Homosexual Tension is Featured as the First "Undaunted" Episode Debuts

[Everybody Wang Chung]

In all seriousness, on the old board I posted a clip from one of the trailers that clearly shows Oliver starring at Joseph’s heinie for at least 5 seconds.

The “bottom” line is that the actors clearly knew what they were doing. I think if you were able to get them to speak freely they would admit they were all being subversive. Great job guys!

[malkie]

I wonder if it's possible that these trailers will have a Poelman-like retake.

[dastardly stem]

Having looked at the clip, I'm grateful for Shulem's post, because I would have felt naïve about not seeing all the homosexual tension. The thing with a shovel is what you do to let go of a shovel, since otherwise it falls over and gets the stuff you were shovelling onto the handle. So that just looked like a good piece of business showing Smith doing the most menial farm work and taking a break in a regular-guy way. The downward glance looked like a natural awkward response to meeting a stranger who seems bizarrely excited to meet you.

Gay people have often had to communicate subtly but I really don't think gay people are going around trying to send out sexual signals with such casual gestures, or reading invitations into everyday gestures from others. I think that's a homophobic anxiety that we shouldn't perpetuate. Flirting is a thing for all orientations but it doesn't work for anyone without being more overt than that.

The point that Joseph Smith fascinated his followers personally is no doubt real on the other hand. The film was bound to show that fascination if it was going to be at all realistic.

Pretty much in agreement.
i tried to tweek the conversation a bit too because the joke or whatever its supposed to be is lost on me. If Joseph were gay or bi or trans that wouldn't matter to me. If the old BYU guys were or are fearful of homosexuality...I mean too bad for them. They wouldn't be alone in that across the religious or ideological spectrum...sadly. And the way the actors portray greetings is a bit silly, although I admit there have been a few times in my life upon greeting an old friend, if I were filmed, would appear a bit silly too. ANd someone intent on it could probably say I glanced at someone's pee pee or acted gay. Oh well. I mean a joke to someone, I guess.

The portrayal was meant to suggest people really loved Joseph and thought he was nearly worthy of worship. THey have to portray it that way considering the beliefs. My larger issue with what we saw was how they portrayed Oliver's story in association with Joseph. It looks like it'll be a pretty wooden and poorly written or conceived of element. I can't imagine movie critics doing much more than dismissing this as crappy. Too bad.

[DrStakhanovite]

It would be a mistake to think that either Dr. Scratch, Reverend, or I think the purpose of this film was about same sex coupling. It clearly isn’t. Though the mediums are very different, analyzing a film is a lot like analyzing a text. Lots of little details that are either unintentional or unconscious make their way into the finished project that people heavily involved in the project are blind to.

We aren’t watching the scenes to learn about Joseph Smith, what we are looking for is what this film tells us about the people who created it. They put Joseph in clothes entirely unsuited for farm labor, like wearing a neckerchief that constricts his neck. Why?

Or how about the fact they gave him a shovel to walk out the door with even though there is nothing in the shot that indicates he even needs it. You could have had that scene without a shovel and it would have hardly made a difference, it was completely extraneous. Yet it was included. Why?