A Brief Summary Of The Film Under The Banner Of Heaven

Old fashioned, hand made clothing, reserved lives, playgrounds that only consist of a cement slab, and a school system that only teaches through the eighth grade are peculiar to the outside world. These oddities are just the surface of the unusual practices that take place in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. The FLDS church is one of the largest Mormon fundamentalist denominations and one of the largest organizations in the United States whose members practice polygamy. Polygamy is illegal, in 1890 the Mormon church ended its practice of polygamy, which created a split in the church. Fundamentalists moved to secluded areas where they could continue their practice of plural marriage. Plural marriage was one of

Jon Krakauer, Author of “Under the Banner of Heaven”, shares his first experience of a FLDS town located in Colorado City, Arizona. Krakauer describes stopping at a gas station where girls wore long, plain dresses, and later being tailgated out of town by a white Ford truck. After his story, the film brings us to Colorado Springs and scenes of where Krakauer traveled to, church songs sung by children rang in the background. The singing draws the viewer in, the viewer may start to believe this tale is not a violent one; but just a few minutes later, it is revealed, Warren Jeffs, leader of the FLDS church, raped young girls. Throughout the documentary, songs sung by children are played, and the viewer is forced to imagine the horrors children were faced with in FLDS villages. In times of high emotion and revealing scenes, a piercing, eerie, high pitch sound is played that is unpleasant to the viewer but is a telling sign another shocking detail in the story of the FLDS church was going to be exposed. Singing is one of the most important indoctrinations in the FLDS church. These songs are sung during holy time, where FLDS followers are worshiping a faith that believes in plural marriage and is lead by a mad man, who is a rapist, controlling and manipulative. Fortunately, Jeffs is later arrested and sentenced to life plus twenty years in prison. In one scene, he is in his jail cell and as the viewer watches Jeffs pace, think, organize his cell and sleep, the popular song, “Blowin in the Wind” sung by Warren Jeffs, is playing in the background. The viewer is reminded this man was evilly running a church and his followers watched him sing and preach about being holy and following God. The music captures the viewer's attention, which creates a helpless, unclean