Last week we began the fourth wave of Mormon Cinema which has been characterized as the "Mass Media Era." One of the films we watched, and the one which will serve as the catalyst for the topic of my post, was "Where Jesus Walked." This film was produced by the BYU Motion Picture Studio in 1978. Its production was the crowning event of the long film career of Director Scott Whitaker. It was filmed on location at such places as Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and others. As the film goes to each location a narrator gives gives insights into the life of Jesus Christ and reads scriptures associated with each site. Paintings by Harry Anderson are also strategically used in the film to continually bring the readers mind back to the days of Jesus and picture him walking in the modern places being shown.
This brings me to the discussion we had in class and which I would like to further discuss here. The question was raised, "Is it necessary to have a film about the life of Jesus? Does it help us better understand the scriptures? What about all those people in earlier days who understood the scriptures just fine without film? It has been said that film is the language we speak today. People in all ages of the world have had a need to understand the world around them, and they used whatever means available to do so. Film is one of the mediums we use to understand our world today. Films can connect us to the past, present, and future by transporting our thoughts to something/somewhere other than our present situation. Films such as "Where Jesus Walked" can in some ways connect us to the life of Jesus and make the stories we read more meaningful. I think seeing the scenes discussed in the New Testament on screen can be helpful in my study of the gospel. For instance seeing the Sea of Galilee in a low valley with choppy waves makes the story of the disciples waking Jesus to save them from the brutal waves all the more believable.
Also, I believe the church recognizes the importance of using different mediums to help spread the message of the restored gospel. They seem to always be in the forefront of new media technologies. This is evidenced by the fact that BYU was one of the first universities to establish a motion picture studio, second only to USC. Also, they recognized immediately the success of Walt Disney studios and traveled to their headquarters to learn their techniques. Just recently at the BYU-Hawaii campus M. Russell Ballard asked students to use new media such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube, and others to participate in a worldwide conversation about the church. Many think that because the leaders of the church are often older men they don't know what's going on, well they do and they know that the media can be a powerful tool in spreading the gospel.
We also watched a 1970 film from a series entitled, "The Church in Action," a film reminiscent of the church's "World News Report" of today. The film showed members of the church from around the world, gave statistics on church membership, and introduced the viewer to new and old leaders of the church and their respective duties. The church has grown rapidly since the days of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. No longer is ours a Utah church with most of its members living in the Western United States. My great-grandfather has a couple of books given to him (and apparently the entire church) for Christmas that were signed by the First Presidency. Such a gesture would be impossible today, with membership numbering over 12 million. Today there are more members outside the United States than in and a person can go their entire life without ever seeing the prophet in person. As the church spreads and its members potentially become more disconnected than in times past, films such as "The Church in Action" can serve an important purpose in re-establishing ties with members in distant lands. It's a way for members to get to know the leaders of the church as well as be informed of the church's activities and growth. Because film is the language we speak today I think it will and must be continually used as a means for gospel instruction as well as a means to connect members of the church.
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I also think it's interesting how long it took for the Church to make a film about Christ. (We talked about this.) I think it has a lot to do with the Church's skepticism surrounding new media. It seems like we're always cautious at first concerning our use of new media. Maybe Church leaders were wary of the portrayal of sacred things in a medium that was largely commercial at the time. However, after it had been established, the Church leaders obviously changed their minds and went full speed ahead (including use of fil in the temple). We see less trepidation today. The Church is more eager to experiment and try new things with new media, which we're seeing more now.
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