Mass Media and Utah

One might wonder why such a massive preconceived notion of the Mormon Church and Utah as a whole has occurred. The most plain and simple answer is that people choose only to see what they find outrageous or entertaining. No matter how many publications, documentaries , movies, or TV specials come out and try to clarify the two subjects, they will always fall short of the mass drawing power that stereotypical based entertainment can offer.







The first and most obvious form of delivery is the news, both in print and on television. It’s hard to contend with some two hundred million people hearing about a polygamist colony being raided and disbanded, or a prominent polygamist being on America’s Most Wanted List. Even if these events aren’t taking place in Utah they are immediately tied to it due to the Mormon connection. While this image is far from wrong, the point is that it’s a pinhole approach to what Utah and its residents are really like, both those outside of and within the church. The fact is that while the Mormon population is the majority in the state overall at approximately 53%, the percentage of LDS church members in urban and metropolitan areas is closer to 20%. Unfortunatly facts like these and many far more relevant and important ones concerning global issues will almost certainly continue to be overlooked and ignored by the masses.

No wonder people think Utah is weird if this is all they see

Shows like HBOs Big Love fall into a similar category of focusing on the fantastical or outlandish aspect of the Mormon population and once again generalizations are made by the general public. These generalizations grow and propagate until eventually that is the only idea of Utah that people have. This is not to say that these outlandish practices don’t occur (there are plenty more that often go unreported) but this view, like so many others, is so narrow minded that it fails to encompass the quality of the state and the people within it as a whole.

One of many 'silent' protests that mock the image that Utah gets

Utah’s amazing natural landscape, the amazing people who live there, and the constant protests and revolutions that go unheard and ignored by the rest of the world are what should define the state. But instead the close minded view of Utah and so many places just like it will undoubtedly continue so long as we choose to let others inform our thoughts and opinions so totally and completely.