congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system.' That is, a person with an intersex condition is born with sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or an internal reproductive system that is not considered 'standard' for either male or female." Now, this could be the stuff of some well-researched and thoughtful, thought-provoking literature, especially given the information available at the above-referenced online resource. This is not something extremely rare. There are more intersex individuals than there are individuals with cystic fibrosis. So far as I have been able to determine, the Church does not have a stance on intersexuality. Does anyone have further information? One of the purposes of literature is to help people think beyond their normal frames of reference. Figuring out intersex could definitely help one to accomplish this. Walt Curtis - ----- Original Message ----- From: "D. Michael Martindale" To: Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 3:05 AM Subject: Re: [AML] Black/African > (Don't ask me what "AQDK" stand for. I'm still trying to figure out what > an "intersex" is. Someone genetically predisposed to enjoy online sex?) - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 14:41:08 -0500 From: "Thom Duncan, replying from the Web" Subject: Re: [AML] Deseret News: Hope Misfired at BYU in '87 I was present as well. Bob Hope wasn't embarrased in the slightest. I was, however that, first of all, anyone would deign to tell Bob what jokes he couldn't tell, and second, that we as a people were so prudish that we couldn't appreciate his humor for what it was. What we experienced was not some solidarity toward heightened community standards but a group- think reaction to a wonderful comedian. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the people in that crowd wouldn't think twice about laughing at Bob in the privacy of their own homes (remember, this was a period of time in Utah when Steven King was the best- selling author at Deseret Book and "Dallas" was a very popular show among Relief Society sisters who wouldn't have been caught dead attending an R-rated movie.) But, mob mentality ruled the day and everybody (almost everybody, that is) became pure and wholesome and above reproach at the same time. Thom Duncan - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 14:19:57 -0600 From: "Eugene Woodbury" Subject: [AML] Definitions of Mormonism (was: Review of Krakauer) > Mormon is still singular and exclusively used to refer > to the LDS church. People don't even call the RLDS > church Mormon. I confess that I'm confused with what > you mean by "currently promoted usage of 'Mormon'", > though. I hadn't been aware of anyone promoting a > new definition or usage for the term. Yes, the church does officially "discourage" the use of "Mormon" as an adjective when followed by "church" to refer to itself. Although "Mormon" may be used as a noun to refer to members of the church, and also in conjunction with "Tabernacle Choir," "Trail," etc. They have made this usage quite explicit, though it is confusing enough that only the Utah media seems to follow it with any kind of discipline. The church's style guide can be found here: http://www.lds.org/newsroom/page/0,15606,4043-1---15-168,00.html They have at least convinced the Associated Press, whose stylebook reads (quoting from the above site): "The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other . . . churches that resulted from the split after [Joseph] Smith's death." But there is a huge difference between what we want and what we get, and as the grammar scolds have long learned (if they have learned; they're a never-say-die bunch), language usage can't be dictated, proscribed or prescribed (except by your English teacher). It is at best leveraged. Shame and/or approbation works well, too, but that requires significant social momentum to be on your side. At any rate, obviously "Mormon" is not used "exclusively" to refer to the LDS church, else we would not be having this discussion, and nobody would know what Krakauer was talking about. Viewed in terms of its relative size, "Mormonism" has riven itself into quite a number of sects, many extinct, some extant. We do our best to pretend they don't exist, but we all know what Krakauer is talking about (does anybody not know what a "Mormon Fundamentalist" is?), so we are able to make that distinction, even if others are not. Even Krakauer makes the distinction when probed on the subject, so he gets it too. As do those clever (or nasty, depending) parodists who concocted the acronym CFKAM: The Church Formerly Known As Mormon. Here is another real-life example of this problem with appellations, and who has the "right" to demand what