Reading: Doctrine & Covenants 128:19-21

NOTE: This is the first-ever A Motley Vision reading. It's a little rough in places, but overall -- not a bad way to kick off a new feature.

Marketing: Can sports equipment sell movie tickets?

In an attempt to create buzz for the early 2005 release of its movie "Church Ball," Halestorm Entertainment has teamed up with LDS Living to offer an actual Church Ball-branded basketball (thanks to LDS Today and LDS Review for the heads up). According to an Aug. 25 Deseret Morning News article, "hundreds of the tongue-in-cheek balls have been sold."

If the ball is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, then either someone forgot to tell LDS Living's marketing folks or they have a very dry sense of humor. Here's how they position the product on their Web site:

"Designed for the most dedicated players and priced to make a great gift, this ball is also great for collectors. In celebration of the release of the first Church Ball™, the first run is a limited edition collector's piece that will make a great addition to any sports memorabilia set. Comes in a beautiful display box that will look good on any shelf."

But either way, the question for A Motley Vision is how effective this marketing stunt (and I'm a huge fan of marketing stunts) will be in generating ticket sales for "Church Ball."

A few observations:

1. The target market for this product and the movie is huge. The church basketball meme has been ingrained (for good or ill -- usually a mixture of both) in several generations of LDS men, especially those living in the Intermountain West. What will be interesting to see is if the target market responds. Mormon women constitute a huge percentage of the consumers of LDS products. The Church Ball basketball is being sold in LDS bookstores. Will men seek it out? Will their wives (many of whom may have mixed feelings about church basketball) buy it for them?

2. $24.95 is a high price for a novelty item. The trick is: will LDS consumers see the product as either a must-have novelty item or both a novelty item and a piece of sports equipment? If consumers look at the product, think "that's kind of funny/cool" and then make the leap to either "that's so funny/cool I have to have it" or "you know, I or so-and-so could use a new basketball, might as well get this one since it's kind of funny/cool/unique" then it may sell fairly well. It becomes like the LDS version of Monopoly or the Book of Mormon version of Settlers of Catan.

If it's one of those things where the concept gets a laugh or a "that's cool" but that's all, then, obviously, you'll be able to pick one up in the discount bin four months from now.

3. Does the Church Ball basketball have any kitsch value (which would bring in a different type of LDS consumer)? I don't know for sure. It comes across as a little too earnest. Plus, it's a basketball -- the core product (without the LDS customization) has no inherent kitsch-ness. In other words, it's not a Book of Mormon action figure.

4. Even if the product fails, at the very least it will create some buzz for the movie. It already garnered the Deseret Morning News story. My guess is that it'll have some good word-of-mouth on Utah college campuses as classes begin in the next couple of weeks. It's a genius marketing idea because it's a way to hype the movie without over-hyping. But is the hype coming too soon considering that the movie isn't coming out until next yar? If the product gets a second wind at Christmas, probably not. If this story is the only significant media coverage between now and the movie release, then perhaps so.

5. Will the buzz lead to ticket sales? Probably. The more interesting question for me is how many of those who buy the product will go see the movie? I especially see this as being an issue with LDS men in their thirties and forties who might think the product is cool but have no interest in the movie. I could be wrong.

6. How long before someone in some stake somewhere claims that the Church Ball basketballs are 'official' equipment and what the Church wants us to use because they better represent the spirit in which the game is to be played -- what with the rules on them and all?

7. Someone should buy one for Orson Scott Card.

Criticism: Michael Collings' The Nephiad, part II

I'll need some time to absorb Michael Collings' The Nephiad , a twelve book verse epic based on the story of Nephi obtaining the brass plates, before I can begin to discuss its literary value and (more interestingly) how it fits into the world of Mormon letters; however, I found the following excerpt interesting and thought A Motley Vision readers might enjoy a taste of the work.

If you haven't already, you might want to read Collings' description of the work first.

