My name is Adam Mast, and I am not a Mormon. Now that we’ve gotten that irrelevant bit of information out of the way, let it also be known that while I choose to not be a member of the LDS Church, many of the most important people in my life are members. After watching the new visitor center-style documentary MEET THE MORMONS it’s easy to see why a large contingent of the Mormon community loves it so much. It’s a little less easy to decipher why non-members, and more importantly, ex-members, have so much hate for it. Maybe that’s not for me to understand. True, the opening of this film does depict some non-members as idiots with virtually no rational explanation for what a Mormon really is, but said opening is so playful and light-hearted in its approach that it hardly seems like a legitimate reason to hate all over a movie this harmless and well-intentioned.
MEET THE MORMONS follows a handful of LDS subjects from different parts of the world and gives us a brief look into the way these specific individuals live their lives. As expected, these particular subjects are decent people, but I never got the sense that MEET THE MORMONS is suggesting that every Mormon on the planet is a saint. That’s a sweeping generalization. What the film is trying to say is that there is nothing at all wrong with trying to live a good life. It should also be noted that, as is evident by the look into the life of the film’s final subject, we all make mistakes, and what really matters is how we move forward.
The pundits will be quick to suggest that this is all propaganda, and that this is hardly the way your everyday Mormon actually lives. But this is to miss the point of the movie. MEET THE MORMONS appears to be suggesting that as people, maybe this is the way we should live, regardless of our personal beliefs.
MEET THE MORMONS probably won’t win any Oscars. It has nothing on Greg Whiteley’s life affirming NEW YORK DOLL, and as I stated at the top of the review, this is more of the kind of film you might see at your local visitor center. Having said that, MEET THE MORMONS is beautifully shot and well edited (save for the annoying narration which I wish they would have left on the cutting room floor), and the subjects on display are appealing. Furthermore, there isn’t an ounce of cynicism in this movie, and given the somewhat cynical nature of the world we’re currently living in, that in of itself is refreshing.
Speaking of cynicism, just a couple of weeks ago, I posted a positive comment about “Meet the Mormons” on my Facebook wall and a relatively known film-maker whom I’m friendly with online, sarcastically suggested that a better title for this movie would have been “Meet 6 Good People”. The comment was clearly meant to be derogatory, which I find funny because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with decent people trying to live selfless lives. I suspect that his reaction to my comment has more to do with a deep rooted issue he has with the church on a personal level as opposed to what was actually being depicted on screen. That’s fine. There are going to be plenty of folks out there who dislike this movie for a number of reasons, but quite frankly, the idea that the last TRANSFORMERS movie had a higher rating at Rotten Tomatoes is far more offensive than anything in MEET THE MORMONS.
Would MEET THE MORMONS have benefited from a less presumptuous title? Probably. Did it make me want to run out and join the LDS Church? No. But in its own charming way, this affectionate and occasionally inspirational film did make me want to be a better person, and there’s absolutely no harm in that, regardless of whether you’re a Mormon or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JqPTEL13IY
