Run with me a minute on this one: for I suspect that one of the things too many people really fail to understand about "Mormonism" is that we really do think Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. As in, he's like Moses, or Abraham, or Paul beholding Christ on the road to Damascus. But then, not too many religious sects nowadays have a tradition of a bona fide, contemporary Prophet who can lead his people to the Promised Land, while bringing forth a Zion of no rich/no poor, where all live together in peace, love, and harmony.
But you know who else does have that tradition today? Rastafarians. (I speak this as one who lived two years in the Caribbean). And you know who is the most accessible symbol of Rastafarianism in the popular imagination? Bob Marley. In fact, you can bet that us missionaries in the Caribbean listened to Legend all the time, for 1) he's well-nigh inescapable in the Caribbean anyways, and 2) c'mon, how much more religious can you get than Bob?
As such, I've always thought it would be fitting to make a short biopic on the life of Joseph Smith that utilized not old-timey folk songs, not string quartets, not MoTab, but a straight-up, anachronistic, gloriously, jarringly out-of-place Bob Marley soundtrack!
Consider: the film could open unassumingly enough with John Taylor mournfully singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" to Joseph Smith et al in Carthage Jail (as is usual in these sorts of films), when the mob charges up stairs. But, instead of the normal ruckus, the diagetic sound cuts out, while the soundtrack is instead filled with "How long shall they kill our prophets/while we stand aside and look..."
Yes, that's right, the martyrdom is set to "Redemption Song."
We can now flashback to reveal the other major hits of Joseph Smith's life:
Joseph praying to God to know which Church to join? "Satisfy my Soul." ("Every little action/there's a reaction...") Him organizing a whole new Church? "Soul Rebel." (I don't have a song picked out for the First Vision yet--in fact, it's probably a mistake to ever set that event to music).
The translation of the Book of Mormon alongside Oliver Cowdery? "Jammin." ("'Cos everyday we pay the price with a little sacrifice/Jammin' till the jam is through..." "...Holy Mount Zion"; and just as the angel told Joseph Smith that he must not be tempted by the gold plates for worldly wealth, Bob sings "Your life is worth much more than gold").
His courtship of Emma? "Is This Love." The restoration of the priesthood by the resurrected Peter, James, and John? "Three Little Birds." (For what greater expression of faith can you give than "Don't worry/about a thing/cause every little thing/is gonna be alright"?)
The initial gathering of the Saints together in Ohio and Missouri? "One Love." ("Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel alright/Sayin', Let's get together and feel alright!")
The initial Missouri persecutions? "So Much Trouble In The World." The organizing of Zion's Camp to defend themselves? "Get Up, Stand Up." The expulsion of the Saints from Missouri under the extermination order? "Exodus" ("Movement of Jah people" "Send us another Brother Moses"). Joseph Smith's imprisonment in Liberty Jail, as he writes to Emma? "No Woman No Cry", naturally. His daring escape from Missouri to Illinois? "Iron Lion Zion." ("I have to run like a fugitive/to save the life I live/I'm gonna be Iron, like a Lion, in Zion!")
And post-martyrdom, as the Saints escape west to the Salt Lake Valley to find peace, we have the mournful yet hopeful strains of "I Know A Place" ("...where we can carry on..." The pioneers can even arrive in the bright desert sun of Utah at the end of the second verse: "And there's a place in the sun/Where there is love for everyone/Where we can be, yeah!")
I'm only half-kidding about this. For after a project like this, I think neither the Mormons nor the Rastas would feel so strange or alien anymore.
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