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I’d be interested to hear about positive,realistic portrayals of Mormonism in pop culture that you are familiar with. I imagine there aren’t a ton outside Mormon-made films and books and such. My question is inspired in part by the success of the Book of Mormon musical. I’d also be curious about your feelings regarding that musical.
Well, you’re right. There aren’t a ton of positive or realistic portrayals of Mormonism in pop culture. But I’d venture to say that pop culture doesn’t necessarily lend itself to realistic portrayals of much at all. Sensational is much more pop culture’s style, and “negative” is often far more sensational than “positive” or “realistic,” reality shows notwithstanding.
Mormons have been used as villains in pop culture media since at least the mid-1850s. The first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, features murderous Mormons coercing vulnerable young women into polygamous marriages, for one example. As far as classics go, both Charles Dickens and George Bernard Shaw had good things to say about Mormons, often relating to our “industry” and the well-organized emigration to the Salt Lake Valley.
More recently, there are several characters for whom their Mormon-ness is simply a part of who they are. I found this website which lists theatrically released films with at least one major character who is LDS (and this page on Wikipedia provides more of an historical overview). Apparently, the Malloy brothers in Ocean’s Eleven are Mormon, and Mission Commander Oren Monash, the astronaut who sacrificed himself to save the world in Deep Impact, was LDS.
Over the past decade or so there’s been an increase in films for LDS audiences or on LDS topics by LDS filmmakers. The quality varies; some are very well done, some not so much. Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive list here.
As for the Book of Mormon musical, I haven’t had the opportunity to see the show myself. I’ve read several reviews written by those who have, both LDS and not, some of whom loved it and some of whom didn’t. My undergraduate degree is in theatre arts and I love both musicals and satire; if a couple of those incredibly expensive tickets dropped into my lap, I’d go see it. I think it’s a good practice not to take ourselves too seriously. But I understand the objections of some of my fellow Latter-day Saints and respect their opinions.
The Church’s official response to the musical was brilliant. After releasing a brief statement, the Church actually bought ads in the playbills, encouraging audience members to visit Mormon.org to learn more about the Church and the original Book of Mormon. Way to leverage the publicity!
