From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #865 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 Thursday, October 17 2002 Volume 01 : Number 865 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:17:50 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: RE: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ Correction, Eric: The Kurt Bestor profile was written by Doug Robinson, who I believe is usually in "sports" (whatever that is) but does occasional excellent profiles. Chris Bigelow - -----Original Message----- From: Eric R. Samuelsen [mailto:ersamuel@byugate.byu.edu] It's worth pointing out that the long Kurt Bestor profile which appeared on the List, and which appeared in the DN under Lee's byline, was positioned as a news story, and not one of Lee's weekly columns. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:33:55 -0600 From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops It's rare, but it does happen. Tony Kimball in Boston was a bishop for years--never married. And of course, 17 years ago Bruce Young was told that he would need to be married in order for BYU to hire him permanently. And I needed a break on tuition (faculty wives go to BYU free), so we just did the logical thing. Who wants to write the book about the guy whose mother feels like a failure because he isn't even married, let alone a bishop, so he and a friend "arrange" a marriage. Call it _Singles Ward III_ (Singles Ward 2 is already being made, I'm told.) [Margaret Young] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:29:54 -0700 From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Richard Johnson wrote: > That's the rule. According to the scriptures "The husband of one wife". > I'm not sure how they wiggled that for my ancestor who was a bishop (and > mayor of Ogden) with six wives. Actually, I believe the Greek text suggests that a bishop must be the husband of [at least] one wife. Polygamy was not uncommon at that time, and was expressly provided for in the Mosaic Law. Richard Hopkins - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 17:08:56 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Todd Petersen's Award I noticed in the S.L. Tribune that our own Todd Petersen won 2nd place in the Short Story category of the Utah Arts Council's 44th annual original writing competition, for a story titled "The Impeccable Driver." Any chance Irreantum could publish that one, Todd? Or do you have other plans for it? Chris Bigelow - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:48:44 -0700 From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Eric SAMUELSEN, _Peculiarities_ Well, as I have said before, I am always interested in Mormons and Sex, even some of the weird stuff. If I'm out that way, I'd love to see it. How long will it be playing? It sounds fascinating to me too. Kathy Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 17:11:51 -0600 From: "Amy Chamberlain" Subject: [AML] Satire in BYU Freshman English Our topic of discussion and study last night, in Freshman English (I = teach at the BYU Salt Lake campus), was satire, irony, and sarcasm, or, = as I wrote on the board, "Saying Something by Saying Something Else." To intro them to the idea of satire in today's society, I printed out = and distributed Paul Browning's piece about the Church instigating a = numbering system for Sunday School answers = (http://www.thesugarbeet.com/issue13/topstories/numbering_system.html). = Here follows the not too uninteresting resultant discussion.=20 "Is the Church really going to introduce this numbering system, do you = think?" I asked. No, said the class. "Does Paul really expect his audience to take the idea seriously?" No, = of course not, they said. Incidentally, I don't think this answer is as = dead obviously "no" as my class thinks. Many people who don't like = satire, I believe, answer "yes" to this question, as in "yes, I am = taking this seriously and it's really, really stupid / offensive." "Well, then, if we can agree on that, let me ask you this: what was his = REAL purpose in writing the piece? What is Paul really saying here?" That one took some thinking. They finally came up with "we as Mormons = should get beyond those stupid answers in our Sunday School classes. = Sunday School should allow for more thoughtful discussion than it does." = They saw Paul making a point both about attendees' lack of thinking and = the inadequacy of the Sunday School forum to foster real intellectual = pursuit. "So," I asked, "Why doesn't Paul just come right out and tell us his = main point, say, in a talk or lecture format? Why disguise that main = message behind this fictional idea of a numbering system? Why go to all = that trouble to detail the list, give numbers, even take a picture of = this obviously fake idea?" Because, they decided, it's more fun to read this way. "Would you read a lecture on the subject?" I asked.=20 No, they said. No freaking way, dude. "Would you even LISTEN to a lecture on the subject, say, in a fireside?" We probably wouldn't even go, they said. One of them added, "The only = way you could drag me to that fireside is if I didn't know that was the = subject for the talk."=20 "If I didn't force you to read this in a classroom setting and you = stumbled across in on the internet, would you read it all the way = through?" I asked. Yeah, they said. Because it's interesting and funny. "The funniest thing = I've read in a long time," said one. So then I said, "Most Mormons really have a hard time with satire. They = don't like it. One woman in my Relief Society even said to me once that = satire is 'evil.' Why do you think satire makes many Mormons so = uncomfortable?"=20 That generated some discussion, too. One woman said "Because satire = forces you to think for yourself. You have to use your brains to come up = with the main message. And most Mormons want to be TOLD what to think = instead of having to figure it out for themselves." I really like my Monday class. And I like the fact that some Mormons = really do "get" satire. Even the young ones, who tend to be highly = conservative.