Customer Reviews

The Mormons

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Whether you are a believer in the Mormon faith, a skeptic, or are generally unfamiliar with this Christian denomination, you should be able to appreciate this in-depth documentary about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This documentary, produced by PBS Frontline & American Experience, does not try to promote the faith for purposes of expanding its membership, but it takes an unbiased path to explain the Mormon religion from a historical perspective.

The lengthy documentary cover many issues regarding very relevant aspects of Mormon history and modern Mormon culture. Many opinions from knowledgeable historians are offered to help dispel the myths & misunderstandings about the faith. There are many positive aspects about the church that are introduced to those unfamiliar with Mormonism. Several topics discussed may not sit well with some modern members and believers, but they need to keep in mind that the pursuit of truth is not about denying or hiding from factual history, but about telling the whole story whether or not it is a source of pride or a source of embarrassment.

"The Mormons" deserves to be watched with an open mind, in the spirit for which it was produced. It is an important and very relevant part of our American history, whether you are a believer or not.

Despite the protests of some on either extreme (ultra-orthodox or anti-mormon) "The Mormons" was a balanced treatment of the LDS religion, history and dcotrine. Pro-Mormons might think it focused too much on uncomfortable history-- Anti-Mormons will think it didn't focus on those items enough. The fact that neither is fully satisfied speaks to how well the director covered the material.

It must be remembered that this is not a LDS proselyting picture produced by the Brethren. It is a secular documentary. It's goal isn't to convert but rather to inform. And so polygamy, polyandry, Mountain Meadows, and fundamentalism are as much a part of the story as the Haun's Mill, the First Vision and the importance of eternal families.

In fact, many members of the LDS church have only a cursory understanding of their own history. Because I believe that it's impossible to fully believe in something you don't fully understand I would recommend this film to all members.

Those interviewed run the range. LDS General Authorities to LDS academics to non-Mormon scholars to former Mormons. The director purposely avoids identifying the Mormon-slant of each person so that the viewer will consider their comments without bias. This has lead both pro and anti- mormons to wrongly claim that the numbers of interviews are skewed against their point of view-- when actually the numbers are pretty even.

A quote by Hugh B. Brown, counselor in the First Presidency, in closing:
"Thoughts and expressions compete in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth emerges triumphant. Only error fears freedom of expression."

"The Mormons" tells more of the story.

As a non-Mormon living in Mormon Country (Utah, USA) I was anxious to see this PBS program when it first aired last year. I have been married to a Mormon lady for the past 37 years and during that time I have had much contact with the church and have learned much about the faith and its people, although for personal reasons I have decided the faith is not for me. This documentary holds true to what I have learned about this most unique of American religious denominations. It is a fair-minded HISTORY of the Mormon Church and its wonderful people. It does not, however, delve into church doctrine or dogma. If you are interested in learning only about doctrine, this documentary is not for you. It would behoove you to contact your local LDS missionaries or the Church in Salt Lake City itself. They will be more than happy to cater to your curiosities, I'm sure.

One of the most insightful moments in the documentary is when the narration proposes an explanation as to why the Mormons are so centered upon the temple rites of sealing your spouse and your children to yourself for "all time and eternity". To paraphrase, "The church was organized in America during a time of great westward migration and family separation. It was a period in our history when children would leave home to seek their fortunes and never be heard from by their families again. The temple endowments were aimed at keeping the family together, if not in this life, then in the next 'for all time and eternity.'" This goes a long way in explaining why the Mormons think the way they do, and why the Church is organized the way it is.

I heartily recommend this documentary for anyone who is interested in American History and the history of the the Mormon people. It is one of the best, if not THE best, films on the Mormons I have had the pleasure to watch and own.

This video, recently seen on PBS, is balanced and fairly comprehensive. It gives enough history to put the LDS church in perspective through the years. The 'story' moves along fast enough that an overall picture was developed before the viewer was overwhelmed or became disinterested. It is well worth watching again!!

