Part of this past Sunday afternoon, Mr. Burt and I watched a bunch of trailers for upcoming movie releases. Considering I couldn’t tell you the title of a single one, I don’t think I’d recommend anyone hold their breath for a great flick before Christmas.
Well — I take that back. I do remember one title. But great film worth holding your breath for, I think not.
Has anyone heard of September Dawn? In a nutshell, it’s a period romance set against the historical backdrop of a wagon train of Mormon pioneers who massacre a wagon train of non-Mormon pioneers. It is a historical event called the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and I don’t dispute the filmmakers’ right to tell the story. The trailer’s claim that it’s “based on historical events” makes me a little skeptical of the accuracy, as Hollywood’s not known for it anyway. A couple other things send up red flags about the slant, as well.
The trailer opens with a Mormon leader (who looks a lot like Abraham Lincoln!) declaring himself the voice of God, and anyone who disputes that will be hewn down. The screen goes black. Then a voice-over begins, echoing the words emblazoned on the screen: On September 11, 1857…
Wow, movie people. Did you seriously just connect a little-known historical event to 9/11 and the entire controversial war on terrorism that spiraled after the World Trade Center attack, thus implying that Mormons are Evil Terrorists and As Worthy To Be Feared As Radical Muslims?
The voice-over goes on: …in an unspoiled valley of the Utah Territory, and in the name of God, one hundred and twenty men, women, and children were savagely murdered.
Um, yes. I think you did.
Don’t get me wrong — it’s not that I think it was okay that this massacre happened (if it did happen remotely like the movie implies, which I don’t know). But why must everything come back to September 11? That at least two horrific murders of innocent men, women, and children have occurred on that date is purely coincidental, but by flashing that on screen and having a dramatic movie trailer narrator say it automatically takes people back to images of the Twin Towers collapsing and Osama Bin Laden crying death to America. Maybe the movie’s point is that every religion in the world is tainted by radicals kill people of other faiths in the name of God…But somehow I doubt it’s anything to do with that or that this end-of-summer release with zero box office buzz is a work of cinematic art or deep in any way.
I think it’s just the sort of American media sensationalism that drives me bonkers.
Especially considering one of the 2008 presidential hopefuls is a Mormon, and people can’t seem to get away from that fact.
(Not that I’m a fan of Mitt Romney — I think he’s absolute cheese fluff, in fact, and I can’t stand to listen to him. But what the heck does it matter if he’s a Mormon? It’s not like George W. Bush is a sterling representation of Methodism, or Bill Clinton a shining Baptist, or John F. Kennedy a saintly Catholic, or Thomas Jefferson…oh yes, he wasn’t even a Christian and had lots of illegitimate children with his slaves.
But I digress; the religious views of politicians is another soapbox entirely. Sort of.)
My point: movie about the secrecy and mystery about the history of Mormonism as a Mormon bids for the White House? Coincidental timing, much? Knowing how our media likes to point out that Barak Obama’s middle name is Hussein and that Obama rhymes with Osama and that his favorite black sportcoat/white shirt with no tie combo is also Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s outfit of choice…I think not.
Even if the filmmakers just wanted to tell a story and the movie comes across as less anti-Mormon as the trailer makes it out to be, the trailer, at least, is irresponsible. The average American knows as little about Mormonism, or its history, as he or she does about Islam. Linking religious extremists in that way…Well, you’re a bunch of hacks, media. Shame on you.
07/08/2007 at 5:45 pm Permalink
Wow. You went from an 11-word post (counting the title) last month to this one of 709 words.
On the political/religious/movie rant: no comment, except to say that we once had Mormon neighbors. They had four sons; the dad worked on Wall Street in NYC and made big bucks; he had worked as a missionary somewhere in South America; their basement was stocked with enough canned food to last them a year (not sure what catastrophe they might have been expecting, but the kids told my brothers it was a Mormon thing); they gave plates of cookies to the neighbors at Christmas time. I would have given anything to hear the discussion at their door when the Jehovah’s Witnesses came around the neighborhood.
Hehe, those JW’s had a rough time when my grandfather answered the door, too. They started telling him what John 1:1 says in the Greek, and were more than a little startled when he pulled out his own Greek Bible (it was his first language) and offered to read it to them. Needless to say, the visit was cut short at that point. Hehehe - go, Grandpa!