Manipulation and Mormon Film

We can usually easily spot manipulative media. We’re quite wary of anything that tells us how to think. Occasionally we willingly surrender to such representations but it is always carefully and with a certain foundation of trust. I’ve subjected myself to manipulation for most of my life coming from institutional Church films and often wonder why I do this. More importantly, I wonder why I spent two years in Brazil showing these things to others and why I continue to see film as an important tool in the hands of the institutional Church.
First of all, I suppose I should back up my claim that Church movies are indeed manipulative. For one thing, they are largely one-sided. The Church can do no wrong and all the issues you see are more black and white than life ever could be. One of the primary aims of these films is to invite the Spirit and inspire the viewers. This begs the question concerning the ethics of such a goal. Can we feel the Spirit through film? Can a movie, something static and artificial in nature, truly testify of truth? And is it ethical to expect something unchanging to have an effect on a wide variety of viewers?
Such are the issues I find with Church films. A keen example of this tendency toward manipulation is “Together Forever.” This film is a false documentary which presents actors portraying converts to the gospel testifying of truths they themselves do not believe. On whose witness, then, does this film’s intended spirituality rely? The writers? The director’s? The member’s who pops it into the DVD player? This film also goes further than presenting truth and testifying of Christ and the plan of salvation. It plays on the heightened emotions and fictional situations typical of a narrative film and adds the spiritual element almost as a sort of “wild card” to make an already emotional audience mistake this involvement for the Spirit. I’m not saying that people cannot have a spiritual experience with this, or any other church film. I saw the powerful effects that this and other films could have in the conversion process over and over while I was on my mission. I only say this to point out the danger of marrying high drama and preachy religious content and the difficulty in distinguishing our reactions.
I suppose most of my acceptance of practices that I find problematic comes from the trust I have for the source of these films. I know that they come from the Brethren (or at least are approved thereby) and somehow that eases my mind and calms my doubts about their morality and proper place. They certainly can’t do much harm and I’ve seen the good that can come of a little innocent manipulation.