From Deseret News archives:
Mormon Media Observer: Beyond the HBO moment
Such Mormon portrayals, often stereotypical, have been showing up since the 1800s. For example, When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced detective Sherlock Holmes in the story, \"Study in Scarlet.\" It was set against the backdrop of anti-Mormon inaccuracies about Latter-day Saints and their beliefs popular in England at the time. On a later visit to Utah he apologized for the inaccuracies.
Here are some more contemporary examples of portrayals of Mormons:
In a new Woody Allen film, \"Whatever Works\" actor Ed Begley Jr. thinks that his daughter has been abducted by \"polygamous Mormons.\" The movie takes an especially dim view of organized religion and anything associated with the National Rifle Association, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
\"South Park\" creators continue work on a play unofficially titled the \"Mormon Musical.\" Variety reports Tony-winning writer Robert Lopez is working with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Openly gay Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson has already been cast as a missionary and the show is slated for an Off Broadway opening later this year, according to Variety magazine and the Melbourne Age newspaper. I am sure all of us Mormons can't wait for this one.
In February, a play titled \"Funeral Potatoes\" premiered in Washington focusing on the subtleties of a Mormon family. The D.C. Theater Scene Web site said this of the play: \"Riffing on and off the subtitle- 'Good Wife Always Knows Her Place,' the play centers on a young woman struggling with her family's request that she speak at her grandfather's funeral. In searching for the words and trying to find her voice for this duty, Megan reveals glimpses of her immediate families' expectations, historical legacy, and rebellious and zany outtakes in this delicious collision of life smashing with conservative family values.\"
Translation: Many Latter-day Saints might find the content offensive.