In the first part of Book V, Laman recounts his attempt at persuading Laban to give him the plates:

"In fear and deep astonishment, four shapes
With ceaseless care and silent step retraced
Their paths toward ancestral lands, until
As ghost-white planes, those walls appeared that formed
The outer bulwark of great Lehi's own.
The eldest son passed speechless through broad gates,
Through doors, to disappear into dark rooms
That soon resplendently reflected light
Of oil lamps, with food and drink brought out
From Lehi's vast and rich-appointed stores.
With shaking hand and visage pale, Laman
Worried blood-red wines and honey-cakes,
Eating yet not tasting, drinking without
Savor, fear retreating slowly from
His unmanned heart. At last he spake unto
The others sitting near, words hurling sharp
And low: 'Behold, as fell the causal lot to me,
I went to Laban's house within the walls,
Along those streets that often I had trod
As I, in heedless youth, with Laban's son
Great deed conceived that we as men should do;
His doors were yet unfastened against night's dark
And easily did I approach unto
The Chamber of his Presence, there to wait
Amid rich-gilded ornaments and woods
Deep-carven, fragrant with exotic scents;
And yet methought that Laban's treasured stores
Less sumptuous and fine than Lehi's wealth
Appeared, his hangings coarser, gold less pure.
Into his chamber richly robed he came,
With broidered vestments, Tyrian purple dyed,
His bulky grossness dignified by waves
Of precious, liquid, flowing silky garb;
Honored Laban, Elder of the Tribe,
Keeper of the Brazen Plates of Lore
And Family-Lines. Long years had lightly touched
His massive frame since last I spoke with him;
Wordlessly he stood before me, angered,
Glowering at this intrusion bold
Into his evening's sanctuary-still.
Undaunted strode I up to him, demanded
All that Lehi's visionary mind
Required; with voice and mien imperious —
Before which onslaught Laban ashen paled
And shrank affrighted beneath my piercing gaze —
I forced my will upon his eld, until
So near dear culmination of my goal,
So near accomplishment of my pursuit,
He raised a sound of anger and of fear
And summoned to his person servitors,
Who, hearing me a Thief and Murderer
Decried (for truly did you fear that he
In great injustice and deceit me for
The untimely passing of his heir and son
Accountable would hold, for reasons that
In honesty and truth I cannot form
Nor understand): yet nonetheless he cried
Me 'Murderer' to his open door and to
The sleepless world without his door; yea, thus
He summoned those who with thick staves of wood
Fire-hardened and strong me from his sight
Expelled with threats of force and deadly pain;
Through David's city's streets as one accurst
I fled, until at last with mindless motion passed
I buttressed walls and breathed free desert winds;
For then, as on command, the servants paused,
Laban's fatal-minded servants paused,
Returned within the city's depths, and I,
With rushing pulse and breath progressed unto
Our meeting-place. And so it is, I say,
That we shall never now these Plates attain,
Since Laban in his hatred grows severe,
Implacable to our desires, and warned
Of our high hopes he never will consent
That they -- the Plates of Brass -- shall come within
Our grasp. I counsel now that we return
Unto our Father's tents and with smooth words
Persuade him of fond, foolish paths he sees
Deep-clouded in his misty Vision's scope;
He cannot longer hope to sojourn in
Thirsty wastes if we, the four of whom
He is most proud, in single mind oppose
His senile wish and him compel again
Toward these homely walls and high-beamed rooms.
Thus counsel I, the eldest, and the one
Who of us four alone the ire of Laban
Felt and knows -- return without delay.'"

I have not yet made my mind up about the language -- which is, indeed, rather Miltonic -- but this passage does show how well narratives from the Book of Mormon can work in epic form. Laman's speech seems perfectly in character with the Laman we know from the Book of Mormon -- fearful, arrogant, untrusting in the Lord, scornful towards his father's visions and concerned with riches and the comforts of home. Notice how he compares his father's stuff with Laban's and finds Laban's lacking ("coarser…less pure"), like a upper crust young man speaking of the nouveau riche. Notice how he casts the episode in superlative terms. He makes this bold intrusion into Laban's home, takes a commanding ("imperious") tone with Laban and demands the plates, and then, once Laban calls for his servants, and is forced to flee for his life. His reasoning is so, well, reasonable. He, the eldest, gave the best shot anyone of them could give. It didn't work. Meanwhile, the trip home is a great reminder of all the wealth they've left behind. How about they all get together and convince their father that the family should return home? Very reasonable.

What's so chilling and amazing and puzzling, yes, even spiritual about this story (and it'll be interesting to see how Collings approaches this part ) is that it doesn't end with either the family taking off into the desert without the plates or returning home to the (short-term) safety of their Jerusalem home. No, it ends with Nephi killing Laban and taking the brass plates by force and trickery. It is one of the most difficult narratives in all of scripture, I think, perhaps, second only to God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Great stuff for an epic. I look forward to further reading.

