New movie "Meet the Mormons" coming out


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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865609123/LDS-Church-announces-feature-length-documentary-Meet-the-Mormons.html

 

For the first time in its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will release a feature-length documentary commercially on Oct. 10.

 

The new feature-length film, “Meet the Mormons,” highlights the lives of six Latter-day Saints who live across the globe — in areas spanning from the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, to the rain forests of Costa Rica, to the Salt Lake Valley.

 

Though the film was financed by the church, its net proceeds will be donated to charity.

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Well its a movie...so I gotta do to it what I do to every movie I end up seeing... riff it lol

I am generally curious what route they're going to take with it, I still think the internet is a far better medium then print, movies or tv.

But I'll wait and see its results before I give my opinion, I do wonder if it will play up here (outside of Alberta, our Mormon belt)

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I think it's really to get people talking, to be in the news and on people's minds is what they want, they want to show they are a relivant thing, as a lot of people still have no clue what a Mormon is and I think the worst thing that could befall a church is becoming obselete and being seen as a thing for old people.

While such things may not be a problem now but it will be for a lot of churches. Consider my generation, often called the "generation of nones" for people my age are none too interested in religion and eventually that will be felt. I mean it already is, I've gone to several churches and there's hardly ever anyone between 15-30. No one I know goes to church or has any clear belief in a higher power. I don't go to church regularly or have a set belief you could fit into a neat label. (Though to be fair my reasons for not attending are more due to anxiety then being lazy).

Religion these days is looked at by a good chunk of my generation, as an outdated, cruel bunch of old men seeking simply to control and steal money.

A church has to look at itself and ask "why would someone want to be in this church?"
I do think, from the description given on the homepage in that article, that this movie could be going in a better direction, showing why people are LDS or why they may consider being LDS, not doctrine, but what it means to people.

In their own words.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think it's really to get people talking, to be in the news and on people's minds is what they want, they want to show they are a relivant thing, as a lot of people still have no clue what a Mormon is and I think the worst thing that could befall a church is becoming obselete and being seen as a thing for old people.

While such things may not be a problem now but it will be for a lot of churches. Consider my generation, often called the "generation of nones" for people my age are none too interested in religion and eventually that will be felt. I mean it already is, I've gone to several churches and there's hardly ever anyone between 15-30. No one I know goes to church or has any clear belief in a higher power. I don't go to church regularly or have a set belief you could fit into a neat label. (Though to be fair my reasons for not attending are more due to anxiety then being lazy).

Religion these days is looked at by a good chunk of my generation, as an outdated, cruel bunch of old men seeking simply to control and steal money.

A church has to look at itself and ask "why would someone want to be in this church?"

I do think, from the description given on the homepage in that article, that this movie could be going in a better direction, showing why people are LDS or why they may consider being LDS, not doctrine, but what it means to people.

In their own words.

You base your expertise on what ?? Since when do atheists attend church ??
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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865609123/LDS-Church-announces-feature-length-documentary-Meet-the-Mormons.html

For the first time in its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will release a feature-length documentary commercially on Oct. 10.

The new feature-length film, “Meet the Mormons,” highlights the lives of six Latter-day Saints who live across the globe — in areas spanning from the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, to the rain forests of Costa Rica, to the Salt Lake Valley.

Though the film was financed by the church, its net proceeds will be donated to charity.

Why not we Georgia Mormons? :)
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What ever happened to the whole not using the term "Mormon" thing that was encouraged during the days of President Hinckley? I remember being specifically encouraged by Church leadership during that time to use the term "Latter Day Saint." And it wasn't that long ago....Hinckley only passed away in 2008.

 

I guess the world insists we are Mormons, huh.

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What ever happened to the whole not using the term "Mormon" thing that was encouraged during the days of President Hinckley? I remember being specifically encouraged by Church leadership during that time to use the term "Latter Day Saint." And it wasn't that long ago....Hinckley only passed away in 2008.

 

I guess the world insists we are Mormons, huh.

 

Magus, it wasn't long ago that we were asked to use the full name of the church...it was just this last April's Conference, but my guess is this falls into the category of being an acceptable use.

 

"In the October 2011 conference, I urged that we remember these important words of the Lord: “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”1

 
With these words, the Lord makes clear that this is not only a formal title but also the name by which His Church is to be called. Given His clear declaration, we should not refer to the Church by any other name, such as “Mormon Church” or “LDS Church.”
 
