Six Days in August D.O.A.?

[I Have Questions]

To quote Chernobyl:




“$25,000 roentgens. Not terrible, not great.”

By comparison, Witnesses took $36,000 on its first Monday during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

[I Have Questions]

I frankly confess that I am not familiar with Susan Tuckett Media. I failed to find much online information about it. The company apparently distributed Escape from Germany. I don’t know if it’s done any other films. I didn’t find a company website, which is odd.

Susan Tuckett is a BYU graduate who worked as Marketing Director for Deseret Book for a couple of years before going it alone around 30 years ago. Susan Tuckett Medua seems to be a One Man Band. So perhaps is a lot cheaper than Purdie. She teaches at BYU. She might even be doing 6DIA pro bono.

[I Have Questions]

More reviews…

I'm an active, lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a disappointment this movie is. Clearly, its intent was not to portray accurate history--but instead, to propagandize a misleading, self-serving narrative. It's a desperate attempt at damage control. A rapidly growing segment within the Church are discovering a mountain of well-documented evidence that flies in the face of the mythical narrative of this movie, and the producers must have recognized the severity of the implications of this growing movement. Here are just a few examples of this film's deception.

The film alleges that Hyrum Smith endorsed polygamy, despite Hyrum's lifelong, ardent, and repeated denunciation of the practice. The movie fails to account, for example, for Hyrum's well-documented discourse from April 9, 1844 (just 2 1/2 months before he was murdered), in which Hyrum declared these words regarding polygamy:

"I am authorized to tell you from henceforth, that any man who comes in and tells any such damn fool doctrine, to tell him to give up his license. None but a fool teaches such stuff; the devil himself is not such a fool.... Any one found guilty of such teaching will be published and his license will be taken from him.... I wish the Elders of Israel to understand it is lawful for a man to marry a wife, but it is unlawful to have more.... I despise a man who teaches a pack of stuff that will disgrace himself so.... I would call the Devil my brother before such a man."

Similarly, the movie fails to account for Joseph's vehement, unequivocal, and constant condemnation of polygamy--that, for example, Joseph gave discourse after discourse denouncing the practice, that he excommunicated those found teaching it or participating in it, that he instituted the Relief Society to empower women to fight against it, that he litigated against those who accused him of it, etc. Etc. The movie fails to account for the fact that there is no valid contemporaneous evidence implicating Joseph in the practice, including no posterity from the alleged polygamous wives. Joseph offered words like these (delivered to the Relief Society on March 31, 1842, two weeks after the Relief Society was organized) in rejection of polygamy:

"(Some men) say they have authority from Joseph or the first Presidency (to have multiple wives) and thus with a lie in their mouth deceive & debauch the innocent under the assumption that they are authorized from these sources! May God forbid! ... No such authority ever has, ever can, or ever will be given to any man & if any man has been guilty of any such thing let him be treated with utter contempt & let the curse of God fall on his head... All persons pretending to be authorized by us or having any permit or sanction from us are & will be liars & base imposters & you are authorized on the very first intimation of the kind to denounce them as such ... Whether they are prophets, seers, or Revelators, patriarchs, Twelve apostles, Elders, Priests. Or what not, (all) are alike culpable. & shall be damned for such evil practices; & if you... yourselves... adhere to any thing of the kind you, also shall be damned."

The movie fails to account for the fact that among the thousands of attendees at the conference held on August 8, 1844, not one recorded anything like a transfiguration miracle suggesting that Brigham Young had taken on the appearance and voice of Joseph. Accounts of Brigham's mythical transfiguration didn't emerge for years after the Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo, and some of these later "reminiscences" of this purported transfiguration were offered by people who weren't even in Nauvoo when the conference took place. The transfiguration is a fairy tale, but this movie portrays it as if it were a matter of fact.

The movie also fails to account for the fact that there is zero contemporaneous support for the so-called "Last Charge" meeting of March 26, 1844. The Council of Fifty (not the Quorum of the Twelve, many of whom were traveling at the time) met that day, and the meeting minutes and respective participants' journal entries describe nothing that remotely suggests that Joseph commissioned the Twelve to lead the Church after him. In the first place, such an event would completely fly in the face of Joseph's repeated instruction that the Twelve had no stewardship or authority over the existing units of the Church--a teaching that is well-documented in the various records of the history of the Church. For example, "President Joseph Smith then stated that the Twelve will have no right to go into Zion, or any of its stakes, and there undertake to regulate the affairs thereof, where there is a standing high council" (History of the Church, Vol 2, p. 220). Nevertheless, sometime after Joseph was murdered, Orson Hyde drafted the document-- "Declaration of the Twelve Apostles"--on which the validity of the alleged "Last Charge" meeting hinges--but this document was completely rejected by the Council of Fifty, including by Brigham Young and other apostles who were part of that council. The document never garnered any signatories or support, even among those who would later claim the leadership of the Church. Orson Pratt (another one of the apostles) rebuked Hyde for his blatant fabrication, reminding Hyde that he hadn't even been present during the meetings of March 26. Even the most highly regarded historical scholars in the Church acknowledge the illegitimacy of Hyde's fabricated document and the dearth of contemporaneous evidence of the "Last Charge" meeting. This mythical meeting, just like Brigham Young's supposed transfiguration, is a fairy tale--yet this film portrays it as if it were factual.

