The films I watched as a child were usually limited to what I was able to record from TV onto vhs tapes. I had quite the collection of goofy 1980s films and Weekend at Bernie’s was one of them. What I didn’t know at the time was that the ridiculous plot of Weekend at Bernie’s actually took place in my own backyard of mormonism Utah. The real life movie plot stars Ezra Taft Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson and other rank-and-file members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ezra Taft Benson, he was a prophet of the only true church on the face of the planet(LDS), Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and a John Birch Society enthusiast. If there was a life time achievement medal for opposing any civil rights movement and accusing everyone and their dog of being a communist, he would have won it. Unfortunately, all of his achievements didn’t make him immortal and just like all other humans he fell victim to the aliments of aging. He became semi-senile and was incapable of performing the duties as prophet and seer of the billion dollar corporation, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Benson’s family members knew that he was senile, however, the rank-and-file members of the church took measures to keep this from the everyday, tithe paying mormon. The result was Weekend at Benson’s.

Pulitzer-prize winner and grandson of Ezra Taft Benson, Steve Benson tells it best in an interview and article by free-lance writer Walt Jayroe.

Benson said his grandfather would stumble through sermons and sometimes lose track of his words, leading to long silences and discomfort of audiences. A series of strokes led to impaired speech and invalid status. Personal letters to family began to arrive signed by signature machine, Benson said.

While his grandfather slipped into a “semisenile” condition, Benson said, church leaders acted as if all was well, that the prophet was in charge of church affairs. Benson said he soon began to see it as a hoax, a giant cover-up from rank-and-file members. The church, he believed, had boxed itself into a theological corner.

Benson said Mormons sell their church on the premise that “it is being led today by a modern-day, living prophet . . . and his name is Ezra Taft Benson. And he is the sole mouthpiece to whom God reveals his truth to a troubled, searching world.

“As long as the prophet’s alive, he’s got to be functioning, he’s got to be leading, he’s got to be revealing.”

Fearing a loss of power and validation if they admitted that the prophet was incapacitated, Mormon leaders went to great lengths to perpetuate an illusion, Benson said.

“They’d take him out to a function where he’s supposed to turn a spade of earth,” he said. “They’d put his foot on the shovel and take a picture. Or he’d be seen waving to a crowd with a handler manipulating his arm.”

All photos were taken from his grandfather’s left side to hide the medical tube permanently affixed to the right nostril, Benson said.

“He’s been treated like a dimestore mannequin in a window while the business of the enterprise has been conducted behind closed doors, ” he said.

At the interview, Benson wore a cap with “Dave” written in front, an allusion to the movie by that name in which the U.S. president is incapacitated and a look-alike takes over.

Benson said he remained silent for a long time about his grandfather’ s condition. He at first thought that if the church was not open about it, there must be a reason. He said his father urged him to remain silent, saying the press couldn’t be trusted.

“And here I was,” Benson said, “a member of the press and the oldest grandchild of Ezra Taft Benson. I found myself caught in this quagmire, this dilemma.”

Contacted about his grandfather’s health by reporters in Utah, Benson said, he soon fell into a role as “deep throat,” an anonymous guide.

“I felt,” he said, “I had this obligation as a journalist not to hide the truth, to go after the truth, to try to be honest and forthright and deliberate in everything that I said. So rather than tell untruths, I went off the record with reporters and encouraged them through their own investigative effort to come up with the story, and then I would confirm it on conditions of anonymity.”

A Sunday morning question from his son, Eric, provided the last straw, Benson said. “He asked, ‘Why do they call grandpa a prophet when he can’t do anything?’ His great-grandchildren could see it; anyone could see it. It was a dirty family secret.”

I’m sure if Steve Benson would have seen Weekend at Bernie’s he would have worn a ball cap with that film’s title instead of Dave. Here are the trailers for both films:

If you look into the shadow of mormonism you’ll find an endless sewer of scandals. From what I’ve heard there is a sequel to Weekend at Benson’s that is currently in production with the current prophet and seer, Thomas S. Monson.