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Every week, it seems, there\u2019s a new Hulu or Netflix miniseries focused on Latter-day Saints \u2014 and these productions never seem to be positive, friendly, sympathetic, or even balanced. \u00a0The latest of them \u2014 so far as I\u2019m aware! \u2014 is Hulu\u2019s Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0With his kind permission, I share something that Christopher Blythe<\/a> posted a day or two ago on his Facebook page, about Devil in the Family<\/em>:<\/p>\n I watched the new Ruby Franke docu-series on Hulu. It wasn\u2019t terrible as far as these things go, but, for me, was often hard to watch. I was annoyed by the effort to contextualize my home (\u201cHappy Valley\u201d as the show repetitively called it the first fifteen minutes) and my people in ways that made them seem particularly other from the rest of America in all the worst ways. One of the first silly comments was a guy explaining that \u201cMormons go on missions to show the world how perfect their lives are.\u201d Uhhhh\u2026. I spent two years on my feet and it definitely wasn\u2019t to convince people we were perfect. Lol. The basic theme of the show was that the faith had caused this once idealized family to seek the appearance of perfection, filled them with guilt, etc. I\u2019m not saying the LDS context isn\u2019t important \u2013 I\u2019ve made my career writing about similar things \u2013 but I am saying that there is no direct line from LDS-ness to abusing your children, internalized guilt that allows manipulation from psychologists and spouses, or the belief that \u201cwoke children\u201d are zombies. But mainly I am exhausted by show after show commercializing my people by stereotyping them as secret hypocrites who present perfection to the world but are actually mentally unstable and dangerous; easily manipulated victims of conmen; sexually repressed; and \u201cin a bubble.\u201d I became a Latter-day Saint 30 years ago and observe our culture professionally. I am convinced that I am surrounded by folks that have lived around the world, speak multiple languages, have overcome great challenges, and are personally and professionally innovative. Sure, I want us to be more mystical and less materialistic, but I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to claim a place among this group of believers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile, in other<\/em> movie news related to Latter-day Saints, Witnesses<\/em> is still available for free streaming<\/a>, contrary to my expectations. \u00a0And Six Days in August<\/em> can be streamed from several platforms<\/a>, though not for free. \u00a0We probably shouldn\u2019t leave it entirely to Hulu and Netflix to tell our stories for us. \u00a0They may not have the best interests of the Kingdom at heart.<\/p>\n Perhaps we should make some of our own<\/em> movies? \u00a0Today, by the way, our core group of filmmakers captured an interview by John Donovan Wilson<\/a> of Professor Gerrit Dirkmaat<\/a>. \u00a0It\u2019s for the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s documentary series Becoming Brigham<\/em>, which is now in the first stages of production. \u00a0I wanted to be there for the interview, which is based on his remarks to the eleventh annual birthday part of the Interpreter Foundation, \u201cSweeter Than Honey: Brigham Young\u2019s Devotion to Joseph Smith\u2019s Teachings After the Martyrdom.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0I regard the interview with Gerrit as a vitally important one for our project, but I was unable to make it.<\/p>\n Also on the subject of cinematography (which seems, for some reason, to be much on my mind of late): \u00a0I\u2019m very pleased to see that the short film The Good Samaritan<\/em> \u2014 a 45-minute dramatic re-creation of the biblical parable known by that name \u2014 won the Audience Choice award at the recent Zions Indy Film Fest. \u00a0James Dalrymple was the director, while Howard Collett was the producer. \u00a0I consider them both friends, have worked with both, and look forward, if it proves feasible, to working with them again in the future. \u00a0Howard, in fact, is our former neighbor and bishop, and is part of a very small \u2014 five-member! \u2014 reading group in which my wife and I also participate.<\/p>\n One last movie note: \u00a0I\u2019m hoping to be able to watch this in the not too distant future: \u00a0\u201c\u2018Sharing Aloha\u2019: Emotion-rich new documentary about the Polynesian Cultural Center full of \u2018magic\u2019:The subjects of a new film by the director of \u2018Meet the Mormons\u2019 say he captures the miracles that Hawaii\u2019s most-popular tourist attraction generates in their lives\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But here\u2019s yet another (surely redundant) example of an evil Latter-day Saint (and of our typical racism and misogyny), if you can endure the repetitively offensive language in which the story is more or less told. \u00a0(Be warned! \u00a0The headline is comparatively mild.) \u00a0And even if the alleged villain in question most likely isn\u2019t a Latter-day Saint at all<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cLeslie Jones Calls Out Unnamed \u2018A**hole\u2019 \u2018SNL\u2019 Director\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, the truth or falsity of the claim that he\u2019s a Latter-day Saint isn\u2019t really the issue. \u00a0Rather, the question is one of truthiness<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m beginning to get the impression, though, that not everybody in the elite entertainment industry is a friend of the Latter-day Saints. \u00a0Does anybody else out there have the same feeling?<\/p>\n I posted a link here, a few days ago<\/a>, to an article about a bill before the state legislature of Utah that, I said, I strongly support. \u00a0Here now is a link to an article in the Deseret News<\/em> by the bill\u2019s own author, my friend Senator John Johnson<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cOpinion: \u2018Back to the Future II\u2019 \u2014 restoring a classical core curriculum to higher education\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>