Why are Mormons not happy with American Primeval? Details behind the controversy explored

Netflix's American Primeval follows a fictionalized tale of the real-life Utah War of 1857, where many groups, including the Mormons, Piautes, and the US Government, were strategizing to seize control over the American West land.

The show focuses on one group in particular, the Mormons. It depicts their Mountain Meadow Massacre in Episode 1, where they attacked a pioneer group who were traveling along 'their' land.

American Primeval also features real-life Brigham Young, played by actor Kim Coates, the second president of the Mormon Church/Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints from 1847 to 1877.

Young is depicted as the primary antagonist of the show and the leader of the Mormon group who commissioned and unleashed this violence on their fellow Mormon pioneers and disguised themselves with masks to establish that it was Piautes who committed the massacre.

This violent genocide of the pioneers at the hands of the Mormon Church did not sit right with many Mormon descendants, and they called it out on the internet as 'inauthentic'.

More on Mormon's views on American Primeval in our story.

Mormons express rage on Mountain Meadow Massacre in American Primeval

American Primeval certainly did not hold back on violence and gore as it featured the Mountain Meadow Massacre right in Episode 1, where Mormon pioneers were killed by the Mormon Church, who disguised themselves with masks as Piautes.

The depiction of the Mormon Church leader, Brigham Young, was antagonized in the show, and many Mormon descendants and historians have expressed rage and called the show's depiction of Mormons and Young 'inauthentic' and 'exaggerated.'

A popular Mormon content creator ScripturePlus, invited Mormon filmmakers on her podcast who thought that the Mormon stereotype on the show was uncalled for:

"Latter-day Saints have been involved in violence at some points, but the old idea, 'Mormons are violent,' is a stereotype that has been perpetuated in the past. It is problematic, as it would be for any other group of people."

The creator herself echoed the same view and called out the show for its 'false' representation of Young as the perpetrator of the violence in Episode 1:

"And the caricature they paint of Brigham Young is totally unsupported by the documents we have from his life. This show seems to make an homage to events like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which is arguably one of the darkest days in our history where Latter-day Saints were the aggressors. But this tragic event was not a top-down order from Brigham Young, Latter-day Saints are not systemically violent, and the way the show portrayed all of this is just not it."

Many ex-Mormons have supported this thought on Reddit threads discussing American Primeval, and they, too, feel that the extent to which the Netflix show represents Mormons was not accurate. For instance, Reddit user and ex-Mormon, u/advicegrip87, reckons makers deliberately showed the massacre this brutal for 'entertainment purposes:

''Considering how many people were systematically and brutally executed, distorting the narrative to make it an exciting action sequence for entertainment's sake while adhering to racist Mormon deflection is disgusting.''

They added:

''It feels like the intent of this show is to whitewash imperialist narratives by presenting them in a grungy way in hopes that their white/ignorant audience will swallow the same old bullshit Manifest Destiny has been pushing for centuries.''

Some Reddit users, like u/lazespud2, also think that American Primeval is trying to wrongfully depict the different groups that were active in the American West in 1857:

''It seems pretty clear that they are making every group look terrible; though it’s my understanding the Mormons ultimately come out the worst.''

While history will always differ according to different groups, any fictional show will invariably portray the story from a particular angle. This one did not sit right with many Mormon descendants and historians.