The Middletown Bahais : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

After being a part of the Muncie Baha'i community for the last four years, the director attempted to step outside and analyze the environment he was living in through a documentary film. What started as a quest for defining the "averageness" of the Middletown Baha'is turned into something else. The director uses a profile of the religious community and their beliefs in unity to examine the community's opinion of itself. Through an inquiry into the labeling of the Baha'i community, he found what the Baha'is considered to be important. Realizing that average cannot be easily defined, correlations between representations of the community compared to the American believers were made. The viewer is allowed to see the community portrayed from the believers' point of view, and draw their own conclusions on the state of the Baha'is in Muncie.Acknowledgements-I would like to thank my Honors advisor Dr. Richie Meyer for his inspiration and direction. His passion for film is contagious.-My parents, whose continuous support provides me with an ability to attempt any project.-My peers who helped to create this project with a couple days of excellent camera work: Grant Connell and Katherine Wuertz.-The Muncie Baha'i community and all who allowed me to attend events while filming. Without their approval and interest this would not have been possible.