From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #214 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 Tuesday, December 5 2000 Volume 01 : Number 214 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 15:10:37 EST From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Arthur Hardman, Founder of Second Largest LDS Publisher: Salt Lake Tribune From: Kent Larsen To: Mormon News Subject: MN Arthur Hardman, Founder of Second Largest LDS Publisher: Salt Lake Tribune 29Nov00 B2 Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 21:40:00 -0500 [From Mormon-News] Arthur Hardman, Founder of Second Largest LDS Publisher SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Arthur Hardman, founder of what has become the second largest provider of LDS products, Covenant Communications, died November 26th in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was 86. Hardman ran Covenant, then known as Covenant Recordings, from its beginings in 1958 until he sold it to its current owners in 1977. Hardman, an Etna, Wyoming native, was born September 7, 1914. He went through a variety of experiences, serving in World War II in Europe and working as a firefighter at Hill Air Force base near Ogden, Utah. He also owned and operated Hardman Auto Sales in Sunset, Utah. According to his family, Hardman founded Covenant to produce word-for-word narrations of the LDS scriptures, at first selling them as "Gold" records. The firm started with door-to-door sales and slowly built its sales to stable levels. In 1977, Hardman sold the business to its current owner, Lou Kofford. Covenant has since broadened its product line to include a full range of LDS products, including book publishing, which started in 1985. It now employs 25 people producing 40 new titles each year. Its best-known books include the "Tennish Shoes Among the Nephites" series, books by LDS author Anita Stansfield, and the recent blockbuster, "Between Husband and Wife." Sources: Arthur Hardman Salt Lake Tribune 29Nov00 B2 http://www.sltrib.com/11292000/obituari/48743.htm About Covenant Covenant Communications Website http://www.covenant-lds.com/guide.html >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 15:10:37 EST From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Weyland's Latest Looks At Overcoming Differences Through Unconditional Love: Deseret Book Press Release From: Deseret Book Press Release To: Mormon News Subject: MN Weyland's Latest Looks At Overcoming Differences Through Unconditional Love: Deseret Book Press Release 28Nov00 A2 Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 21:00:00 -0500 [From Mormon-News] [This is being sent as posted to MN. I hope the typo in the last paragraph (About the Author) was not in the original press release. Larry.] Weyland's Latest Looks At Overcoming Differences Through Unconditional Love SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Jennifer Hobbs and Ashley Bailey couldn't be more opposite. Jennifer runs with the cowboys at school, talks tough with a rebellious spirit and hates going to church. Ashley is a model daughter and student with a perky personality, good looks and cheerful attitude. But there's a secret that binds them together -- a secret from which both will learn about the things that matter most in life. Against this background, acclaimed author Jack Weyland has penned his newest novel, Ashley and Jen (Bookcraft, $16.95). In this, is 23rd novel, Weyland explores once again the fun and frustration that are part of growing up while at the same time illustrating a secretive and destructive behavior that plagues a surprisingly large number of young women -- bulimia. In his usual compelling style, Weyland shows us how the compulsion threatens the lives of its victims, both physically and emotionally. Ashley and Jen illustrates the power of friendship and how the strength of family and friends can help us overcome differences and difficulties. About the Author Jack Weyland teaches physics at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. He has published a score of best-selling novels and short stories, securing himself the distinction of being the most popular writer of fiction in the LSD adolescent and young adult market. He and his wife, Sheryl, are the parents of five children and have four grandchildren. >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 11:10:50 -0600 From: Jonathan Langford Subject: [AML] Editorial: Micro-Politics and Power Structures Every now and then, it occurs to me to think about the variety of power structures that define the experience of each of us, and that interact in important ways with our use of language. Back when I was studying English, one of the major strands of criticism--broadly describable, perhaps, as cultural criticism--sought to analyze the ways in which literature both shapes and is shaped by cultural forces, including patterns of social/political dominance and their reflection in language. (That's an unfairly narrow and simplistic description, but it focuses on the part I want to talk about in this post.) It seemed to me that there was always a tendency (at least in the classes