November 21, 2008

Media-savvy Mormons push around naive Studio City folks

Here's a wonderfully clueless New York Times letter to the editor in response to that amusing NYT article "Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage" about how Mormons hijacked the gay marriage initiative in California. (By the way, gay marriage only got 48% in California, while Barack Obama got 61%. What fraction of that 13% of the Californian electorate who voted for Obama but not for gay marriage was Mormon? Eensy or teensy?)

To the Editor:

As a California resident who voted no on Proposition 8 [i.e., supported gay marriage], I am a little confused as to why money from outside the state is allowed to affect the outcome of our elections. If I wanted to live my life according to the rules of the Mormon Church, I would move to Utah.

Barbara Davilman
Studio City, Calif.

You have to feel sorry for the poor villagers of Studio City whose indigenous folkways are under constant mass media assault from all those rich city slickers in Provo. Mormons grow up knowing all about how to make snazzy TV commercials, while the innocent Studio Citians only learn from their elders how to communicate via smoke signals and notches carved in tree trunks by the side of the trail.

And nobody in Studio City would ever donate money to a political campaign taking place outside of the state.*

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* I'm kidding. I grew up in Studio City and had to put up with a lot of guff when I went to college in Texas about having a hometown called "Studio City," which I admit sounds like it was made up for parodistic purposes.

It was like the slums of Beverly Hills. The man across the street had a dozen Emmy awards in technical categories and another neighbor appeared in several hundred commercials.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're seeing how quick the "tolerant" people can get a nice hate going for a relatively defenseless, but productive and non-disruptive part of society.

A sign of the future?

John Craig said...

She's actually saying something even more intolerant: that Mormons should stay in Utah.

There is in fact a big, hard-to-miss LDS temple in Los Angeles; is she suggesting that the people who worship there not be allowed to live in California and participate in its politics?

I wonder how Ms. Davilman would react if somebody wrote a letter saying that if he wanted to live by Jewish mores he would have moved to Tel Aviv. (This is essentially the equivalent of what she is saying.)

Anonymous said...

It reminds of of one of my favorite simpson episodes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_Man_(The_Simpsons_episode)

Robert Holmgren said...

And, of course, no Mormon's live in California and contribute to political causes. Their money is being sent to Utah for spending purposes.

Dennis Dale said...

From that Simpsons episode; the foundering production of the film "Radioactive Man" is leaving Springfield to return to Hollywood. Mickey Rooney addresses the people of Springfield before they go:

Rooney: Well, I hope you're all satisfied. You bankrupted a bunch of naive movie folks -- folks from a Hollywood where values are...different. They weren't thinking about the money. They just wanted to tell a story, a story about a radioactive man, and you slick small-towners took 'em for all they were worth.
(...)
[the helicopter swings by overhead]
Pilot: Hurry, Mr. Rooney! We've got a disenchanted little girl in a Jell-O Pudding commercial!
Rooney: I could play that...[grabs the rope ladder]
(...)
In Hollywood, an assembled crowd welcomes back the troubled production with open arms. An actor hugs the assistant and says, "We know you don't have any more money left, but that doesn't matter. Just take whatever you need from our boutiques until you can get back on your feet." The assistant sighs, "Thank God we're back in Hollywood where people treat each other right."

Anonymous said...

Now just WAIT, John Craig! Los Angeles is "Tel Aviv West".

Where do you think the secular Jews go when they abandon Israel for the USA?

Ignore Mrs Davilman. She sounds like one of the perennial secular complainers writing in to Ha'aretz.

They really got their p@nties in a twist when the Orthodox stabbed that homosexual parader in the Jerusalem Gay Parade.

It was just a flesh wound, but it sure gave them a tune up!

Anonymous said...

Going a little (or a lot) off topic, this thread reminds me of what a great show the Simpsons was before it got stale and the writers adopted the worldview and preachiness of DailyKos.