Trapped by the Mormons

Ironically, during the time in which Trapped by the Mormons was produced, apparently the Salt Lake Theater thrived and Utahns thoroughly enjoyed the theater.  Various LDS church leaders have expressed the sentiment that the goal of motion pictures together with all other media is to further values and civilization. Trapped by the Mormons has absolutely nothing to do with these statements, and its criticism of Mormons is so far-fetched that it is quite comical even to LDS audiences.  The premise of this British film is to put forth the notion that Mormons supposedly lured young women to Utah to become wives.  In this film, Isoldi Keene puts the innocent Nora Prescott under a trance, and the iris of the camera zooms in on Isoldi’s eyes to create the image of his eyes pulsating.  The blatant melodramatic captions in the silent film focusing on Isoldi’s overpowering “manhood” combined with farcically unbelievable elements, such as Nora’s father overcoming his paralysis when standing up to the “bad Mormons,” makes the film incredibly amusing.  However, when James V. D’Arc discussed the film with the audience before and after showing it to us, the film is painted in a different light.  While it is still certainly amusing, it is important to note that when it was first shown, the LDS Church found it offensive and far from amusing.  In fact, the Church’s reaction to Trapped by the Mormons is, fascinatingly enough, extremely similar to its reaction to the recent Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, which also pokes fun at the LDS faith: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/06/entertainment/la-et-cm-mormon-church-lds-ads-book-of-mormon-playbill-20120906.  D’Arc invites us to view Trapped by the Mormons as a barometer of cultural perceptions at a time in which imagery and motion were used to convey meaning.  This discussion enhanced my experience watching this film, as I not only found it hilarious, but I also took away the more sobering message that there are current productions trivializing the LDS faith.  While the next generation may laugh at The Book of Mormon, our generation, just as the original viewers of Trapped by the Mormons, largely find it offensive and harmful to the world’s perception of the LDS faith.