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Mountain Meadows Massacre:September Dawn film

2007-10-08T18:21:30Z

PaulAlbers: /* Endnotes */

{{question}}

==Question==
Does the film about the Mountain Meadows Massacre accurately portray the historical events?

==Response==

September Dawn is an ill-informed and poorly-done piece of propaganda.

It is true that a group of Mormons, under the influence of local leaders, orchestrated a cold-blooded massacre of men, women, and children on 11 September 1857. The film's claim that this behavior was typical of Mormons, insistence that Brigham Young ordered or orchestrated the massacre, and its uncritical reliance on the account of John D. Lee are grave flaws.

Furthermore, claims that the Church continues to "suppress" the truth are false. Those wishing resources on the historical facts behind the Mountain Meadows tragedy can click [[Mountain Meadows Massacre|here]]. A recent article in the ''Ensign'' (the Church's official magazine) is available [http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1c234dc029133110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0 here].

==Commentary==

Articles on the film and Mountain Meadows Massacre generally:

* Ben Arnoldy, "Ahead of 'September Dawn,' Mormon Church revisits dark period," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p02s01-ussc.html?page=1}}

* "...a bigoted hatchet job...This isn't a movie review so much as it is a warning. "September Dawn" is not a poorly made movie, it is an expertly crafted attack on the Mormon Church. It is an anti-Mormon sermon projected onto the silver screen, as replete with distortion and bigotry as any of the Web sites, pamphlets or books conjured up to vilify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since it was founded more than 175 years ago. The movie reviewers don't quite get it. Without a background in Mormon history and doctrine, and without a knowledge of the favorite themes of the anti-Mormon industry, the sinister detail of the movie would not be evident." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "But the theme of the movie is larger and more subtle than the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The movie, under cover of being a historical drama, is really a religious attack. It is chapter and verse out of the books and sermons of anti-Mormon evangelists who believe God has called them to attack other people's faith. There is, unfortunately, a large tradition among some Christian ministers of mocking Mormon beliefs. Some of these ministers literally travel from town to town, congregation to congregation, preaching against Mormonism. Sacred aspects of Mormon worship and dress are ridiculed by these ministers." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "A great body of anti-Mormon literature has built up over the years. This movie's most hateful aspects are drawn not from history, but from that anti-Mormon literature. Details are included that can only be intended to offend and insult Mormons who see the movie, and alienate from the church those who consider becoming members of it. The material contained in the movie is not historical, it is hateful." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...the notion of "blood atonement" — a theme harped upon by anti-Mormon preachers — is all through this movie, woven into the plot and at least four subplots or tangents. The belief — that people must die to make up for their sins — has never been a doctrine of the Mormon Church, but is the essential premise of 'September Dawn.'" - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "The horrific way in which Brigham Young, a character presumed to be Apostle George A. Smith, pioneer John D. Lee and a fictional bishop are depicted is patently demonic. These characters could have come from nowhere other than the imagination of someone with an intense personal loathing of the Mormon Church and its leaders. Not since Adolf Hitler depicted Jews has Western cinema been used to so spitefully destroy the history and reputation of religious leaders." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...this entire movie is a vendetta. It is not about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is about using the medium of the commercial motion picture to advance an anti-Mormon bigotry that is typically only shouted outside Mormon conferences, temples and pageants. And that is not a hypersensitive response. It is an earnest assessment of the movie's content. The instances of pointed anti-Mormon insult are so gratuitous and abundant in this movie that their presence cannot be accidental. The movie intended to offend, and it did. The movie attempted to defame the Mormon Church, and it did. It is a heavy-handed smear job...It is not a badly made movie. But it is an evilly intended movie. It doesn't seek to entertain or inform, it seeks to tear down and destroy. And, sadly, it does a pretty good job." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

==Critical reaction==

Non-Mormon critics have also realized how biased, sensationalistic, and poorly done the film is. A sample of media quotes about the film (quotes are by author's last name):

===Authors A-D===
* "Zero stars.... If the Western genre is struggling, it's because of terrible movies like this one." - Jeffrey M. Anderson, ''Combustible Celluloid'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2007/septdawn.shtml}}

* "In its retelling of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, 'September Dawn' takes a mysterious, incendiary historical event and turns it into a one-sided hatefest.... [Director Christopher Cain] relentlessly villainizes those who are historically proven to have participated in the massacre, adding a condemnation of Mormon prophet Brigham Young as the mastermind.... While it portrays interesting and forgotten history, this period piece mostly turns into a biased waste." - David Berngartt, ''The Daily Tar Heel'' (30 August 2007). {{link|url=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/08/30/Diversions/Movie.Shorts-2942770.shtml}}

* "Director Christopher Cain...paints a damning, one-sided portrait of Latter-day Saints in this irresponsible, ham-fisted morality tale that plays off our cultural ignorance of the Mormon religion...The events surrounding the killings are historically cloudy, but not according to this film...He stops short of calling Osama bin Laden a Mormon sympathizer, but maybe that'll be on the DVD." - Ty Burr, ''Boston Globe'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10248}}

* "It's not torture porn; it's massacre porn...the pic is ultimately less interested in understanding its Mormon characters than in demonizing them..." - Justin Chang, ''Variety'' (). {{link|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934474.html?categoryid=31&cs=1}}

* "September Dawn was made primarily as a history lesson, to bring to light an atrocity that took place 150 years ago, and to underscore the parallels between the religious fanaticism of the past and the religious fanaticism of the present.... And here's where things get a bit dodgy. The film clearly pins responsibility for the massacre onto Brigham Young (Terence Stamp), the head of the Mormon church and the Governor of Utah at that time; but historians...say it is unclear whether Young was directly involved. If the film was assuming his responsibility for dramatic purposes, and using it to explore an even larger theme, that would be one thing; but instead, Young's alleged responsibility is itself the point that the film wants to hammer home.... What makes this portrayal even more questionable is the stark contrast the movie draws between the Mormons and the settlers.... Those who want to know what really happened...are advised to look elsewhere." - Peter T. Chattaway, ''Christianity Today'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/2007/septemberdawn.html}}

* "...the project has the appearance of melodramatic sectarian propaganda.... The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." - Colin Covert, ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.startribune.com/1553/story/1378721.html}}

===Authors E-H===
* "Zero stars...The vast majority of the members of all religions, I believe and would argue, don't want to kill anybody. They want to love and care for their families, find decent work that sustains life and comfort, live in peace and get along with their neighbors. It is a deviant streak in some humans, I suspect, that drives them toward self-righteous violence, and uses religion as a convenient alibi...There isn't anything to be gained in telling this story in this way. It generates bad feelings on all sides...The Mormons are presented in no better light than Nazis and Japanese were in Hollywood's World War II films. Wasn't there a more thoughtful and insightful way to consider this historical event?" - Roger Ebert, ''Chicago Sun Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/REVIEWS/70823001}}

* "Jon Voight continues in his apparent effort to prove that he’s the heir apparent to both Bela Lugosi ''and'' John Carradine in the realm of career sense. Just when you thought that ''Bratz'' simply had to represent the nadir of his acting choices, along comes ''September Dawn'' to prove you wrong. Except for the fact that almost no one will ever see this, er, remarkable film, career-wise it’s the cinematic equivalent of playing Russian roulette with six loaded chambers...This doesn’t make Voight blameless, however, since he obviously agreed to be in this thing." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007) {{io}}. {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "While historians are divided on exactly what role Mormon leader and then territorial governor Brigham Young played in the event, Cain and his cowriter, Carole Whang Schutter, have decided that Young orchestrated the massacre out of a combination of religious zeal and paranoia concerning the U.S. government. The point is that this might be true, but it also might not. Choosing to present it as fact guarantees the film a certain tabloid-esque controversy, of course, but it’s a dubious choice that makes the movie play as little more than wild-eyed anti-Mormon propaganda." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "The film’s other attempts to demonize Mormonism (really, what else can you call this?) are equally as unsubtle (in the manner most closely associated with Dr. Goebbels)—that is, when they’re not just peculiar...Ultimately, it’s a toss-up as to whether ''September Dawn'' is more offensive as history, as allegory or simply as lousy self-important filmmaking. It hardly matters since on all three levels the movie smells of herring." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* Shot in a style that might be termed Americana gravitas, September Dawn has the ham-fisted lyricism of political ads and pharmaceutical commercials. - J. Hoberman, ''The Village Voice'' (21 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0734,hoberman,77559,20.html}}

===Authors I-L===
* "September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind.... Such ham-fisted earnestness does no one any good, least of all those who believe there's a big difference between historical fact and emotional screed." - Chris Kaltenbach, ''Baltimore Sun'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/bal-to.september24aug24,0,1683668.story}}

* "The film and its website come with references and citations galore, yet confusing points abound.... When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history, however, it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...." , Frank Lovece, ''Film Journal International'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/reviews/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003628996}}

* "Cain has co-written and directed a film that only the most bigoted of Mormon detractors could enjoy. Most viewers, if any are willing to part with their money or time, will simply laugh derisively.... [Director Cain] has created questionable history and boneheaded drama.... Thanks to a cheap production...and even cheaper thinking, anyone who has seen the movie knows that there’s nothing to discuss." - Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=382}}

