There's an interesting article by Kieth Merrill (did his parents spell his name wrong on purpose, or were they just careless?), a provincially famous LDS movie director/writer at Meridian Magazine that caught my interest today. In a previous article he had written about how he was going to criticize "The Book of Mormon Movie Vol I" until he received a letter from a woman in Brazil whose testimony had been strengthened by it. He then made the self-changing decision that it's bad to pass judgment on any work of art, because people have differing opinions on it. That's a silly philosophy, if you ask me, but I kind of enjoyed reading through the different, equally valid opinions he received in response. I just have a few things to say in response to this article.

Some people seem to think that the purpose of LDS commercial movies is to spread the gospel, or at least to inspire and build testimonies. I acknowledge that those are possible and worthy objectives for LDS filmmakers, but they're not the only possible objectives. "Singles Ward" and "The RM," for all their cheesiness and stupidity, are perfectly valid components of the group because they entertain. The better movies will inspire, but entertainment is OK too.

I don't necessarily believe that the badness of so many LDS movies is attributable to the newness of the LDS genre. My little brother, who I hold as an expert on the topic, will tell you that LDS cinema is neither a genre nor is it new. LDS thematic elements have been present in commercial cinema since 1905 (Randy is helping out with a special BYU Studies issue coming out next year to celebrate 100 years of LDS film). I think the badness of these LDS movies is the personal inexperience of the individual filmmakers themselves. I could be wrong, but I bet Frank Capra's first movie wasn't all that great, either. First-time filmmakers get panned in the reviews all the time. These people are young, fresh out of BYU film school, and need to develop their talents over time.

That brings up the problem--mentioned by some of Kieth's readers--of the older LDS filmmakers and why they're not contributing to the mix. I would like to point out that Kieth's most significant personal contribution to LDS film is the Church-commissioned movie "The Testaments," which I deem to be even worse than "The Book of Mormon Movie." "The Book of Mormon Movie" may have been poorly written, but at least it taught correct doctrine. Don't get me started on "The Testaments."