Mountain Meadows Massacre:September Dawn film

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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Question

Does the film about the Mountain Meadows Massacre accurately portray the historical events?

Response

September Dawn is an ill-informed and poorly-done piece of propaganda. Those wishing resources on the historical facts behind the Mountain Meadows tragedy can click here.

Critical reaction

Non-Mormon critics have also realized how biased, sensationalistic, and poorly done the film is. A sample of media quotes about the film:

• "...the project has the appearance of melodramatic sectarian propaganda...The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." - Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune (23 August 2007). off-site
• "Cain has co-written and directed a film that only the most bigoted of Mormon detractors could enjoy. Most viewers, if any are willing to part with their money or time, will simply laugh derisively...[Director Cain] has created questionable history and boneheaded drama...Thanks to a cheap production...and even cheaper thinking, anyone who has seen the movie knows that there’s nothing to discuss" - Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). off-site
• "The point of the picture appears to be the blunt mockery of the Mormon culture, but surely “Dawn” would be far more controversial if it didn’t try so hard to be raw and unpleasant. [Director Christopher] Cain has turned the Mormons into baby-eatin' Nazis to suit his argument, parading around these black-clad, chin-bearded, testicle-slicing gunslingers without any thoughtful consideration. To Cain, the Mormons were hulking, borderline insane fundamental gorillas who flung excrement at anyone daring to besmirch the name of Joseph Smith...It’s a trashy, tasteless, and ridiculous film about a serious event in prairie history, eliciting laughter instead of education." - Brian Orndorf, eFilmCritic.com, (24 August 2007). off-site
• "D minus...Clearly “September Dawn” is constructed as an anti-Mormon diatribe disguised as a historical narrative...like most 'historical' pictures, [it] as serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." - Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinionoff-site
• "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response. But “September Dawn,” director Christopher Cain's drama set during the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is deserving of derision. " - Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune, (24 August 2007). off-site

• "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous This misguided 9/11 allegory and fictionalization of that history utterly demonizes the perpetrators of that massacre and those who may have given the orders...Every religion, when scrutinized by a skeptic, is open to mockery. Tune in to South Park if you want satire that ridicules, sect by sect, all comers in the world of religious zealots especially Mormons. But September Dawn isn't mockery. It's practically a call to jihad. " - Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel (24 August 2007). off-site
• "We can probably count the days until this shows up for sale on fringe Christian TV channels, its virtues trumpeted by some minister or other marketing his or her version of "The Truth." There are facts here...But there's the unmistakable air of evil about this enterprise, and not just an atrocity the Mormon church caused to happen 150 years ago." - Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel (24 August 2007). off-site
• "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." - Brett Register, Orlando Weekly (23 August 2007)off-site
• "Zero stars...If the Western genre is struggling, it's because of terrible movies like this one." - Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid (24 August 2007). off-site
• "September Dawn presents a ham-fisted cautionary tale of religious fanaticism that would have been hooted out of even 19th-century theaters as melodrama of the most lurid kind...such ham-fisted earnestness does no one any good, least of all those who believe there's a big difference between historical fact and emotional screed." - Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun (24 August 2007). off-site
• "The film and its website come with references and citations galore, yet confusing points abound...When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history, however, it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...." , Frank Lovece, Film Journal International (24 August 2007). off-site
• "...the clunky, heavily skewed means by which this tale is presented is nothing short of egregious, with its Mormon characters demonized with such laughable gusto, and its Christian victims cast in such a holy, noble light, that the project quickly feels less like an attempt at historical truth-telling than like shameless anti-Mormon propaganda...This cartoonish demonization persistently seems tied to a religious-political agenda" - Nick Sager, Slant Magazine (20 April 2007). off-site

• "But it can't shake the implication that it's some sort of attack piece on the Mormon religion and, in turn, conspiracy theorists may believe, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Some dialogue negatively likens Mormonism to Islam and paganism. Cartoonish scenes detract from the film's plausibility, including Mormon characters' referral to Brigham Young as "the Mormon god on earth," and a group of Mormons chanting "blood atonement! blood atonement!" over and over as though it were a softball rally cry...."September Dawn" is a stirring love story that dabbles uncomfortably close to hate." Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star (23 August 2007). off-site

If readers are aware of quotes about the film not available here, they are encouraged to contact FAIR.