===Authors M-O===

* "Imagine a half-baked remake of “Schindler’s List” by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and you get the idea." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "Religious bias clouds ''Dawn''...The obvious bias in this scenario is so flagrant as to be cartoonish...[the authors] are anything but subtle with the film’s message which can roughly be summed up as Mormons=bad, Protestants=good... Though Young’s involvement has never been established, speculation about such has been a favorite pastime in anti-Mormon Evangelical circles for years, which is where this film was seemingly hatched. Not only is co-writer Schutter an avowed Evangelical, but the film also reportedly enlisted as advisor Brigham Young descendent Sandra Tanner, a practicing Evangelical who, with her husband, runs a Utah-based ministry that specializes in attacking the Mormon Church...Not that “September Dawn” is likely to stir much of a controversy, anyway. Apart from a handful of Bible Belt markets that will devour it like red meat, the self-distributed picture is more likely to be greeted by Mormons and non-Mormons alike with exceeding apathy – more offensive for its slapdash storytelling than its willfully slanderous bias." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "...disturbingly awful..."September Dawn," written by an evangelical Christian, may be the worst historical drama ever made...it trivializes one of America's ugliest and least understood events." - Jack Matthews, ''New York Daily News'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/08/24/2007-08-24_westward_woe_in_1857_utah.html}}

* "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response. But 'September Dawn,' director Christopher Cain's drama set during the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is deserving of derision." - Sean Means, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.film-finder.com/Review.asp?ID=53495}}

* "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous.... This misguided 9/11 allegory and fictionalization of that history utterly demonizes the perpetrators of that massacre and those who may have given the orders.... Every religion, when scrutinized by a skeptic, is open to mockery. Tune in to South Park if you want satire that ridicules, sect by sect, all comers in the world of religious zealots especially Mormons. But September Dawn isn't mockery. It's practically a call to jihad.... We can probably count the days until this shows up for sale on fringe Christian TV channels, its virtues trumpeted by some minister or other marketing his or her version of 'The Truth.' There are facts here...but there's the unmistakable air of evil about this enterprise, and not just an atrocity the Mormon church caused to happen 150 years ago." - Roger Moore, ''Orlando Sentinel'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-db-moviereviews-searchresults,0,3279701,results.formprofile?Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_05_txt+cdb_06_txt+c}}

* "Cain and Schutter want so desperately to frame their story with clear-cut heroes and villains that they steamroll over much of the nuance that not only leaves the events open for interpretation but also shows the futility of retrofitting the world into absolutist terms of black and white, us and them. Cain and Schutter instead prefer to simply bang the 'Mormons are freaky' drum just a little too hard and insistently." - Mark Olsen, ''Los Angelas Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-september24aug24,1,5713401.story?ctrack=1&cset=true}}
* "There will be many who will see September Dawn as an anti-Mormon film. And there's no question that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is portrayed in the film as a cultlike religion of fanatics. Mormons no doubt will feel personally attacked, and they should." - Richard Nielson, ''The Arizona Republic'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0622dawn0622.html?&wired}}

* "The point of the picture appears to be the blunt mockery of the Mormon culture, but surely “Dawn” would be far more controversial if it didn’t try so hard to be raw and unpleasant. [Director Christopher] Cain has turned the Mormons into baby-eatin' Nazis to suit his argument, parading around these black-clad, chin-bearded, testicle-slicing gunslingers without any thoughtful consideration. To Cain, the Mormons were hulking, borderline insane fundamental gorillas who flung excrement at anyone daring to besmirch the name of Joseph Smith.... It’s a trashy, tasteless, and ridiculous film about a serious event in prairie history, eliciting laughter instead of education." - Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=404}}

* "‘September Dawn’ not worth seeing...the director gives a rather one-sided perspective on a highly debated issue. It’s hard not to notice director Christopher Cain’s bias towards the Mormon treatment of “gentiles”...This is my biggest problem with the film...Instead of keeping the film close to history, Cain bases his tale on a questionable 27-page confession, and subsequently portrays the Mormons as animals and zealots...." - Norris Ortolano, ''The Advocate'' (25 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/9362996.html}}

* "'September Dawn' oozes biased zeal...uses tragedy to bludgeon home its anti-Mormon agenda...a pedantic, cable-TV-caliber melodrama that bullies the audience into accepting its rather slanted, selective agenda...The filmmakers intimate that the murder of Smith was more or less justified, and frame the Mountain Meadows bloodshed as the final culmination of the sect's extremist arrogance. It makes for a sordid display" - Craig Outhier, ''The Orange County Register'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/cain-way-mormons-1818260-director-stamp}}

===Authors P-S===

* "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." - Brett Register, ''Orlando Weekly'' (23 August 2007){{link|url=http://www.orlandoweekly.com/film/review.asp?rid=12972}}

* "a solemn package of historical fiction and an exceedingly old-fashioned one at that. It is also quite controversial among Western historians and the Mormon community...The principal story line is anything but verbatim history, and the screenplay is the weakest aspect of the film." - Luke Sader, ''Yahoo News'' (24 August 2007).{{link|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070824/review_nm/film_september_dc_1;_ylt=Ag8K.w8ZfgYnP.pYop6yLGIE1vAI}}

* "...the clunky, heavily skewed means by which this tale is presented is nothing short of egregious, with its Mormon characters demonized with such laughable gusto, and its Christian victims cast in such a holy, noble light, that the project quickly feels less like an attempt at historical truth-telling than like shameless anti-Mormon propaganda.... This cartoonish demonization persistently seems tied to a religious-political agenda." - Nick Sager, ''Slant Magazine'' (20 April 2007). {{link|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2925}}

* "No stars...'SEPTEMBER Dawn" succeeds completely at failure; the unified incompetence of its writing, directing and acting suggest a man who manages to be on fire and drowning at the same time..." - Kyle Smith, ''New York Post'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08242007/entertainment/movies/pulpit_massacre_has_whiff_of_p.htm}}

* "D minus.... Clearly “September Dawn” is constructed as an anti-Mormon diatribe disguised as a historical narrative.... Like most 'historical' pictures, [it] has serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." - Frank Swietek, ''One Guy's Opinion''{{link|url=http://www.oneguysopinion.com/Review.php?ID=2230}}
===Authors T-Z===
* "But it can't shake the implication that it's some sort of attack piece on the Mormon religion and, in turn, conspiracy theorists may believe, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Some dialogue negatively likens Mormonism to Islam and paganism. Cartoonish scenes detract from the film's plausibility, including Mormon characters' referral to Brigham Young as 'the Mormon god on earth,' and a group of Mormons chanting 'blood atonement! blood atonement!' over and over as though it were a softball rally cry.... 'September Dawn' is a stirring love story that dabbles uncomfortably close to hate." - Phil Villarreal, ''Arizona Daily Star'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.aznightbuzz.com/stories/197438.php}}

If readers are aware of quotes about the film not available here, they are encouraged to [http://fairlds.org/contact.php contact FAIR].

==Box office results==
''September Dawn'' opened on 24 August 2007 at 857 theaters in the United States. It made $601,857 its opening weekend, an average of $702 per theater.{{ref|boxofficemojo}} If we conservatively assume three screenings per day per theater and an average ticket price of $8, that means less than 10 people were in each theater per screening.

Only 415 theaters kept the movie playing a second week, and only 26 theaters carried it for its third and final weekend. Total gross for the movie was just over one million dollars, about a tenth of the production costs.{{ref|boxofficemojo2}}

==The film's creators react to criticism==
On 29 August 2007, Carole Schutter, creator of the film's story and co-writer of its screenplay, sent the following email to several ex-Mormon critics:

:I am the co-writer of the Screenplay "September Dawn," and Author of the book by the same name. We have been heavily slammed in the press and perhaps I'm being paranoid but the apparent sameness of their opinions are too coincidental. I have heard floating rumours of Mormons being told to slam the movie in reviews and one blog reporting it on yahoo.com has been pulled. Would like to correspond with anyone who can give me any info on this.

:I did two years of research, talked to many ex-Mormons, and descendents [''sic''] of the perpertrators [''sic'']. We are being called liars by the press and the user movie reviews on yahoo are very interesting. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. And, may I say, although we have taken literary license, our facts are facts supported by sermons by Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, confessions of Danite Chiefs, letters by Supreme Court Judges and military officers, speeches by Presidents Buchanan, Pierce and Lincoln, etc., etc., etc. Would like to fight this smear campaign and banning. I believe everyone has the right to free speech, but we have the right to fight back.

:I am a Christian and have attached for those of you who are Christians a statement that will go on the religious wire. I am aware of persecution of ex-Mormons who have become Christians in Utah. My brother-in-law pastors a church with many ex-Mormons including ones whose families were involved in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

:I understand this movie is helping ex-Mormons who feel persecuted, giving them the strength to remove their names from the lists and face ostracism.

:Please help me try to learn the truth as to whether or not the church is directing their members to help destroy our movie and credibility. Thank you.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not "direct[ed its] members to help destroy" ''September Dawn'', and has made no comment about the film itself. Virtually all of the critical reviews reprinted above were written by non-Mormons. Instead of taking the criticism of her film at face value, Schutter resorted to paranoid conspiracy theories.

Two days later, on 31 August, Schutter issued the following press release, emphasizing the controversial nature of ''September Dawn'' and the supposed Mormon backlash against it:

:HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 31 — September Dawn fires controversy not only between Christians and Mormons, but within the media. Catch phrases from media reviews such as "anti-Mormon," "ham-fisted tale," and "a distortion of history" have only fueled the flames.

:The movie's controversial screenplay, co-written by Carole Whang Schutter and Christopher Cain, is based on the true life story of a wagon train of Utah settlers who venture into Mormon territory and stop there at the wrong time. On September 11, 1857, in Mountain Meadows, more than 120 innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered because they were not Mormons.