My thanks to Michael Collings for permission to run the excerpt on A Motley Vision. Copies of The Nephiad are available. E-mail Collings for details.

Criticism: Michael Collings' The Nephiad

Michael Collings, professor of English at Pepperdine, was kind enough to respond to an e-mail request for more information about his Book of Mormon-inspired epic poem The Nephiad, which A Motley Vision referenced in a recent post on another Book of Mormon-themed epic -- Peter J. Sorensen's The Mormoniad.

Collings is a rarity in the academic world -- a scholar who is doing serious work on popular fiction (rather than just dabbling in it, or using it in the service of some cultural studies agenda), specifically the works of Stephen King and Orson Scott Card. Some of his work on OSC and other topics is available at Starshine and Shadows.

The Nephiad is not the sole example of his creative work, Collings is an incredibly prolific poet with a special interest in science fiction poetry (yes, such a thing does exist, and, yes, some of it is quite good).

Here's what he has to say about The Nephiad:

"It was a pleasure to receive your email. The Nephiad isn't everyone's cup of... [fill in an appropriate word], but occasionally it draws some interest.

It began about 30 years or so ago when I was in graduate school. My Ph.D. advisor, John Steadman, was an authority on Milton, on Epic, and on pretty much anything else he was interested in... a true Renaissance man and a generous and gracious scholar.

Anyway, as part of the Epic seminar (year-long, 25 epics read and discussed), he gave us a generalized list of epic conventions and warned us that some of them would appear on the final exam. It seemed to me that the best way to explore how the conventions worked would be to DO them, to write an epic.

I've always been fascinated by Milton and Paradise Lost. I discovered the poem when I was about 18, fell in love with the language, and later discovered as well that Milton was extraordinarily close in his thinking to Joseph Smith (later, I found that almost everything Joseph Smith taught as part of the Restoration was believed by at least one splinter religion during the 17th Century, and most of them between 1640 and 1660, roughly the time Milton was working on the poem). He seemed, if not a kindred spirit, then at least an intriguing mind.

So I decided to write a Miltonic epic, mostly for practice. I had to choose a topic, and since Milton had taken the best one, I tried to find a single moment that defined the LDS perspective on the universe.

For various reasons, I chose the BofM episode concerning Nephi and the Brass Plates of Laban. That was the point at which Nephi had to make a crucial choice -- to kill or not to kill -- and also the moment from which Book of Mormon history, and subsequently OUR history, became unique.

It seemed as well that, as a poet, I could work freely within the framework of scriptural truth... again using Milton as a model, who incorporated a number of elements into his poems that were not directly biblical. So I added an angel. The evil angel urges Nephi to follow the laws of Moses and of God and NOT kill; the good angel must paradoxically urge Nephi to disobey one law in order to maintain another. Externalizing the debate made it more dramatic... and provided a key scene for the poem.

Most of The Nephiad was written over an 18 month period; it was finished long before my dissertation. It ended up about 6,000 lines long, 12 books, in Miltonic blank verse. I tried a couple of time to get it published, but -- as expected -- there was little to no market for such a poem.

Then about 15 years ago, I began transferring all of my poetry to computer. Over a year or so, I entered about 1,000 poems into the file so that everything would be available.

Everything except The Nephiad.

It just seemed too long, too complex, too difficult to re-type. I stalled for another year or so, then decided that I really wanted an accessible copy. As I began, I discovered that in the two decades that had passed, I had learned a great deal about Milton, about poetry, about LDS thinking, about myself, about everything that a Renaissance epic had to touch on. So I began revising as well as transcribing, adding about a thousand new lines, tinkering with a number of old ones.

At about the same time, I taught myself book-making, especially cloth-bound books. Since no professional publisher was interested in the project, I published/created the book myself.

It has received some strong responses from several readers, including a couple of BYU professors specializing in Renaissance studies -- and, to be honest, it was pretty much savaged by a BYU religion professor who simply wondered why I had wasted my time writing it... after all, the Book of Mormon had already told the story more directly, more simply, and more accessibly.

But I'm gratified by the comments it has received. It's been compared favorably to other 19th and 20th century LDS attempts, which I much appreciate.

At any rate, that is the story of The Nephiad. It is an attempt at re-creating one of the most complex and versatile idioms in English verse; it does reflect my own beliefs as member and as poet; and it is a real challenge to deal with."

Thanks, Dr. Collings. A Motley Vision will feature an excerpt from the epic in an upcoming post. Copies of The Nephiad are available. E-mail Collings for details.

