The Other Side of Heaven

We've reached the end. As I was watching this film I realized that this project is coming to an end. Jamie can attest that in many ways it has consumed me this semester. I've either had to watch a film or write about a film every day of this semester. The project was honestly far too big for the class. Tomorrow I present on my findings. I'm honestly a little intimidated. There is far too much to talk about, but I guess I will get into that when I write a wrap up post tomorrow.

The Other Side of Heaven is the film that every LDS filmmaker wanted to create. That's a big statement, but after seeing all of the failed attempts and all of the successes in the LDS film movement I am certain of it. First, and foremost the film is clearly a Mormon film. There are many references to the church, both implicit (a photo of David O. McKay in the church house) and explicit (the drunk Tongan proclaiming, "I am a Mormon!").  This is what many LDS films wanted to accomplish. They wanted every audience member to realize that the characters in this film were in fact Mormon.

Second, the film taught doctrines of the church, without being preachy or overt. It seemed that al Groberg did was teach doctrine. He taught about faith, repentance, The Word of Wisdom, and chastity. Unlike The Best Two Years or any other of the missionary films that I viewed this semester the doctrines are not strictly LDS or at least not blatantly so. This desire existed in every LDS film I viewed this semester.

Lastly, the film revealed truths about LDS identity in an honest way that brought its viewers to transcend with the characters. The film is a missionary pic. This genre is unique to the LDS film movement because "missions... are a modern phenomenon with which all Church members are familiar" (Astle, 38). This film did not gloss over any of the hardships of a mission. In fact it is clearly portraying one of the most difficult missions ever served. The story presents all of the "culture shock, foreign languages, homesickness, departures, homecomings, and letters—all components of accented cinema" (Astle, 38) in an authentic manner. With these trials we see a change in Groberg. We see him literally take on the culture of those he served. When he comes home we don't know whether or not to be happy that the love of his life waited for him or to cry because the other love in his life (Tonga and its people) are no longer a part of his life.

This is a feeling that is typical of Mormon missions, something that is not explicitly brought up in any LDS to this point. It is the point at which missionaries understand what their mission really was for two years. It is the most important transcending moment for each Elder or Sister. It is the realization of the common identity of man.


Which has been your favorite LDS film I've talked about during this project? Do you feel I am right in saying that this film is "the film that every LDS filmmaker wanted to create"?


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God's Army

Here we are. We're at the place where it all began. In 2000 Richard Dutcher released God's Army. I remember the first time that I saw it a few years after its release. It was magical. I was a developing adolescent who was trying to find my place in the world. Here was a film that attempted to represent Mormon missionary culture in an unapologetic way.  The implication behind this boldness inspired many filmmakers to throw caution into the wind to build the LDS cinema movement.

In terms of his goals with his film Dutcher wanted to "[honor] his own people with a film that dignifies their life and beliefs" (Pace, 183) and to show Mormon missionaries as "real folks with blood in their veins" (186). To put it another way he wanted to show that Mormons are real people with faults and desires while still presenting them in a way that demonstrates his admiration for his own culture and beliefs.

How then did Dutcher measure up to his goal? Did he succeed in the presenting an honest representation of Mormon culture? The missionaries that he portrays are nothing like those in The Best Two Years or like the recent returned missionary in The R.M. They "are not the molded-in-plastic icons tacked onto in-house seminary and institute films," but "fully-realized characters" (184). These characters present an alternative view from the previous representations of missionaries in church sponsored films like Called to Serve. "It approached the marrow of Mormon life, mixing the messiness with the sacred, unafraid to discomfit some viewers. In this story, the missionaries, usually lionized in Church media, were scaled down to human proportions and shown to be just as real as the people whom they teach" (Robbins, 171).

This realistic representation of Mormon missionaries helps viewers to realize something about the reality of Mormon life. It is not meant to be perfect. Members are supposed to "[explore] issues of regret, doubt, racism, abuse, and death, punctuated with practical jokes, missionary banter, slamming doors, fights, miracles, and revelation" (171). This honest representation allows viewers to see redemption, something that, while attempted in other LDS films, is rarely seen to the degree that it is in this film.

Without this openness it is impossible to achieve an accurate perception of Mormon identity. If all we see is the good, the perfect then we cannot understand the depth of sorrow. Members of the church are asked to "know good from evil" (2nd Nephi 2:26). If we are to gain "life eternal" by "[knowing] God... and Jesus Christ" (John) then we must know that "[Christ] will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." In order to know this we must know the pain and admit that it exists. Only by accepting one's faults can he or she achieve true redemption. God's Army seeks to open its audience's eyes to this reality.

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The Best Two Years

There was a transfer on my mission where I served with a companion who didn't know why he was on a mission. He didn't enjoy working particularly. He wouldn't stop listening to his favorite music from back home. He didn't get what a mission was. Did this make him a bad missionary? Of course not. He had one trait that redeemed him of all of his inadequacies. He cared about people. That one trait, in and of itself made him successful in my eyes. I saw how important it was to gain relationships of trust where members, missionaries, and everyone else could trust that this Elder would treat them right. This impacted my perception of what it meant to be a missionary.  I created a loose theory of missionary work. I called it "getting it". Missionaries who "got it" were successful. Those who did not would fail no matter what they did. The question in my mind was, "What does it mean to get it". By the end of my mission I understood that getting it was different for each missionary. For some it was learning to work hard, day in and day out. For some it was learning that submission to mission rules brought peace and comfort in their lives. Yet for others it was learning that each individual is more than just a statistic to be analyzed by the office elders.

           
The Best Two Years is a film about "getting it". Elder Rogers may not have been the hardest worker, but he understood the importance of people.  Elder VanPelt was an aspiring Elder who didn't get anything. Elder Johnson understood the value of hard work, but he didn't understand the importance of supporting his peers. Finally Elder Calhoon got a lot of it. He understood how and why to work; he understood the importance of people. He didn't, however, understand the importance of his role in the mission field. This film is about understanding both the strengths and weaknesses that we each have. It's about understanding the roles that we play. It's about understanding our identity.

This is at the heart of my definition of cinematic transcendence. Without knowledge of who we are and why we are here there can be no real success because there can be no progression.

           
This identity is also central to Mormon theology. Even from the beginning of the world we believe that it is important to understand who we are and what our relationship to Deity is. Lucifer was cast out of the heavens because he didn't understand his relationship with God. He sought to rise about God and commanded Him saying, "surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." This account illustrates "the significance of sacred narratives, often called creation myths, for the expression and maintenance of cultural identity" (Olsen, 90). When the Elders in The Best Two Years understood who they were and what their weaknesses and strengths were they became infinitely more effective and productive. They became a force for good. Mormon identity is rooted in self-identity. Scott Anderson and nearly every member of the church know this. It is central to everything that Mormons do.

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