:According to Wayne Atilio Capurro, the great-great grandson of Philip Klingensmith, the Mormon Bishop of Cedar City, Utah, in 1857, his ancestor, portrayed by Jon Voight in the film, was a participant in the Mountain Meadows Massacre and one of three men assigned to deliver personally to Brigham Young the valuables taken from the murdered immigrants.

:The controversy regarding Mountain Meadows Massacre began in 1857 and continues today following the airing of September Dawn:

:"September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind..." —Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

:"The early reviews are in on September Dawn, the long-gestating drama set against the Mountain Meadows Massacre—and it's a critical slaughter." —Sean P. Means, movie critic, The Salt Lake Tribune

:"The leadership of the LDS religion has a 150-year history of blaming the Indians, blaming the victims and scapegoating their members while denying all responsibility for a crime that disgraced humanity. They continue to do so in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary." —Wayne Atilio Capurro, ancestor of Mormon Bishop and author of White Flag

:Carole Whang Schutter, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, began her writing career at age 54. She is a motivational speaker and has appeared on TV and radio shows. Her enduring interest in religion and passion for history led her to write September Dawn, her first screenplay, in collaboration with Director/Producer Christopher Cain.{{ref|pressrelease}}

With the film savaged by critics and drawing a minuscule paying audience, Schutter apparently decided to manufacture a controversy, with hints of a conspiracy, in the hopes of filling a few seats. (Her press release uses the term "controversy" or "controversial" three times.)

The problem, of course, is that there is no "controversy" here. Virtually everyone — with the exception of anti-Mormon partisans — agrees that ''September Dawn'' is a bad film.

==Conclusion==
''September Dawn'' is not only bad history, it is an altogether bad film. The creators have used negative stereotypes to create a piece of anti-Mormon propaganda for the big screen. They are so committed to their vision of perfidious Mormons, that they can't accept non-Mormon criticism at face value—they "know" their film can't be bad, so it must be the Mormons' fault. But, neutral non-LDS observers recognize the film for what it is—yesterday's shrill anti-Mormonism on the big screen.

==Endnotes==
#{{note|boxofficemojo}}Retrieved from ''Box Office Mojo'' (''boxofficemojo.com'') on 29 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=septemberdawn.htm}}
#{{note|boxofficemojo2}}Retrieved from ''Box Office Mojo - Weekend Box Office'' (''boxofficemojo.com'') on 08 October 2007. {{link|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=septemberdawn.htm}}
#{{note|pressrelease}}Retrieved from ''Christian Newswire'' (''christiannewswire.com'') on 31 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/917894036.html}}

==Further reading==

===FAIR wiki articles===
{{MMMWiki}}

===FAIR web site===
{{MMMFAIR}}
===External links===
{{MMMLinks}}

===Printed material===
{{MMMPrint}}

Mountain Meadows Massacre:September Dawn film

2007-10-08T18:19:27Z

PaulAlbers: /* Box office results */

{{question}}

==Question==
Does the film about the Mountain Meadows Massacre accurately portray the historical events?

==Response==

September Dawn is an ill-informed and poorly-done piece of propaganda.

It is true that a group of Mormons, under the influence of local leaders, orchestrated a cold-blooded massacre of men, women, and children on 11 September 1857. The film's claim that this behavior was typical of Mormons, insistence that Brigham Young ordered or orchestrated the massacre, and its uncritical reliance on the account of John D. Lee are grave flaws.

Furthermore, claims that the Church continues to "suppress" the truth are false. Those wishing resources on the historical facts behind the Mountain Meadows tragedy can click [[Mountain Meadows Massacre|here]]. A recent article in the ''Ensign'' (the Church's official magazine) is available [http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1c234dc029133110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0 here].

==Commentary==

Articles on the film and Mountain Meadows Massacre generally:

* Ben Arnoldy, "Ahead of 'September Dawn,' Mormon Church revisits dark period," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p02s01-ussc.html?page=1}}

* "...a bigoted hatchet job...This isn't a movie review so much as it is a warning. "September Dawn" is not a poorly made movie, it is an expertly crafted attack on the Mormon Church. It is an anti-Mormon sermon projected onto the silver screen, as replete with distortion and bigotry as any of the Web sites, pamphlets or books conjured up to vilify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since it was founded more than 175 years ago. The movie reviewers don't quite get it. Without a background in Mormon history and doctrine, and without a knowledge of the favorite themes of the anti-Mormon industry, the sinister detail of the movie would not be evident." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "But the theme of the movie is larger and more subtle than the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The movie, under cover of being a historical drama, is really a religious attack. It is chapter and verse out of the books and sermons of anti-Mormon evangelists who believe God has called them to attack other people's faith. There is, unfortunately, a large tradition among some Christian ministers of mocking Mormon beliefs. Some of these ministers literally travel from town to town, congregation to congregation, preaching against Mormonism. Sacred aspects of Mormon worship and dress are ridiculed by these ministers." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "A great body of anti-Mormon literature has built up over the years. This movie's most hateful aspects are drawn not from history, but from that anti-Mormon literature. Details are included that can only be intended to offend and insult Mormons who see the movie, and alienate from the church those who consider becoming members of it. The material contained in the movie is not historical, it is hateful." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...the notion of "blood atonement" — a theme harped upon by anti-Mormon preachers — is all through this movie, woven into the plot and at least four subplots or tangents. The belief — that people must die to make up for their sins — has never been a doctrine of the Mormon Church, but is the essential premise of 'September Dawn.'" - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "The horrific way in which Brigham Young, a character presumed to be Apostle George A. Smith, pioneer John D. Lee and a fictional bishop are depicted is patently demonic. These characters could have come from nowhere other than the imagination of someone with an intense personal loathing of the Mormon Church and its leaders. Not since Adolf Hitler depicted Jews has Western cinema been used to so spitefully destroy the history and reputation of religious leaders." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...this entire movie is a vendetta. It is not about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is about using the medium of the commercial motion picture to advance an anti-Mormon bigotry that is typically only shouted outside Mormon conferences, temples and pageants. And that is not a hypersensitive response. It is an earnest assessment of the movie's content. The instances of pointed anti-Mormon insult are so gratuitous and abundant in this movie that their presence cannot be accidental. The movie intended to offend, and it did. The movie attempted to defame the Mormon Church, and it did. It is a heavy-handed smear job...It is not a badly made movie. But it is an evilly intended movie. It doesn't seek to entertain or inform, it seeks to tear down and destroy. And, sadly, it does a pretty good job." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

==Critical reaction==

Non-Mormon critics have also realized how biased, sensationalistic, and poorly done the film is. A sample of media quotes about the film (quotes are by author's last name):

===Authors A-D===
* "Zero stars.... If the Western genre is struggling, it's because of terrible movies like this one." - Jeffrey M. Anderson, ''Combustible Celluloid'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2007/septdawn.shtml}}

* "In its retelling of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, 'September Dawn' takes a mysterious, incendiary historical event and turns it into a one-sided hatefest.... [Director Christopher Cain] relentlessly villainizes those who are historically proven to have participated in the massacre, adding a condemnation of Mormon prophet Brigham Young as the mastermind.... While it portrays interesting and forgotten history, this period piece mostly turns into a biased waste." - David Berngartt, ''The Daily Tar Heel'' (30 August 2007). {{link|url=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/08/30/Diversions/Movie.Shorts-2942770.shtml}}

* "Director Christopher Cain...paints a damning, one-sided portrait of Latter-day Saints in this irresponsible, ham-fisted morality tale that plays off our cultural ignorance of the Mormon religion...The events surrounding the killings are historically cloudy, but not according to this film...He stops short of calling Osama bin Laden a Mormon sympathizer, but maybe that'll be on the DVD." - Ty Burr, ''Boston Globe'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10248}}

* "It's not torture porn; it's massacre porn...the pic is ultimately less interested in understanding its Mormon characters than in demonizing them..." - Justin Chang, ''Variety'' (). {{link|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934474.html?categoryid=31&cs=1}}

* "September Dawn was made primarily as a history lesson, to bring to light an atrocity that took place 150 years ago, and to underscore the parallels between the religious fanaticism of the past and the religious fanaticism of the present.... And here's where things get a bit dodgy. The film clearly pins responsibility for the massacre onto Brigham Young (Terence Stamp), the head of the Mormon church and the Governor of Utah at that time; but historians...say it is unclear whether Young was directly involved. If the film was assuming his responsibility for dramatic purposes, and using it to explore an even larger theme, that would be one thing; but instead, Young's alleged responsibility is itself the point that the film wants to hammer home.... What makes this portrayal even more questionable is the stark contrast the movie draws between the Mormons and the settlers.... Those who want to know what really happened...are advised to look elsewhere." - Peter T. Chattaway, ''Christianity Today'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/2007/septemberdawn.html}}

* "...the project has the appearance of melodramatic sectarian propaganda.... The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." - Colin Covert, ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.startribune.com/1553/story/1378721.html}}

===Authors E-H===
* "Zero stars...The vast majority of the members of all religions, I believe and would argue, don't want to kill anybody. They want to love and care for their families, find decent work that sustains life and comfort, live in peace and get along with their neighbors. It is a deviant streak in some humans, I suspect, that drives them toward self-righteous violence, and uses religion as a convenient alibi...There isn't anything to be gained in telling this story in this way. It generates bad feelings on all sides...The Mormons are presented in no better light than Nazis and Japanese were in Hollywood's World War II films. Wasn't there a more thoughtful and insightful way to consider this historical event?" - Roger Ebert, ''Chicago Sun Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/REVIEWS/70823001}}

