this fine blog<\/a>) have always shone a spotlight on prominent athletes, academics, actors, artists, authors and politicians who are also church members. And it\u2019s understandable: We like to see people like us succeed, we want to see evidence that our faith contributes to success in society, we want to point to positive things church members have accomplished, and we like to feel seen and understood in the arts and media.<\/p>\nI don\u2019t think I can do it anymore.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t there for the start of your career; few people were. But I noticed your first commercial success, and I\u2019ve been following your career ever since and contributing to your success as much as one consumer can. Of course your work could stand on its own, but I hopped on the train because at last I felt like I had found someone who shared my values and valued my experience.<\/p>\n
As your career blossomed, other fans found their way to your work, and your artistry was capacious enough to invite them in. Representation is powerful, and I could see their authentic joy when they too found themselves reflected in your work.<\/p>\n
But the fans who first helped launch your career come with a cost on the national market, don\u2019t they? Our ways can seem quaint, at times provincial, even narrow-minded or offensive. Or to put it another way, embarrassing.<\/p>\n
You haven\u2019t directly stated that you\u2019re embarrassed of us \u2013 yet \u2013 but I keep noticing what look like nods and gestures in that direction that give me an unsettled feeling. Sometimes a sinking feeling. Occasionally a nasty feeling. At times, you seem to be apologizing for, trying to un-create, those early works that I enjoyed so much.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know for sure. We\u2019re still in the realm of interpreting subtle hints and artistic themes. I can\u2019t be certain where you\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n
But we\u2019ve seen other Mormon celebrities take that route. Their spiritual journey is taking them down a new path, they say. Eventually they say they no longer identify as Mormons (although their marketing to LDS audiences seems to persist even after their membership records have vanished).<\/p>\n
It you\u2019re thinking of following them down that road, there are some things you should know. The first is that it\u2019s not necessary. The religious test for Mormon fandom is pretty lenient. All you have to do is say something about trying to be a good church member even if you\u2019re not very good at it, or trying to live as much as you understand. We can work with that.<\/p>\n
The second thing to know is that it\u2019s not going to work. Whatever commercial success or recognition from your relevant National Academy you\u2019ve been denied, parting ways with your earliest fans isn\u2019t going to get it for you. Did Taylor Swift get where she is today by running away from her middle school-aged fans? No, she did not. It will be tempting to present yourself as a victim of oppression, but if it comes to that point, I hope you\u2019ll at least have the decency to say a few nice things about your LDS upbringing.<\/p>\n
Finally, whatever spin you put on it, it\u2019s a path I can\u2019t follow. I don\u2019t think I can even start down the road with anyone else anymore.<\/p>\n
And why should I? Representation is powerful, and it\u2019s especially powerful to be told that representing me is no longer part of your artistic program, or that my values are a drag on your aspirations for a breakout hit. By this point, we\u2019ve been burned enough times that I have to wonder if it\u2019s worth the emotional investment in the next up and coming Mormon academic, artist, athlete, actor, author or politician.<\/p>\n
I understand your desire for a professional future beyond the Provo-Rexburg-FSY speaking circuit. But the final destination of a journey forces a re-evaluation of its earliest steps. What you choose next will determine if we were supporting a fellow member of a community based on shared values, or if we were just suckers getting set up for another rug-pull.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you forsake Mormon celebrities? Yea, I forsake. Do you forsake vicarious satisfaction in their professional success? Yea, I forsake. Do you forsake their works and fandom that you served in former times? Yea, I forsake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,261],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-mormon-of-the-year-features"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51183,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51177\/revisions\/51183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}