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  • Writer's pictureLiz Busby

Ep 9 - Under the Banner of Heaven: Ex-Mormon Fan Fiction?

Updated: Aug 17, 2022

We promise that this is more than just an hour of Mormons complaining about the bad representation in Under the Banner of Heaven, though there is a good deal of that. We discuss the problems caused by picking the true crime genre to tell this story and how we would have rewritten the story. (Too bad no one consulted us!) Bad history is debunked and real problems with church culture are discussed. And we arrive at the distinction between a thesis-driven show and an open exploration of ideas.






Our Ratings: Content: Outer Darkness (for temple portrayal & domestic violence) Artistic Merit: 3 popcorn balls Gospel Connections: 2 apricots


Best Books:

Liz - Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela

Carl - Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

Conor - Heike's Void by Steven Peck; Margin Call (film)

Tarik - Natural Philosophy: From Social Brains to Knowledge, Reality, Morality, and Beauty by Paul Thagard


Links:

Under the Banner of Heaven (tv series on Hulu)

Under the Banner of Heaven (book)

IndieWire's oral history of the origin of the series

Brigham City (film)

Mormonland podcast with Janan Graham-Russell

Article on "Who Killed Joseph Smith?" conspiracy theory documentary

Massacre at Mountain Meadows (book put out by the church in 2008)


Liz's reviews of the series for Public Square Magazine

Carl's live-tweets of each episode


Find Us:

Conor - @theConorHilton

Tarik - @realscientistic

Carl - @CarlCranney

Liz - lizbusby.com


Video editing by Carl

Associate Links: Links to products may be associate links, which means a small part of your purchase goes to Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree. We appreciate your support.

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