I took) to focus on the macro-patterns: the ways in which large groups, on the whole, exercise dominance over other large groups: men over women, whites over other racial or ethnic groups, rich over poor, members of predominant religions over members of minority religions, the educated over the less well-educated. And understandably so: these are patterns that are historically verifiable and, like the magnetic field of the earth, exercise a large, universally present effect, and yet one that is easily ignorable at any specific location. (I say "easily ignorable" because historically, much literary criticism *has* ignored these patterns and the way they play out in--or are even furthered by--literature.) I still think this kind of literary criticism is both necessary and important. (I know this puts me at odds with some others on this List who object to cultural criticism and feel art should be criticized only on artistic grounds--a distinction I think is both artificial and unrealistic--but those kinds of disagreements simply give us something to talk about on the List...) But I'm taken with the notion that as individuals, we are often much more sharply affected by the local influences in our lives, the local power structures--those patterns which, like the effect of a strong but small magnet, may be discernible only within a small area, but which can enact havoc or order with devastating effectiveness within that limited range. Case in point: I've been in--and heard about--a number of classrooms where the teacher, vigorous in pursuit of a particular agenda that has been culturally and historically unpopular, has made people who disagreed with that agenda feel uncomfortable, even oppressed. Are these teachers justified in setting up the terms of discourse within their classrooms in this way, because it is a reversal of the larger patterns of society? Or are they engaging in an act of oppression just as morally dubious, if on a smaller scale, as that to which they are reacting? Personally, I'm uncomfortable with either alternative--or rather, I see some justification in both points of view. People *should* at times be made to feel uncomfortable with familiar, received ideas, forced to view them from another perspective, particularly in a classroom setting. On the other hand, the classroom to a certain extent is a world unto itself--a micro-world, where the effect of the teacher is like a powerful localized magnet. Injustice within that context has a great potential to wreak harm, regardless of what may be the patterns of the larger world. After all, the individual student does not experience all classrooms, but only a finite, fairly small number. A classroom practice which (for example) is designed to "balance" what other instructors in other sections of that class are doing is largely pointless, because the individual student takes a class only once. Injustice to a group and injustice to an individual cannot quite be weighed against each other in the same set of scales. Take another case: marriage. Since being married myself, and observing other marriages, I've become aware that generalizations about patterns in marriage are of only limited usefulness in characterizing any individual's experience of marriage--because there is such a wide variation among marriages that the effects of any broad patterns are easily overwhelmed, or at least concealed, by the particulars of any specific marriage. Which isn't to say that generalizations and research studies about marriage aren't important and valuable: they provide a framework for social policy in its broadest sense, from politics to the preachings of prophets. And the preachings of artists, for that matter. But they are of little use to the artist in depicting any individual marriage, any specific family--because the realm of the artist (the fiction artist, at least) is to a great degree the particular. We write about only one family (or a small number) at a time, not all families. And so what we write will inevitably be local, as opposed to general--which, I think, is part of the reason for the frustration of a particular set of moralists with fiction, from Plato down to some of the more doctrinaire feminist critics. (I don't mean to speak ill of feminist criticism in general, which has contributed some powerful, important tools--and questions--to literary studies.) All of which is (I think) important, and interesting, though I'm not sure how many others on the List share this particular interest of mine. What brings it to mind again at this time, however, is a certain matter of List dynamics that I've recently (again) become aware of. That is: It's much easier for all of us to feel ourselves in the minority than in the majority; much easier for us to be aware of the ways in which our own statements and ideas do not seem to be respected by others on the List, but much harder for us to see ways in which the reverse may be true as well. I'd like to encourage everyone to speak freely on the List, within the limits of the List guidelines. I'd like to encourage a much broader range of voices than we typically experience in any