Purdie Distribution and the Problem of Toxic Mopologetics
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 7:04 pm
The world of moviemaking is, unsurprisingly, extremely image-conscious. Anyone paying attention probably remembers how much press the Will Smith/Chris Rock slap received--and the consequences. Smith wound up resigning from the Academy and the Academy banned him from attending the Oscars event for 10 years. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the Golden Globes, has been accused of racism and chastised publicly for lack of diversity amongst its members.
Given this, one can't help but wonder what impact--if any--the recent "Richard Nygren" shakeup might have on the Interpreter Foundation's moviemaking ambitions. A generous reading of the whole affair is that Mike Parker and Robert Boylan are guilty of some pretty tasteless behavior. Meanwhile, the fact that Parker's "Neville-Neville Land" has been devoted for some four years to trashing other Latter-day Saints is arguably problematic. Are some aspects of the Heartlanders deserving of criticism? Most definitely. Their own antisemitism and racism absolutely deserves condemnation.
But I cannot help but wonder what Brandon Purdie--the head of the LDS movie distributor, Purdie Distribution, which handled the "Witnesses" film--would think about all of this.
If one accepts that the primary audience for Purdie films consists of Latter-day Saints, then you sort of have to conclude that working with filmmakers who are openly and aggressively trying to alienate--if not excommunicate!--significant factions of Mormons is, well, not going to be good for business. But who knows? It may be that Purdie is a fan of aggressive Mopologetics. But I'm willing to bet that it's more likely that he's unaware of it.
Meanwhile, over the past couple of years, Dr. Petersonh has described "Neville-Neville Land" as "sadly necessary," "invaluable and health-promoting" (!), "urgently needed," "excellent," "useful," and "unfortunately necessary but generally entertaining." Would he change his tune, though, if the issue were raised with Purdie? Boylan and Parker have very arguably been engaged in some deeply problematic racist antics, and Dr. Peterson has been enthusiastically promoting the blog for years. To his credit, he rather firmly denied that he had any knowledge about or connection to the whole "Richard Nygren" deception, but he can't escape the clear evidence that he has been showering Parker with superlatives practically from day one.
Is this the kind of thing that Brandon Purdie believes in? The website from the company asserts that it's all about "FILMS THAT ELEVATE AND INSPIRE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE." And it's true that an argument can be made that one should separate the artist from the "art." Perhaps the fact that Executive Producer Peterson is neck-deep in his connection to "Neville-Neville Land" should be overlooked when it comes to 6 Days in August? At the end of the day, one has to assume that Purdie's chief concern--one of them anyways--is profitability, and, it goes without saying, "image" is a key aspect of that. Witnesses was a bomb at the box office which is already a strike against the Interpreter moviemaking team. Will Executive Producer Peterson's involvement with "Neville-Neville Land" spell doom for his new film's prospects? We will have to wait and see.
Given this, one can't help but wonder what impact--if any--the recent "Richard Nygren" shakeup might have on the Interpreter Foundation's moviemaking ambitions. A generous reading of the whole affair is that Mike Parker and Robert Boylan are guilty of some pretty tasteless behavior. Meanwhile, the fact that Parker's "Neville-Neville Land" has been devoted for some four years to trashing other Latter-day Saints is arguably problematic. Are some aspects of the Heartlanders deserving of criticism? Most definitely. Their own antisemitism and racism absolutely deserves condemnation.
But I cannot help but wonder what Brandon Purdie--the head of the LDS movie distributor, Purdie Distribution, which handled the "Witnesses" film--would think about all of this.
If one accepts that the primary audience for Purdie films consists of Latter-day Saints, then you sort of have to conclude that working with filmmakers who are openly and aggressively trying to alienate--if not excommunicate!--significant factions of Mormons is, well, not going to be good for business. But who knows? It may be that Purdie is a fan of aggressive Mopologetics. But I'm willing to bet that it's more likely that he's unaware of it.
Meanwhile, over the past couple of years, Dr. Petersonh has described "Neville-Neville Land" as "sadly necessary," "invaluable and health-promoting" (!), "urgently needed," "excellent," "useful," and "unfortunately necessary but generally entertaining." Would he change his tune, though, if the issue were raised with Purdie? Boylan and Parker have very arguably been engaged in some deeply problematic racist antics, and Dr. Peterson has been enthusiastically promoting the blog for years. To his credit, he rather firmly denied that he had any knowledge about or connection to the whole "Richard Nygren" deception, but he can't escape the clear evidence that he has been showering Parker with superlatives practically from day one.
Is this the kind of thing that Brandon Purdie believes in? The website from the company asserts that it's all about "FILMS THAT ELEVATE AND INSPIRE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE." And it's true that an argument can be made that one should separate the artist from the "art." Perhaps the fact that Executive Producer Peterson is neck-deep in his connection to "Neville-Neville Land" should be overlooked when it comes to 6 Days in August? At the end of the day, one has to assume that Purdie's chief concern--one of them anyways--is profitability, and, it goes without saying, "image" is a key aspect of that. Witnesses was a bomb at the box office which is already a strike against the Interpreter moviemaking team. Will Executive Producer Peterson's involvement with "Neville-Neville Land" spell doom for his new film's prospects? We will have to wait and see.
I suppose Boylan could argue that Nelson was only speaking as a man and expressing his opinion. There is always that to fall back on when one doesn't like what prophets say, or do the Lou Midgley strategic shuffle and just wait for the old codger to die and kick off...