* "Jon Voight continues in his apparent effort to prove that he’s the heir apparent to both Bela Lugosi ''and'' John Carradine in the realm of career sense. Just when you thought that ''Bratz'' simply had to represent the nadir of his acting choices, along comes ''September Dawn'' to prove you wrong. Except for the fact that almost no one will ever see this, er, remarkable film, career-wise it’s the cinematic equivalent of playing Russian roulette with six loaded chambers...This doesn’t make Voight blameless, however, since he obviously agreed to be in this thing." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007) {{io}}. {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "While historians are divided on exactly what role Mormon leader and then territorial governor Brigham Young played in the event, Cain and his cowriter, Carole Whang Schutter, have decided that Young orchestrated the massacre out of a combination of religious zeal and paranoia concerning the U.S. government. The point is that this might be true, but it also might not. Choosing to present it as fact guarantees the film a certain tabloid-esque controversy, of course, but it’s a dubious choice that makes the movie play as little more than wild-eyed anti-Mormon propaganda." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "The film’s other attempts to demonize Mormonism (really, what else can you call this?) are equally as unsubtle (in the manner most closely associated with Dr. Goebbels)—that is, when they’re not just peculiar...Ultimately, it’s a toss-up as to whether ''September Dawn'' is more offensive as history, as allegory or simply as lousy self-important filmmaking. It hardly matters since on all three levels the movie smells of herring." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* Shot in a style that might be termed Americana gravitas, September Dawn has the ham-fisted lyricism of political ads and pharmaceutical commercials. - J. Hoberman, ''The Village Voice'' (21 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0734,hoberman,77559,20.html}}

===Authors I-L===
* "September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind.... Such ham-fisted earnestness does no one any good, least of all those who believe there's a big difference between historical fact and emotional screed." - Chris Kaltenbach, ''Baltimore Sun'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/bal-to.september24aug24,0,1683668.story}}

* "The film and its website come with references and citations galore, yet confusing points abound.... When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history, however, it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...." , Frank Lovece, ''Film Journal International'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/reviews/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003628996}}

* "Cain has co-written and directed a film that only the most bigoted of Mormon detractors could enjoy. Most viewers, if any are willing to part with their money or time, will simply laugh derisively.... [Director Cain] has created questionable history and boneheaded drama.... Thanks to a cheap production...and even cheaper thinking, anyone who has seen the movie knows that there’s nothing to discuss." - Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=382}}

===Authors M-O===

* "Imagine a half-baked remake of “Schindler’s List” by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and you get the idea." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "Religious bias clouds ''Dawn''...The obvious bias in this scenario is so flagrant as to be cartoonish...[the authors] are anything but subtle with the film’s message which can roughly be summed up as Mormons=bad, Protestants=good... Though Young’s involvement has never been established, speculation about such has been a favorite pastime in anti-Mormon Evangelical circles for years, which is where this film was seemingly hatched. Not only is co-writer Schutter an avowed Evangelical, but the film also reportedly enlisted as advisor Brigham Young descendent Sandra Tanner, a practicing Evangelical who, with her husband, runs a Utah-based ministry that specializes in attacking the Mormon Church...Not that “September Dawn” is likely to stir much of a controversy, anyway. Apart from a handful of Bible Belt markets that will devour it like red meat, the self-distributed picture is more likely to be greeted by Mormons and non-Mormons alike with exceeding apathy – more offensive for its slapdash storytelling than its willfully slanderous bias." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "...disturbingly awful..."September Dawn," written by an evangelical Christian, may be the worst historical drama ever made...it trivializes one of America's ugliest and least understood events." - Jack Matthews, ''New York Daily News'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/08/24/2007-08-24_westward_woe_in_1857_utah.html}}

* "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response. But 'September Dawn,' director Christopher Cain's drama set during the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is deserving of derision." - Sean Means, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.film-finder.com/Review.asp?ID=53495}}

* "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous.... This misguided 9/11 allegory and fictionalization of that history utterly demonizes the perpetrators of that massacre and those who may have given the orders.... Every religion, when scrutinized by a skeptic, is open to mockery. Tune in to South Park if you want satire that ridicules, sect by sect, all comers in the world of religious zealots especially Mormons. But September Dawn isn't mockery. It's practically a call to jihad.... We can probably count the days until this shows up for sale on fringe Christian TV channels, its virtues trumpeted by some minister or other marketing his or her version of 'The Truth.' There are facts here...but there's the unmistakable air of evil about this enterprise, and not just an atrocity the Mormon church caused to happen 150 years ago." - Roger Moore, ''Orlando Sentinel'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-db-moviereviews-searchresults,0,3279701,results.formprofile?Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_05_txt+cdb_06_txt+c}}

* "Cain and Schutter want so desperately to frame their story with clear-cut heroes and villains that they steamroll over much of the nuance that not only leaves the events open for interpretation but also shows the futility of retrofitting the world into absolutist terms of black and white, us and them. Cain and Schutter instead prefer to simply bang the 'Mormons are freaky' drum just a little too hard and insistently." - Mark Olsen, ''Los Angelas Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-september24aug24,1,5713401.story?ctrack=1&cset=true}}
* "There will be many who will see September Dawn as an anti-Mormon film. And there's no question that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is portrayed in the film as a cultlike religion of fanatics. Mormons no doubt will feel personally attacked, and they should." - Richard Nielson, ''The Arizona Republic'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0622dawn0622.html?&wired}}

* "The point of the picture appears to be the blunt mockery of the Mormon culture, but surely “Dawn” would be far more controversial if it didn’t try so hard to be raw and unpleasant. [Director Christopher] Cain has turned the Mormons into baby-eatin' Nazis to suit his argument, parading around these black-clad, chin-bearded, testicle-slicing gunslingers without any thoughtful consideration. To Cain, the Mormons were hulking, borderline insane fundamental gorillas who flung excrement at anyone daring to besmirch the name of Joseph Smith.... It’s a trashy, tasteless, and ridiculous film about a serious event in prairie history, eliciting laughter instead of education." - Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=404}}

* "‘September Dawn’ not worth seeing...the director gives a rather one-sided perspective on a highly debated issue. It’s hard not to notice director Christopher Cain’s bias towards the Mormon treatment of “gentiles”...This is my biggest problem with the film...Instead of keeping the film close to history, Cain bases his tale on a questionable 27-page confession, and subsequently portrays the Mormons as animals and zealots...." - Norris Ortolano, ''The Advocate'' (25 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/9362996.html}}

* "'September Dawn' oozes biased zeal...uses tragedy to bludgeon home its anti-Mormon agenda...a pedantic, cable-TV-caliber melodrama that bullies the audience into accepting its rather slanted, selective agenda...The filmmakers intimate that the murder of Smith was more or less justified, and frame the Mountain Meadows bloodshed as the final culmination of the sect's extremist arrogance. It makes for a sordid display" - Craig Outhier, ''The Orange County Register'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/cain-way-mormons-1818260-director-stamp}}

===Authors P-S===

* "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." - Brett Register, ''Orlando Weekly'' (23 August 2007){{link|url=http://www.orlandoweekly.com/film/review.asp?rid=12972}}

* "a solemn package of historical fiction and an exceedingly old-fashioned one at that. It is also quite controversial among Western historians and the Mormon community...The principal story line is anything but verbatim history, and the screenplay is the weakest aspect of the film." - Luke Sader, ''Yahoo News'' (24 August 2007).{{link|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070824/review_nm/film_september_dc_1;_ylt=Ag8K.w8ZfgYnP.pYop6yLGIE1vAI}}

* "...the clunky, heavily skewed means by which this tale is presented is nothing short of egregious, with its Mormon characters demonized with such laughable gusto, and its Christian victims cast in such a holy, noble light, that the project quickly feels less like an attempt at historical truth-telling than like shameless anti-Mormon propaganda.... This cartoonish demonization persistently seems tied to a religious-political agenda." - Nick Sager, ''Slant Magazine'' (20 April 2007). {{link|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2925}}

* "No stars...'SEPTEMBER Dawn" succeeds completely at failure; the unified incompetence of its writing, directing and acting suggest a man who manages to be on fire and drowning at the same time..." - Kyle Smith, ''New York Post'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08242007/entertainment/movies/pulpit_massacre_has_whiff_of_p.htm}}

* "D minus.... Clearly “September Dawn” is constructed as an anti-Mormon diatribe disguised as a historical narrative.... Like most 'historical' pictures, [it] has serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." - Frank Swietek, ''One Guy's Opinion''{{link|url=http://www.oneguysopinion.com/Review.php?ID=2230}}
===Authors T-Z===
* "But it can't shake the implication that it's some sort of attack piece on the Mormon religion and, in turn, conspiracy theorists may believe, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Some dialogue negatively likens Mormonism to Islam and paganism. Cartoonish scenes detract from the film's plausibility, including Mormon characters' referral to Brigham Young as 'the Mormon god on earth,' and a group of Mormons chanting 'blood atonement! blood atonement!' over and over as though it were a softball rally cry.... 'September Dawn' is a stirring love story that dabbles uncomfortably close to hate." - Phil Villarreal, ''Arizona Daily Star'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.aznightbuzz.com/stories/197438.php}}

If readers are aware of quotes about the film not available here, they are encouraged to [http://fairlds.org/contact.php contact FAIR].