given week. I'd like to encourage more participation by women, in particular--there are some days that pass when it seems that almost no female voices are heard. Thanks as well to those of you who do contribute regularly, who raise new topics for discussion, who strive to express points of view you feel aren't being adequately represented. Thanks to those who attempt to reach out to those on the other side of particular issues and clarify both their own point of view and that of others. We will never reach unanimity or agreement on many issues we discuss on the List--I don't even think that's a worthwhile goal--but mutual understanding and respect, ah, that is achievable, and well worth working for. In my opinion. The micro-structure of this List is, in a certain sense at least, a world apart, and a place where--as I would prefer--no particular voice ought to be privileged above others. I invite the ongoing help of all of you in keeping it that way. Jonathan Langford AML-List Moderator jlangfor@pressenter.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 14:30:11 -0700 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: [AML] SORENSEN, _A Little Lower than the Angels_ Because of some recommendations on the list, I started reading A Little Lower Than the Angels, if nothing else than to familiarize myself with early LDS literature. After ten chapters and almost a hundred pages, I'm livid, and I'm asking anyone for one good reason to keep reading it. So far the main character, Mercy, is the most faithless latter-day saint I've read about in a long while (reminds me of a current thread of discussion). She follows her husband into the church because she's married to him, not because she believes. She doesn't take her own baptism seriously, and almost laughs at it. But the worst part, in my opinion, is the blatant misrepresentations of history. For example, it shows Joseph Smith passionately kissing and wooing Eliza as his only true love, saying that they were meant to be together, that Emma is nothing more than a good mother, and that as soon as he can arrange it, they will marry. That Eliza is finally someone who can understand him (they have a lengthy comparison between a poet and a prophet, and how they're similar). Puhleese! Anyone who has read anything about Joseph and Emma know that the two of them were deeply in love with each other. They eloped, for crying out loud. The commandment for Joseph to enter into plural marriage nearly broke him. And I cannot believe that Joseph would put advances on Eliza before the ceremony, since the purpose of the marriage was to obey a commandment. I'm sure Joseph never kissed Eliza (let alone so passionately as in the book) until they were married. It wouldn't have been right, and Joseph knew it. I'm aware that historical fiction is just that, fiction, but to take real people and events, toss them aside, and create a new set with similar names that fits better into some romantic notion is ludicrous. She misrepresents other historical figures, as well. The sad part is that Sorensen has some beautiful writing, but the content awful. Lund isn't the greatest writer in the world, but at least he tries to be true to the people and events he writes about. If this book is about only a faithless woman, and otherwise little more than a rewriting of history, then I'm returning it to the library and not looking back. I've got too many titles on my "To read" list to bother with such drivel. Annette Lyon ________________________________________________________ 1stUp.com - Free the Web Get your free Internet access at http://www.1stUp.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 14:03:00 -0500 From: "Debra L. Brown" Subject: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ As an anniversary gift to my husband, I bought the video, _God's Army_. My husband loved it! I'm ok with it. His one question was why it was rated PG. Anyone who can answer that? There were a few things that bugged me, like how inept Allen was at tying ties after being at the MTC for 6 weeks, how he seemed to know **nothing** about being a missionary, how we could see through the dress of the girl being baptized, the death of the companion, burying the companion in his suit! for pete's sake..........there's probably more, but I'll shut up. I could also see the point of the dissatisfaction in the character of the Mission President, and how clueless he was in the lives of the Elders. On the other hand, I liked the music, and the toilet scenes. Debbie Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 12:34:17 -0700 From: Russ Hartill Subject: RE: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ The DVD version of this movie has a director's commentary, wherein he addresses some of the things he struggled with while making the movie, and afterwards. The girl being baptized, it turns out, is his wife in real life. To whom he listed in credits as "Sexy LDS Lady...." The character of the mission president was Dutcher's real life bishop, in whose real home office the scene was filmed. The piles of paper and clutter are the bishop's real piles of clutter, not stage