they or others shall be called by association. Note the second paragraph from this article by Frank Rich (http://www.iht.com/articles/104828.html): >> Asked by Bill O'Reilly in January if his movie might upset ''any Jewish people,'' Gibson responded: "It may. It's not meant to. I think it's meant to just tell the truth. Anybody who transgresses has to look at their own part or look at their own culpability." Fears about what this ''truth'' will be have been fanned by the knowledge that Gibson bankrolls a traditionalist Catholic church unaffiliated with the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Traditionalist Catholicism is the name given to a small splinter movement that rejects the Second Vatican Council -- which, among other reforms, cleared the Jews of deicide. << So is Gibson "Catholic" then? Does he have the "right" to call himself Catholic? Does it "confuse" the general public for Gibson--and the press in general--to refer to him as "Catholic"? If you reject Vatican II are you still a "Catholic"? Do the rest of us care? Should we? There's a rule of thumb that says that that which we get the most dogmatic about is that about which we are the most uncertain. What we are uncertain about is how we should refer to ourselves (I note that the church also proscribes "LDS Church" as an acceptable usage), or how to clearly discriminate between ourselves and our doctrine and our canon and our history and those of our heretical brethren, who lay claim to the same doctrine, canon and history (and adjectives), at least up to 100 years ago. The Catholic church, it would seem (I could be wrong), doesn't really care what Gibson calls himself. Is there a statute of limitations on this sort of thing? Or do we only care when it starts to look bad for us? [Eugene Woodbury] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 00:06:16 -0500 From: "Preston Hunter" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report 25 July 03 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of July 25, 2003 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 - --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 21 2 Fast 2 Furious 368,715 380 52 Paul Walker (lead actor) 124,813,080 38 Wrong Turn 92,993 95 59 Eliza Dushku (lead actor) 15,044,311 64 Cremaster Cycle 13,437 4 94 Mathew Barney 388,951 (writer/producer/director/actor) 68 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 12,447 4 1172 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 15,419,738 72 Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure 6,897 9 899 Scott Swofford (producer) 15,022,703 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) Sam Cardon (composer) Stephen L. Johnson (editor) 78 China: The Panda Adventure 5,657 4 731 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 3,288,057 103 Galapagos 840 2 1368 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,044,855 FINAL DESTINATION 2 OUT ON VIDEO/DVD - "Final Destination 2," which features Latte-day Saint actress A.J. Cook in the second-billed role, has been released on video/DVD by New Line Cinema. While it was in theaters, the film grossed $46,752,141 at the box office, making it Cook's biggest grossing movie so far. Yes, we know. As Jay Leno so aptly pointed out, how can there be a Final Destination 2? Doesn't that mean the first one was final? Cook recently began co-starring as "Lindsay" on the TV series "Tru Calling," which premieres on FOX in 2003. The cast of "Tru Calling" is headed up by another Mormon actress, Eliza Dushku. OFFICIAL WORK AND THE STORY RELEASE DATE - "The Work and the Story," directed by Nathan Smith Jones, will officially be released on August 29th in Salt Lake City, Provo and possibly Logan, Utah. It is being distributed by Off-Hollywood Distribution. Coincidentally, this is the same date that "The Legend of Johnny Lingo" is being released. "The Work and the Story" stars Kirby Heyborne, Richard Dutcher, Richard Moll - - "Bull" from "Nightcourt", Jennifer Hoskins, Eric Artell and Nathan Smith Jones. Jones is NOT playing himself in this movie! SEEN AT THE DAYS OF '47 PARADE - Nathan Smith Jones and Dan Merkley were recently seen at the Days of '47 parade near the corner of 4th South and State Street. They were marching around trying to recruit people to help them find Richard Dutcher, who they claimed is missing, and in the process save Mormon Cinema. While we think these efforts are admirable, it did not seem that many of the parade watchers were eager to give up their prime parade-watching locations to help with the search. Regardless, our understanding is that those who are interested in helping can visit http://www.theworkandthestory.com/ or you can attend one of several meetings which are scheduled (ironically) at movie