This documentary points out that relatively new religions have the disadvantage of having a paper trail leading to its origin. Mormon's have a sorted and well documnted history of polygamy, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and racism. The director tried to be fair considering that those issues would have been the elephant in the room if ignored. Don't quite a few religions have similar origins? These themes aren't exclusive to Mormons.
I have several friends that were Latter Day Saints. Two had wonderful experiences with the group while the third one refers to it as a controlling cult. The documentary didn't comprehensively explore the control issues that some ex-mormons seek recovery from. The director was more than fair to the Church in not pursuing rhis angle of the story.
I plan to buy the film on DVD as soon as it comes out.

The Mormons is a four-hour PBS documentary on the history and culture of the LDS Church. The first two hours focus on the history of the church from its founding by Joseph Smith to the time that the church renounced polygamy so that Utah could gain statehood. The last two hours examine contemporary Mormon culture. My wife and I watched all four hours and we both recommend this film.

The Amazon.com reviews of this film seem to run the gamut. I do not think that The Mormons is a "hatchet job" on the LDS Church. I do think, however, that devout Mormons will be disappointed in the film, as the filmmakers heavily focus on the human failings of Mormon leaders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The film also details how the Mormons harshly deal with apostates and those who do not fit in the traditional Mormon mold (such as gays and lesbians).

I knew some of the basic outlines of the Mormon story prior to watching this film. I did learn some interesting things, however. I was surprised at how many of the Mormon converts later renounce the faith. I was also surprised to learn that, for Mormons, social life completely revolves around their church; in effect, a Mormon works a second full-time job as an LDS member. Finally, I was surprised to learn that the rate of conversion of non-Mormons has been falling in recent years.

For those who want to learn about the past and present of the LDS Church, The Mormons is a very good place to start.

As a believing member of the Mormon church, I found this to be a decent enough introduction to the history of the Mormon church. Of course there will always be disagreements about how balanced any documentary is; this one did an OK job. There were a couple of problems, however. First, the documentary spends very little time with current, believing members of the church. Not that their views aren't represented, but they could have spent a little less time with Mormon "academics" and more time with the lay members that do most of the work and believing in the church. Second, the documentary strays in the second half (at least the second night shown on TV) with what can only be described as a disproportionate fixation with dancing. While the fact that dancing is not banned may set us apart from other "strict" faiths, it is hardly an essential or even meaningful part of our religion. BYU (a church owned private university) does have excellent dance teams, but they were shown in the documentary as if they were a representation of normal LDS church members. Rather, they are trained teams and students in classes, like many colleges all over the nation. The average LDS member doesn't dance any more than non LDS church members. Another issue I had with it dealt with a family in Colorado with a daughter that was diagnosed with a terminal disease (cancer I believe). While anyone will feel compassion for the family, I couldn't figure out why the story took so long to tell and why focus on them. It did show how Mormon strive to focus on the family (which is true), but I felt there were other stories and examples just as worthy and perhaps more relevant that could have been explored.

I feel like the historical part of the documentary did a fairly good job of explaining Mormon history, the area of the documentary focused on what it is like being Mormon today failed to really capture the normal modern LDS life.

In the end, this won't convert anyone, though it shouldn't keep those interested in converting from further investigation either. Rather, it is what it is--an outsider's view of a unique and challenging religion. You can hardly criticize the Mormon church for lacking empirical evidence to prove its truthfulness as no religion can back up their claims in this manner (as faith would simply not exist). Otherwise, we would all be following that religion. Rather, the Mormons are a faith that still believes in miracles and that God talks to man today as he did in the past. And I believe, even with its faults, this documentary does get that point across.

