BYU Studies Quarterly
Keywords
Mormon studies, cinema, Mormon film, Mormon culture
Abstract
Sometimes a culture includes more tension than harmonious cohesion, often due to paradoxes within the culture. Such tensions provide material for artists of all kinds to explore in their works. Mormonism presents at least three paradoxes: first, the necessity to be certain in one's testimony but to also always be asking questions in search of further truth; second, the tendency to diminish the distance between the sacred and banal; and third, the desire to be a peculiar, chosen people but not to feel isolated. Terryl L. Givens discusses the treatment of these paradoxes in Mormon movies, particularly those made by Richard Dutcher and Greg Whiteley.
Recommended Citation
Givens, Terryl L.
(2007)
""There Is Room for Both": Mormon Cinema and the Paradoxes of Mormon Culture,"
BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 46:
Iss.
2, Article 9.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol46/iss2/9