Another Pride & Prejudice

I admit that I kind of love the Mormon adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (2003). In no other modern culture would Jane Austen's society of marriage obsessed young men and women make sense but in the bizarro world of a Utah Valley singles ward*. While this film, like many during the early 00s influx of Mormon culture movies, is full of cheese and "it's funny cuz it's true" sort of moments, it's endlessly amusing.

Elizabeth in this adaptation is a 26-year-old living in Provo/Orem, Utah (believe me when I say most of the outdoor locales looked familiar). She's (I'm assuming) a master's student studying English and a budding novelist who works in a bookstore. But most importantly, she's not married. To give you some context, I'm 22 and have lived in Provo for four years without getting married. However, by the end of this summer, 6 of my former roommates will have married. It's weird here**. Anyway, Elizabeth doesn't have the best of luck with guys. Her current situation with men is her sanctimonious stalker William Collins and the inactive Mormon friend Jack Wickham who clearly has the hots for her.

It was a genius move to have Collins and Jack already part of the story for a two hour film. Like I've mentioned before, trying to introduce and develop a relationship with Wickham in other adaptations is difficult because two hours is not enough time. The Mr. Collins character will always be odious and easy to establish and dismiss, but if Wickham is supposed to be an actual contender for Elizabeth, a brief meeting or two is not enough.

The sister roles are played out as roommates. Jane is Elizabeth's Brazilian best friend and roommate and is probably my favorite character. Kitty and Lydia are boycrazy and severe adherents to the new bestselling book about how to get a guy, The Pink Bible (probably the cheesiest of all the plot devices). Mary is a socially awkward young lady who's trying to be the epitome of a good Mormon girl. Mostly she's an embarrassment.

Another device in the film is the use of title cards which are kind of charming. Quotes from the novel Pride and Prejudice are placed in between scenes once in a while that are usually out of context for the storyline, but add some of Austen's wit and commentary into the film without awkwardly having the characters have to spew off regency-era dialogue.

Then of course you have Will Darcy and Charles Bingley. Darcy is appropriately pompous at first and then just a dork.His initial asking out Elizabeth scene (analogous to the first proposal) is wonderfully awkward when he tells Elizabeth she's "strangely attractive". Bingley is kind of just dumb in this adaptation***. He's rich for selling high pitched versions of classical music for dog, but whatever. He's adorable, which I guess is all you need.

But there's really just one scene that wins me over every time I end up watching this movie.It's after Elizabeth has had a bad meeting with a book publisher (of course it's Darcy) and Jane's just been email dumped by Bingley (who's going out of town). You see them both encrusted on a couch, covered in blankets and crumbs, with greasy hair and empty ice cream cartons and pizza boxes around them. To figure out if it's morning, Elizabeth picks up a nearby stick and moves open the curtains a smidgen and quickly hides her face from the bright morning light. And when their roommates drag them to the store, they just go for tampons and large vats of ice cream. I honor any film willing to make the women all-out ugly if only for a scene.

At the end of the day, this adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is on the level of a made for TV movie, but it's so innocuous and fun that it's completely entertaining. Non-Mormons might be confused in some spots since the setting is assumed without a lot of explanation (which I think works in its favor), but it's always fun to see how people adapt favorite novels. For me, this version is far more enjoyable that the 2005 version, if only because it effectively establishes characters, makes the plot work for the time constraints, and keeps the the mocking, but accepting of society tone of the book. In the end, the film basically becomes a standard romantic-comedy, but you could do a lot worse than Jane Austen source material.


*Well, also apparently India.
**and I'm leaving Utah for grad school in the fall. Victory!
***Poor character always gets the short stick.

Describes my feelings about being Mormon exactly

Why Are You Still Here? from Feminist Mormon Housewives.

Movies about the after life with a Mormon tie-in

1. Defending Your Life (1991)- Written, directed, and starring Albert Brooks, this is a kind of funny take on the afterlife. Brooks plays Daniel Miller, a fairly successful, but average sort of guy who spends his birthday taking a drive by himself. During that drive, his car is hit by a bus and he is sent into the next world.

In the next world, the dead take a tram to a hotel where they can rest after the ordeal of dying, having the best sleep of their life. The experience is not unlike being a tourist, but this time it's in Judgment City. In the morning, the dead meet their defenders (kind of like lawyers) that try to get the dead to move on by proving they have overcome fears, otherwise the dead return to earth for another go around. Moving on also means learning to use more of their brain since the earth-bound human uses only about 3%, while those who've moved on, like the lawyers who use around 50%. Then comes the judgment: the dead are on trial for several days where their defenders spar with a prosecutor in front of two judges to decide if they are to move on. (Although they are assured that this isn't like court.)

Albert is full of fears, and each moment of his life (shown by film) that the lawyers analyze essentially show what a coward he is. This greatly contrasts the confident and fearless Julia, played by Meryl Streep. Julia and Albert meet the evening of their first full day in Judgment City and quickly hit it off. A kind of romantic-comedy ensues wherein they spend the next few days spending their extra time together. Julia is guaranteed to go to the next life (she gets to stay in a fancier hotel), but Albert is full of doubts--will they make it to the next world together?

As crazy as the premise is, the fun dialogue and the combination of a witty Albert Brooks and a radiant Meryl Streep are enough to keep it on track and amusing. Having the point of life being about overcoming fears also makes it a descent message movie; it goes down easy with all the humorous dialogue.

Plus, since I watched it with other Mormons, many doctrinal connections were made: proving yourself through life experiences, progressing to the next world, becoming infinitely smarter. The idea that life has a purpose is appealing, in that it give a reason to do the things you do. In Defending Your Life, it's overcoming fear. In Mormonism, it's becoming more like Christ, and that usually translates to being "righteous" and following the commandments. In both cases, this leads to becoming more than you already are and becoming more god-like.

2. After Life (1998)- After Life is a lovely Japanese film that unfolds slowly. It starts on a Monday where the newly dead are introduced to their situation by workers in a well-worn facility with several small rooms with tables separating the dead and the workers. Much of the film is shot in these rooms as the dead recollect their lives. Their one task before they move on from this place is to choose one memory they'd like to carry with them to the next life; they will forget everything else. At the end of the week, the workers will assist in filming this memory for the dead to show on their last day in the facility, after which they'll move on.

Much of the film shows the dead telling their best memories: going to Disneyland, the night with their best customer as a prostitute, flying through clouds in a military plane. Some of the memories change, some can't think of a memory, and others simply refuse to choose. My favorite character chose a memory with her brother. She had just finished a dance recital, and her brother and friends told her they'd give her food if she'd dance for them. The telling by her, and later her helping a little girl on set film her story is sweet and lovely.

The most interesting characters are the workers at the facility. We slowly learn that they are also dead and why they are there. The climax of film comes after we learn why certain workers are still at the facility. It's interesting to note that these dead can feel and make relationships with each other and the newly dead, but it doesn't really add on to their actual life experiences.

This reveals the big difference between this afterlife and the Mormon after life: they keep one happy memory forever, without experiencing more. Mormons believe that people keep living life after death. Relationships are intact and strenghtened, and new experiences are created. Having life be over would be a relief, but having relationships and experiences continue would give you the chance to make yourself better and improve on the last life. Mormon doctrine is deeply rooted in hard-working protestantism and hopeful Americanism: you can always do better and improve if you work hard. The more you can do the better. Although, After Life's afterlife has more appeal: there is not heaven or hell, just eternity with your happiest memory, and that would be great, since you can't know there's more happiness if you've never experienced it. This would be your happiest forever.