LDS movies would vastly improve without the clichés

Richard Dutcher wrote something to LDS filmmakers in his April 13 "farewell article" that made me cheer:

"I urge you to put the moronic comedies behind you. If you're going to make comedies, at least make them funny. Perhaps you should leave the mockery of Mormons to the anti-Mormons. They've had a lot more experience and, frankly, they do a better job."

Bravo.

I write movie reviews for a local college newspaper, a local video store and an LDS-interest Web site. I'm also an LDS Church convert who has a broad sense of humor and typically, an appreciation of even the silliest silliness.

That being stated, I resent the lazy reliance on idiotic, condescending clichés within the LDS culture that has become prevalent in many LDS movies.

If I had a nickel for all of the Jell-O jokes I've heard during my 12-year church membership, then I'd have enough money to make my own films -- without those poor, excessively beaten dead horses.

I worry that we intentionally try to be bizarre and off-putting to the rest of the world. Somehow, I doubt that the phrase "a peculiar people" was meant to refer to the ridiculousness we see in movies like "The Home Teachers."

When I heard the missionary discussions, I wanted to be just like the missionaries who taught me. They weren't weirdos or dummies; they were cool guys who loved the Lord -- a peculiarity in today's world, to be sure.

Understand, I'm not claiming that we must be "cool" in the eyes of the world; we just don't need to be dorks. Some might accuse me of "pride." I call it self-respect. I'd also call it being "missionary minded."

Why don't our movies portray how cool Mormons really are, instead of depicting bumbling moronsfi

In 2004, how many Americans thought Jon Heder (a Mormon) was coolfi His movie, "Napoleon Dynamite," didn't have any obvious LDS associations. And that's fine, too, by the way. One can be an LDS filmmaker without making films about Mormons.

As for comedies, it is possible for movies to show that LDS people are funny, without resorting to "sweet spirit" and post-mission-engagement humor.

Case in point: My ward hosts an annual film festival starring our youth. Obviously, these are low-budget, non-professional films, but I laugh my head off every year. I'd watch one of those movies any day over watching "The R.M." And the best part of all, these homespun movies don't have one Jell-O joke.

Alas, I suppose there will always be those in America who think that gags about intestinal gas are funny, just as there will always be those who courtesy laugh at Jell-O jokes and begin their sacrament meeting talks with the every-time side-splitter: "When the bishop asked me to speak ..."

It's funny that I've never heard a general conference speaker begin with "When the prophet asked me to give a talk ..." I wonder why.

Jason Pyles is a junior at Utah Valley State College majoring in integrated studies. He recently completed an internship at the Daily Herald.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.