=20 Amy Chamberlain P.S. My Wednesday class is another matter. You should see the Wednesday = paper excerpts that I culled for the amusement of my friends. I'd send = it here if it weren't so utterly off-topic.=20 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 18:32:36 -0700 From: "Aitken, Neil" Subject: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature I'm very new to the list, but have several questions which I felt were pertinent to the discussion of what constitutes Mormon Literature and other directions that need to be explored. If you have any insights into these questions, your comments would be welcome. 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and cultures? Where is the literature of those converted to the faith? For the most part Mormon Literature as it is presently documented reflects the culture, tradition, and experience of those of pioneer stock and pedigreed names. While their voices are important, it raises a question as to whether the net is being thrown too close to the shore, or are there simply no Mormon writers of other backgrounds presently writing? 2) Does Mormon Literature need to explicitly deal with Mormon themes? A survey of books written by LDS writers and reviewed on the AML site seems to suggest that this no longer need be the case. I ask as an inquiring writer and poet, questioning whether someday others will look at my work and set it alongside with other LDS writers and say: "Is there enough here for this poet's work to be considered Mormon Literature?". 3) What makes a work Mormon Literature? Perhaps the test should simply be: "Could this piece have been written if the poet/writer was not LDS?" Perhaps there are themes that are more universal in nature but still LDS. Many LDS writers explore aspects of their pioneer heritage or write with an eye to history -- yet as the Church grows more international, the definitions of "pioneer" and "heritage" need to be re-examined. Each convert is a pioneer. Each Mormon of ethnicity has a trail to blaze, a wilderness to tame. 4) Rather than seek only to define ourselves as separate and "peculiar", should we not also explore our commonality with the rest of the believing world? The gospel embraces all truth. Should we not write seeking the intersections as well as the separations? If my writing is informed by a strong acquaintance with the Old Testament, an appreciation for Buddhist and Taoist thought, and/or a familiarity with Judiasm or Catholicism -- am I still a Mormon writer? 5) Is theme of "wanderers in a strange land" (Alma 13:23) a sufficiently Mormon theme? If we look to the Book of Mormon, we see that the people frequently viewed themselves as strangers and wanderers. Echoes of "I'm a pilgrim, I'm a stranger". The sense that we sojourn on this earth ---we are immortal beings on the strange shore of mortality. Or perhaps extended to the convert, another stranger in a strange land? As a Canadian Mormon of mixed heritage (Chinese-Scottish), I find these questions particularly important in my personal exploration of place and identity. I have been wondering if others have asked the same questions or discovered anything along the way. Just a few thoughts and ponderings, Neil Aitken ================================================== Neil Aitken neil@lone-crow.com http://www.lone-crow.com ================================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 21:52:48 -0500 From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Charly Press Release CHARLY Continues Strong Run at Box Office; Receipts Increase Significantly over Holiday Weekend Salt Lake City, UT=8BThe holiday weekend brought moviegoers out in full force to see "Jack Weyland's Charly." According to numbers released by box-office tracker AC Neilsen EDI, box office receipts for "Charly" on Monday night were up 55% over the previous week's Monday night. These latest box office figures confirm that "Charly" is defying the Hollywood trend that says box office receipts generally decrease dramatically in the first few weeks after a film opens. Word of mouth buzz around the film is high. Based on the best-selling novel, Charly, by Jack Weyland, the film is striking a chord with movie-goers along the Wasatch Front. The story centers around the up and down relationship between Sam, a likeable if somewhat uptight Mormon boy, and Charly, a vibrant, sophisticated and beautiful New Yorker who comes to Utah unsure of what she might find. What seems to be drawing most moviegoers in is the unlikely love story and the subsequent crisis of faith that embroils both Charly and Sam. Also charming moviegoers is the breakthrough performance from lead actress Heather Beers, who plays Charly in her first major role in a feature film. Steve Salles of the Standard Examiner called Beers "the perfect Charly" and Sean Means of the Salt Lake Tribune said that "Beers shows impressive range as she conveys Charly's exuberance, joy and quiet intensity." ### ________________________ Mary Jane Jones Media Relations, Excel Entertainment Group mjjones@xelent.com 801-358-7020 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 22:43:23 -0400 From: "Roberto Gomez" Subject: Re: [AML] _Finnegan's Wake_ and _Ulysses_ >A literary work must stand on it's own. If the reader is told that he, >in order to understand the work, must read what critics have written >or that he must understand the author's culture, religion, nationality, >personal history. etc, then such an argument makes the case that the >work CAN'T stand on its own. Nonsense. Taken to its logical conclusion, this argument would imply that legitimate literary works must all cater to the lowest common denominator of readership. There are simply different types of literary works. Some