props! The pranks pulled on the missionaries came from Dutcher's own experiences serving in Mexico. Russ Hartill Sandy, Utah - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 12:52:41 -0700 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ >As an anniversary gift to my husband, I bought the video, _God's Army_. My >husband loved it! I'm ok with it. His one question was why it was rated PG. >Anyone who can answer that? There was some minor violence in it, the hookers, like that. > There were a few things that bugged me, like how inept Allen was at >tying ties after being at the MTC for 6 weeks, how he seemed to know >**nothing** about being a missionary, how we could see through the dress of >the girl being baptized, the death of the companion, burying the companion >in his suit! for pete's sake..........there's probably more, but I'll shut >up. We had a missionary show up in our appartment with a copy of playboy in his suitcase. A good percentage of missionaries do indeed know nothing about being missioaries. Not all of them go out for the right reasons, they may not have been properly taught, they may have been only recently converted. Lots of reasons why Elder Allen could be entirely believable. Not every baptism runs properly either, with regard to seeing through the dress being baptized. Which, by the way, I do not remember. I've bought the video so I'm going to look at it again. I don't often get the chance to see women's underwear through their clothes. Burying his companion in his suit: You would rather he be decked out in his temple clothes? Thom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 20:13:19 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ > >As an anniversary gift to my husband, I bought the video, _God's Army_. My >husband loved it! I'm ok with it. His one question was why it was rated PG. >Anyone who can answer that? There were a couple of "hells" and "damns," used primarily in the literal, religious sense, but still generally more than you can get away with in a G movie. (Generally. "The Straight Story" had some of the same words and still got a G; I'm sure there are other exceptions, too.) The film was actually first given a PG-13 rating, due to the visibility of drug paraphernalia in someone's apartment (it's been a while since I've seen it, so I don't remember the specific scene). Dutcher discussed it with the ratings board, though, and they agreed that the overall tone of the movie was more consistent with a PG than a PG-13, so they let it slide. > There were a few things that bugged me, like how inept Allen was at >tying ties after being at the MTC for 6 weeks, how he seemed to know >**nothing** about being a missionary, how we could see through the dress of >the girl being baptized, the death of the companion, burying the companion >in his suit! for pete's sake..........there's probably more, but I'll shut >up. The tie thing didn't seem realistic to me, either, nor did the death. (You know, there comes a point where they'll MAKE you go home from your mission for health reasons, no matter how bad you want to stay.) However, I knew missionaries who had been members all their lives who still seemed to know nothing about it. Also, the first time my trainer and I baptized someone, we were both very new at it (he'd only been out a month longer than I had), and it didn't occur to us to ensure beforehand that the baptizee was wearing a dress that wouldn't become see-through when she got wet. Part of what made the film so enjoyable for me was that Matthew Brown did such a good job as the greenie missionary, he reminded me exactly of about five specific missionaries I knew. I guess he was probably just doing "General Naivete" in the actor's handbook (since he's not LDS and probably doesn't know what greenies are like), but it sure seemed like "New Missionary Naivete" to me. Eric D. Snider _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 16:09:45 -0500 From: "Debra L. Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ Thom said: > Burying his companion in his suit: You would rather he be decked out in his > temple clothes? After I sent that I know I should have been clearer, and as I said to someone else, a white shirt, pants, and tie would have, imo, been ok. The non-member viewing the film wouldn't have seen anything they shouldn't and a in-the-know member would have filled in the blanks. > There was some minor violence in it, the hookers, like that. Seen worse on television > We had a missionary show up in our appartment with a copy of playboy in his > suitcase. Well, everyone has their own taste in bathroom library reading material. > A good percentage of missionaries do indeed know nothing about being > missioaries. Not all of them go out for the right reasons, they may not have > been properly taught, they may have been only recently converted. Lots of > reasons why Elder Allen could be entirely believable. Except I would hope he would learn to tie a tie by the end of his MTC training period, though I realize that the movie needed "cute" moments > Not every baptism runs properly either, with regard to seeing through the > dress being baptized. Which, by the way, I do not remember. I've bought the > video so I'm going to look at it again. I don't often get the chance to see > women's underwear through their clothes. Standard K-Mart issue Eric said: >The film was actually first given a PG-13 rating, due to the visibility of >drug paraphernalia in someone's apartment (it's been a while since I've seen >it, so I don't remember the specific scene). Dutcher discussed it with the >ratings board, though, and they agreed that the overall tone of the movie >was more consistent with a PG than a PG-13, so they let it slide. I'm a jaded woman.........I've seen more violence in Disney movies. But thanks for the explanation. Debbie - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 22:33:20 GMT From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: Re: [AML] MN Weyland's Latest Looks At Overcoming Differences Through Unconditional Love: Deseret Book Press Release > [This is being sent as posted to MN. I hope the typo > in the last paragraph (About the Author) was not in the > original press release. Larry.] > About the Author > Jack Weyland teaches physics at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. He > has published a score of best-selling novels and short stories, > securing himself the distinction of being the most popular writer of > fiction in the LSD adolescent and young adult market. He and his > wife, Sheryl, are the parents of five children and have four > grandchildren. LOL!!!! LSD market! You know, I had to read it three times to catch the typo. Funny how you= r=20 eyes can see what they expect, rather than what's there. - --=20 Jeffrey Needle E-mail: jeff.needle@general.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 19:45:51 -0700 (MST) From: Hamilton Fred Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ Just a brief point of reference. I didn't take the greenie constantly retieing his tie as lack of knowledge, but as a point of personal vanity. I have known elders who wouldn't go out for any reason until their tie was the perfect length and their tie knot was exactly dimpled so the tie would lie in the precise way they wished it to fall from their collar. Thus, this was just Dutcher's way, for me, of establishing a personal character trait of this elder. Naturally, it rang true from my experience. Of course, that is just my fallible observation. Respectfully, Skip Hamilton - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 21:38:59 -0700 From: Tom Matkin Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ My daughter just came into my computer room and noticed that I was reading a post on AML about "God's Army". "Are they still talking about that!" she exploded, "can't we just go to a movie and enjoy it without picking it apart?" I tried to explain to her that AML was really all about picking things apart, but it didn't really ring true with me either. I suppose it is because this movie is such a monumental step in the growth of Mormon cinema. Hopefully there will be a day when such films are as common as Mormon books are today, and then maybe we will be able to look back and remember it the way we might any other popular cinematic effort. I thought it was a darn fun and engaging couple of hours. And it felt good that it was treating a part of my life and culture that hitherto fore has had no place in a commercial movie theatre. True it didn't reach the same standard as "Johnny Lingo". Thank heaven for that. Tom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 22:05:49 -0600 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN "Farley Family Xmas" returns to Pardoe Theatre Dec. 7-30: BYU Press Release From: BYU Press Release To: Mormon News Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 22:10:00 -0500 Subject: MN "Farley Family Xmas" returns to Pardoe Theatre Dec. 7-30: BYU Press Release 4Dec00 A2 [From Mormon-News] "Farley Family Xmas" returns to Pardoe Theatre Dec. 7-30 PROVO, UTAH -- The Farley Family will once again turn Christmas upside down in Brigham Young University's Pardoe Drama Theatre when James Arrington's "Farley Family Xmas" opens Thursday (Dec. 7) at 7:30 p.m. The popular one-man show will run through Dec. 30 excluding Sundays, Mondays and holidays. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for students and faculty. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call (801) 378-4322. Fans of the dysfunctional Farley clan can once again spend the holidays with Heber, Aunt Pearl and the rest of their zany relatives. Audience members are encouraged to dress in holiday garb for the performance. This holiday spoof has been running in some form for well over a decade, according to creator and performer Arrington, and audiences can expect the usual Farley foolishness. "The show always changes, because I've never written anything down, so it becomes very topical," Arrington said. "Whatever is in the headlines somehow always winds up in the show." The play has become a holiday tradition for some households. "No matter who you are, you're bound to see one of your relatives--or even yourself--on stage, and that's a startling moment, believe me," Arrington said. There's the Martha Stewart-type who turns trash into tinseled treasures, some less-than-virtuoso singers and instrumentalists, poets of the fractured variety, under-trained dancers and other under-prepared performers--all held thinly together by the doggedly persistent and eternally optimistic Heber Farley, patriarch and master of ceremonies. The play benefits greatly from holiday music by Michael Ohman, Lisa Arrington and Sam Cardon. The performance is sponsored by the BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts and the College of Fine Arts and Communications. - -###- >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 23:17:27 -0700 From: "Marie Knowlton" Subject: Re: [AML] _Savior of the World_ (Drama)

