Part I of 2:
As a campaign contribution to both Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, I wish to resurrect an old ghost from their past. Both men are Mormons who clearly want to become our next president. The old ghost is a movie that came out in 2007 – September Dawn – which is about an even older ghost.
QUOTE [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Dawn ]
September Dawn is a 2007 Canadian film by Christopher Cain, released on August 24, 2007. It sets a fictional love story against a controversial historical interpretation of the Mountain Meadows massacre. During the massacre a wagon train of emigrants was attacked by a group of Mormon militiamen and members of the Paiute tribe; around 120 men, women, and children were murdered.
:UNQUOTE.
This movie was released around the time Mitt Romney ran for president last time. As I’d written back then, I couldn’t help but notice how the professional movie critics gangbanged September Dawn. Roger Ebert had even given it zero stars! So naturally, I smelled a rat. This time around, there are two Mormons wanting to be POTUS. So I thought it only fitting to recommend that you rent September Dawn, watch it, and see if you smell the same rat I did four years ago.
Disclaimer: The following text has links which might no longer be active. However, I think you’ll get the general idea anyway.
Posted on Aug. 28, 2007
September Dawn: A Great Movie
Conclusion:
September Dawn is a brilliant movie. Don't be deceived by the likes of Roger Ebert, who slandered himself by giving this recently-released film a zero-star rating. Go see this important and timely work, or rent it on DVD.
Pre-Conclusions
Circumstances of my Viewings
On Sunday (Aug. 26), I went to the Webster Place multi-plex to see the 10:40 a.m. showing of September Dawn. I was one of (maybe) five people in the audience, viewing this because I have a fondness for indie features. I hadn't read anything about it, except that it concerned a massacre by Mormons in 1857. That was enough to intrigue me.
I see a lot of movies (as a hobby), so I wanted to post my favorable reaction here on Zaadz. But first, I wanted to check out what the reviewers had to say. I was shocked at the almost universal condemnation of the critics, especially by Ebert's zero-star rating and his comments.
So, of course, I went to see it again - last night actually. This time, there were 20 people in the audience for the 7 p.m. showing. Conclusion? I liked it better the second time, and regard it as an important source of information which nobody should miss.
The Mitt Romney connection
Seeing this movie will motivate many to do a little research about not only this particular historical incident but also about Mormonism in particular. Since Mitt Romney, who wants to be our president, is a Mormon, that should serve to ratchet up the importance of what this movie implies.
Mitt Romney says he won't be seeing September Dawn, according to the Associated Press article entitled Romney shrugs off Mormon history film. Now, consider this (also in that same article): "Romney's ancestors include Parley Pratt, a prominent Mormon murdered in Arkansas
So there we have it: Mitt Romney is descended from an Apostle, no less. This might go a long way toward explaining the avalanche of negative reviews by film critics and why the film was made in Canada
The Critics Speak (for themselves? or for whom?)
I did a google-search of critical reviews of September Dawn. It didn't take long for something to "dawn" on me: It's bad enough that our news media are controlled by corporate interests, but it seems that this control extends even to movie critics.
I'm not a paranoid person, but my suspicions can be aroused. For instance, I noticed a lot of the critics used the adverb ham-fisted in their reviews. What makes this especially interesting is that ham-fisted is not the usual way of expressing the defined concept. We Americans use the term ham-handed; ham-fisted is used in Britain
Maybe too many of these critics were too lazy to stray too far from the script. After googling, I came up with six critics who used the word ham-fisted: Bob Mondello, J. Hoberman, Justin Chang, F. Lovece, Mark Olsen, and Ty Burr [see note below, on Ty Burr]...and then I stopped googling. Enough is enough. What to think?
Even reviewers who weren't completely caustic in their criticism couldn't resist peppering their text with enough negatives to turn off any potential moviegoer. Here, I'll cite Justin Chang (who himself used the word ham-fisted):
"Audiences may rightly recoil from the graphically staged finale, with its almost fetishistic focus on the guttings of women and children, all shot in slow-mo and edited together in a flurry of impressionistic dissolves. It's not torture porn; it's massacre porn."
One minor detail: Mr. Chang (writing for Variety...hmm, sounds pretty mainstream corporate to me) is dead wrong. The finale wasn't graphic at all; in fact, I'd rate it less-than-medium on any Richter Scale of movie violence. And "guttings" being focused on? Oh, stop. Mr. Chang, you're embarrassing yourself.
Or maybe embarrassment can be risked if there's an over-riding agenda at stake. Naturally, I don't have the resources to ferret out who might be behind any alleged agenda. But the circumstantial indicators are awfully strong that an agenda is being followed.
As for the director, Christopher Cain: he's retired, so his career isn't at stake. It would be interesting, though, to see if any of September Dawn's fine actors ever find meaningful work again.
The Actual, Historical Event: The Mountain Meadows Massacre
The movie makes clear its view that Mormon leader Brigham Young knew in advance and approved of this massacre. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. But...in the movie, he declares martial law in preparation for an "invasion" by U.S. Army forces. I find it hard to believe that he "didn't know" even though he was top dog in a theocracy and had just declared martial law.
This movie will make you think, but not because it shovels a mountain of information at you. In fact, there's just enough (and only "just enough") material quoted from historical documents to make you wonder. And that's good - we should wonder.
My Earlier Posting
I invite you to look at my brief essay which I'd posted on March 4, 2007 at:
From that link, I'll quote the following, which should definitely give you pause:
QUOTE: "I am going to tell you how God came to be God," declared Joseph Smith [founder of the Mormon faith] in his "King Follett Discourse" of 1844..."God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man...If you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form [What color, asks Steven Searle?]...We have imagined and supposed God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea..." ... fifth president of Latter Day Saints Church Lorenzo Snow: "As man is, God once was. As God is, man might be." UNQUOTE (source: Hugh Hewitt's book, A Mormon in the White House?)
NOTE: This is an update: It has been brought to my attention that Ty Burr's review did not, in fact, use either the word ham-fisted or ham-handed. The error is mine.
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Clarification: I have no problem with such a view, which I regard as a crude precursor to certain Buddhist truths.
NOTE: This is an update: It has been brought to my attention that Ty Burr's review did not, in fact, use either the word ham-fisted or ham-handed. The error is mine.
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Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“History does repeat itself – in terms of opinion-makers (in this case, movie critics) perjuring themselves.”
Contact me at: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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