Pop: Mormon artists and membership status

Mark over at Mo' Boy Blog has the news that rock musician Tal Bachman has publicly announced his request to have his name removed from the membership rolls of the LDS Church (Orson's Telescope and Our Thoughts also have coverage). I'm not a fan of Bachman's work so I can't say that I took this news as hard as Mark did -- other than the fact that I'm saddened to hear of anyone lose his or her faith (LDS or otherwise). But I find it interesting that Bachman felt it necessary to explain this change on his Website.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement (which is part of his bio):

"Well-read, and a thinker by nature, Tal had become increasingly puzzled and disturbed by the mounting evidence suggesting that the founding events of Mormonism had been fabricated."

The whole bio is an interesting read -- Bachman is presented as going through this whole painful process of extricating himself from both his record label and his faith, but emerging stronger and re-dedicated and with (of course) a new album.

The question for me is why Bachman felt the need to include his relationship with Mormonism in the narrative. Part of it may indeed be a sincere desire on his part to share his personal journey with his fans. But I would guess that part of it is also to give his Mormon fans fair warning. To sift the true fans from those who were mainly in to him because of his Mormon celebrity status.

Which raises a set of larger issues for me:

First: Why does an artist's Mormon-ness matter to members of the Church?

Second: Why is an artist's official relationship to the Church a matter of speculation and gossip (c.f. Neil LaBute)? Why does it even come up?

Third: Should an artist's Mormon-ness be a factor when a Mormon decides on artistic products to consume?

I'm going to attempt to address the first two issues today and then follow-up later with my thoughts on the third.

The answer to the first question seems rather obvious. Like others, we want to support members of our clan because we feel in some way that their achievements reflect on our clan as a whole. Mormon artists validate our way of life. We also feel a kinship with them because of our shared values and history. Perhaps more importantly, our artists (and other celebrities) prove that a Mormon can achieve at a high level despite (in the eyes of the world) and because of (in our eyes) their Mormon-ness. In this, we are no different than any other ethnic group.

And as with other groups, the question of whether or not an artist should/can really be counted as part of the fold is a matter of speculation, discussion and gossip. The difference for Mormons is that there is a rather clear demarcation and one that is based on behavior rather than heritage. One is either a member of the LDS Church in good standing (or trying to be in good standing) or not. Obviously this demarcation doesn't matter for some (and it must be a source of frustration for "cultural Mormons" who feel connected to some sense of Mormon identity and history, but not to the body of the Church). But the distinction can be made. And I think it goes beyond one's status as active LDS or not. We also fret about actions and words by our Mormon celebrities that may signal that they are having trouble "living the gospel" (and I include myself in this -- while I may be more liberal than many Mormon consumers, I am not immune to these concerns). I think of the worry over Steve Young's unmarried status, Marie Osmond's divorce, SHeDAISY's (or any young, female actress or singer) attire, etc.

It's very strange. But to be expected. After all, we are constantly warned about the temptations of the world and especially of the American entertainment complex. Of course we're going to be concerned about those that enter such treacherous waters while at the same time hope for their success.

I'd like to dismiss these issues as the inevitablity of group dynamics, of building group identity. I'd like to be able to cavalierly state that I don't care if an athlete, politician or (most importantly for me) artist is Mormon or not and what their membership status is. But I can't. I still cling to the perhaps naive belief that being a believing Mormon has some sort of effect on the art one produces. That it counts for something.

More on that in part II.

Criticism: The Book of Mormon as epic

Dave has some interesting thoughts over at Mormon Inquiry on the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf and the Book of Mormon -- specifically the oral transmission aspect to both works. He ends with: "Would that someone like Seamus Heaney would come along and translate the Book of Mormon from its rather dated rendition of the King's English into modern verse!"

The problem, of course, is that we don't have a source text to work with. Yes, there are poets who have "translated" works without the source text, but any attempt with the Book of Mormon to reach behind Joseph Smith's mixture of 19th century Protestant discourse mixed with the language of the King James edition of the Bible must needs rely on non-Nephite/Lamanite sources for inspiration in re-casting the text. Interestingly enough, as Justin Butterfield mentions, a BYU professor has attempted to do just that.

Peter J. Sorensen, associate professor of English at BYU, has written a work he calls the Mormoniad. In a paper he presented at the 2002 annual meeting of the Association for Mormon Letters, Sorenson discussed his project and read a few samples from the work. I can't do justice to the paper -- which can be found in the AML Annual 2003 -- but I will share some higlights.