==Box office results==
''September Dawn'' opened on 24 August 2007 at 857 theaters in the United States. It made $601,857 its opening weekend, an average of $702 per theater.{{ref|boxofficemojo}} If we conservatively assume three screenings per day per theater and an average ticket price of $8, that means less than 10 people were in each theater per screening.

Only 415 theaters kept the movie playing a second week, and only 26 theaters carried it for its third and final weekend. Total gross for the movie was just over one million dollars, about a tenth of the production costs.{{ref|boxofficemojo2}}

==The film's creators react to criticism==
On 29 August 2007, Carole Schutter, creator of the film's story and co-writer of its screenplay, sent the following email to several ex-Mormon critics:

:I am the co-writer of the Screenplay "September Dawn," and Author of the book by the same name. We have been heavily slammed in the press and perhaps I'm being paranoid but the apparent sameness of their opinions are too coincidental. I have heard floating rumours of Mormons being told to slam the movie in reviews and one blog reporting it on yahoo.com has been pulled. Would like to correspond with anyone who can give me any info on this.

:I did two years of research, talked to many ex-Mormons, and descendents [''sic''] of the perpertrators [''sic'']. We are being called liars by the press and the user movie reviews on yahoo are very interesting. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. And, may I say, although we have taken literary license, our facts are facts supported by sermons by Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, confessions of Danite Chiefs, letters by Supreme Court Judges and military officers, speeches by Presidents Buchanan, Pierce and Lincoln, etc., etc., etc. Would like to fight this smear campaign and banning. I believe everyone has the right to free speech, but we have the right to fight back.

:I am a Christian and have attached for those of you who are Christians a statement that will go on the religious wire. I am aware of persecution of ex-Mormons who have become Christians in Utah. My brother-in-law pastors a church with many ex-Mormons including ones whose families were involved in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

:I understand this movie is helping ex-Mormons who feel persecuted, giving them the strength to remove their names from the lists and face ostracism.

:Please help me try to learn the truth as to whether or not the church is directing their members to help destroy our movie and credibility. Thank you.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not "direct[ed its] members to help destroy" ''September Dawn'', and has made no comment about the film itself. Virtually all of the critical reviews reprinted above were written by non-Mormons. Instead of taking the criticism of her film at face value, Schutter resorted to paranoid conspiracy theories.

Two days later, on 31 August, Schutter issued the following press release, emphasizing the controversial nature of ''September Dawn'' and the supposed Mormon backlash against it:

:HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 31 — September Dawn fires controversy not only between Christians and Mormons, but within the media. Catch phrases from media reviews such as "anti-Mormon," "ham-fisted tale," and "a distortion of history" have only fueled the flames.

:The movie's controversial screenplay, co-written by Carole Whang Schutter and Christopher Cain, is based on the true life story of a wagon train of Utah settlers who venture into Mormon territory and stop there at the wrong time. On September 11, 1857, in Mountain Meadows, more than 120 innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered because they were not Mormons.

:According to Wayne Atilio Capurro, the great-great grandson of Philip Klingensmith, the Mormon Bishop of Cedar City, Utah, in 1857, his ancestor, portrayed by Jon Voight in the film, was a participant in the Mountain Meadows Massacre and one of three men assigned to deliver personally to Brigham Young the valuables taken from the murdered immigrants.

:The controversy regarding Mountain Meadows Massacre began in 1857 and continues today following the airing of September Dawn:

:"September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind..." —Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

:"The early reviews are in on September Dawn, the long-gestating drama set against the Mountain Meadows Massacre—and it's a critical slaughter." —Sean P. Means, movie critic, The Salt Lake Tribune

:"The leadership of the LDS religion has a 150-year history of blaming the Indians, blaming the victims and scapegoating their members while denying all responsibility for a crime that disgraced humanity. They continue to do so in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary." —Wayne Atilio Capurro, ancestor of Mormon Bishop and author of White Flag

:Carole Whang Schutter, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, began her writing career at age 54. She is a motivational speaker and has appeared on TV and radio shows. Her enduring interest in religion and passion for history led her to write September Dawn, her first screenplay, in collaboration with Director/Producer Christopher Cain.{{ref|pressrelease}}

With the film savaged by critics and drawing a minuscule paying audience, Schutter apparently decided to manufacture a controversy, with hints of a conspiracy, in the hopes of filling a few seats. (Her press release uses the term "controversy" or "controversial" three times.)

The problem, of course, is that there is no "controversy" here. Virtually everyone — with the exception of anti-Mormon partisans — agrees that ''September Dawn'' is a bad film.

==Conclusion==
''September Dawn'' is not only bad history, it is an altogether bad film. The creators have used negative stereotypes to create a piece of anti-Mormon propaganda for the big screen. They are so committed to their vision of perfidious Mormons, that they can't accept non-Mormon criticism at face value—they "know" their film can't be bad, so it must be the Mormons' fault. But, neutral non-LDS observers recognize the film for what it is—yesterday's shrill anti-Mormonism on the big screen.

==Endnotes==
#{{note|boxofficemojo}}Retrieved from ''Box Office Mojo'' (''boxofficemojo.com'') on 29 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=septemberdawn.htm}}
#{{note|pressrelease}}Retrieved from ''Christian Newswire'' (''christiannewswire.com'') on 31 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/917894036.html}}

==Further reading==

===FAIR wiki articles===
{{MMMWiki}}

===FAIR web site===
{{MMMFAIR}}
===External links===
{{MMMLinks}}

===Printed material===
{{MMMPrint}}

Mountain Meadows Massacre:September Dawn film

2007-10-08T18:14:17Z

PaulAlbers: /* Box office results */

{{question}}

==Question==
Does the film about the Mountain Meadows Massacre accurately portray the historical events?

==Response==

September Dawn is an ill-informed and poorly-done piece of propaganda.

It is true that a group of Mormons, under the influence of local leaders, orchestrated a cold-blooded massacre of men, women, and children on 11 September 1857. The film's claim that this behavior was typical of Mormons, insistence that Brigham Young ordered or orchestrated the massacre, and its uncritical reliance on the account of John D. Lee are grave flaws.

Furthermore, claims that the Church continues to "suppress" the truth are false. Those wishing resources on the historical facts behind the Mountain Meadows tragedy can click [[Mountain Meadows Massacre|here]]. A recent article in the ''Ensign'' (the Church's official magazine) is available [http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1c234dc029133110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&locale=0 here].

==Commentary==

Articles on the film and Mountain Meadows Massacre generally:

* Ben Arnoldy, "Ahead of 'September Dawn,' Mormon Church revisits dark period," ''Christian Science Monitor'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p02s01-ussc.html?page=1}}

* "...a bigoted hatchet job...This isn't a movie review so much as it is a warning. "September Dawn" is not a poorly made movie, it is an expertly crafted attack on the Mormon Church. It is an anti-Mormon sermon projected onto the silver screen, as replete with distortion and bigotry as any of the Web sites, pamphlets or books conjured up to vilify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since it was founded more than 175 years ago. The movie reviewers don't quite get it. Without a background in Mormon history and doctrine, and without a knowledge of the favorite themes of the anti-Mormon industry, the sinister detail of the movie would not be evident." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "But the theme of the movie is larger and more subtle than the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The movie, under cover of being a historical drama, is really a religious attack. It is chapter and verse out of the books and sermons of anti-Mormon evangelists who believe God has called them to attack other people's faith. There is, unfortunately, a large tradition among some Christian ministers of mocking Mormon beliefs. Some of these ministers literally travel from town to town, congregation to congregation, preaching against Mormonism. Sacred aspects of Mormon worship and dress are ridiculed by these ministers." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "A great body of anti-Mormon literature has built up over the years. This movie's most hateful aspects are drawn not from history, but from that anti-Mormon literature. Details are included that can only be intended to offend and insult Mormons who see the movie, and alienate from the church those who consider becoming members of it. The material contained in the movie is not historical, it is hateful." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...the notion of "blood atonement" — a theme harped upon by anti-Mormon preachers — is all through this movie, woven into the plot and at least four subplots or tangents. The belief — that people must die to make up for their sins — has never been a doctrine of the Mormon Church, but is the essential premise of 'September Dawn.'" - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 1.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "The horrific way in which Brigham Young, a character presumed to be Apostle George A. Smith, pioneer John D. Lee and a fictional bishop are depicted is patently demonic. These characters could have come from nowhere other than the imagination of someone with an intense personal loathing of the Mormon Church and its leaders. Not since Adolf Hitler depicted Jews has Western cinema been used to so spitefully destroy the history and reputation of religious leaders." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

* "...this entire movie is a vendetta. It is not about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is about using the medium of the commercial motion picture to advance an anti-Mormon bigotry that is typically only shouted outside Mormon conferences, temples and pageants. And that is not a hypersensitive response. It is an earnest assessment of the movie's content. The instances of pointed anti-Mormon insult are so gratuitous and abundant in this movie that their presence cannot be accidental. The movie intended to offend, and it did. The movie attempted to defame the Mormon Church, and it did. It is a heavy-handed smear job...It is not a badly made movie. But it is an evilly intended movie. It doesn't seek to entertain or inform, it seeks to tear down and destroy. And, sadly, it does a pretty good job." - Bob Lonsberry, "Commentary," ''The Washington Times'' (2 September 2007): 2.{{link|url=http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/COMMENTARY/109020024/1012/COMMENTARY&template=nextpage}} {{link|url=http://boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?go=4 2nd}}