The term Mormon can be appropriately used in some contexts to refer to members of the Church, such as Mormon pioneers, or to institutions, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Church members are widely known as Mormons, and in interactions with those not of our faith, we may fittingly refer to ourselves as Mormons, provided we couple this with the full name of the Church.
 
If members learn to use the correct name of the Church in connection with the word Mormon, it will underscore that we are Christians, members of the Savior’s Church.
 
Brothers and sisters, let us follow up and develop the habit of always making it clear that we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." - Elder M. Russell Ballard (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/following-up?lang=eng)
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It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  I would imagine that it will generate some interest among members and current investigators.  Outside of that I can't imagine it will create much interest at all.  I am sure there will be some, but I would imagine it to be minimal. 

 

I just can't imagine my wife and I deciding to go out to a movie and upon arrival at the theatre getting to excited to see "Meet the Scientologists."  I also don't imagine many teens or college students that are out for a friday show deciding to lay down their $10 for "Meet the Jehovah's Witnesses" or "Meet the Methodists" either. 

 

Time will tell. 

Edited by RMGuy
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  • 4 weeks later...

This is coming out here on Friday of this week. In our Stake, ward leaders were sent a letter from the Stake President outlining a schedule for the members to go and see the movie, based on what organizations members are in.

Someone mentioned that they have no interest in seeing it. Neither do I, but there is ALOT of pressure in our Stake to go whether you want to or not. We have been told to "flood the theaters" this first weekend (based on the schedule the Stake President sent out) so that the movie stays in theaters longer.

The letter even broke down which cities in the Stake were to go at what time. Has anyone else experienced this type of pressure to go in your area?

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The movie isn't coming to my town (too small), but it is to my parents' and their ward literally bought out the theater opening night and are just handing out tickets to whomever wants to go.

Wow, that's amazing. I don't know if it will end up in theaters here in my city or not; It is opening the next town over from us. Our ward didn't buy tickets like your parents' ward did...we're just expected to go, following the schedule that came out on Sunday.

I'm feeling so much pressure about going. My husband doesn't want to go either. It's ridiculous here how much pressure is being put on members to go. I understand that numbers are important, but gosh, they're twisting peoples' arm here.

Edited by Silhouette
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This is coming out here on Friday of this week. In our Stake, ward leaders were sent a letter from the Stake President outlining a schedule for the members to go and see the movie, based on what organizations members are in.

Someone mentioned that they have no interest in seeing it. Neither do I, but there is ALOT of pressure in our Stake to go whether you want to or not. We have been told to "flood the theaters" this first weekend (based on the schedule the Stake President sent out) so that the movie stays in theaters longer.

The letter even broke down which cities in the Stake were to go at what time. Has anyone else experienced this type of pressure to go in your area?

I am curious to see the movie but having the stake tell members when and where they should go? Wow. That rubs me the wrong way.

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It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  I would imagine that it will generate some interest among members and current investigators.  Outside of that I can't imagine it will create much interest at all.  I am sure there will be some, but I would imagine it to be minimal. 

 

I just can't imagine my wife and I deciding to go out to a movie and upon arrival at the theatre getting to excited to see "Meet the Scientologists."  I also don't imagine many teens or college students that are out for a friday show deciding to lay down their $10 for "Meet the Jehovah's Witnesses" or "Meet the Methodists" either. 

 

Time will tell.

From what I've heard, the idea is to get enough buzz in the theatres for the documentary to end up on Netflix, where people regularly watch documentaries. Kids hearsay though.

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I guess I'm going whether I really want to or not. My VT just called, and asked if I would go on Friday with her and two other ladies from Church. She has everything all planned out and was very excited, so I hated to be a downer.

I'll have to work on my attitude about it the next couple of days, and get into the mindset that I'm going to enjoy it.

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I'm in California this week, and Meet the Mormons is being released early (Thursday) at a nearby theater.  I have my choice of 7:00pm, 9:20pm, or (gasp) 11:40pm.  I wanted to go, but if they're going to paper the house I may wait until the DVD comes out.  I really dislike crowded theaters.

 

But a while back I did hear a podcast of the "Candy Bomber" Gail Halvorsen, and his story is quite interesting.  Maybe I'll go after all.  The reviews have compared the movie to a 90-minute infomercial, which is preposterous because the movie is only 78 minutes long. 

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