First: Sorensen begins with the premise that the Book of Mormon is not a literary work (although it contains literary elements) -- nor was it intended to be. It's true, but it's a work intended to teach doctrine and so lacks poetic elements, esp. the "concrete images of great literature" (22). He even mentions something I brought up on a Mormon Metaphysics post on translation -- that even though chiasmus appears to be present in the text, there's no way of knowing if chiasmus is present in the original text (I should have known that somebody already had made that point). What's more, Sorenson reminds us that chiastic language isn't necessarily "beautiful" (i.e. has literary value) simply because it is chiastic.

Second: Sorensen decided to recast the Book of Mormon as an epic, drawing upon Milton, Homer, Virgil, the Old Testament and Jewish texts and commentaries.

Third: He draws upon the basic narrative of the Book of Mormon, but in writing the Mormoniad he adds quite a bit of material, speeches, narratives, psalms, etc. For example, he adds several paragraphs on the Ark of the Covenant to frame the section in 1 Nephi about the appearance of the Liahona. In doing so, he follows the model of Milton's Paradise Lost which takes a few chapters from the Old Testament and interpolates all sorts of actions and dialogues.

Fourth: He uses diction and syntax that is specifically 17th century English (as opposed to Joseph Smith's use of a mix of 17th and 19th century English), reasoning that that is the type of discourse that rings as "epic" for most readers.

Fifth: He sees Jehovah (Yahweh, the pre-mortal Jesus) as the central hero of the Book of Mormon and the narrative as what happens "when mortals pit their wits against Yahweh's" (25). He writes: "The tribes of the Book of Mormon, like the Trojans and Achaeans, too easily forget the covenants made with gods, usually in favor of battling others in the name of extendend family pride" (25).

In all, I'd say that Sorensen makes a compelling case for his approach to re-writing the Book of Mormon as epic (he considers it in the form we know and love to be a "proto-epic"). But is the Mormoniad any good? I don't know. It's hard to tell as he only quotes a few passages -- and they're from different sections of the work so I don't have a feel for how it all works together. I can say that it still seems like the sort of thing that would have a very limited audience. I'm a fairly sympathetic reader -- and probably much more sympathetic than most readers when it comes to pre-19th century texts -- and even I have a hard time getting into the language and tone of the piece.

Here's an excerpt, you decide:

"(xv)When on the morrow Lehi saw the sun in the east, and morning had risen, he came forth from his tent to praise God for the new day, and Behold! A ball of curious workmanship, of finest bronze, set with precious stones: rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. And within the ball two spindles, pointing. Now by means of this globe, called Liahona, that is, the path ahead, were Lehi and his tribe led into the wilderness, and from thence to the sea, and from the sea to the new land of promise (for that Lehi knew the judgement and doom of Jerusalem, which had been Yahweh his crown's roayl diadem). And they carried their tents, their food, and seed of every kind."

ALSO: Sorensen mentions in one of his footnotes another attempt at a Book of Mormon epic -- Orson Scott Card and Stephen King scholar Michael Collings' The Nephiad: An Epic Poem in Twelve Books. I don't know anything about this work. Although I do seem to remember reading either a selection from this work or an "epic-like" poem on Joseph Smith by Collings that appeared in an early issue of Irreantum.

RELATED: Getting back to Dave's original point about the Book of Mormon and readability. Check out Kim Siever's post on Our Thoughts about a reader's edition of the Book of Mormon prepared by Grant Hardy, chair of the history department at UNC Asheville. Of note, the reader's edition puts the poetry in the text into poetic form (i.e. adds line breaks), indents quoted text and italicises biblical prophecies.

SOURCE: Peter J. Sorensen. "Mormoniad: The Book of Mormn as Proto-Epic." AML Annual 2003. Ed. LAvinia Fielding Anderson. Pages 21-33. Association for Mormon Letters: Provo, 2003.

Elsewhere: Mo' folk, Mo' rock!

For readers who have enjoyed the Mormon folk songs that have appeared on A Motley Vision, check out Justin Butterfield's blog Mormon Wasp for the lyrics to a song called The Reformation. Written by LDS convert Philip Margetts in 1856, it includes the priceless lines: " God bless the wife that strives/ And aids her husband all she can/ T' obtain a dozen wives." In addition, Justin has a more recent post on Mormon polygamy folklore. Good stuff.

