dear tom hanks, producer of "big love" :
i've been hearing more and more about "big love" 's upcoming episode this sunday, which will show scenes from a temple endowment session and an excommunication.
i'm so sad and dissappointed. tom hanks, did you know that you were my celebrity crush all throughout junior high school? it was all about you, tom. i was such a geekster for "man with one red shoe", "splash", even "turner and hooch." but i'm l.d.s. and you called the people of my faith "unamerican" during the height of the prop 8 controversy during the 2008 presidential election.
now, i know that getting my trousers in a twist over this situation doesn't help anyone, especially not us mormons, glean wisdom and understanding that we need to peaceably soothe over this situation. but i came to that conclusion after being thoroughly upset for awhile yesterday. i'm upset because tom hanks, you're taking what is a sacred experience for me and many people of my faith, and then misusing it through your show. tom, can you imagine how that feels? what would it be like for you if someone tried to re-create a scene of your life involving a tender teaching moment with your mother without your permission? are you OK with that?
i know i'm not OK with "big love" anymore. i used to feel neutral about it because it was based on polygamists and i didn't think the show would amount to anything. my haunch was wrong.
regardless, i'm not going to boycott. i'm not going to get angry. i just wish that i could ask you in person, tom hanks, why? why is it OK to belittle and degrade people like me and my faith, whereas you probably wouldn't dream of doing the same thing to people of another religion, ... let's say muslims or jewish people? or tibetan buddhists? to do that would be horribly prejudiced, unsophisticated and insensitive, right?
so why is my faith different?
i have always been kind and caring towards people of different faiths, lifestyles, and race. i know that not everyone in the Church has the same amount of sensitivity that i do, and for that i'm sorry. but to consult people who have left the Church in order to get accurate about bashing their religion is so ... mean. there's just not any other way to say it.
so i have two last things to say. one is to the people of my faith who may be reading this. this situation makes me wonder, "how did we get here?" i know there are people who will take offense to the Church no matter what. but instead of getting angry, should we maybe look in the mirror and ask how we can treat people of different backgrounds, even "alternative lifestyles" with kindness and respect? could we put a halt on trying to self-righteously will the world into our line of belief and allow people to walk their own path to God? could this anger and hatred towards us be diffused by turning the other cheek and evaluating how we could be better disciples? could we try to relinquish some of the governmental control we sometimes seek by force it seems, and just relax, and have faith that the Lord will not let this country go astray?
the last thing i want to say is to tom hanks again. tom, ultimately anything that i have said in my petit blog is really my opinion. if you really want to know what the church is about, i'd suggest a meeting with some of our best representatives, such as our full-time proselyting missionaires or one of our apostles. they are delightful.
4 comments:
Loved it Megs!
I Love you Megs, Jai Yo!!
very well said! i agree with everything on this post. my sis and i were talking about this the other day. anyway, my sister was saying how the show producers think that by showing the temple ceremonies accurately that should be good enough for us. they just do not understand that we are not afraid about misrepresentation but about the fact that theyre presenting those ceremonies! anyway, i wonder if they ended up presenting that episode or not. ill have to find out.
james franco was in the tv show Freaks and Geeks (my #1 favorite show). he was also in spider man, milk, pineapple express, and other movies. he is incredibly handsome. he is going to grad school at NYU and im stalking him but have never seen him. my friend did. and she said he is beautiful.
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