Growing up in California, a large number of my friends were not LDS. Most of what they learned about the LDS faith came from the media. When I was a senior and people found out I would be attending BYU almost every student made a comment to the effect of, “Oh like Julie from Real World.” (For those who don’t know The Real World is one of the original reality TV shows and airs on MTV)
To be honest, at the time I had never seen an episode of the show and since then have only seen one or two episodes so I got all of my information by what people told me she did. The biggest thing people remembered about her was that she went to BYU but after choosing to be on the show was kicked out of the University because she wasn’t living the “Mormon life.” I actually hadn’t thought much about that incident until this assignment. And now after learning about framing theory in this class I decided to go back and try to do some research on how Julie Stoffer was portrayed on Real World. I found the following from Realitytvworld.com:
“On the series, Stoffer was depicted as a naive, somewhat racist, goofy girl who knew little about life beyond her Latter-day Saint upbringing in Wisconsin (she had attended Brigham Young University for 3 years prior to the show). Her conflicts with living a secular, adventurous life while claiming to adhere to the Mormon religion were topics covered by the series.” It goes on to say that she was kicked out of BYU for living in the same house with unrelated people of the opposite sex, which is a violation of the honor code.
I remember my friend’s in school thinking what strict rules we had to live by because of incidents like that in the media. One other Mormon in the media I wanted to talk about is Mitt Romney. I served my mission in Wisconsin during the time when all of the election fervor was happening. And to my surprise a lot of people stopped us to talk about Mitt Romney and most of the comments they made were positive. They thought he lived by good values and based on the comments they made I am assuming at least some of the framing in the media was positive. I am sure, however, that the media focused on the fact that he was a Mormon since everyone made that connection when they saw us.
And the list could go on with Mormons in the media from contestants on American Idol to Steve Young or even TV shows like Big Love that talk about Mormons. So my question for you is
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ReplyDeleteMormons are normally portrayed in the media as really happy and uptight people. Being from Texas, I have heard it all, that Mormon's aren't Christians which really pisses me off and we are polygamist. All these rumors are due to the framing of how the media portrays us, and also from word of mouth. It is sad during the election a lot of people didn't vote for Mitt Romney, because of his religious affiliate with the LDS church that people felt the church would try to run the country which is not the case at all. It just shows that a lot of people perceptions of Mormons, come from what they see in the media. I think the more we see LDS figures in the media it will clear up a lot of misconceptions that a lot of people might have.
ReplyDeleteI think the media often frames Mormons as sheltered and restricted. In the case of Julie from the Real World, the media seemed to take her experience as a way of breaking free from ther restrictions of her religious lifestyle. If she hadn't been Mormon, but rather just a girl from a small town, the media might not have portrayed her as being so sheltered. I also think that the media sees being Mormon as a way to define a person, while those who belong to other Christian religions often don't have their religion mentioned at all. Mitt Romney was known first as a Mormon, then as a politician, which in his case he probably would identify with, but he did not get a chance to choose because the media did it for him.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article about Mormons and the Media for Thursday's class, it's interesting that the article frames Mormons as relying on rules to decide which media to partake of. The article made it seem like the members don't receive revelation themselves, instead they rely on the church leaders to receive the revelation. I also think it's interesting that the article referenced many comments from the leaders that dated back to 1993 and before. I ask whether church leaders have been that direct since 1993? I know they have about pornography, but on music and movie choices, I think they say be cautious and choose uplifting forms. I think outsiders will ask these same questions/think these same things. I think the world has problems with authority and in the case of this article, wonders why Mormons would listen to leaders who have direct council on media choices.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, it seems when the media talks about Mormons, they use them as some sort of comic relief. I don't think the world sees Mormons as "dangerous" anymore; rather, they see us as "weird." I can think of a lot of movies that use Mormons or Provo or Salt Lake City as a punch line. The way the media frames Mormons has a lot to do with the public's perception of the religion. It further solidifies the stereotype that Mormons are weird.
ReplyDeleteI think more than anything Mormon's are viewed as quirky. I didn't watch the BYU basketball game, but i did follow Bill Simmons (The Sports Guy on espn.com) while he watched it. and there was one point where Jimmer made a three and put us up like 10 points or something and Bill Simmons commented by saying,"Fredet, three point. BYU up 10. The chocolate milk will flow in Provo tonight." I think this is a good example of how we are viewed in general. we are weird, we are different, but our differences are harmless and perfect for poking fun at. that makes it quirky.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Andy in saying that Mormons are framed as strange. It seems that when we do humanitarian things, participate in political ideas, or are involved in anything covered by the media, we are framed as weird. If we do good things we're the weird group of people who adhere to a bizarre lifestyle that happen to do good things. If things happen to us it's the same story. As opposed to looking at us as a viable religion they frame us as a unique, almost cast-off, part of society that lives strange lives and does strange things.
ReplyDeleteHannah Gibby: I think there are a lot of frames Mormons are given in the media, but mostly we are given a frame that we are weird. If that is someone's only exposure to us, of course they are going to assume that we are weird. However, I think those familiar with the Church are more inclined to shrug off the odd framing.
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