==Critical reaction==

Non-Mormon critics have also realized how biased, sensationalistic, and poorly done the film is. A sample of media quotes about the film (quotes are by author's last name):

===Authors A-D===
* "Zero stars.... If the Western genre is struggling, it's because of terrible movies like this one." - Jeffrey M. Anderson, ''Combustible Celluloid'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/2007/septdawn.shtml}}

* "In its retelling of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, 'September Dawn' takes a mysterious, incendiary historical event and turns it into a one-sided hatefest.... [Director Christopher Cain] relentlessly villainizes those who are historically proven to have participated in the massacre, adding a condemnation of Mormon prophet Brigham Young as the mastermind.... While it portrays interesting and forgotten history, this period piece mostly turns into a biased waste." - David Berngartt, ''The Daily Tar Heel'' (30 August 2007). {{link|url=http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/08/30/Diversions/Movie.Shorts-2942770.shtml}}

* "Director Christopher Cain...paints a damning, one-sided portrait of Latter-day Saints in this irresponsible, ham-fisted morality tale that plays off our cultural ignorance of the Mormon religion...The events surrounding the killings are historically cloudy, but not according to this film...He stops short of calling Osama bin Laden a Mormon sympathizer, but maybe that'll be on the DVD." - Ty Burr, ''Boston Globe'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10248}}

* "It's not torture porn; it's massacre porn...the pic is ultimately less interested in understanding its Mormon characters than in demonizing them..." - Justin Chang, ''Variety'' (). {{link|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934474.html?categoryid=31&cs=1}}

* "September Dawn was made primarily as a history lesson, to bring to light an atrocity that took place 150 years ago, and to underscore the parallels between the religious fanaticism of the past and the religious fanaticism of the present.... And here's where things get a bit dodgy. The film clearly pins responsibility for the massacre onto Brigham Young (Terence Stamp), the head of the Mormon church and the Governor of Utah at that time; but historians...say it is unclear whether Young was directly involved. If the film was assuming his responsibility for dramatic purposes, and using it to explore an even larger theme, that would be one thing; but instead, Young's alleged responsibility is itself the point that the film wants to hammer home.... What makes this portrayal even more questionable is the stark contrast the movie draws between the Mormons and the settlers.... Those who want to know what really happened...are advised to look elsewhere." - Peter T. Chattaway, ''Christianity Today'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/2007/septemberdawn.html}}

* "...the project has the appearance of melodramatic sectarian propaganda.... The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." - Colin Covert, ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.startribune.com/1553/story/1378721.html}}

===Authors E-H===
* "Zero stars...The vast majority of the members of all religions, I believe and would argue, don't want to kill anybody. They want to love and care for their families, find decent work that sustains life and comfort, live in peace and get along with their neighbors. It is a deviant streak in some humans, I suspect, that drives them toward self-righteous violence, and uses religion as a convenient alibi...There isn't anything to be gained in telling this story in this way. It generates bad feelings on all sides...The Mormons are presented in no better light than Nazis and Japanese were in Hollywood's World War II films. Wasn't there a more thoughtful and insightful way to consider this historical event?" - Roger Ebert, ''Chicago Sun Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/REVIEWS/70823001}}

* "Jon Voight continues in his apparent effort to prove that he’s the heir apparent to both Bela Lugosi ''and'' John Carradine in the realm of career sense. Just when you thought that ''Bratz'' simply had to represent the nadir of his acting choices, along comes ''September Dawn'' to prove you wrong. Except for the fact that almost no one will ever see this, er, remarkable film, career-wise it’s the cinematic equivalent of playing Russian roulette with six loaded chambers...This doesn’t make Voight blameless, however, since he obviously agreed to be in this thing." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007) {{io}}. {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "While historians are divided on exactly what role Mormon leader and then territorial governor Brigham Young played in the event, Cain and his cowriter, Carole Whang Schutter, have decided that Young orchestrated the massacre out of a combination of religious zeal and paranoia concerning the U.S. government. The point is that this might be true, but it also might not. Choosing to present it as fact guarantees the film a certain tabloid-esque controversy, of course, but it’s a dubious choice that makes the movie play as little more than wild-eyed anti-Mormon propaganda." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* "The film’s other attempts to demonize Mormonism (really, what else can you call this?) are equally as unsubtle (in the manner most closely associated with Dr. Goebbels)—that is, when they’re not just peculiar...Ultimately, it’s a toss-up as to whether ''September Dawn'' is more offensive as history, as allegory or simply as lousy self-important filmmaking. It hardly matters since on all three levels the movie smells of herring." - Ken Hanke, ''Mountain Xpress'' (29 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/september_dawn}}

* Shot in a style that might be termed Americana gravitas, September Dawn has the ham-fisted lyricism of political ads and pharmaceutical commercials. - J. Hoberman, ''The Village Voice'' (21 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0734,hoberman,77559,20.html}}

===Authors I-L===
* "September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind.... Such ham-fisted earnestness does no one any good, least of all those who believe there's a big difference between historical fact and emotional screed." - Chris Kaltenbach, ''Baltimore Sun'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/bal-to.september24aug24,0,1683668.story}}

* "The film and its website come with references and citations galore, yet confusing points abound.... When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history, however, it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...." , Frank Lovece, ''Film Journal International'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/reviews/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003628996}}

* "Cain has co-written and directed a film that only the most bigoted of Mormon detractors could enjoy. Most viewers, if any are willing to part with their money or time, will simply laugh derisively.... [Director Cain] has created questionable history and boneheaded drama.... Thanks to a cheap production...and even cheaper thinking, anyone who has seen the movie knows that there’s nothing to discuss." - Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=382}}

===Authors M-O===

* "Imagine a half-baked remake of “Schindler’s List” by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and you get the idea." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "Religious bias clouds ''Dawn''...The obvious bias in this scenario is so flagrant as to be cartoonish...[the authors] are anything but subtle with the film’s message which can roughly be summed up as Mormons=bad, Protestants=good... Though Young’s involvement has never been established, speculation about such has been a favorite pastime in anti-Mormon Evangelical circles for years, which is where this film was seemingly hatched. Not only is co-writer Schutter an avowed Evangelical, but the film also reportedly enlisted as advisor Brigham Young descendent Sandra Tanner, a practicing Evangelical who, with her husband, runs a Utah-based ministry that specializes in attacking the Mormon Church...Not that “September Dawn” is likely to stir much of a controversy, anyway. Apart from a handful of Bible Belt markets that will devour it like red meat, the self-distributed picture is more likely to be greeted by Mormons and non-Mormons alike with exceeding apathy – more offensive for its slapdash storytelling than its willfully slanderous bias." - Wade Major, Boxoffice.com (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/movieDetail.aspx?movieId=%205065}}

* "...disturbingly awful..."September Dawn," written by an evangelical Christian, may be the worst historical drama ever made...it trivializes one of America's ugliest and least understood events." - Jack Matthews, ''New York Daily News'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2007/08/24/2007-08-24_westward_woe_in_1857_utah.html}}

* "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response. But 'September Dawn,' director Christopher Cain's drama set during the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is deserving of derision." - Sean Means, ''Salt Lake Tribune'', (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.film-finder.com/Review.asp?ID=53495}}

* "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous.... This misguided 9/11 allegory and fictionalization of that history utterly demonizes the perpetrators of that massacre and those who may have given the orders.... Every religion, when scrutinized by a skeptic, is open to mockery. Tune in to South Park if you want satire that ridicules, sect by sect, all comers in the world of religious zealots especially Mormons. But September Dawn isn't mockery. It's practically a call to jihad.... We can probably count the days until this shows up for sale on fringe Christian TV channels, its virtues trumpeted by some minister or other marketing his or her version of 'The Truth.' There are facts here...but there's the unmistakable air of evil about this enterprise, and not just an atrocity the Mormon church caused to happen 150 years ago." - Roger Moore, ''Orlando Sentinel'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-db-moviereviews-searchresults,0,3279701,results.formprofile?Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_05_txt+cdb_06_txt+c}}

* "Cain and Schutter want so desperately to frame their story with clear-cut heroes and villains that they steamroll over much of the nuance that not only leaves the events open for interpretation but also shows the futility of retrofitting the world into absolutist terms of black and white, us and them. Cain and Schutter instead prefer to simply bang the 'Mormons are freaky' drum just a little too hard and insistently." - Mark Olsen, ''Los Angelas Times'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-september24aug24,1,5713401.story?ctrack=1&cset=true}}
* "There will be many who will see September Dawn as an anti-Mormon film. And there's no question that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is portrayed in the film as a cultlike religion of fanatics. Mormons no doubt will feel personally attacked, and they should." - Richard Nielson, ''The Arizona Republic'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0622dawn0622.html?&wired}}

* "The point of the picture appears to be the blunt mockery of the Mormon culture, but surely “Dawn” would be far more controversial if it didn’t try so hard to be raw and unpleasant. [Director Christopher] Cain has turned the Mormons into baby-eatin' Nazis to suit his argument, parading around these black-clad, chin-bearded, testicle-slicing gunslingers without any thoughtful consideration. To Cain, the Mormons were hulking, borderline insane fundamental gorillas who flung excrement at anyone daring to besmirch the name of Joseph Smith.... It’s a trashy, tasteless, and ridiculous film about a serious event in prairie history, eliciting laughter instead of education." - Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16161&reviewer=404}}

