"The Mormons"

This week I watched the American Experience/Frontline documentary entitled "The Mormons", a four hour investigation into the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the evolution of Mormon culture and tradition throughout the 20th century. Part one focuses on the early history of the Mormons, starting with the childhood of Joseph Smith and ending with the abandonment of the practice of polygamy and Utah's statehood. Part two is an overview of the theological and cultural elements of the Mormon community, covering everything from what Mormon temples are all about to the church's welfare program to the process of excommunication. Throughout the entire documentary, different "talking heads" move the story and the dialogue along. However, there is a great variety in the types of individuals that are speaking, including historians, professors, authors, LDS leaders such as former president Gordon B. Hinckley, current members of the church, former members, strong critics of the faith, etc. Part one, as most of the story takes place in the 19th century, is represented with pictures, while part two is full of video representations of everything that is being discussed, including a virtual tour of the inside of an LDS temple and current interviews with members of the faith . This documentary was very interesting and the variety of different methods the film makers used to convey the information made it very entertaining and engaging. I also thought their choice of individuals to interview for the film was excellent, as I was able get many different perspective on all of the topics presented. Overall, this documentary was very informative and i thought that the way in which the film makers chose to convey the information was extremely effective.