The university’s social media posts are generally uplifting, witty, and beautifully showcase our campus.
However, I am concerned about recent posts highlighting the movie “Heretic,” which was written and produced by two Hawkeye alumni. While I understand the intent of these posts was to showcase the work of our alumni, I find it troubling that we are promoting a film that makes a horrific game of the important work that young missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints do throughout the world.
My son, who recently graduated from high school, is currently serving as a missionary in Argentina. He works 14-hour days — often in intense heat or torrential rain — walking the streets of Buenos Aires to provide comfort to those who feel downtrodden and forgotten. His mission is to help others feel the love of a divine parent. On several occasions, he has supported individuals on the brink of taking their lives, encouraging them to keep going. He receives no pay for this emotionally and physically taxing work. To the contrary, he has expended his own resources to make a difference in the neighborhoods where he labors, all while delaying his educational goals and learning a new language.
In short, far from the naivety and vulnerability that the film “Heretic” portrays, my son and his missionary colleagues make conscious, daily choices to dedicate themselves to nothing else except service and bringing hope to others.
Unfortunately, “Heretic” misrepresents and trivializes these efforts. While such portrayals are not new in media and entertainment, I find it especially concerning that we, as a university, would promote work that undermines our shared value of inclusion. As if this weren’t troubling enough, “Heretic” — like many horror films — is heavily misogynistic and profits from graphic depictions of violence against women. This should further underscore the discomfort with treating this film as a point of pride for the university.
With this in mind, I’d like to share a few resources that may help our campus community consider the unintended consequences of praising “Heretic” and its creators.
- First, as a member of the Coalition for Faith and Media, I invite students, faculty, staff, and administrators to explore its resources, which are meant to foster deeper understanding of faith and its representation in media and entertainment.
- Second, I encourage our community to read a series of thoughtful op-eds written by Latter-day Saints regarding the “Heretic” film: The Problem with ‘Heretic,’ Why ‘Heretic’ Misrepresents Sister Missionaries, and Using Purity of Missionaries to Sell Fear. At minimum, these articles offer enlightening critiques of the movie’s motives and misrepresentations.
It is my hope that our campus community will review these helpful resources before further endorsing the film and the alumni who created it. Thousands of other Hawkeye alumni are doing remarkable things to lift and transform communities, industries, and workplaces. “Heretic” does none of these things.
– Stephen Courtright, UI Research Professor of Management