Mocking Mormons

A lot of outright offensiveness comes in the form of comedy.  Women often complain about this in the workplace. Jokes about women are made by men, often because some men are uncomfortable with the increasing number of women in a work environment. Then, when some woman complains about the sexist humor, she’s ridiculed. “Can’t you take a joke?”

Mormons in American society are in pretty much the same position as women in the workplace. They’re a minority, but they’re gaining in visibility and power. They are now the object of humor because they’re moving from margin to center and that makes some people uncomfortable. Hence, the ridicule.   

Note to Mormons: welcome to the American mainstream. Now, in order to join this fraternity, you need to go through the hazing.  

The satirical bent of the “Book of Mormon” isn’t just about faith, it’s about the power of religion in our society.  LDS Living, an online magazine for Mormons, does not completely pan the musical, but opines, “While theater experts and media pundits have praised the musical, others have pointed out the play is not only profane and inaccurate, but actually an attack on faith more broadly.” In some ways, that’s true, but it is specifically a satire about the Mormon faith. There’s no disguising that.  

Other reviewers disagree, of course, that attacking faith or Mormonism is the goal of this musical. Mark Kennedy writes for Associated Press that the “Book of Mormon” is “a pro-religion show at heart.” Why? Because it has an uplifting moral at the end. “Far from being nihilistic,” Kennedy writes, “the moral seems to endorse any belief system — no matter how crazy it sounds — if it helps do good. Amen to that. Consider us converted.” That’s about as watered-down a version of religion as you can get; but after all, Kennedy writes for the Associated Press, not Beliefnet, so what does he know? (That was a joke, Mark.)

But that doesn’t mean that the “Book of Mormon” isn’t funny, especially if you like silly, sophomoric humor of the “South Park” variety. Apparently (I have not seen it), the musical features Adolf Hitler, lawyer Johnnie Cochran, Genghis Khan and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Christ is mocked, Mormons are ridiculed and Darth Vadar pops up unexpectedly. Some lyrics are described as “unprintable.”

What is offensive to some can be funny to others, but often precisely because it is offensive. Humor isn’t always kind; humor is routinely used to put minorities in their place. In the case of “The Book of Mormon,” the offensiveness seems to be the point, not the ‘doing good.’

Can Mormons ‘take a joke’? Like women in the workplace having to suffer through sexist jokes, I see this musical as a sign both that Mormons are moving into the mainstream of religion and culture, and that there is resistance to that.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite  | Jun 14, 2011 12:59 PM