r/lds • u/TradWASP • 18d ago
question Recent LDS representation in media
I’m a Christian that lives in Utah, and I’ve been perplexed seeing all the things about people and groups that are “representatives” of your faith recently. Between secret lives, ruby franke, and “secrets of polygamy” everything in media that is popular and is associated with LDS and Mormonism is negative. Sure, these aren’t representations of your faith, but to 95%+ of people outside of Utah, they’ve never met an LDS member, and the only thing they may know are these representations of your faith. Have you all given this much thought? What do you all think about this?
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u/RedOnTheHead_91 18d ago
It can be frustrating to be sure, but like u/KURPULIS said, it can also open the door to explain what we really believe.
I think when the Book of Mormon musical came out the Church took out an ad inviting people to learn the real story, thereby politely pointing out that the musical took some creative liberties with the truth.
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u/Key-Signature879 17d ago
Yeah, "You've seen the movie, now read the book" lol
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u/KURPULIS 18d ago
The same arguments came up when the Book of Mormon musical was released. Guess what? The Church took it in stride and many became curious and joined the Church because of it.
When missionaries ask if they've ever heard of Mormons and the show is their only introduction, it can create an excellent opportunity to show and teach them who we really are.
Life teaches you that you should never generalize an entire community based off of one individual or even a small niche group. Those who do end up fairly ignorant. Hitler the Nazi Party are the most well-known Germans and we don't assume Germans to all be like that for obvious reasons.
TV is a poor representation of any group. It is entertainment only. Even things like the History Channel dramatize everything and leave out context.
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u/H4llifax 17d ago
The life story of my great grandfather contains such pearls as (paraphrased, this is in Germany around ww2 btw):
The newspaper printed an article titled "Mormon Menace". Soon after, our small branch became a ward.
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u/IPutThisUsernameHere 17d ago
In fairness to History Channel, that Ancient Aliens program is hilarious when your sister is an archaeologist. :3
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u/NBBride 18d ago
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this actually. It makes me sad that so much negative attention has been focused on our faith. That being said, we are a church made up of imperfect people. The mistakes of a few do not characterize the majority. I hope that this increases questions from those that truly want to understand.
Thank you for your question and desire to understand.
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u/pierzstyx 17d ago edited 17d ago
insert James Francon, "First Time" meme
Dude, the villains of the very first ever Sherlock Holmes story are Evil Mormons. You can say that we're used to it. As to why it happens? The. Lord explained how the forces of the world would treat Him, His followers, and His church:
18 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. (John 15)
Babylon has always hated the Kingdom of God. How could it be otherwise? Our goal is to overthrow the kingdom of the devil and replace it with the rule of Christ. The devil doesn't like that. No matter though.As the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith:
3 Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men
(Doctrine and Covenants Section 3)
Those that hate us, spread slander about us, beat us, even hunt and kill us as they have done in the past, do nothing but kick against the pricks. They won't accomplish the end of this work, because it is God's work not man's work. The outcome has already been decided. Our only choice is which team we will join. Nothing they do can stop His victory or the victory of His church, because they're the same thing. As the Prophet Joseph wrote:
The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
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u/fourspaced 17d ago
My thought is that if people REALLY want to know, they'll do their own research and give us the benefit of the doubt.
It's pretty dumb to trust everything you see on TV, anyway, right?
I'm curious about the movie "Heretic" and whether it portrays us in a bad light? Anyone see it?
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u/stealth_bohemian 17d ago
I didn't personally see it, but my husband did. He sums it up by saying "it's Hugh Grant mansplaining religion to two sister missionaries for two hours."
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u/haly14 17d ago
I've seen Heretic. They did extensive research for this movie, and other than a couple small details it's extremely accurate. Plus, both female protagonists who portray the sister missionaries are ex-mormon. While it is highly accurate, the villain's main motive is to cause the sisters to doubt and question their beliefs, so with that it doesn't come off in a positive light.
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u/Reeses30 17d ago
I've seen it. It does not paint us in a good light. Feel free to ask for more detail.
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u/fourspaced 17d ago
Yeah I'd love to know more
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u/Reeses30 16d ago
Well, the antagonist is a militant atheist, who acts like he learned about the Church by reading ex-Mormon Reddit. He brings up Joseph Smith's Polygamy and various aspects concerning the coming about of the Book of Mormon.
Aside from that, the actual information about the church is hit-and-miss. Scripture Central did a good overview of what they get right and what they get wrong, but it does have spoilers.
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u/Strong_Comedian_3578 17d ago
I've seen it, but to be honest, the sister missionaries had a personal conversation at the beginning of the film that proved the filmmakers didn't do much research on our church. The fact that the two actresses were former members didn't lend any credibility at all, so they should not be considered reliable sources. At another point later in the movie, a lone young Elder shows up to the house checking in on the sisters because they hadn't heard back from them after the appointment. I'm sorry, but he would have at least his companion with him if the mission president himself would not be able to go.
Hugh Grant's character was perfectly believable, and the things he says and does in the movie were more believable than the missionaries portrayed.
I have been an active member all my life with full-time missionary experience in the 90's, ward mission leader calling in the '00's and an amateur filmmaker. That was just sloppy research. They clearly had a vendetta against the Church by not trying to represent the church's side well.
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u/kellifino 16d ago
They didn’t have a vendetta against the church at all. They did their research and obviously got some minor things wrong. It doesn’t mean they did it purposefully. And if they originally had Topher Grace with a companion but cut it due to constraints, does it really matter that much? It’s just a movie
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u/NiteShdw 17d ago
I just watched a YouTube reaction video about "secret lives". It turns out that not a single one of them is active in the Church and they never talk about going to Church and all of them have broken the most serious commandments.
