This Divided State (2005)

5/5/06

Director Steven Greenstreet dropped out of college to make this film documenting the controversy surrounding the visit of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore to the UVSC campus just weeks before the 2004 general election. The film does a good job at capturing in microcosm our nations polarization at that time even in the reddest of the red states, providing many examples of the intemperate rhetoric employed by both right and left in regards to the Iraq War, freedom of speech, matters of decorum and of course the 2004 presidential race itself. But perhaps most importantly, at least to me, this film documents the disturbing political intolerance that can be found among a large portion of (largely western) Latter-day Saints. This is a subject that is under-addresed by Mormons in general and we are lucky that Greenstreets documentary contains so many compelling personal narratives to bring that point home to the viewer. I highly recommend this film as a tool for Mormons who would like to further promote discussion on the important issues of faith, politics, tolerance, and decorum.