It’s a shorter time frame so as not to waste time droning on in theatrics, and to reach as large of an audience as possible. It doesn’t wander off on doctrinal tangents, instead it focuses on the applied gospel. While it doesn’t abandon the “who was Joseph” theme, it does explore much more significantly the “who is Joseph to me” theme much more effectively I think than many previous production.

Maybe I was too young when I first saw the old Stuart Peterson(?) “The First Vision”, but I was less disturbed by the rendition of Satan’s attack in this one. The mobbings were quite ‘gracious’ to the severity of the period. Unfortunately, the psychology of ‘fast’ highs and ‘slow’ lows resulted in the impression that the persecutions comprised the majority of the film time.

I guess my thought afterwards was perhaps we focus a bit too much on the Missouri Mormon Mentality – ie dwelling on the heartaches and tribulations. We weren’t there, and I don’t think that we’d ever be able to appreciate what they went through. I’m not suggesting we sweep it under the rug, I’m just wondering if we dwell on the negatives too much at the expense of the positives.

I almost laughed during one part where there’s a member of the mob that looks suspiciously like Napoleon Dynamite. Is that some sort of subtle message or something?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a real hard time with portrayals ordinances and visitations outside of instructional settings. Maybe I’m just hard-core old-school, I just put it next to over-repetitive casual usage of the name of God.

One of the keys to the theme I guess can be pulled from near the end. Two guys are briefly dicussing the Warsaw Signal’s response to the Nauvoo Expositor termination, but it’s clear that they are the background, and the long focus is on Joseph and Emma visiting the Temple.

A Truman G. Madsen lecture it is not, but it is a tremendous window to the Gospel in Joseph’s life, and his role in our own.