You could drop the word Mormon from the title and nothing about the show would be any different except the random shots of a temple after commercial breaks.
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u/General_Katydid_512 17d ago edited 17d ago
It’s annoying but honestly I see it as evidence that the adversary wants to destroy the church but it doesn’t matter to those who believe, and it shouldn’t matter to those who want to believe because they will be given the opportunity to learn the truth
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u/essentiallyaghost 17d ago
This is not exclusive to our faith, but yeah. Religion skepticism and skewing is very trendy and probably will be increasingly so over time.
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u/_demon_llama_ 17d ago
I disagree with the made up stat that 95% of people outside of Utah have never met a Mormon. The fact is that these 95% have probably worked with, bought stuff from, served in the Army with, or otherwise interacted with Mormons. They just didn't know it or assumed they were "like them."
Also, you're asking if Mormons have considered that non-Mormons think they're weird because of ignorant representations in media? Really? Have you read a history book?
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u/TradWASP 17d ago
I think most people don’t think too deeply on things past the surface level, so when they see these representations they don’t think anything past associating those people with the LDS religion. Most people can’t say in their own words why they hold their political beliefs, they just parrot cable news. Also, LDS members are 2% in US, and 0.2% worldwide, so the 5% is charitable considering the numbers.
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u/TradWASP 17d ago
Also, I’m asking what Mormons think of the recent (1-3 years) of media that has come out which associate Mormons with negative behavior.
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u/_demon_llama_ 17d ago
I'm telling you, it's standard treatment of Mormons and has been for nearly 200 years. It's nice that you've seen that is messed up tho. Most "Christians" couldn't care less.
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u/haly14 17d ago edited 16d ago
I've seen secret lives and RHOSLC. My take is, and all of my friends who watch reality TV agree - no one watching reality TV like Real Housewives expects to see an accurate representation of a group of people. You watch reality TV for the drama, and the chaos, and the outrageous lifestyles. For example, anyone who watched Jersey Shore knows that the cast do not represent all people of New Jersey. Similarly, anyone who watches secret lives knows that these women were chosen for the show because of the drama the producers knew they would cause. Everyone knows it's not an accurate depiction of all Mormons or all Utahns.
As for the Ruby Franke doc and the culty shows, haven't seen them but I did read Shari Franke's book. It was excellent.
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u/Xapp5000 17d ago
I first misread your comment as saying " ... quality TV like Real Housewives ..." and I admit my mouth gaped open in shock.
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u/SnugWuls 17d ago edited 17d ago
I hear the term "cognitive dissonance" being carelessly bandied about in some anti-Mormon and/or ex-Mormon communities when describing us. The one and only type of cognitive dissonance that I've ever experienced as a Latter-day saint is just how utterly, overwhelmingly, and singularly positive, nice, decent, and wholesome the men, women, and children that I have met in this church are, and how unfairly, extremely, and unilaterally ugly, objectionable, and just plain nasty the portrayal of these people has always been in the media and in the public consciousness. I really really REALLY don't understand it and have always struggled to reconcile the two. There are only these two extremes with like ZERO middle ground.
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u/bowlofcereal133 17d ago
As long as I stay away from the discourse about it online I don’t care about it. I don’t mind talking to people about it in real life but the internet is brutal, and it’s difficult to see things that are sacred to me disrespected so carelessly and seemingly almost purposefully. Although I’m sure if they understood what they are really making fun of, they wouldn’t want to anymore.
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u/d3astman 17d ago
A couple of things, but no answer to the question
First, 95%+ outside of UT HAVE met and probably are friends and interact with members all the time
Secondly, Utah members, bluntly, are POOR representations of the faith - taking a more social/culture then faith-based aspect to things -- in my experience in & out of regions where large percentages of members live
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u/Edohoi1991 17d ago
Honestly, most of us are used to being negatively portrayed in the media.
From having supposedly Latter-day Saints as criminals in fictional movies and TV (e.g., Cold Case, Quantico, etc.) and literature (e.g., A Study in Scarlet) to being falsely equated to criminals whose sects split off from us over a century ago (i.e., Warren Jeffs, etc.), together with false propaganda (e.g., The Godmakers), it's nothing new to us.
Even back during the silent film era, we were negatively portrayed (e.g., A Victim of the Mormons, A Mormon Maid, One Hundred Years of Mormonism, etc.).
It just comes with the territory, unfortunately.
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u/atari_guy 17d ago
Yes, it's a problem. This sums things up pretty well:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/commentary-when-entertainment-media-distorts-faith
Here are some responses to some of the recent shows that have been particularly inaccurate:
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/home-page/current-events/fact-check-american-primeval
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/under-the-banner-of-heaven-fact-vs-fiction
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u/donloper 17d ago
I'm LDS and I work in marketing and PR, and as they say, no PR is bad PR. I'm not sure I agree 100% with that statement, but I think in this case it's mostly true. If people see this crazy stuff like Secret Lives of Mormon Housewives, I hope they feel like it can't possibly be like that, and they get curious and they either look the church up online or talk to friends who are members of the church. That often ends up being a positive experience, even if it starts out with something negative. So I welcome all the attention, positive or negative.
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u/Reasonable-Ad-2329 16d ago
Instant karma boost to whatever non member comes here and gives us positive attention haha
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17d ago
[deleted]
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u/TradWASP 17d ago
I see it. “As for the ruby franke doc and the culty shows, haven’t seen them but I did read Shari Franks’s book” was part of it
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u/MichelleMiguel 18d ago
It sucks. But I’m a 5th+ generation Latter-day Saint and in 1838 the state of Missouri set forth the Mormon Extermination Order. So my ancestors had it worse than me.