By Julie Espinosa
When I saw “States of Grace” earlier this year, I thought it was the most spiritually uplifting film I”d ever seen from an LDS director. I was deeply touched by this film, and I wanted to give other Latter-day Saints a chance to see it. I started seeing how to make that happen.
It is with great disappointment I announce there will be no screening allowed on BYU campus in the foreseeable future.
As one club president told me, “I”m hesitant because of the intense gang violence and the wayward missionary situation; it seems that it could be extremely difficult to get BYUSA to approve it as an official activity. I want the club to deal with issues and discussions that encourage tolerance and understanding, yet I feel a responsibility to be careful, as well, because if we push the envelope, it can jeopardizing being able to have the club continue.”
Now rewind. Maybe you”ve heard third-hand reviews decrying “States of Grace” because it depicts suicide, illicit love, gangbangers and struggling missionaries.
A lot of people have written it off based on such cursory criticism.
In contrast to the vast majority of perfunctory LDS movies out there, “States of Grace” is unafraid to present the darker side of human nature. Is it strong? Yes. A story must be strong to draw you in. Tragic? Yes. Rebirth is only possible out of death. Disturbing? Yes. Even good people can make terrible decisions. Uplifting? Yes. God”s love and forgiveness offers all of us a chance at repentance. Entertaining and well made? That too.
Now, at BYU, you can”t just create an activity yourself. Only officially sanctioned university groups are authorized to schedule classrooms. So I approached one, then another – in all, five professors or club presidents with a proposal to host a free on-campus screening and discussion. All but one had seen and liked the movie, and yet they all declined.
I understand movie watching in general isn”t relevant to certain organizations” goals. But what frustrated me more was that people I approached thought they would face negative repercussions if they affiliated with this inspiring Christian movie. “States of Grace” includes flawed characters who commit sins (and most of them learn what it means to repent later), but writer-director Richard Dutcher isn”t advocating sin. Author Orson Scott Card has noted that some people “do not know how to tell the difference between an evil book and a good book that depicts evil.” Great stories – from “East of Eden,” “The Brothers Karamazov” or the Bible, to name a few – include characters who struggle. They sometimes do good and sometimes do wrong, but never without consequences.
Brigham Young told the Saints in 1853, “We should study not only good, and its effects […] but evil, and its consequences. I intend to know the whole of it, both good and bad. Shall I practice evil? No; neither have I told you to practice it, but to learn by the light of truth every principle there is in existence in the world.”
Why is it, then, that at Brother Brigham”s namesake university we so often avoid works of art that challenge a cotton-candy worldview and show instead the dramatic, cosmic struggle of good versus evil?
Most so-called family friendly movies fail to say anything memorable because they avoid flawed characters, thus whitewashing real lessons. Ultimately, when they soften the trials of life, they diminish the power of the redemptive doctrines we believe in.
The message of “States of Grace,” according to the director, is that, “with so much violence and chaos in the world, [it is] Christ [who] ultimately brings peace.” Is it right to reject this message because of the realistic way it is delivered?