Lastly, the movie takes for granted the trustworthiness of the two main eyewitness accounts of the martyrdom--those of Willard Richards and John Taylor. The movie fails to account for the egregious inconsistencies between these two accounts, and their misalignment with the forensic evidence surrounding the events. It fails to account for the fact that John Taylor didn't publish his account of the martyrdom until 10 years after the events, and just weeks after Willard Richards died (ostensibly so that Willard couldn't refute John's contradictory claims). The movie fails to account for the fact that there is no evidence of musket fire on the façade of the jail, within the jail, or on any of the three victims (Joseph, Hyrum, and John). The movie fails to account for the fact that the bullet holes in Hyrum's chin and nose clearly resulted from a single shot (there are no exit wounds on the top or the back of his skull), and that the chin wound was clearly where the bullet struck him--in other words, Hyrum was shot by someone who pointed the (small caliber) firearm directly at his chin. The movie draws on inconsistent accounts of two men who clearly had motive to deceive the people about their experiences in the jail.

There's so much more that could be said about this movie's belligerent fraud, but I'll limit my review to these obvious examples.

Viewer beware.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt32813616/rev ... =ttrt_sa_3

The Good -- for all of its cult potential, and my goodness this film is filled with, the song playing through the end credits was haunting and beautiful.

The Bad -- this movie makes Witnesses look like Citizen Kane, despite having a 2 million dollar budget. It just goes to show that money can't salvage a dookie script.

The Ugly -- if you were on a small passenger plane flying over Delta, UT, Six Days might not be preferable to simply staring into your airsickness bag.

I know what you're thinking... 'Just tell us whether you liked it.' Consider this, the film is pure fiction. Almost everything on the screen never happened. Women didn't love the idea of polygamy, there was not transfiguration of Brigham Young and the truth is that Joseph Smith ordered the destruction of the printing press because it was going to publish the truth about Joseph Smith and his many wives.

There is absolutely no reason to see this movie unless you are a glutton for punishment or if you enjoy being gaslit for 2 hours.

[I Have Questions]

A SeN commenter writes:

My wife and I, who live in a town east of Sacramento CA, went to see "Six Days in August" yesterday at 1:35pm. The Church is fairly robust here in the Sacramento area, plus we have a nearby temple that we can easily attend, but I was still somewhat surprised to find it showing at a nearby cinema. There were three showings each day; we attended the 13:35 session. The other sessions were late morning and early evening. I think there were a total of five patrons in the session we viewed. They were a party of three who, although we did not know them, appeared to also be members of the Church.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

I enjoyed the film very much; the emotions I felt grew during the film to the point when the credits were showing and that wonderful song played. I admit that the events at first, up to "Twenty Years to Cartage" being shown on the screen, had me struggling to understand when and where I was viewing. After that I could figure it out and explain to my wife. Since I follow your blog regularly, I was more familiar with the characters and could explain them to my wife. I thought Brigham, Heber, and Wilford were interesting characters. Hyrum looked familiar to me for some reason.

I felt that the speaking in tongues sections were believable and well done, and I particularly loved the "hymn" in tongues being sung in that section where Sydney is present. The modest amount of friction between Joseph and Sydney was handled well I thought.

It seems to me that it might be a little tricky for anyone not familiar with church history and doctrine, particularly of the doctrine of eternal marriages, to completely grasp what's going on in parts of the film and could use some coaching by members who do understand our history and doctrine. It goes without saying that the coaches should be those who not only understand the history and doctrine but are comfortable with articulating them in somewhat lay language, but with a testimony of their truthfulness.

I came away with an urging to study Church history more and to learn much more about Brother Brigham. I think a well-done and accurate film of such episodes in Church history do a lot for me to increase my appreciation of the reality of life in and outside the gospel and the Church community, and put flesh around real people, real emotions, and real struggles. I don't know if the film will convert anyone in and of itself, but perhaps it will cause new friends and old friends perhaps estranged to want to learn more for the first time or anew.

Thanks for all the effort to make the film happen.