* "‘September Dawn’ not worth seeing...the director gives a rather one-sided perspective on a highly debated issue. It’s hard not to notice director Christopher Cain’s bias towards the Mormon treatment of “gentiles”...This is my biggest problem with the film...Instead of keeping the film close to history, Cain bases his tale on a questionable 27-page confession, and subsequently portrays the Mormons as animals and zealots...." - Norris Ortolano, ''The Advocate'' (25 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/9362996.html}}

* "'September Dawn' oozes biased zeal...uses tragedy to bludgeon home its anti-Mormon agenda...a pedantic, cable-TV-caliber melodrama that bullies the audience into accepting its rather slanted, selective agenda...The filmmakers intimate that the murder of Smith was more or less justified, and frame the Mountain Meadows bloodshed as the final culmination of the sect's extremist arrogance. It makes for a sordid display" - Craig Outhier, ''The Orange County Register'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/cain-way-mormons-1818260-director-stamp}}

===Authors P-S===

* "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." - Brett Register, ''Orlando Weekly'' (23 August 2007){{link|url=http://www.orlandoweekly.com/film/review.asp?rid=12972}}

* "a solemn package of historical fiction and an exceedingly old-fashioned one at that. It is also quite controversial among Western historians and the Mormon community...The principal story line is anything but verbatim history, and the screenplay is the weakest aspect of the film." - Luke Sader, ''Yahoo News'' (24 August 2007).{{link|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070824/review_nm/film_september_dc_1;_ylt=Ag8K.w8ZfgYnP.pYop6yLGIE1vAI}}

* "...the clunky, heavily skewed means by which this tale is presented is nothing short of egregious, with its Mormon characters demonized with such laughable gusto, and its Christian victims cast in such a holy, noble light, that the project quickly feels less like an attempt at historical truth-telling than like shameless anti-Mormon propaganda.... This cartoonish demonization persistently seems tied to a religious-political agenda." - Nick Sager, ''Slant Magazine'' (20 April 2007). {{link|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=2925}}

* "No stars...'SEPTEMBER Dawn" succeeds completely at failure; the unified incompetence of its writing, directing and acting suggest a man who manages to be on fire and drowning at the same time..." - Kyle Smith, ''New York Post'' (24 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08242007/entertainment/movies/pulpit_massacre_has_whiff_of_p.htm}}

* "D minus.... Clearly “September Dawn” is constructed as an anti-Mormon diatribe disguised as a historical narrative.... Like most 'historical' pictures, [it] has serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." - Frank Swietek, ''One Guy's Opinion''{{link|url=http://www.oneguysopinion.com/Review.php?ID=2230}}
===Authors T-Z===
* "But it can't shake the implication that it's some sort of attack piece on the Mormon religion and, in turn, conspiracy theorists may believe, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Some dialogue negatively likens Mormonism to Islam and paganism. Cartoonish scenes detract from the film's plausibility, including Mormon characters' referral to Brigham Young as 'the Mormon god on earth,' and a group of Mormons chanting 'blood atonement! blood atonement!' over and over as though it were a softball rally cry.... 'September Dawn' is a stirring love story that dabbles uncomfortably close to hate." - Phil Villarreal, ''Arizona Daily Star'' (23 August 2007). {{link|url=http://www.aznightbuzz.com/stories/197438.php}}

If readers are aware of quotes about the film not available here, they are encouraged to [http://fairlds.org/contact.php contact FAIR].

==Box office results==
''September Dawn'' opened on 24 August 2007 at 857 theaters in the United States. It made $601,857 its opening weekend, an average of $702 per theater. If we conservatively assume three screenings per day per theater and an average ticket price of $8, that means less than 10 people were in each theater per screening.

Only 415 theaters kept the movie playing a second week, and only 26 theaters carried it for its third and final weekend. Total gross for the movie was just over one million dollars, about a tenth of the production costs.{{ref|boxofficemojo}}

==The film's creators react to criticism==
On 29 August 2007, Carole Schutter, creator of the film's story and co-writer of its screenplay, sent the following email to several ex-Mormon critics:

:I am the co-writer of the Screenplay "September Dawn," and Author of the book by the same name. We have been heavily slammed in the press and perhaps I'm being paranoid but the apparent sameness of their opinions are too coincidental. I have heard floating rumours of Mormons being told to slam the movie in reviews and one blog reporting it on yahoo.com has been pulled. Would like to correspond with anyone who can give me any info on this.

:I did two years of research, talked to many ex-Mormons, and descendents [''sic''] of the perpertrators [''sic'']. We are being called liars by the press and the user movie reviews on yahoo are very interesting. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. And, may I say, although we have taken literary license, our facts are facts supported by sermons by Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, confessions of Danite Chiefs, letters by Supreme Court Judges and military officers, speeches by Presidents Buchanan, Pierce and Lincoln, etc., etc., etc. Would like to fight this smear campaign and banning. I believe everyone has the right to free speech, but we have the right to fight back.

:I am a Christian and have attached for those of you who are Christians a statement that will go on the religious wire. I am aware of persecution of ex-Mormons who have become Christians in Utah. My brother-in-law pastors a church with many ex-Mormons including ones whose families were involved in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.

:I understand this movie is helping ex-Mormons who feel persecuted, giving them the strength to remove their names from the lists and face ostracism.

:Please help me try to learn the truth as to whether or not the church is directing their members to help destroy our movie and credibility. Thank you.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not "direct[ed its] members to help destroy" ''September Dawn'', and has made no comment about the film itself. Virtually all of the critical reviews reprinted above were written by non-Mormons. Instead of taking the criticism of her film at face value, Schutter resorted to paranoid conspiracy theories.

Two days later, on 31 August, Schutter issued the following press release, emphasizing the controversial nature of ''September Dawn'' and the supposed Mormon backlash against it:

:HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 31 — September Dawn fires controversy not only between Christians and Mormons, but within the media. Catch phrases from media reviews such as "anti-Mormon," "ham-fisted tale," and "a distortion of history" have only fueled the flames.

:The movie's controversial screenplay, co-written by Carole Whang Schutter and Christopher Cain, is based on the true life story of a wagon train of Utah settlers who venture into Mormon territory and stop there at the wrong time. On September 11, 1857, in Mountain Meadows, more than 120 innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered because they were not Mormons.

:According to Wayne Atilio Capurro, the great-great grandson of Philip Klingensmith, the Mormon Bishop of Cedar City, Utah, in 1857, his ancestor, portrayed by Jon Voight in the film, was a participant in the Mountain Meadows Massacre and one of three men assigned to deliver personally to Brigham Young the valuables taken from the murdered immigrants.

:The controversy regarding Mountain Meadows Massacre began in 1857 and continues today following the airing of September Dawn:

:"September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind..." —Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun

:"The early reviews are in on September Dawn, the long-gestating drama set against the Mountain Meadows Massacre—and it's a critical slaughter." —Sean P. Means, movie critic, The Salt Lake Tribune

:"The leadership of the LDS religion has a 150-year history of blaming the Indians, blaming the victims and scapegoating their members while denying all responsibility for a crime that disgraced humanity. They continue to do so in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary." —Wayne Atilio Capurro, ancestor of Mormon Bishop and author of White Flag

:Carole Whang Schutter, born in Honolulu, Hawaii, began her writing career at age 54. She is a motivational speaker and has appeared on TV and radio shows. Her enduring interest in religion and passion for history led her to write September Dawn, her first screenplay, in collaboration with Director/Producer Christopher Cain.{{ref|pressrelease}}

With the film savaged by critics and drawing a minuscule paying audience, Schutter apparently decided to manufacture a controversy, with hints of a conspiracy, in the hopes of filling a few seats. (Her press release uses the term "controversy" or "controversial" three times.)

The problem, of course, is that there is no "controversy" here. Virtually everyone — with the exception of anti-Mormon partisans — agrees that ''September Dawn'' is a bad film.

==Conclusion==
''September Dawn'' is not only bad history, it is an altogether bad film. The creators have used negative stereotypes to create a piece of anti-Mormon propaganda for the big screen. They are so committed to their vision of perfidious Mormons, that they can't accept non-Mormon criticism at face value—they "know" their film can't be bad, so it must be the Mormons' fault. But, neutral non-LDS observers recognize the film for what it is—yesterday's shrill anti-Mormonism on the big screen.

==Endnotes==
#{{note|boxofficemojo}}Retrieved from ''Box Office Mojo'' (''boxofficemojo.com'') on 29 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=septemberdawn.htm}}
#{{note|pressrelease}}Retrieved from ''Christian Newswire'' (''christiannewswire.com'') on 31 August 2007. {{link|url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/917894036.html}}

==Further reading==

===FAIR wiki articles===
{{MMMWiki}}

===FAIR web site===
{{MMMFAIR}}
===External links===
{{MMMLinks}}

===Printed material===
{{MMMPrint}}

Church reaction to the Hofmann forgeries

2007-10-08T17:57:12Z

PaulAlbers: /* Conclusion */

==Criticism==
Critics claim that the Church behaved itself improperly with regard to the Salamander letter. They argue that the Church acquired the letter with the intent of 'supressing' it, or 'hiding history.'


==Response==
The historical record is clear that the Church did nothing to hide the Hofmann "Salamander Letter," even though it appeared to pose problems for the Church's story of its origins.

===3 January 1984===
President Gordon B. Hinckley first saw the Salamander Letter. He wrote soon thereafter:
:We have nothing to hide. Our enemies will try to make much of this letter, but any fair-minded individual who will read it in terms of the time it was written and the language of the day will not see it as detrimental to the history of those events connected with the restoration of the gospel.{{ref|hinckley1}}

===April 1985===
Steven F. Christiansen purchased the Salamander Letter from Hofmann, and donated it to the Church. President Hinckley accepted the donation.

