Dustin Lance Black says his new series 'Under the Banner of Heaven' — about the 1984 Lafferty murders — isn't an attack against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “This is a conversation that’s long overdue.”
Andrew Garfield as Jeb Pyre, a composite character representing many law officers on the Lafferty murder case, in the miniseries "Under the Banner of Heaven."Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black does not expect a lot of positive feedback from Latter-day Saints about his miniseries “Under the Banner of Heaven,” because it not only recounts the infamous Lafferty murders in 1984 but ties them to the faith’s history.
The first two episodes stream on Thursday; the remaining five will premiere one at a time over the next five Thursdays. The miniseries is replete with Latter-day Saint references, most of the everyday sort: Baptismal interviews, CTR rings, the Tabernacle Choir, the First Vision, early morning seminary, bishops, stake presidents, “Lamanites,” missionaries, family home evening, and people calling each other “brother” and “sister” in both church and non-church settings.
And there are a few things that locals are going to find odd. Brenda seems to be under the impression that Brigham Young University is in Salt Lake City, and that the Laffertys were famous there. There are multiple references to them as “Utah’s Kennedys” and “Mormon royalty,” although most Utahns — certainly most who didn’t live in Utah County — were unaware of them until the murders.
“Frankly, I felt like I was the guy to do it. I don’t know who else could have,” Black said. “I have both an insider and an outsider approach to it. I grew up in [the LDS Church]. Most of my family is still in it. And I’m still close with a lot of people who are active in the church.Black is openly gay. He’s half of one of the most high-profile gay couples in the world; his husband is British diver Tom Daly, who won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics.
“Under the Banner of Heaven” tells three interrelated stories — bits of Latter-day Saint history from Presidents Joseph Smith to John Taylor; the story of the Lafferty family before the murders; and the story of the investigation into the murders. The murder investigation revolves around a character Black created — Detective Jeb Pyre . He’s somewhat of a composite character, a husband and father of two young daughters, increasingly troubled by what he learns about the church — past and present — as the investigation unfolds.The character of was constructed “in a way that may help illuminate the challenges and the contradictions within the church,” Black said.
“How do I set out to depict someone like Dan Lafferty without meeting him?” Black asked. “I needed to depict him as he was — as close as I possibly could. Because if I just made him the stereotype of a sociopathic monster, well, that’s not half as terrifying as it ought to be.” Black said he did not read it “as an enemy to the church, nor an active member of the church.” And the book was “just a jumping-off point” for him. “In order to turn it into a television series that’s 7 and a half hours long, I needed a lot more.”Black grew up in the LDS church, as did his father. His mother was a convert. He described himself as “a devout Mormon” until his mid- to late teens. “It’s in my bones,” he said.
And Black insisted that he had no vendetta against the church. “This isn’t an attack,” he said. “This is a conversation that’s long overdue.”In addition to the suggestion that church leaders hindered the investigation into the murders, there are other scenes that will cause controversy in the Latter-day Saint community. In one, Ron Lafferty’s teenage daughter cuts the marks out of his temple garments after he’s excommunicated — he puts the garments on and stands in front of a mirror.
Black said he included the scene not to shock but to inform, adding, “If you decide to include violence in your temple ceremony, I am not going to respect your temple ceremony.”When Allen Lafferty tells Pyre, “Our church breeds dangerous men,” he’s not just talking about fundamentalist Mormons, he’s talking about the mainstream church. “I think you can simply look at the history of the church and understand that that’s been true,” Black said.
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