In response to John Hesch's A Motley Vision interview, LDS musician and blogger Mark Hansen has some comments (and a call to arms!) on his Mo' Boy Blog about the lack of good Mormon rock and dance music.

ALSO: Here at A Motley Vision, Typophile's Jared Benson has contributed an analysis of the font choices for the cover of the Doubleday edition of the Book of Mormon (scroll down to comments section).

News: AML announces Irreantum changes

The Association for Mormon Letters has announced the new focus, name and editorial team for its literary magazine Irreantum.

Name: Although the magazine retains the "Irreantum" name, it's full title will now be Irreantum: A Review of Mormon Literature and Film, reflecting how important film has become to Mormon cultural studies. The announcement also includes a brief explanation of the name -- "ear-ee-an'-tum: 1 Nephi 17:5, "And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters."

Focus: According to the AML, Irreantum will include...

* Critical essays
* Stronger emphasis on poetry
* Readers Write section (mini personal essays from our readers)
* From the Archives section (reprints of classic Mormon literary texts)
* Regular film response, reflections on the current Mormon cinema scene
* Special focus topics for each issue
* Plus, more of the same writing you've come to expect from Irreantum: fiction, plays, screenplays, creative non-fiction, and book reviews

This is not all that different from its previous incarnation. There does seem to be a greater emphasis on film. And while Irreantum was never shy in the past about reprinting works, I like that this practice is going to be more systematized. It'll be interesting to see what texts the editors deem "classic." It'll also be interesting to see how the "readers write" section works. The previous incarnation didn't have the strongest letter department, but I remember one reader exhange (that took place over three or four issues) that was quite lively and interesting. I'm not sure what the editors mean by a stronger emphasis on poetry -- Irreantum always ran at least six-eight poems and usually more. Finally, I like the idea of focus topics, but I hope that each issue saves room for works that aren't part of the focus. The danger of focus topics is that you may not receive enough quality submissions for a particular topic. I'd much rather read the best submissions rather than mediocre submissions that aren't outstanding, but are acceptable and on topic. Of course, the advantage of a focus topic is that it often sparks works that otherwise wouldn't be written.

Team: Laraine Wilkins will serve as managing editor as well as edit the critical essays department. Her poetry has appeared in Irreantum and Weber Studies. Check out the announcement for the rest of the editors, but what I found most interesting is that Laraine has lined up eight staff members to help out the editors. This is a smart idea, in my opinion. If Irreantum is going to build upon its success (and attract a larger readership), it needs people who can help do non-editorial work -- subscriber services, distribution, bookseller relations, publicity (including a stronger online presence -- which may be in the works), etc.

It'll be interesting to see if any design changes happen as well. I'm not sure if any of the staff members are graphic designers.

Finally, I was excited to read what they are looking for in terms of submissions (beyond poetry and short stories):

"We accept translations of literary work written in languages other than English. We also consider submissions of critical essays that explore the intersections of religion, literature, and film in the context of the Mormon experience. We are especially interested in the following topics: Film and Religion, The Nineteenth Century, Spiritual Autobiography, International Contexts, Poetry, Sacred Texts, Mormon Spaces."

I'd love to see a translation appear in an upcoming issue, although it's not clear to me what type of text it'd be. And I am very pleaced by the emphasis placed on critical essays. This is an area that Irreantum was lacking. There were some great pieces of creative non-ficiton that appeared, but not many critical essays. Yes, the AML Annual Meeting was focused on criticism, but most of those works read like what they were -- conference papers. Some of the topics the editors say they are most interested seem a little trendy -- Religion and Film, Mormon Spaces -- and I hope that they will maintain a literary focus. Otherwise Irreantum will end up covering much of the same ground that Sunstone and Dialogue does. But hey, I like trendy topics -- and to be fair, I think the topics listed are quite relevant for Mormon literature at the moment.

You can subscribe to Irreantum online.

Interview: Alan Rex Mitchell

Alan Rex Mitchell is the author of Angel of the Danube: Barry Monroe's Missionary Journal, the winner of the Association of Mormon Letters 1998 Marilyn Brown Novel Award. Trained as an environmental soil physicist, Mitchell has taught courses in technical writing, chemistry, biology and soil science and conducted agricultural research with the USDA and Oregon State University. He, his wife Elizabeth (Bennion) and their children currently live on and work the historic Bennion Ranch in Vernon, Utah.