Where else could I leave a review other than at IMDB?

A very thoughtful and considered review that must have taken time to write. Plus he went and saw the film. So what was the Producers response to that comment?

Jack:. "Where else could I leave a review other than at IMDB?"

Rotten Tomatoes is another site. Thanks!

I guess he’s far too busy going out to the theatre and having dinner with friends to be able to respond properly to one of the peons that stupidly followed his exhortations to go see his film (that he cannot be bothered seeing when special guests aren’t in attendance), and mistakenly thought Peterson would be interested in his actual thoughts on the film.

[Gadianton]

I'm an active, lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a disappointment this movie is. Clearly, its intent was not to portray accurate history--but instead, to propagandize a misleading, self-serving narrative.

This guy was disappointed the movie didn't portray the self-serving Denver Snuffer version of Mormon origins.

[Tom]

Someone using the handle “danielcarlpeterson” has posted a review on IMDb:

10/10 A Major Step Forward for Mormon Movie-Making

Beautifully filmed, well acted, and not afraid to tackle difficult topics or to depict disagreement and even strife. Also quite funny at points.

I would recommend this film to just about anybody who's old enough to follow a somewhat involved plot -- but, of course, it will appeal most to members of the [sic] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It does a good job of telling a dramatic story that made a huge amount of difference, in the years that followed, to the history of the American West and especially to the history of the Church. It's educational but entertaining. I really enjoyed it myself.

Go see it! Time well spent!

I am not making this up. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt32813616/rev ... =tt_urv_sm

It seems rather odd for a movie’s co-executive producer (assuming that someone is not impersonating him) to post a review without disclosing his connection to the movie.

10/10? Few movies deserve that rating.

[Moksha]

Susan Tuckett Medua seems to be a One Man Band. So perhaps is a lot cheaper than Purdie. She teaches at BYU. She might even be doing 6DIA pro bono.

Then doing such a work is a service to the Lord. Thank you, Susan. Such films as Eraserhead and Six Days in August deserve a distribution.

[Doctor Scratch]

Someone using the handle “danielcarlpeterson” has posted a review on IMDb:

10/10 A Major Step Forward for Mormon Movie-Making

Beautifully filmed, well acted, and not afraid to tackle difficult topics or to depict disagreement and even strife. Also quite funny at points.

I would recommend this film to just about anybody who's old enough to follow a somewhat involved plot -- but, of course, it will appeal most to members of the [sic] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It does a good job of telling a dramatic story that made a huge amount of difference, in the years that followed, to the history of the American West and especially to the history of the Church. It's educational but entertaining. I really enjoyed it myself.

Go see it! Time well spent!

I am not making this up. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt32813616/rev ... =tt_urv_sm

It seems rather odd for a movie’s co-executive producer (assuming that someone is not impersonating him) to post a review without disclosing his connection to the movie.

10/10? Few movies deserve that rating.

Wow, Tom.... That really is hitting a new low, if that's really him. If it's *not* him, I would expect him to clarify on "SeN" and let everyone know that someone--a well-meaning liar, I guess--is impersonating him in order to (hopefully) bolster the film's chances at the box office.

But at this point, I think my initial guess may need to be revised.... Is it really possible that the film will fail to make back even *one eighth* of its $2 million budget?? That would be a spectacular failure! It would be, like I said earlier, an embarrassment that would rank close to the Mopologists getting kicked out of the Maxwell Institute.

[Tom]

Tuesday, October 15

Gross: $30,406
Theaters: 82
Average per theater: $370
Total domestic gross to date: $140,239
Days: 5

The daily gross was higher than Monday’s gross.

Today, the Proprietor writes:

I candidly admit that ticket sales for Six Days in August have been a little anemic. Not terrible, by any means, but also not fabulous. We’ve had overwhelmingly positive responses from those who’ve seen it — including some very important viewers whom I won’t name — but too few people have gone to see it. That’s disappointing. If, though, by any chance, you have watched it (and you liked it), please encourage others — friends, neighbors, family, ward members — to see it, as well. I don’t know how much longer it will run in theaters. If you have children or grandchildren away at school or living at a distance, consider buying tickets for them to attend. If I didn’t think Six Days in August worthwhile, I wouldn’t write this. I have nothing to gain, personally, whether you buy a ticket or you don’t. I won’t have made a dime from it. But I believe in the movie. That’s why I’ve devoted so much time and effort to it.

Sobering words.

I hope he will confirm soon whether he wrote the IMDB review.

[drumdude]

Most areas outside the Mormon Bubble are ending tomorrow:



I'm sure these mission field venues are happy to be rid of it, the attendance in Texas for example has been absolutely abysmal.