“Ice Cream and Elevators” seems elementary and simplistic to present-day students. However, it effectively pioneered a genre that has proven to remain crowd-pleasing and commercially viable today. There is something about Mormon culture (especially BYU culture) that lends itself to parody and “Ice Cream and Elevators” is an early example of this phenomenon. This, then, begs the question: why is BYU Mormon Culture so easy to exploit for comedic motives and why do we find it so humorous?
I think any group of people put in a microcosm such as BYU will lend itself to the extremes we see in films like “Ice Cream and Elevators,” “Singles Ward,” and the like. The humor comes largely from the potential comparison of BYU culture to the rest of the world. Those who take the counsel to be a “peculiar people” too far are, quite frankly, a comic gold mine. BYU also has a dating and romance culture unlike any other in the world. Even those involved therein acknowledge that strange things happen at BYU. Finally, a certain amount of familiarity placed within a more outlandish story can be very humorous. In this film, we saw many familiar thing: art exhibits at the HFAC, waiting for the national anthem to play, and apartments that likely haven’t changed since the time of filming. Much of the laughter was that of recognition as we saw our world blown up on the big screen with larger-than-life characters and laughable situations. There is something delightful and healthy about laughing at yourself and this genre allows for a truly cathartic release.
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I agree with laughing at yourself is healthy, and I liked the Singles Ward and The RM, however I wonder if it can be excessive to the point where it actually harms the genre. If the filmmakers of the Singles Ward had stopped after two films instead of continuing (Home Teachers, Church Ball, etc.) then I think Mormon Cinema wouldn't have taken such a negative connotation as expressed by many friends who never lived within this microcosm of BYU.
Although I do know its hard to write other material other than dating and awkwardness while here at BYU, so coming up with something else might be tricky.
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