Last year you posted a message to the AML-List that claimed that literature -- particularly fiction -- was a superior form to film. The post generated a lot of discussion and you went on to write an essay on the subject that appeared in the last issue of Irreantum. For those readers who weren't in on the debate, could you briefly restate your argument?

It was during a time on the list when we were inundated by dozens of posts about a couple of LDS feature films that were flops. I thought there was too much attention given to lousy movies, so I proposed a moratorium on discussion of film, reasoning that they are really just Reader’s Digest Condensed Versions of Moby Dick in 16 pages. Some listers realized it was tongue in cheek and others thought I was a film Nazi. The list editor even admitted he let down his guard and let the attacks get personal.

Films are less logical, and most of them are based on a lie that you could never get away with writing fiction. For example, The Godfather told us that bad guys are really good guys. Stars Wars violates all the laws of physics. The Graduate has us cheering when Elaine runs off with her mother’s ex-lover. Titanic suggested that true love happens between two people from different social classes within 24 hours on a fated ship (Ditto An Affair to Remember). And don’t get me started on how bullets miss good guys, that good-looking people are moral, and how injuries can be healed in mere seconds. But we are too muddleheaded to even realize the lies, or else we don’t take movies seriously. If there was ever a movie that emphasized war was necessary for survival, it was Lord of the Rings, but nobody even considers that as applicable in real life.

Don’t get me wrong -- I watch movies. They have their place for telling simple stories quickly and cutely. I also understand that rarely is a movie worth discussing for insights into the human character. At least no more so than the Sunday comics. (Look out -- here comes the hate mail.)

I know you are well aware of the irony that after stating that opinion, you then went on to tie for third place in the LDS Film Festival's 2004 screen writing competition -- beating out the likes of Orson Scott Card and John Moyer. What made you decide to try your hand at writing a screenplay?

For a couple of years, I had been thinking about a movie I would like to see. When I went to the AML fall meeting, I attended a seminar by Jon Enos that he called something like, "Everything you need to know about screenwriting in 50 minutes." He convinced me I could write the screenplay in a week. It actually took longer than that, two weeks (working halftime) and two weeks of editing before I submitted it to the LDS Film Festival.

My writing a screenplay was not as inconsistent as one might think -- it was quick and fun like the movies. And, of course, the icing on the cake was beating out Scott Card -- that was my hope when I heard we had both made the final cut. I’ll have to kid him about it the next time I see him, which will probably be like the time I accompanied my teenage son to a book signing. I imagine the conversation would go something like:

"My screenplay beat yours in the contest."

"So what? I’ve sold a billion books."

What is the screenplay about?

That’s Got His Own. Budding NBA man-child BB MARTIN is once again in trouble with the law. Back home, his mother, ANITA, is impressed with brawny Mormon missionary DAVID STUCKY, who is about to return home to his Idaho farm boy roots. ANITA recruits STUCKY to baby sit BB for the season for $50,000.

I would describe it as a sports, buddy, clash-of-culture movie with the feeling of Jerry McGuire and 48 Hours. A PG-13 movie that talks about NBA vs. missionary life, whites that love black culture, blacks who are culturally White, and the barriers of race, religion, and success.

Interestingly, William, the film takes place in Oakland, where you live. Do you think the cast and crew could stay in your spare bedroom during the shoot? Seriously, perhaps you could review it for technical accuracy.

You've written a fair amount of fiction and quite a lot of non-fiction. What about the screenplay form do you find easier/more challenging than the other writing you've done?

The easier part is that screenplays are short, by necessity. Remember they are 100 minutes long, and the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version of Moby Dick. And they are mostly dialogue. That limits everything, but my art teacher always maintained that limitations are what free the artist and give him direction.

The challenging part of screenplay writing is getting the movie produced. The odds are slim, and I have no experience in directing or producing (yet), nor reworking the script for lighting, camera angles, etc.

I think Angel of the Danube is a true Mormon classic. Have you ever considered writing another novel about Barry?

Thank you. At first, I thought Barry would be good for only one novel, according to the axiom that "sequels suck."

However, Gideon Burton of BYU suggested I write a novel about Barry and Maggie dealing with the problem of cross-cultural marriages in the church. I’m still thinking about that -- unfortunately, I have no first hand experience and I don’t suppose my wife will consent to me getting any. By the way, my wife is not Austrian, to the chagrin of those who think the book was autobiographical.

