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Review of “8: The Mormon Proposition”

8: The Mormon Proposition is almost certainly a film that will make you angry. That’s the point – it’s a documentary that unapologetically outlines the Mormon Church’s role in (as the film contends, orchestrating) the Proposition 8 campaign in California in 2008 – the infamous piece of legislation that banned gay marriage in the state.

Milk screenwriter (and former Mormon) Dustin Lance Black narrates the story, which mixes the usual “talking heads” interviews with on-the-scene footage from the events at hand, making for an engaging, positively infuriating documentary experience.

The film begins with a decidedly creepy shot of a Mormon church leader, addressing his congregation during a televised religious conference broadcast about supporting California’s Proposition 8. He calls them “a mighty army” and dictates: “Let us be strong in defending our position.” We soon find out that this particular broadcast was akin to a call to arms to the entire Mormon world – to support the efforts in organizing “Prop 8.”

Immediately after, and in stark contrast to this foreboding opening, is a joyful, colorful shot of gay Star Trek actor George Takei, celebrating the historic day – June 17, 2008 – when gay marriage became legal in California. Those familiar with the history (naturally, the intended audience here) will know just how short-lived this happiness would be. What 8 unveils, however, is just how instrumental the message of the first scene would be to destroying the promise of the second.

The entire film builds on this premise. It details all the ways the elders mobilized the base to get Prop 8 going strong, even using “code” language and serious scare tactics, including going to people’s homes and demanding money. Churchgoers were told – in no uncertain terms – to donate money and time to the cause because the success of Prop 8 was integral to their faith.

Scene by scene, damning evidence is brought up by private investigators, elected officials, ex-Mormons, official Church documents and on-the-scene footage of Church leaders making disdainful comments about queer people. Some of their tactics are merely underhanded – the leaders allegedly used a sort of umbrella coalition and a random post-office box to handle financial matters – and some are outright shocking. One witness contends that families were threatened with being cut off from the church if they did not give money to the cause.

The film follows the timeline between June and November, showing the California opinion polls edge ever in favor of Prop 8 as we see the slick (and horrifying) ads (funded largely by the Mormon coalition) that portray Prop 8 as sort of beckoning call to protecting religious freedom. Anti-gay sentiment abounds. Lies, often particularly vicious lies, litter the landscape of the ads.

Despite the potential comic value of the awful “gathering storm” TV spots that queer comedians have used as fodder ever since, the sheer weight of the bigotry and intolerance is crushing. To anyone who actively followed the ordeal, be warned: watching these scenes has the potential to rip open those barely-healed scars.

Interspersed with the main narrative are interviews with couples and families who were affected by the successful effort. At front and center are Spencer and Tyler, a young gay couple – both young men from the Mormon faith – who married on June 17. Spencer and Tyler tell the camera how they met, their excitement and joy over getting married – and their pain when Prop 8 passed. Effectively serving as the human factor in the story, Tyler and Spencer are not the only queer people showcased in the film – but they are right at the heart of the struggle for acceptance.

Going a step deeper, Tyler’s mother is a constant presence in the film, a Mormon woman who rejected the church’s teachings on this issue and fully supports her son. In one tearful interview, she proclaims: “I just want all of my children to have equal rights!”

Unfortunately, most of her family disagrees. Spencer’s family basically disowns him outright – and most of Tyler’s family has severed ties as well.

8 delves heavily into the pain that the anti-gay sentiment has caused people. Interviews are conducted with homeless youth, kicked out for being gay. Much is made of the fact that Utah has the highest proportion of youth suicides among young men in the entire country – a sad statistic that is made all the more painful in light of one Elder’s public comments that it would be better to be dead than to be gay.

A particularly painful sequence details the story of a young gay man who killed himself inside a church in 2000. Instead of being appalled, his parents wrote a book basically agreeing with the Church’s stance and applauding his decision to take his own life.

In another disturbing scene, a man recounts the truly horrific electroshock “therapy” he was forced to endure as a student at Brigham Young University (presumably in the 1980s). It makes the “reconditioning” scenes in A Clockwork Orange seem positively chipper and righteous in comparison.

It’s extremely difficult not to feel emotional during these sequences, though the film is very careful to place the blame on Church leaders, as opposed to everyday people. A reasonably comprehensive background in the Mormon faith (as it relates to homosexuality) is included for a helpful dose of perspective on the issue.

In fact, everyday Mormon folks are portrayed almost as much as victims as the queer people they were mobilized against. The case is made that these people were pressured so hard and so explicitly that they didn’t necessarily have much of a choice. Obedience is mentioned as one of the key tenants of the faith more than once, as is the idea that churchgoers were made to feel as if organizing for Prop 8 was literally in God’s plan.

Of course, as with all documentary films (particularly the incendiary ones), discerning viewers are encouraged to view with a dose of healthy skepticism. However, the case presented here feels rock-solid – and the evidence looks (to lay eyes, at least), positively damning. Church Leaders are incredibly upfront and public with their bigotry, and unless all of the documents and on-the-scene video has been faked, the makers of 8 have a very strong case.

The production values are slick – minus a few questionably amateur-looking effects oddly spliced in. There’s an excellent mix of interviews, archival video and on-the-scene video that captures the wild variety of emotions – the excitement of June 17, the heartbreak of Prop 8’s passing, the uneasy anger of anti-gay protesters clashing with queer activists and the shock and horror of some of the church’s dealings in politics (both on and off-the-record). It’s hands-down one of the most emotionally charged documentaries of the last decade.

The piece ends on a hopeful, fiery note – inspiring folks to get up and take action, and you’ll be hard-pressed not to be affected by the message. The point here is not to stir anti-Mormon sentiment – but to inspire LGBT folks and allies to fight back harder and be better organized.

There is no better way to judge a documentary than the degree to which it gets under your skin – and by these merits, 8 is absolutely king in the LGBT rights arena. Watch it with a pillow to punch and a computer nearby to search for local queer activist organizations.

8: The Mormon Proposition opens in select theaters (and is available via On Demand) on June 18 and comes out on DVD on July 13. For more information on the film, check out the official website.

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