===28 April 1985===
The ''Church News'' published the full text of the Salamander Letter. The First Presidency included a statement, quoting President Hinckley:
:No one, of course, can be certain that Martin Harris wrote the document. However, at this point we accept the judgment of the examiner that there is no indication that it is a forgery. This does not preclude the possibility that it may have been forged at a time when the Church had many enemies. It is, however, an interesting document of the times.{{ref|churchnews1}}

===23 June 1985===
President Hinckley, at a Young Adult fireside broadcast from Temple Square, spoke about Martin Harris and others mentioned in the Salamander Letter:
:As most of you know, recently there have been great stirrings over two old letters. One was purportedly written in 1825 by Joseph Smith to Josiah Stowell. If it is genuine, it is the oldest known product of Joseph Smith’s handwriting. It concerns the employment of Joseph by Mr. Stowell, who was engaged in a mining operation looking for old coins and precious metals. The other carries the date of October 23, 1830, and was purportedly written by Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps.

:I acquired for the Church both of these letters, the first by purchase. The second was given to the Church by its generous owner. I am, of course, familiar with both letters, having held them in my hands and having read them in their original form. It was I, also, who made the decision to make them public. Copies were issued to the media, and both have received wide publicity.

:I knew there would be a great fuss. Scholars have pored over them, discussed them, written about them, differed in their opinions, and even argued about them.

:I am glad we have them. They are interesting documents of whose authenticity we are not certain and may never be. However, assuming that they are authentic, they are valuable writings of the period out of which they have come. But they have no real relevancy to the question of the authenticity of the Church or of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon.

:Much has been said about the Martin Harris/W. W. Phelps letter. I ask: Shall two men, their character, their faith, their lives, the testimonies to which they gave voice to the end of their days, be judged by a few words on a sheet of paper that may or may not have been written by the one and received by the other?

:If you have been troubled in any way by press reports concerning this letter, I ask only that you look closer at the man who presumably wrote it and at the man who presumably received it Martin Harris and W. W. Phelps.

:The letter is dated subsequent to the declaration of the Testimony of the Three Witnesses, one of whom was Martin Harris. In language unequivocal and certain he and his associates had declared to the world: "Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record,...And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.... And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon."

:Would Martin Harris have mortgaged his farm, eventually losing it, to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon if he had thought of that book as a fraud? He endured ridicule, persecution, and poverty. He lived to the age of ninety-two and died in full faith, voicing his testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon to the end of his life.

:What about W. W. Phelps? Five years subsequent to the date of the letter, he wrote: "Now, notwithstanding my body was not baptized into this Church till Thursday, the 10th of June 1831, yet my heart was there from the time I became acquainted with the Book of Mormon; and my hope, steadfast like an anchor, and my faith increased like the grass after a refreshing shower, when I for the first time, held a conversation with our beloved Brother Joseph whom I was willing to acknowledge as the prophet of the Lord, and to whom, and to whose godly account of himself and the work he was engaged in, I owe my first determination to quit the folly of my way, and the fancy and fame of this world, and seek the Lord and His righteousness."

:This is the same man who wrote that majestic and marvelous hymn of tribute to the Prophet Joseph — "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer. Blessed to open the last dispensation, Kings shall extol him, and nations revere."

:He had no doubt concerning the divine origin of the Book of Mormon or the divine calling of him who was the instrument in the hands of the Almighty in bringing it forth. William W. Phelps died as a high priest in Salt Lake City in full faith.

:Marvelous and enduring love and loyalty of the kind shown by these two men do not come from an experience with a "salamander" as we generally interpret that word.

:Would these two men have so endured, so declared their testimonies, and so lived out their lives in faith had there been any doubt about the way in which the Book of Mormon plates were received from the hands of Moroni and translated by the gift and power of God?{{ref|hinckley3}}

===16 August 1985===
Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke to the issues raised by the documents (as yet unknown as forgeries):
:Some recent news stories about developments in Church history rest on scientific assumptions or assertions, such as the authenticity of a letter. Whether experts or amateurs, most of us have a tendency to be quite dogmatic about so-called scientific facts. Since news writers are not immune from this tendency, news stories based on scientific assumptions should be read or viewed with some skepticism...

:The contents of most media stories are dictated not by what is necessary to a full understanding of the subject but by what information is currently available and can be communicated within the limitations of time and space.

:As a result, the news media are particularly susceptible to conveying erroneous information about facts, including historical developments that are based on what I have called scientific uncertainties. This susceptibility obviously applies to newly discovered documents whose authenticity turns on an evaluation of handwriting, paper, ink, and so on. Readers should be skeptical about the authenticity of such documents, especially when there is uncertainty where they were found or who had custody of them for 150 years. Newly found historically important documents can be extremely valuable, so there is a powerful incentive for those who own them to advocate and support their authenticity. The recent spectacular fraud involving the so-called Hitler diaries reminds us of this, and should convince us to be cautious.{{ref|oaks1}}

===15 October 1985===
Two Hofmann bombs murder Steven Christiansen and Kathy Sheets.

===16 October 1985===
Hofmann injures himself with one of his own bombs.

===18 October 1995===
After Hofmann's lies and murders were revealed, President Hinckley said:

:I frankly admit that Hofmann tricked us. He also tricked experts from New York to Utah, however. We bought those documents only after the assurance that they were genuine. And when we released documents to the press, we stated that we had no way of knowing for sure if they were authentic. I am not ashamed to admit that we were victimized. It is not the first time the Church has found itself in such a position. Joseph Smith was victimized again and again. The Savior was victimized. I am sorry to say that sometimes it happens.{{ref|hinckley2}}

==Conclusion==

Some think it strange that a prophet could have been deceived. President Hinckley's public statements make it clear that he was not entirely convinced of the document's provenance, but provisionally accepted the judgment of the experts. (For a discussion of the decision to promptly make the document public when owned by the Church by an author who declared the document a forgery early on, see {{FR-12-2-17}}.)

It is also quite possible that President Hinckley knew by revelation that the documents were fraudulent at the time of the purchase. If the church refused to purchase them, they could have wound up belonging to enemies of the church who would have done all they could to prevent their fraudulent nature from being discovered and made public. In hindsight, the purchase of these documents helped lead to their exposure as fakes and the arrest of Mark Hofmann.

However, one should not be surprised if a prophet is deceived. The LDS do not believe their prophets to be infallible. ''See: [[General_authorities%27_statements_as_scripture | General authority statements as scripture]]''

The Lord made it clear to Joseph Smith that a prophet is not granted to know all the designs of those who seek to destroy the Church:

:But as you cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked from the righteous, therefore I say unto you, hold your peace until I shall see fit to make all things known unto the world concerning the matter. ({{s||DC|10|37}})

The LDS doctrine of free agency requires that those who plot evil be allowed a certain latitude, though (as President Hinckley prophetically noted) permanent harm to the Lord's work will not be permitted.

It is clear, though, that the Church did not seek to hide the potentially damaging letter or its text.

Mark Hofmann gave anonymous tips to the media,{{ref|a}} informing them that the Church had a hidden "Oliver Cowdery History" in their vaults.{{ref|b}} This claim was repeated uncritically. The Church denied having such a document.{{ref|c}} It is, of course, virtually impossible to prove such a negative—how could the Church prove it didn't have something or didn't destroy it?

Ironically, some modern critics continue to spread Hofmann's lies about his forgeries after he has confessed them. And, a retired CES teacher, [[Book_of_Mormon_and_the_Golden_Pot|Grant Palmer]], published a book whose explanation of the Book of Mormon's origin derived from material in Hofmann's forgery, twenty years after it was shown to be a fraud.{{ref|palmer1}}

==Endnotes==
#{{note|hinckley1}} Gordon B. Hinckley Journal, 10 February 1984.
#{{note|churchnews1}} ''Church News'', 28 April 1985.
#{{note|hinckley3}} {{Ensign1|author=Gordon B. Hinckley|article=First Presidency Message: Keep the Faith|date=September 1985|start=3}}. {{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1985.htm/ensign%20september%201985%20.htm/first%20presidency%20message%20keep%20the%20faith.htm}}
#{{note|oaks1}} Dallin H. Oaks, Address to CES teachers, 16 August 1985.
#{{note|hinckley2}} Interview with Gordon B. Hinckley, 18 October 1995.
#{{note|a}}''Los Angeles Times'' (13 June 1985) Part 1: 3.
#{{note|b}}Dawn Tracy, “Hofmann Told Others He Was Shown Secret LDS History,” ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (17 Oct. 1986) :C-13.
#{{note|c}}Church Public Communications Department, ''No Oliver Cowdery History Found'', News Release (16 Oct. 1986): 3–4. The whole document is quoted extensively in {{Ensign|author=Anonymous|article=News of the Church: Rumor Concerning Early Oliver Cowdery History Refuted by Church Researchers|date=December 1986|start=71|end=72}} {{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1986.htm/ensign%20december%201986%20.htm/news%20of%20the%20church.htm?fn=document-frameset.htm$f=templates$3.0#LPTOC7}}
#{{note|palmer1}} {{FR-15-2-16}}

==Further reading==

===FAIR wiki articles===
{{SalamanderWiki}}
===FAIR web site===
{{SalamanderFAIR}}

===External links===
{{SalamanderLinks}}

===Printed material===
{{SalamanderPrint}}