Comments on: Honest and true http://blankslate.net/blog/2008/04/12/honest-and-true/ Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:45:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Ben http://blankslate.net/blog/2008/04/12/honest-and-true/#comment-56 Ben Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:38:31 +0000 http://blankslate.net/blog/2008/04/12/honest-and-true/#comment-56 I agree but I'm not entirely sure that official films from the Church <i>shouldn't</i> be sanitized. (Then again, I'm not sure that they <i>should</i> either. :)) I wonder what it'd be like if the Church <i>did</i> produce art that deals with the complexity of life in the way you mentioned. Hmm... Yes, <i>Return with Honor</i> (at least that's the title it had when I saw it :)) wasn't brilliant or anything, but it was a step in the right direction. I think our art is indeed beginning to reflect our complexities more, in a way that's true to who we are as a people without sacrificing our values <i>or</i> our intelligence. I agree but I’m not entirely sure that official films from the Church shouldn’t be sanitized. (Then again, I’m not sure that they should either. :)) I wonder what it’d be like if the Church did produce art that deals with the complexity of life in the way you mentioned. Hmm…

Yes, Return with Honor (at least that’s the title it had when I saw it :)) wasn’t brilliant or anything, but it was a step in the right direction. I think our art is indeed beginning to reflect our complexities more, in a way that’s true to who we are as a people without sacrificing our values or our intelligence.

]]> By: rikker http://blankslate.net/blog/2008/04/12/honest-and-true/#comment-55 rikker Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:58:14 +0000 http://blankslate.net/blog/2008/04/12/honest-and-true/#comment-55 This is why I like <i>Wrestling With God</i>, and for that matter, so much non-Mormon art. I respect, and usually like, art that thoughtfully deals with the complexity of life, and doesn't present a sanitized, one-sided view of things. That is why I dislike the films produced by the Church, because that is content produced with a specific reaction in mind, not to promote thought on the issues. It's not honest. It's manipulative. The people involved are well-meaning, and many of them are talented, but art-by-committee is never art. And if you argue that it's not <i>trying</i> to be art, well, that's my point, too. It's propaganda masquerading as art. That sounds harsh, but that's what I think. I recently saw the movie <i>Missionary Homecoming</i> aka <i>The Return</i>, on your recommendation. It's not a particularly great movie, and the ending was sappy, but I did like it. It had a head-shaven, scalp-tattooed, body-pierced character in a sympathetic role! Much more likable than the protagonist, even. That's a calculated choice, I'm sure, but at least it's more like reality than the sugarcoated black-and-white world I seem to see elsewhere in Mormondom--most especially in the image of ourselves so many feel compelled to present to other Mormons. We're a complex bunch, and I hope our art will begin to reflect that more. This is why I like Wrestling With God, and for that matter, so much non-Mormon art. I respect, and usually like, art that thoughtfully deals with the complexity of life, and doesn’t present a sanitized, one-sided view of things. That is why I dislike the films produced by the Church, because that is content produced with a specific reaction in mind, not to promote thought on the issues. It’s not honest. It’s manipulative. The people involved are well-meaning, and many of them are talented, but art-by-committee is never art. And if you argue that it’s not trying to be art, well, that’s my point, too. It’s propaganda masquerading as art. That sounds harsh, but that’s what I think.

I recently saw the movie Missionary Homecoming aka The Return, on your recommendation. It’s not a particularly great movie, and the ending was sappy, but I did like it. It had a head-shaven, scalp-tattooed, body-pierced character in a sympathetic role! Much more likable than the protagonist, even. That’s a calculated choice, I’m sure, but at least it’s more like reality than the sugarcoated black-and-white world I seem to see elsewhere in Mormondom–most especially in the image of ourselves so many feel compelled to present to other Mormons. We’re a complex bunch, and I hope our art will begin to reflect that more.

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