theaters in Salt Lake, Provo and possibly Logan beginning August 29th. RM GROSS: The box office gross for HaleStorm entertainment's movie "The R.M." is expected to climb as summer ends and the film moves into California and other parts of Arizona. THE LATEST FROM HALESTORM ENTERTAINMENT [mailing from HaleStorm] R.M. NOW PLAYING IN MESA! The R.M. Returns to Mesa, AZ at the Super Saver Superstition Springs! Showtimes: 1:30 4:10 7:00 9:20 The R.M. is also playing at these great theaters! PROVO, UT: Cinemark Movies 8: 11:30 2:10 4:40 7:10 9:40 Fri/Sat 12:00 a.m. SALT LAKE CITY, UT: Showcase 6: 1:00 3:10 5:15 7:45 10:15 SANDY, UT: Cinemark Sandy Movies 9: 11:45 2:10 4:40 7:05 9:30 R.M. COMING SOON TO CALIFORNIA! Keep checking our theater listings page for current updates. You can also request a theater by going to http://www.rmthemovie.com/request.php THE HOME TEACHERS ON KSL! Filming for The Home Teachers is underway, and Carole Mikita of KSL-TV in Salt Lake City came and visited us on the set! CHRISTMAS IN JULY FOR ONE MORE WEEK! We're still celebrating Christmas in July with A Very Singles Christmas, a new collection of your favorite LDS Christmas songs spiced with Singles Ward style! MARK POTTER, director of the low-budget Latter-day Saint-themed film "Suddenly Unexpected," has written a new essay titled "Opening an LDS Cinema Film," available at: http://www.ldsfilm.com/opinion/PotterOpening.html NYBO FEATURE NOW IN POST - Filmmaker Craig Nybo (based in Utah County) has completed principle photography on the feature-length horror movie he directed. The movie is now in post-production. Although filmed under the title "Haunted," Nybo says the movie will probably be called "Gabriella Sleeps." Nybo the director of such short films as "Practical Encounter Avoidance" (2001), "Team Rescue" (2001), "Malad for the Millenium" (1999), "Gravedigger" (1997) and "We Are The Rock (1995"). "Gabriella Sleeps" is his first feature film as director. MORMON ACTOR PAPILIO STARS IN NEW IMAX FILM - Papilio memnon, whose common name is the "Great Mormon butterfly", is the star of the new 3-D Imax film "Bugs." See articles: http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07242003/thursday/78090.asp and http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07242003/utah/78123.asp - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 00:48:59 -0500 From: "Preston Hunter" Subject: [AML] Query on Eagle City Video/Film Is anybody familiar with what video this might be? - ------ I went to high school in Smithfield Utah, back in the 70's. There was a movie that was so corny that even the seminary teachers thought it was too earnest, and they would show it once a year for a seminary party. I thought that it was called Eagle City, but I've searched for it with google to no avail. I don't know if it was made by the church, but I always thought it was. It was an anti-drinking film, in which the good naive kid goes off with the bad kid to Eagle City to buy some beer. Ever hear of it? - ------ Preston Hunter - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 16:35:39 -0700 From: thelairdjim Subject: Re: [AML] Review of Krakauer and Others in _Salon_ One of the reasons we can blandly refer to Islam as if there were only one is because all versions can pray at the same mosques. Though most Mosques in the States are Sunni (and Wahhabi Sunni) a Shiite who wandered in wouldn't be ejected. The prayers are the same, and since there's no Caliphs of either persuasion anymore it really doesn't matter as much whether they're Twelve Imam or Seven Imam or Ismaili etc. Despite the conflict and even war between Sunni and Shia they are both considered part of the 'Ummah. A closer approximation would be the Sikhs compared to Islam. The Gurus blended Islam with other beliefs and so are a separate entity even though they believe in the Quran, which is the simplest definition of a Muslim. It's my opinion that the the blurring of lines between apostates, excommunicates, "fundamentalists," and actual members of the Church is entirely intentional. Anyone that believes in a religion is like to be labeled "fundamentalist," but there are no Mormon fundamentalists that I know of. If somebody decided that the Prophet and the Twelve don't know what they're talking about and wants to "get back to the basics," then that is what is known as an apostate or heretic. They ought to know the difference but they ignore the truth because they want to paint any person of faith as odd, and those who actually try to practice their beliefs as lunatics. Since it doesn't work for the membership at large they use the apostate fringe to impugn the rest. I was quite surprised during the Lewinsky embroglio tht they didn't decide to call Starr a Mormon, since his