No, I haven't seen it yet. But there are two points here that I think are= worth mentioning: first, the fact that the Church has ventured back into= the territory of live theatre is a good thing. I think live theatre has the= ability to touch people in ways few other experiences can. Brigham Young= recognized this fact and insisted that live theatre be an important part of= the culture in pioneer days. Second,  we should recognize that= Church-produced theatre is not going to be very controversial or venture= too far towards the cutting edge. It's out there to testify, perhaps= illuminate, and maybe bring the Spirit to the stage (and thereby to the= audience). This shouldn't surprise us. If we don't like it, we're certainly= free to stage alternative productions.  I don't believe we have= legitimate grounds for complaining that the Church is quashing us as LDS= artists because it isn't inclusive of all our different views on what it= ought to be staging.  They can't make everybody happy, anyway. =

As to how it should be judged, I'm not feeling any urgent need to compare= it to the likes of , oh, say, "Rent." There's plenty of historical= precedent for religious theatre -- the Passion Plays of the Middle Ages are= a good example. Who says we can't entertain the audience and spiritually= feed them at the same time?

 



 

[Marie Knowlton] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2000 01:16:14 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] _Savior of the World_ (Drama) Scott Tarbet wrote: > As an actor I'm actually very used to directors and producers and and > writers and theatre owners telling me which wrench to use. And I often > disagree with them, sometimes vigorously. As a director I'm very used to > telling actors which wrench to use and having them disagree with me. But > ultimately I have a vision of what I want the final product to be, and while > I will try my best to explain that vision and get the actor to share it, if > after all s/he still doesn't, then my creative vision is the one that will > prevail. The producer of SOTW is the Church, in the person of the Brethren > assigned to the task. They had a creative vision before they authorized the > project, and I don't see a thing wrong with them exercising oversight. At first Scott says that he has no problem with _directors_ telling him, the actor, what tool to use, or that he doesn't feel bad as a _director_ telling actors what tool to use. Then he goes on to say that the Church Brethren should have the same right as _producers_ to do the same thing. But a producer is not a director. The director is a professional, therefore presumably knows what he's doing. The producer is an artistic professional only by chance--many of them aren't. The only requirement to become a producer is to be able to fork over the money. Sure, the producer may have an artistic vision and want it to be realized. But that doesn't mean he has a clue how to accomplish that realization. Sure, he as the paying boss can insist that things be done a certain way. But that doesn't mean he's wise to do so. I haven't seen the play, so I have no idea what my critique of it would be. But if I accept the critiques that have been given and speak hypothetically, I would have to say that the Brethren's vision was _not_ realized, even though they may think it was, because they who don't understand the tools of theater dictated how things should be done. They may get sold-out performances, teary-eyed audiences, and obligatory Utah standing ovations, but are they converting anyone--changing people's lives? Or are they merely preaching to the choir? Is that the result they wanted? I doubt it. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 13:26:12 EST From: Sally0115@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ << True it didn't reach the same standard as "Johnny Lingo". Thank heaven for that. Tom >> Hopefully nothing reaches the "same standard as 'Johnny Lingo'". I found it interesting how diverse our opinions are regarding "God's Amry". I had no problem with the suit in the casket, but I found the bathroom scenes a bit offensive. But, I'm not complaining, because overall I found the movie delightful and certainly a broad suggestion of how missionary life could be. Ruth Packer - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #214 ******************************