So the other day Cory and I noticed a new billboard up right at the point of the mountain advertising a film. What caught my attention was that the billboard was pretty much just black, with the catch phrase, “The first R rated mormon film ever,” and then the name of the film, “Falling” underneath that. So let me just point out two things that were standing out in my mind at the time I saw this.

First of all, I couldn’t help but realize the billboard was up right in the middle of the transition from Utah Valley to SL Valley. Not coming back the other way, of course, but leaving Utah Valley. The assumption that Utah Valley is equivalent to Mormon Valley (or something like that) drives me nuts. Yes, there are a lot of members down here. Yes, BYU is also down here. But no, that does not make us perfect, just as leaving the valley does not mean that we’re leaving the Church and want to watch R rated films about the church. That whole thought process may seem a stretch to some people, but that was honestly on my mind.

Second thing: honestly, who advertises a film like that? I mean, it seems to me that it’ll just infuriate the audience who does watch LDS cinema, because it’s almost a mockery of the genre, if that makes sense, and they probably don’t watch many R rated films anyway, and then the audience who doesn’t normally watch LDS films will just think it’s another LDS film, and also not watch it. Or at least that’s my hope. Seems like a pretty tacky way to advertise.

So anyway, I’ve been thinking about this for a couple days now, and just this morning Cory turned on X96 for their movie reviews, and they actually reviewed Falling. Turns out it’s by Richard Dutcher, the same guy who did God’s Army, among some other works. So not really that surprising, I guess, considering the somewhat controversial nature of some of his other works, but still frustrating to me that he would advertise in such a way. This is the kicker, though–while they were interviewing him, Dutcher himself said that it didn’t really matter that the main character was LDS–he could’ve been Catholic or any other denomination, and it would’ve had the same effect–the religion in the story doesn’t really matter. So why the heck did he advertise the film as “the first R rated Mormon film”? It just seems like such a cheap blow to try and bring the audiences in. The film is only premiering in the Gateway theater, in Utah (which is also in SL Valley, if you were wondering…), so he had to use what Utahns know to advertise. It just disgusts me. Here’s the link, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790660/, if anyone wants to read more about it (though there isn’t currently a lot of info up about it).