This four hour documentary goes into all of aspects of the Mormon story. However, for my purposes the first two hour segment was most important concerning the founding myths and trials and tribulations of the early Mormons as they kept getting banished further westward until they found a final central settlement in Utah. The second two hour segment concerning the assimilation of the more orthodox Mormons into the mainstream of political and social life and their successes at political power and their growth through missionary zeal are less important. We have been there before on this assimilation question for other ethnic and religious groups, notably the Roman Catholics of Irish, Italian and Eastern European heritage so that part was not of pressing concern to me.

I know the land that nurtured Mormon founder Joseph Smith, the farm country of upstate, mid-state New York. Places like Utica, Amsterdam, Rochester and so forth. At least I know the late 20th century version of those places. The seemingly endless rolling hills, the hard scrabble rocky land where there is no give without some Herculean effort. The vast tracts of trees and other obstacles to farming to be uprooted and brought to manageable size. The hard, hard winters that start early and end late. Hell, and that is what it is like now so one can only imagine what it was like for those who in the early 19th early were essentially on the American frontier looking to see if or why their god had abandoned them. There were more seekers, peekers, ranters, panter, shakers and quakers than you could shake a stick at this side of the 17th century English revolution. Put that together with a charismatic, rather mystical and intelligent young man, Joseph Smith, and you certainly have the genesis for some kind of religious movement. Or a political one for that matter. In a latter age that might very well have been the case. Whether, and if, such a plebian movement based on "revealed" truth could survive among the others more secular trends in the labor movement is the real question.

The documentary goes into some detail about Smith's ability to gain converts (and spin off dissenters) after his conversion experience. It moves on to discuss the creation of the first Mormon communities in upstate New York, the pressure of other Christian denominations to push them out, the success of that effort and the first evacuation of Mormons to Missouri. After some hotly disputed fights from there to Illinois where Smith was assassination by other non-Mormon Christians. Then on to the Brigham Young led treks to the West, the establishment of thriving settlements there, the famous, if shadowy Mountain Meadow massacre by the Mormons on other settlers that, in effect, consolidated Mormon political power in the Utah territories; the fight over polygamy and the eventual entrance into statehood and the assimilation process mentioned above.

I first began looking for Mormon material over a year ago. I started and put down more than one biography about Joseph Smith or Brigham Young. Or histories of the early days (especially that controversial Mountain Meadow incident). The problem is that most of this material is by Mormons or Mormon-influenced authors and I felt I had to discount most of it, especially the "myth of creation" aspects around what Joseph Smith did or did not find out in those lonesome hills of up state New York. This documentary, more so than other PBS documentaries in this "American Experience" series suffer some of that same problem. There are too many "talking heads" identified as historians without being designated as Mormon historians. This is not generally a problem in other PBS productions. Still, if you need a well-produced introduction to this esoteric religion this is a good place to start. And perhaps to finish.

This is a great video, told without prejudice and very thorough. If you know nothing or something about Mormons, its good

I found this special quite entertaining and engrossing. But what really stuck with me was the almost constant, vaguely hypnotic use of the opening of the Prokofiev Second Piano Concerto throughout, as theme music. I cannot figure out if the use of this great music had a deeper significance. The mournfulness of the score's opening would seem to be a strange fit for this bold religion. But, then again, maybe the very elusiveness of the theme, suggesting a culture quite different from our own (in that case a Soviet one), signaled a corresponding feeling of difference that Mormons reportedly variably have experienced. My one regret is that Glenn Beck was not musically educated enough to recognize the music as a Soviet masterpiece. If he had we could have been regaled by a conspiracy theory on his program announcing a nefarious communist plot to overtake his faith with dangerous music from Prokofiev. If only Professor Robert George had taken time off from his banjo-playing, to inquire through his connections with Salt Lake City news outlets, to inquire about a music not involving loud twangs. Glenn Beck and Robert George could have come up with some cryptic meaning for this modernist masterpiece being used to symbolize the progress of the LDS Church. A flouting of Natural Law, perhaps. Surely, Prokofiev might have a meaning against the gold standard too, though his music alludes to steel more than the precious ore. What a lost opportunity for multi-valent insight!