Open Hatch

I know your distaste for the idea of rejecting any film because of content. And even though the trailer (and I’m guessing the story) clearly is exploring the idea that the woman at the audition loses her innocence by auditioning nude (and loss of innocence in that way is a pretty compelling and possibly never addressed theme in film), I don’t know that the idea sits well with me, of having an actress nude in a film – even when there is nothing whatever tantalizing about it, in fact it’s properly unsettling in the context – but on a level to me it may feel too far, that a woman was topless on set (and, well, jeepers, from the shot it seems the other actor was leering at her, whether that’s acting or not). One thing I loved about STATES OF GRACE was it portrayed nothing at all when it came to one character’s worse mistake, and it was more powerful for it – it made the audience think “Wait, did what I’m thinking happened just happen?”

But because I trust you I’ve given it thought. There are upright, religious artists at my work who lead faithful lives of service to their church and family who frequently attend nude figure drawing sessions to improve their skill. I’m probably not made for that but I’ve come to think it could be just as innocent as nudity in a doctor’s exam – it’s for learning and improvement, there is no part of it that’s unseemly. I’m open to but uncertain about the idea whether the same principle can apply to nudity in films, and it looks like your film may be a testing ground in my exploration of the idea.

But for heaven’s sake, even if I love FALLING, have you given up on THE PROPHET? I never imagined THE PROPHET might challenge the cultural assumptions of Mormons, other than presenting the full breadth of the origins of Mormonism, which contains some facts that some folks prefer to keep buried as “irrelevant” history. Now I’m wondering if it isn’t written in ways that would make one of your most loyal fans wonder if he should go to the theater

Oh, wait, you said it doesn’t seem it will be your privilege to carry on in the Mormon Cinema movement. Well that happens to work out okay anyway, because THE PROPHET isn’t Mormonism’s story. It’s the world’s story

And as a fellow son of Adam under whatever common or uncommon ground we share, and as a most loyal and insistent fan, I am here to say that if you have given up on THE PROPHET, I have not, and if I have anything to do with it, you won’t either in the end.