I'm curious to know what the response has been to the ending of Angel of the Danube. At first I didn't like it. It seemed too easy, too O. Henry-esque. But the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me, and I now feel like the novel couldn't end any other way -- that the ending fit the narrative and the main character and worked in terms of form and plot (i.e. is more than just a good thing for Barry). How have others responded to the ending?

When I started the book, I had no idea where the ending was going (WARNING, don’t try this at home), but as it progressed, I felt Barry would either experience joy or else throw himself off of a high building.

In my reading, I’ve found that most, if not all missionary fiction ends with marriage. The transition of coming home doesn’t end until the missionary acts out the principles that he has been teaching. That is especially true for Angel, because it was a book about the transition.

Another way of looking at it is that Barry eventually got what he wanted. I guess I’m enough of a dreamer (cynic?) to think that all people eventually get what they desire. Take the Clintons: Hillary gets to be a senator who everybody is afraid of, and Bill gets to entertain admirers in his penthouse in NYC.

I haven’t gotten much feedback on the ending other than I should have omitted the word "netlike," which is a valid point. Interestingly, a non-Mormon reviewer, Ruth Starkman, really enjoyed the ending with the temple and all, but didn’t like what she perceived as conformity when Barry overcomes his anti-institutional bias. Who’d a thunk it? What worked for Mormons confused the outsiders.

What have you recently read that totally knocked your socks off (Mormon literature or otherwise)?

Perhaps this is too revealing of me, but if I were to read some Mormon fiction that totally knocked my socks off -- I would probably not feel motivated to tell the story as I see it. I love reading P.J. O’Rourke, although he is not a novelist, because he tells stories with humor and cuts through the erudite BS.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I’m just finishing my second novel, The American Goddess, and trying to find an agent to take it national. I believe a Mormon novel will someday make it nationally, and I’m silly enough to hope it will be mine.

I’m currently working on a second missionary novel set in Vienna that would be more adaptable to cinema. And there are a couple of projects on the back burner including a Shakespearean-style play about the Martyrdom.

Finally, as the descendent of ranchers who worked the Colorado Arizona Strip, I have to ask -- do you run sheep or cattle? And -- what's your brand?

Last first; the brand of the Bennion Ranch is a Greek letter omega on its side. [Ed. -- I believe that would be "lazy O" in cowboy parlance.]

We raise cattle because they are less harmful to our range here. The Bennions tell a story about their grandfather who, after he had shot a coyote who had ventured to close to the campfire, gathered his four sons around and confessed that he had committed a grave sin: "Think of how many sheep that critter would have eaten in his lifetime."

Thanks, Alan!

Pop: An Un-faith-promoting story

Off-hand Mormon missionary references seem to be popping up in a lot of books these days. Or at least that's what my Google news alerts seem to suggest.

My favorite so far occurs in a recent round-up review of travel books that ran in the New Zealand Herald. The following anecdote is included in the review for a book by Graeme Lay titled The Miss Tutti Frutti Contest: Travel Tales of the South Pacific:

"Escaping from the Miss Ha'apai beauty contest in Tonga - which is rather less exciting than the Miss Tutti Frutti -- Lay finds himself confronted in the darkness by two 'very large young men" demanding in menacing tones, 'Where you goin'?

Thinking quickly Lay replies, 'In what I hope passes for a Utah accent: 'I'm on my way to church. The night service. I'm a Mormon missionary.'

A pause, then: 'Yeah? Where's your bro? Youse always goes in twos.'

'He's ... ah ... meeting the bishop.'

'The bishop?'

'Yes.'

There is silence for a few seconds. Then the two figures move aside, melting into the blackness of the night."

I'll admit to a moment of discomfort at this cynical misuse of the missionary mantle [Woah! Where'd that come from? Must be my recent readings of so many Elder Maxwell talks]. But that was quickly supplanted by a feeling of pride and moderate amusement. The encounter, after all, seems like the type of faith-promoting story a member of the Church would share. The missionaries are confronted by local toughs. They think about claiming to not be who they are, but instead boldly state that they are Mormon missionaries. The local toughs back down.

Of course, Lay gets the details wrong -- night service? But even though this is an Un-faith-promoting story [it's not an 'anti-' or 'contra-' faith-promoting story -- it's Un, like 7-up is the Uncola], it's kind of cool that missionaries get respect from large, menacing young Tongans -- granted this is Tonga we're talking about. But still.

My only question -- how come the local toughs have a New Jersey mob accent?