church is a splinter off of ours as well. But then again it's a legal church and has been for more than a century. I suppose it's only the illegal sects that get to be honorary Mormons since they can't form their own churches dedicated to breaking the law. Jim Wilson aka the Laird Jim - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 18:42:51 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: [AML] NIELSON, _The Dispossessed_ This book for sale at Scholars Bookshelf. .. . THE DISPOSSESSED; Cultural Genocide of the Mixed-Blood Utes: An Advocate's Chronicle Parker M. Nielson A Utah attorney who represented this group in a suit against the U.S. government retells the story of the mixed-bloods, deprived of the native lands by the Mormons and confined to a reservation and ultimately deprived of their assets, land, and way of life through broken promises by the government. 1998: 338 pages. (Oklahoma) 51XF List Price: $39.95 Sale Price: $3.95 Savings: $36.00 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 11:17:07 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] (Des News) Huck, Tom, Jim and--Lee Nelson? Huck, Tom, Jim and - Lee Nelson? By Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News SPRINGVILLE - Lee Nelson doesn't pretend to look like, think like, sound like or be like Mark Twain. But he shares at least one thing with the great American author: He knows a good story when he sees one. And that's how the Springville author came to share writing credits with Twain on a sequel to "Huckleberry Finn." Twain began the story in 1885 - 25 years before his death - but for some reason or other never finished it. Nelson read the story while he was waiting in the barbershop on the Brigham Young University campus more than 30 years ago. "In Twain's day, things weren't copyrighted until they were published," he explains. So in order to protect the work and get a copyright, the Mark Twain Foundation got Life magazine to publish the story in its Dec. 20, 1968, issue. "I was enthralled with the story, hanging on every word," says Nelson. Called "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians," it starts off with Huck, Tom and Jim heading West for adventures - because Tom had read about Indians and had a lot of romantic notions about them. The three join up with a family on the Platte River. A group of Sioux befriends the family, then kills the parents and older boys and kidnaps the two girls and Jim. Huck and Tom join forces with a mountain man to rescue the girls. Twain's story suddenly ends as they approach the Indians' camp and prepare for a daring rescue. Over the years there has been a lot of speculation about why Twain didn't finish the story. Some think he was uncomfortable with the sexual theme he had introduced, with the older girl being ravished by her captors. Others think Twain may have been weary of the criticism "Huck Finn" had received from Puritan-minded librarians and school teachers. Nelson doesn't buy the theory that Twain had written himself into a corner and didn't know how to get out. "He could have written himself out of anything. But it was about the time he moved to Connecticut. He was hobnobbing with the upper crust of society, and I think he just lost interest in backwoods boys and the West." Whatever the reasons were, the manuscript lay unfinished until Nelson was reminded of it by a PBS special a couple of years ago. "And it hit me that I had studied and written about the West. I was about as qualified as anyone to finish the story." Nelson contacted the Mark Twain Foundation and the University of California Press, and they agreed to let him have a crack at it. They worked out a deal where the foundation got royalties for the part Twain wrote, and Nelson got royalties for the part he wrote, which turned out to be a 20/80 split. "Mark Twain wrote the first 62 pages, and I wrote the last 200 pages." He didn't feel at liberty to edit any of those first pages, and so some of the language and the words used are not those used comfortably in today's world. "I tried to tone them down in my part." But the issues of racism and redemption that Twain introduced are still universal concerns, says Nelson. Nelson picks up where Twain left off, following lovesick Huck across the continent and involving the boys in adventures, not only with hostile Indians but also with renegade trappers, Mormon emigrants, Western soldiers and gunfighters. He's pretty sure it's not the way Twain would have done it. "People ask me if I tried to communicate with him, if he appeared to me in dreams. And the answer is no. But I did go through his part very carefully, studying the idioms and slang words and unconventional sentence structure." He did continue the themes Twain