Religion as a whole is “ruthlessly mocked” in the musical comedy The Book of Mormon which has begun playing in Auckland.
Richard Hunter, communications director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Pacific region has questioned why Mormons were frequently the butt of jokes about religious groups.
“The opportunity for the offence is everywhere but the razor-sharp satire never feels cruel in its attacks,” says the New Zealand Herald’s entertainment reporter, Ethan Sills.
By targeting every taboo with the same ceaseless disregard, Mormon manages – just – to get away with its unhinged mockery,”
Sills says that it feels like a divine miracle that something as infectiously funny and uproariously entertaining as The Book of Mormon exists.
“Leave your morals at home, open your mind and settle in for what is undoubtedly the funniest musical this century. So far.”
“It is “almost impossible not to be offended by the Book of Mormon,” Emily Brooks the writer of an opinion piece on stuff believes.
“It’s offensive. It’s very, very funny, but it’s offensive,” she says.
Brookes says the musical’s target is less specifically Mormonism than fundamentalism.
These are parodied most explicitly in the song I Believe: “I believe that God lives on a planet called Kolob/I believe that Jesus has his own planet as well/And I believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri,”
“The song’s refrain runs: “I am a Mormon/And a Mormon just believes.”
“Swap out “Mormon” for “Jew” or “Muslim” and it works just as well, says Brooks.
“Every religion requires a level of blind faith from its followers; Catholics believe in transubstantiation, Buddhists believe in reincarnation.”
“Imagine if a play that was a satire and a parody and in the same vein as this one was based on Judaism or Islam or Catholicism or Anglicanism,” he said.
“Would people react (in) the same way? I just think it’s an interesting thought as to why we’re kind of a little bit of an easy target.”
“Dealing with parody and satire is always a tricky thing for churches,” writes Michael Otterson, “We can easily appear thin-skinned or defensive, and churches sometimes are. ”
“Somewhere I read that the show’s creators spent seven years writing and producing “The Book of Mormon” musical. As I reflected on all that time spent parodying this particular target,
I also wondered what was really going on with Mormons in Africa during those same seven years.
The Book of Mormon has cut short its first New Zealand run in Auckland, effective immediately because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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