are more "difficult" than others. Some reflect different cultures and viewpoints that may not be easily understood at first glance by an outsider. There's nothing wrong with a work being unable to purely "stand on its own." Nothing does; all of our knowledge and experience exists in a complex web. The fact that a reader may have to put some work and study into understanding a particular piece of literature can make it more valuable, not less so. The true test, I would think, is whether or not you are left with a reward (knowledge or an aesthetic experience) that is at least proportionate to the effort you have to make to understand the work. (Though I think that many modern works of art and literature do in fact fail this test and are nothing but facades with no real substance behind them.) On some level "Finnegan's Wake" is meant to be a sort of game, or even a joke (it is filled with puns and word play). I had a friend who met for a while with a group that discussed "Finnegan's Wake." The attendees included some literature professors and people who spoke several European languages. Among the things they discovered was that, when closely read and analyzed, Joyce's book made perfect sense, and they had a great deal of fun deciphering it. The fact that this sort of effort may not be in your taste or mine doesn't make the book any less of a true literary work. It's just a _different_ form of literary work than one that may be more easily and universally understood. [Roberto Gomez] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 21:56:14 -0600 From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Single bishops are definitely the exception to the rule. When I married my husband, he was a single bishop. I wrote an essay _How to Date a Bishop_. When his wife died he asked the stake president when he would be released, since he knew the rule about single bishops. The stake president told him that rule only applied to young bishops. I think he was kidding. Nan McCulloch - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 01:31:09 -0500 From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] re: Johnny Lingo Kellene: >The Johnny Lingo story is not a Mormon story--it's one of the most >popular stories in the world, which makes sense--it's message is solid, >moral, inspiring, etc. Eric Samuelsen >>I didn't know this, but I find this heartening. >>I thought it was a Mormon story. The Johnny Lingo story and the Johnny Lingo film are two totally different things. The story was indeed written by a non-Latter-day Saint and has been translated into a ton of languages, etc., etc. The Johnny Lingo movie was made by Wetzel Whitaker at LDS Motion Picture Studios and became one of the best known Church videos. Like many of the Church films of that era, it has no discernably LDS characters. It has become a much-loved cultural icon in Latter-day Saint circles. Yes, Eric Samuelsen is correct: it's sexist, racist and an awful film. Very politically incorrect. All of that is part of what makes people smile when they remember it. It's so bad that it's good. Comparable to "The Rocky Picture Horror Show." "Johnny Lingo" and "Mahanna" and "8-cow wife" have been emblazoned on kitchy products at LDS bookstores, such as T-shirts, and have been referred to by pop music songs, films, and literature. >> a commercial film based on Johnny Lingo depresses me more than I can say The feature film, as I understand it, is based on the original Patricia McGerr material, not necessarily on the LDS-made video. Really, I'm not sure any source material is beyond being adapted to a good -- even great -- feature film. "The Road to Redemption" was based on a black-and-white comic book. Critically acclaimed movies have been based on things as slim as a single photograph or a poem. Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A.I." were based not on novels, but on short stories of a mere 10 to 20 pages in length. Kubrick said it was harder to adapt a novel -- and cut things out -- then it was to adapt a story. Is good, film-appropriate source material easier to make into a good movie? Absolutely. But I wouldn't count a feature-length "Johnny Lingo" move out based solely on the source material, or based on a previous adaptation of that material. The new "Johnny Lingo" feature film was written by Riwia Brown, one of Polynesia's most accomplished screenwriters and playwrights. In 1994, she wrote the screenplay for "Once We Were Warriors" -- the most successful film about the Polynesian people ever made. Perhaps some might suggest no such movie be made. But if you ARE going to make a "Johnny Lingo" movie, I can't think of any better person to write it than an acclaimed female Polynesian screenwriter. If the Mexican-American director's realization of Riwia Brown's script is true to her vision, one hopes there will be little room for calling the feature film sexist or racist. The original Church video, by the way, was also written by a woman, a woman who was a long-time series writer and producer of the 1970s TV series "Eight Is Enough" and "The Waltons." I'm not entirely partial to "The Waltons," but, frankly, "Eight Is Enough" sported some of the best writing of any TV series during its era. That doesn't make the "Johnny Lingo" video any better. Maybe it just proves that NOBODY can make anything out of such a silly story. But I'm willing to see what Riwia Brown and Jerry Molen (of "Schindler's List" fame) can do with it. Their overall plot arc sounds pretty compelling, although I'll admit that even I think it will take some genius directing and writing to actually make the whole "8 cow wife" thing work. [Preston Hunter] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 03:19:26 -0600 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Anyone on this list have a Bishop who wears a mustache? Thom - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #865 ******************************