I'm sorry if some people were incensed by some remarks I made.
I'm not trying to be rude or incendiary, just idealistic.
If you like Hale's films, then please continue to watch them.
But I wonder what impressions people get about Mormons when they see Hale's films and that's why I've said the things I have.
Entertainment for entertainment sake has its place and is fine and dandy.
But, as LDS we have a responsibility that rises far above telling "in-jokes."
(See First Presidency Message The Gospel Vision of the Arts Spencer W. Kimball, “The Gospel Vision of the Arts,” Ensign, July 1977, 3).
Elder Russel M. Ballard expounds on this responsibility saying, "God’s purpose for the artist is to inspire, to give us visions of ourselves that we might not otherwise see, to make us better than we would have been. The world is better for the arts and righteous artists in it. In the quest to achieve greatness in artistic pursuits—whether in painting, dance, music, drama, film, sculpture, or the written word—we should always seek first to achieve God’s purposes. “All great art is the expression of man’s delight in God’s work, not his own,” said John Ruskin, the great nineteenth-century English art critic."**
Members who enjoy Hale's films should go on enjoying them, but, should consider that the bar for LDS entertainment is set higher; LDS members can make movies that still reflect and uphold the values of the church without being silly, light-minded, and derivative of a niche culture. They can make movies that non-members (and members alike) will understand and even be inspired by...
In fact, it's their responsibility to do so.
"If we strive for perfection—the best and greatest—and are never satisfied with mediocrity, we can excel." *
*First Presidency Message The Gospel Vision of the Arts
Spencer W. Kimball, “The Gospel Vision of the Arts,” Ensign, July 1977, 3
**M. Russell Ballard, “Filling the World with Goodness and Truth,” Ensign, July 1996, 10
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