Honestly, I hope this isn't true (but I have a snaeking suspicion that it is) for a number of reasons besides the movie being R-rated.
Firstly, a slasher flick? That's supposed to be some sort of artistic leap? It's not as if Hollywood hasn't a glutton's portion of such films already. I'm sure he could infuse some sort of new perspective into it, but it's usually cheap, loathsome, gimmicky kind of stuff that caters to a thrill seeking, no substance crowd. If you're going to make an R-rated flick, at least go for something with a little more class-- subjects like Schindler's List or Amistad or The Passion or even Good Will Hunting-- sure, fine, go ahead, your position is more justifiable. But a slasher flick? Why waste good talent on that?
Secondly, it seems to me that Dutcher is going more and more in the footsteps of Neil La Bute (not to mention the fact that LaBute just made a film in that genre, which received horrible reviews). From what was reported about the Sunstone panel, it sounds as if he was giving positions like LaBute's and Evanson's more and more credence, and saw himself more and more in their image. Personally, the more and more I hear from the likes of LaBute and Evanson, the less artistic they sound. They seem to go for shock value, not true intellectual or spiritual exploration.
Thirdly, it seems to me to be a sign that Dutcher's given up on us. Which may be the most sad reality of it all. If this trend keeps up, his involvement with LDS cinema may be dead. I once heard him say something to the effect that he wasn't interested in making mainstream films, that he would keep pushing ahead with LDS Cinema even if he had to beg or borrow to do it. The song has changed. He runs into a crisis and his former commitments fall away. His experience in California with President Kimball's talk and the Holy Ghost telling him to make LDS films is now a moot point. His sacrificing filmmaking to go on a mission because of Return of the Jedi fades to the background. Will there be "Christ in the center" of this "nude slasher flick," like he suggests to other film makers? Would Christ want to be the center of a nude slasher flick?
I hope this is a knee jerk reaction on my part. I hope I am totally wrong, and that this trend I think I'm seeing is totally wrong, and that Richard Dutcher is a smarter, more spiritual man than I am currently giving him credit for. But I can't shake this disappointment. I have defended him in so many scenarios, I have talked up his movies so regularly. He has been one of my favorite film makers. This, at least how I'm envisioning it, would be so much more difficult for me to justify.
Richard played Oliver Cowdery in the Church's D&C series. I would so much hate to see him become the Oliver Cowdery or David Whitmer of LDS Film, to abandon the cause he helped create.
Please, please, Richard, prove me wrong. I so want to be wrong.
In a very sad state,
Mahonri
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