The Book of Mormon: The Book, The Musical, The Movie.

Sure to be a hot debate and issue in Utah in the coming years is the media frenzy from "The Book Of Mormon: The Musical". The smash broadway show is a parody written by the creators of South Park and is supposed to be offensive, filthy, hilarious, fun, and even somewhat pro-Mormon. The show has been such a hit that producers are already planning to adapt it into a movie in the next year or so.

Unlike the actual Book of Mormon, the show--and possible movie--is about two Mormon missionaries in Africa. It's a pointed parody that not only pokes fun at the oddities of Mormon belief and culture--and faith in general--but has also been said to be a love letter to Mormon's sweet nature and the lives they live.

A prominent Mormon writer wrote in the Washington Post, ""I'm not willing to spend $200 for a ticket to be sold the idea that religion moves along oblivious to real-world problems in a kind of blissful naiveté."

Many church members share a distaste for anything from the South Park producers. Yet, many Mormons recognize the Mormon parodies as depicting the religion fairly and even in a positive light.

The Mormon church put out an official statement about the musical, "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

Often confused as ex-Mormons (they are not), the show's creators have indicated that the show is not anti-Mormon. Whether they parody the Joseph Smith story in South Park or in their broadway endeavors, they have nothing but good things to say about Mormons in general. In a recent interview they discussed the issue at length:

"Parker: Didn’t the Mormon Church just issue a thing that’s like, 'This show might actually be designed to try to entertain people for an evening, but the Book of Mormon will change your life and bring you closer to Christ'? [Laughs.] Which is funny because that’s actually what we say in the show, too.

Stone: It’s so funny, that’s our statement!

Parker: We should put it out!

Stone: 'We agree … '

Parker: ' … that book might change your life, but this show will entertain you for an evening.”

Stone: We obviously all have fun at the expense of religion and — the Book of Mormon, it’s just silly; it’s silly and there’s a lot of good comedy there. And the story of Joseph Smith, the way it’s told, is silly too. But we were looking at this thing and realized we all kind of like Mormons as people, painting with a broad brush. Every Mormon we’ve met is a nice person. And even when they know who Trey and I are from our work — work that some Mormons don’t really like — they’re totally nice to us. So we’d sit there and go, “How do we do a show where we both have fun at the expense of religion, almost to a New York crowd, and at the end of the day ask, 'Is there truth to these stories?' Can we come up with a pro-faith show, that’s pro-faith broadly, and in the details have fun with all the silliness of all these particular arguments about who dug up the golden plates?"

The LDS church has also reported that searches online pertaining to Mormon beliefs have reached levels only seen when Mitt Romney was running for president. So is The Book Of Mormon Musical a good or bad thing for those inside the faith itself? I'd say I guess we have to see it ourselves, but Im sure it's not what you'd call, "Mormon Appropriate"

BYU Mobile App: Update!

Back in November The Report told you that BYU will release a web app version of their website that is compatible with mobile devices.

We followed up with BYU about the mobile site and this time we have a concrete date for the site's release. The beta mobile testing begins May 3.

If you want to see what it looks like right now visit: http://byudesigndev.byu.edu/home/

Still following up about the Blackboard application. We'll let you know.

Portal 2 Review

The original Portal was an unexpected hit, with it's mind-bending logic games and surprisingly dark plot twists. People fell in love with the monotone computer GlaDOS and her increasingly odd and witty burns on the main character. They fell in love with a gun that twisted the laws of gravity and physics. Could people fall in love with these things all over again?

Portal 2 reprises your role as a female test subject in the Aperture Science facility. But this time, you go through three different kind of worlds as you complete the puzzles the game presents. One is the overrun and broken down facility you awake in, the pristine and futuristic testing center you advance to, and the abandoned 1960's warehouse where you explore Aperture's troubled history. The game is beautiful and the story the landscapes tell is stark.

The gameplay is just as fun and challenging as ever, with new obstacles and ways of overcoming them. The game is a bit short, but its so engrossing its barely noticeable, and you'll probably play straight through. But the true strength of Portal 2 is the hilarious and witty characters.

First, is a little robot played by british phenomenon Steven Merchant, who adds a whole new level of humor to the game--really, one of the funniest performances I've experienced in a video game. GlaDOS also makes a return and is as creepy and witty as ever. A new character--the deceased CEO of Aperture--is played by J.K. Simmons. The man is pure comedy gold in this game and it reminds heavily of his role as the Newspaper Editor in the Spider-Man series.

Portal 2 sticks with what made Portal great, with enough changes in plot and gameplay to keep it fresh and worth it. But the game is definitely worth it's price in story and character performances.

The Return of The Report

Now that finals are over: the Report is back. (For real this time). The site has a little cosmetic lift, and if you have any suggestions for stories you'd like to see done, let me know in the comments.