Xtian propaganda
...best avoided unless you like that sort of thing.
manners please
shareSorry, you're right - I should have properly spelled it out: CHRISTIAN PROPAGANDA. There, happy now?
Don't bother with this movie unless you're a mormon, because it's funded by them and is one long sermon about how fab it is to believe in the lord. And just in case you think these people are normal christian folk, here's a précis setting out what they believe:
'Mormonism's founder and first "prophet," Joseph Smith, was purportedly visited by an angel named Moroni on the night of September 21, 1823 in Palmyra, New York. Moroni informed Joseph that he was chosen to do God's work, and directed him to unearth a set of "golden plates" from a nearby hill. Upon the plates was recorded an ancient history of the American Indians. Apparently due to a lack of purity, Joseph was not allowed to recover the plates until four years later, at which point he began to "translate" them. According to Joseph, they were written in a hieroglyphic language known as "reformed Egyptian." His method of "translation" was to stare into a set of "seer stones"; an action which was followed by the appearance of the text in Joseph's mind, conveniently translated into King James-style English. Joseph could then dictate to his scribe who sat on the other side of a curtain, behind which the scribe was forbidden to peek. In this way, the BoM was produced. After the book was published in 1830, the plates were whisked away to heaven by the angel Moroni.'
Extraordinary.... unlike the film.
Well thanks then :)
shareMy pleasure - clearly the two words 'Xtian propaganda' did not go far enough in explaining what many think are absolutely crazy beliefs, and that there are a sub-set of people who have even more credulity-stretching beliefs who are funding propaganda films without stating that they do so.
And even worse - it's a rubbish film. Really, really rubbish.
I disagree - and not just because I am LDS.
I agree that this film will have a fairly limited audience and many/most will probably be LDS.
But I do think there is enough there for other people to get something out of the movie.
Not only is it 'faith promoting' but it is also set against an interesting and frequently overlooked historical event. Many of the themes that arise out of that history continue to echo in Africa - and other places to a lesser extent.
The movie is not really about Mormonism at all - it is about 6 young men who are trapped in a civil war, and the older man who tries to help them escape.
The young men just happen to be missionaries.