Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Nothing Sacred: Satire Comes to Salt Lake City
On Being: Even as a faithful Mormon I have to admit that the South Park portrayals of Latter-Day Saints over the years haven’t been all bad. In an odd way, I was honored that the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith was numbered among the “Super Best Friends” in a couple of episodes, representing — for good and ill — all the world’s religions. But when Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced the production of a Broadway musical mocking Mormons exclusively, I rolled my eyes.
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I think the most interesting part of this article is the doubt all Salt Lake City residents held for the success of this musical – and how impressed they were with the delivery of the ridiculous content. Especially when the author talks about the scenes with “I Believe” and how Elder Price showed the real sentiments of Mormon missionaries following the faith of God in order to keep up their work and stay motivated. Also, with the message of the show being that religion makes people happy if only for a short while, is an agreeable fact, it is the satire of the piece that really rubs Mormons the wrong way. The show says religion can make people happy – but it is still based upon lies and deceit and blind allegiance or hope. While I do agree with the author that the characters are flat and ignorant and generally portrayed as socially blind, the piece has its merits in the theatrical world.
This was an extremely enlightening read, mostly because of the supposed tolerance of the American Theatre. While satire and theatre have always gone hand in hand, theatrical communities typically hold themselves above the slander and discrimination the rest of the world doles out. Theatre is a home for the misfits, a place for the rejected to find support. The wild success of the Book of Mormon feels like the antithesis of that belief. Mormons have been a cultural punching bag for a while now, and I can't claim that I haven't taken part in sniggering -- or in some cases laughing uproariously -- at the weird and wacky elements at the Mormon faith. Mormons are a minority group that is still socially acceptable to ridicule. Culturally, this makes no sense. We have gotten to the point that outsiders mocking some minority races and religions (racism again African Americans and Asian Americans, Judaism, Islam) is considered taboo, or at least taboo. Yet, we continually see some groups (Mormon, Mexicans) continue to be profiled and harmfully slandered. Where do we draw the line? Could you imagine a Christian writing a Book of Mormon style show about Judaism? It would be (rightfully) called anti-Semitic and protested. But here we are-- derisive religious mockery called "the funniest show ever" and winning the Tony for best musical.
Something feels wrong here.
This article posed a lot of questions in my mind?
Are we as "theatre people" above political correctness?
Are we heartless?
Do people take jokes to seriously?
All throughout reading this article I was contemplating whether or not it was wrong of me to enjoy the Book of Mormon. After all, it is a satirical HILARIOUS piece of musical genius. However, am I wrong for enjoying the piece so much? Am I discriminatory.
Theatre is meant to make people think. Entertain, and to be beautiful. I have to agree with the article that BOM does push many boundaries, and can be borderline offensive, however, I do feel that if someone should be offended after seeing the show it should be all people who believe in religion, not just mormons. You see, BOM uses Mormonism as a device to make fun of all religion and God. It questions the reality of a higher being, and asks the audience, in a light hearted way, to take a step back and look at what organized religion looks like.
This article was honestly a fascinating and thought provoking read for me as I was able to relive The Book of Mormon through another perspective. It truly does call into question where, as a theatre community, we want to take our art form. While everyone enjoys a bit of good satire at someone else’s expense and sometimes a lighthearted comedy is just exactly what we’re going for, theatre has also held onto the tradition of having a stronger message than other entertainment media such as television like South Park. When you walk out of a theatre after witnessing a good performance of Blood Brothers, or even August Osage County, a comedy, but one that calls into question many moral challenges our society faces, you can feel how the shows make you think about yourself and how you view the world. The Book of Mormon is not bad theatre; I would in fact argue that it is a fantastic example of good theatre. It is important to remember however that we should be striving to provide something more meaningful and seek to inspire people, as the author was inspired in “I Believe” to change the world for the better.
I saw "The Book Of Mormon" earlier this year in March and I was pleasantly amused. I thought the show was spectacular in terms of the stellar soundtrack, the zany jokes, and comedic timing. However, this article does make some good points that I didn't consider to take into account when I watched the show on Broadway. The bit in the article going back to the stereotyping of Ugandans definitely extends an uncomfortable hand towards the audience and perpetuates the outdated idea that indigenous people of Africa need some sort of saving. I also personally do not agree with missionaries and what they strive to accomplish because while I understand it is in good faith, it is blatant colonialism. It was also interesting to read this article from the point of view of someone who is actually a LDS. It puts into perspective (as the article says), our own bigotry. We preach how equality and acceptance of everyone is so important, but here we are, making millions and laughing at the expense of others once again.
It’s always difficult to watch something that’s purpose is to make fun of what you believe in. As a practicing Christian I have to face near daily prods about the “lunacy” of my faith. The creators of The Book of Mormon don’t hate Mormon’s, they love humor. It’s often times difficult to separate the intents of the authors from our own personal injuries. In this particular case the author has written a very well rounded article. It’s clear from the beginning that she is overall unhappy with the portrayal of Mormonism that the Book of Mormon puts on, but understands that all topics are up for grabs in the satirical world and it’s nothing personal. She also appreciates that while many of the founding fathers of Mormonism are made fun of it’s not done in an out rightly slanderous way. The writers of the book of Mormon also take the time to make nod to the Mormon audience members. Showing for a moment that despite the fact that the show itself is a satire. The religion is not, and the group’s particular beliefs are as valid as anyone’s.
