Motifs from the Life

I read an article in the Denver Post yesterday about pop culture’s strange impressions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It turns out that the Book of Mormon Musical isn’t the only theater production right now that features Mormons.

Ray Mark Rinaldi, in his article “See You Latter: Sorting Out Pop Culture’s Weird Take on Mormons” quotes some lines from Denver Center’s hit play The Whale, and they’re not very nice quotes—if you’re a Mormon, that is. Rinaldi says that audiences think they’re downright hilarious.

Now, I like to laugh about Mormon culture quirks as much as the next guy, but it seems to be open season on Mormons right now, and it can get a little uncomfortable. Here’s Rinaldi’s summary of current productions focused on the church: “In each case, Mormon doctrine is twisted, turned or selectively emphasized by non-Mormons in the name of art. And while some individual Mormons in these pieces turn out sympathetic once we get to know them, the overall Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself is rarely redeemed.”

What do we LDS writers and artists do with this current pop culture climate? Is there a place for sympathetic Mormon characters created by Mormons? Or does that look like propaganda in the marketplace. Certainly, other religious authors have been “allowed” to create their own sympathetic characters. Shmuel Agnon won the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people.” Will the Nobel committee ever appreciate motifs from the life of the Mormon people? It’s hard to imagine.