The Mormons

Ever since it was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith—who was visited by the angel Moroni in upstate New York and charged with translating inscribed gold plates that told of Christ's coming to America—the notoriously secretive Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints has been at the center of controversy in America, subject to charges of bigamy (polygamy was part of Mormon church doctrine until the early 20th century), racism (priesthood was denied to blacks until 1978), and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (which, to be fair, is a failing shared by many faiths). Filmmaker Helen Whitney's fascinating, near-four-hour documentary The Mormons, a joint American Experience/Frontline production that aired on PBS, serves up a warts-and-all survey told primarily by church historians and other LDS faithful (as well as a couple of excommunicated church members) that combines insightful interviews, dramatic reenactments, and archival footage/stills to trace the Saints march: from New York to Missouri to Illinois (where Smith was jailed in Carthage and then killed by a mob), and finally—under the guidance of new leader Brigham Young—to Utah (before it became a state), all of which took place over a heady quarter-century period, after which the Mormon church took root and prospered. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach that interweaves history, religion, and sociology, The Mormons looks at both critical historical moments (such as the infamous September 11, 1857 Mountain Meadows massacre in Utah in which Mormons slaughtered a band of emigrant men, women, and children—the darkest point in the annals of church history) and a wide range of doctrinal topics (including the concept of direct revelation crucial to LDS theology, and the bizarre-to-many notion of retroactive baptism for the dead—which sparked an outcry in the mid-‘90s when it was discovered that Jews who perished during the Holocaust were being newly baptized as Mormons, a practice that was quickly discontinued). Although plenty of ugly incidents are detailed here (as would be the case in most histories of different faiths), the film also does a good job of presenting the strengths of the Mormon church, from its strong nurturing of families to its noted universal charity work (including, most recently, the large-scale relief effort in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina). In the space of less than two centuries, the Mormon faith has become part of mainstream America (and the church numbers some 13 million members worldwide), whose practitioners include Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Following the 2003 publication of Jon Krakauer's explosive bestseller Under the Banner of Heaven, it would have been impossible for PBS to present a sanitized version of the history of the LDS church: to the network's credit, The Mormons offers a frank assessment that many will also find to be inspirational and uplifting. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)