What makes this article so intriguing is the fact that so many of the Salt Lake City audience members absolutely loved Book of Mormon. You can read about it's great audience reception in this article: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ce324954a92d40f2b120f1422812dab7/book-musical-satirical-musical-finally-utah
I think the author's points are all valid. There are absolutely parts of Book of Mormon that I would be offended by if I were a Mormon. I think the important thing to take away from this article is that all people have different perspectives, and as theater artists we cannot assume all audience members will receive a show in the same way, even if there is a standing ovation at the end of a performance. The author of the article was at the opening performance in SLC, which was the same performance reported about by Big Story. This shows that we cannot necessarily lump our audiences into a group rather than considering their thoughts and reactions as individuals. I am sure this woman was not the only audience member in SLC who felt offended by the performance. While it may not be our duty to make all audience members happy, I think it is definitely important as artists to consider the different perspectives the audience brings into the theater each night and respect that not everyone will feel compelled to give that standing ovation with the rest of the crowd.
I love this musical. But being an atheist myself, that makes sense. But there have been articles that talk about people who belong to different kinds of organized religion, specifically mormonism, having a positive reaction to this play. It definitely makes fun of all religion, but it also tries to show how necessary it is, and how everyone can benefit from it. One part of the show that stood out to me was after Elder Cunningham's lies had made their way into the village and everything appeared as if it was going wrong, and one of the villagers simply said something along the lines of, do you really think that Joseph Smith actually fucked a frog? The frog is a metaphor. And that is one of my favorite lines in the show. Atheists, especially those interested in converting religious people, love to find plot holes in the scripture and constantly attempt to bring these plot holes to the attention of the believers, but that line shows that even if the bibles of these religious have some inconsistencies, what matters is the meaning behind it. Many religious people say that it gives them a sense of belonging, guidance and comfort that allows them to make their own lives happier. That's what this musical is trying to get across; religion makes people happier, so why not celebrate it?
I have seen the Book of Mormon several times in several different locations. And do not get me wrong it is a great show, but it is not as offensive as I thought it would be. The first time I saw it I thought it was going to be so offensive that it was just not going to be ok. In other words, like taking one big poop on a religion that some people take very very seriously. Instead, I happily found that it was just tastefully making fun of it. Basically, skimming the surface of what I thought it was going to be. However, just like the rest of the world I was very interested to see how Salt Lake would respond to it because that is where the most Mormons are. It is great to see that they found it as funny as the next person. This also shows the power of a good joke!
I have never seen the Book of Mormon, but I've always wanted to. My mother grew up in Provo, Utah as the only non-Mormon family in their neighborhood. All her friends growing up were Mormon and to this day she has a deep dislike of the religion, particularly of the way it treats women and people of ethnic minorities. Growing up I always viewed the Mormon religion a mix of ridiculous and just wrong. So I could not have been more delighted when I discovered this show with excellent music and satirical humor making fun of this community I was taught to view with condescension. My mom loved it too and we have planned to go see it together when we get the chance.
But this article really made me think about the show, and the stereotyping of both the Mormons and the Ugandans in it. When does a joke stop and discrimination begin? As other people have said Book of Mormon uses Mormonism to make people think about religion in general and while I still want to see the show and believe it to be an excellent piece of theater, you can't help but wonder if the writers picked the Mormons because they are an easy target.
Several of my best friends growing up have been part of the LDS Church, and one in fact is on a mission to Pittsburgh, currently! but that's besides the point. When Book of Mormon came out they were all offended by the musical. But, in a nice Mormon way. Most of Mormonsim has decided to take this musical as a way to spread their religion and allow people to poke fun at it while also genuinely being informed. I watched an interview with Matt and Trey and real Mormon heads of the church, and the real kicker about Book of Mormon, is that it is not slander. Nothing that they say in the musical is untrue. All of the history of the church and how missions work is completely true. So, since they can't beat, they decided to join it, putting advertisements for the church in the Playbill itself. Most of the musical is totally correct. Another friend of mine is about to embark on his mission to the war-torn Ukraine in a month. Though they may be crass, Matt and Trey usually highlight real things.
I had the opportunity to see the Book of Mormon a few years ago back home in San Antonio. Minus some of the offensive references that caught me off guard, it was still an overall great musical. The fact that now they are performing in Salt Lake City, one of the key references throughout the show makes it that much more hysterical. There were several enjoyable moments throughout the show starting with the opening number of Hello. I don’t know much about the Mormon beliefs, but from what I got from watching the show were some over the top references poking fun at the religion. The cast was pretty awesome, after the show I had a chance to hang out with them, and they even invited me to go out with them afterwards, but unfortunately due to poor timing I had a test the next day so I couldn’t partake in the partying.
This is a really fascinating article to me, because I haven't been able to read much about how people of the Mormon faith actually feel about this musical. I find it brave and interesting that this Mormon woman made her way to opening night for the purpose of feeling offended. I actually completely understand that feeling of wanting to know what it feels like to be on that end. When I saw the show, I have to say, I was entertained, but fairly struck by some of the crudity. I am not a practicing Christian myself, but many members of my family are, and it is an incredible offense to speak ill of anything Christian in my family. "Holy crap" and "God damn" have long been banned from my household due to potential blasphemy in taking the Lord's name in vain. So watching this show made me deeply uncomfortable at times. I had heard the music before because one of my friend's from high school was a big fan, and when I heard "Hasa Diga Ebowai" for the first time, I was absolutely disgusted. I have to say, I still am. It's all fun and good to poke at someone's religion, but the translation of that song is just so dirty and so offensive, I feel, to anyone who worships God. While BOM is obviously a very successful show, and I did enjoy it when I saw it, I think it is definitely interesting to hear another point of view on the topic, because even I myself was caught extremely off-guard by some of the cruder moments in the show.
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