Q&A: Religion, Entertainment and Culture With Religious Studies and History Expert Patrick Mason

Patrick Q. Mason holds the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at USU. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Romania in 2015 and is a past president of the Mormon History Association. Professor Mason is frequently consulted by the national and international media on stories related to Mormon culture and history. He teaches courses on Mormonism, American religious history, and religion, violence, and peacebuilding.

Q&A

Q: What role does pop culture and entertainment play in the public perception or understanding/misunderstanding of religion and faith?

A: It’s hard to underestimate the role of pop culture and entertainment in shaping public perceptions of religion and faith. For instance, many people have never visited a place of worship other than their own (if they go to one themselves), so the images they have of other religions are almost entirely determined by what they’ve seen on a screen.

Q: Netflix has produced a handful of series highlighting Latter-day Saints figures, history and culture. Many casting a negative light on LDS individuals and practices. How do those stories and characters affect the way the LDS church is viewed?

A: Numerous studies have shown that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a public relations problem for a very long time. Because of that, the recent shows on Netflix, Hulu, and other platforms that portray Latter-day Saints in a negative light don’t move the needle for most people, in terms of their perceptions of the religion and it’s followers, so much as simply freeze that needle in place. In other words, the shows don’t create negative perceptions so much as they largely reinforce them. That said, there are some positive elements. Even shows like "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" or "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," both of which would give the LDS Church’s PR people heartburn, dispel the common notion that Mormons are all the same and are blindly obedient to whatever their leaders tell them to do. Diverse representations of Latter-day Saints, showing them as real people (or at least the version of “real” you get on TV), may help break down certain prejudices.

Q: What concerns do you have with Hollywood taking liberties with religious or historical texts to change stories and characters for entertainment?

A: It’s inevitable for fictional dramatic portrayals to change stories, combine or invent characters, collapse timelines, and otherwise smooth out some of the wrinkles of history. This is always the case whenever history is portrayed on screen. The question is not whether films and TV will do so, but how responsibly they will do so. My question is always whether screenwriters, producers, and directors take the same care and sensitivity with their portrayal of religious minorities as they do with other minority groups.

Q: Do popular TV series like "The Chosen," which often films in Utah, lead to increased interest and/or participation in religion?

A: "The Chosen" has been a game-changer in terms of religion, especially Christianity, on screen. Frankly, most religiously oriented entertainment is boring and often poorly made. It appeals to insiders because they already resonate with the stories, but it does little to bring in the unconverted. Because "The Chosen" has high production values, generally good writing and acting, compelling characters, and most importantly, a Jesus who actually seems like a guy you’d want to spend time with, it has drawn in a much wider range of audiences. It will be the template for many future productions, I’m sure.

Q: The Chosen creator, Dallas Jenkins recently announced expanding with children's cartoons and other content. How can these additional mediums for sharing religious stories and awareness of religious figures help children better understand faith and religion?

A: Every religion is only one generation away from fading away. That is why religious leaders and organizations exert so much energy on teaching the faith to young people, so that the tradition carries on. Rather than being anti-technology, religious leaders have often been on the very cutting edge of new technologies, using them to spread the faith; think about Martin Luther and the printing press, for instance. It’s no surprise that Jenkins and other people of faith are using every medium at their disposal, including cartoons, to spread the faith to the next generation. That will always be the case… as anyone who grew up watching "Veggie Tales" knows.

Q: Recent data suggests young men are finding their way to religion at significantly faster rates than women, while young women are leaving the church at high rates compared to men. How does, or how could the religious content in entertainment play a role in those trends?

A: It seems that the biggest driver for young men’s return to religion right now has been social media. There is now an entire online universe of podcasts, websites, blogs, and influencer accounts targeting men, especially young men in their teens and 20s. While of course not all of those influencers are interested in faith, many of the most influential (such as Jordan Peterson) have made strong arguments for why religion, and Christianity in particular, can be useful in providing meaning, purpose, and structure in young men’s lives.