introduced, including the love story, the differences between book learning and real life and the possibilities of second chances. "I set the story in 1857. Twain didn't indicate a date, but he visited California in the early 1850s, and he has Jim still worrying about slavery, so the Civil War hasn't happened yet. I thought he was looking at the mid-to-late 1850s." In 1857, there was a lot going on, says Nelson, with Johnston's Army and the Mormon handcart pioneers and activity in California. "There may be more Mormon material than he would have used. But he did like to have fun at the expense of the (LDS) Church, and he was also critical of Congress passing legislation against the church." Since its publication this spring, the book has done very well, says Nelson. It got a great reception at the national Book Expo in Los Angeles. "Some people think I'm trying to cash in on Twain's audience," he says. "But he never earned a penny on this story until now. And what's been happening is that my audience is being drawn to him." Over the past 25 years, Nelson has written more than 30 books, mostly about Utah and Western history. His books, in particular "The Storm Testament" volumes, have been serialized in more than 100 newspapers around the country. He has written biographies, business books and is currently researching the life and times of Ghengis Khan. "I look at this work as a journey into the American West through the eyes of Mississippi River rat Huck Finn, begun by Huck's creator, Mark Twain, and finished by one of his ardent fans. No more, no less." Nelson thinks Twain would be quite flabbergasted to know that all these years later not only is Huck still popular, "but 960 different editions of Twain's books are currently for sale. He loved the craft of writing, he liked to have fun with words, but I don't think he knew how great he was." Maybe someday, Nelson speculates, "we'll meet up and compare notes and tease each other about it all." - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 00:38:20 -0400 From: Sam Brown Subject: [AML] YOUNG, _Heresies of Nature_ Hello, This isn't an actual review, just a response to the novel, which I read this evening while unwinding after too much work, waiting for my wife and daughter to come back from their vacation. I bought the book based on some e-mail or something in _Irreantum_, I think, part of acquainting myself with the landscape of Mormon fiction written for Mormons. I don't want to spoil the plot because I think plot enriches this story significantly. It may be that there were too many parallels to my own life and that primed the emotional pumps, but I feel, having read both, that _Heresies_ is a far profounder, more majestic, more moving affirmation of the Mormon eternal family than the "Proclamation" to that effect adorning the walls of in-laws and neighbors. I called my wife to tell her about it and started to cry (I cry about once a decade, so I'm safe until 2010 or thereabouts), still reeling from the book's resonance with my own love and fear and inadequacy. It brought to the fore the physical ache of my love for my wife and daughter, the overwhelming force of commitment and tenderness and responsibility. The book is similar to "The Dive From Classen's Pier" but much more powerful. It's as stunning as "Metamorphosis" but in a visceral/familiar rather than Kafka's intellectual/grotesque way. Polished, and with removal of the specifically Mormon content, this book could be a contender on a national market as far as I'm concerned. Happy reading. I'm giving it to all my relatives next time gifts are exchanged. - -- Yours, Samuel Brown, MD Massachusetts General Hospital sam@vecna.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 18:36:29 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Deseret News: Hope Misfired at BYU in '87 At 02:41 PM 8/6/03 -0500, you wrote: >I would be >willing to bet that the majority of the people in that >crowd wouldn't think twice about laughing at Bob in >the privacy of their own homes (remember, this was a >period of time in Utah when Steven King was the best- >selling author at Deseret Book and "Dallas" was a very >popular show among Relief Society sisters who wouldn't >have been caught dead attending an R-rated movie.) >But, mob mentality ruled the day and everybody (almost >everybody, that is) became pure and wholesome and >above reproach at the same time. You're speculating, Thom. I don't think dirty jokes are funny, and I have never liked Stephen King or Dallas. That's true of many people. I think it's unfair of you to assume that anyone who doesn't guffaw at crude humor is being self-righteous. barbara hume - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V2 #117 ******************************