Big Love is BAAAACCKK!!!

[_beastie]

Ok, I have to come out of the closet. I watch each Big Love show at least twice a week, and get mad every Sunday night that they moved it to MONDAY and I have to wait ONE MORE DAY.

Random comments:

They do miss some things sometimes and it bugs me. I think they did a HUGE miss on the exmormon gathering where Sarah met Scott. When Sarah confessed her polygamous background, they sat there like dumb stumps. I can tell you NO WAY NO HOW. They would have peppered that girl with questions and would have been EXTREMELY welcoming. I can tell you whoever wrote that episode hasn't been to an exmo gathering.

And yes, sometimes they get the terminology slightly off. I don't think it's deliberate, I think they need more Mormon or exmormon input, going over the scripts with a fine tooth comb to make sure every word is right.

I know Nikki is competitive, lying, and manipulative, but she won my heart when she was the only one with the guts to stand up to Alby last season. Remember? In the street? She ROCKED. Alby was totally cowed by her. And she was like a lionness protecting her family. Yes, she's screwed up by her upbringing and the inevitable competition between sister wives, but I'm so glad she's in the mix, otherwise, people would really miss the whole POINT of plural marriage. Sorry, Margene, plural marriage isn't about falling head over heels with a married man and his two wives. It is about sacrifice and religious commitment. Thank god Nikki is there to point that out. She's the only one who really gets plural marriage, in the historical LDS sense.

There is no way Margene is going to fool around with Ben. No way. Margene is totally in love with Bill and has this starry eyed fantasy about sister wives. Nikki was right one when she pointed out Margene's tendency to form attachments to women. After meeting her mother, it's obvious why.

But I do think Barb is still on the fence about the whole thing. I do not believe she would ever have an affair, but nor do I believe her dissatisfaction and near-bolting from the family is over. She was devastated to see Joey took another wife - not because she's in love with Joey, but because of what he represented for her - a man brought up in a polygamous culture who, in the end, was monogamous. It's what she wishes Bill would have been.

My son and I have arguments over the intent of the authors - he despise polygamy and insists the show is trying to show how horrible it is. I don't think it is. I think the authors' point was encapsulated in what Margene said to her mother, where she asked her how Margene's marriage - being totally devoted to three people - is any way worse than her mother's serial boyfriends. (which is a historical LDS defense of polygamy, not that Margene would know that).

I do think it's odd that Bill looks for wives totally outside the Mormon culture at times. I think it's wildly unrealistic, for one. Obviously Margene was not brought up LDS, and Ana was irreligious. That just doesn't ring true to me - Bill may be charming and sexy, but please - you need religious fanaticism to convince women to become "sister wives". Sure, women like to have affairs with charming and sexy married men, but that's very different than agreeing to "marry" a man and his wives. For one thing, the mistresses often nurture the fantasy (encouraged by the man, of course0 that the man will actually LEAVE his wife for HER.

Women just don't like sharing a man anymore than men like sharing a woman. They either have to be brought up in a polygamous culture or have religious fanaticism to agree to it.

[_beastie]

speaking of lois - it's interesting - here's a woman who obviously was very unhappy in the whole lifestyle, and likely has been abused her entire life... and yet she still believes in "the principle". Wasn't that obvious when she told Joey "I'm on to you....you and Wanda on your own are trouble... it's some SICKO love"

LOL!

[_Some Schmo]

My son and I have arguments over the intent of the authors - he despise polygamy and insists the show is trying to show how horrible it is. I don't think it is. I think the authors' point was encapsulated in what Margene said to her mother, where she asked her how Margene's marriage - being totally devoted to three people - is any way worse than her mother's serial boyfriends. (which is a historical LDS defense of polygamy, not that Margene would know that).

I commented to my wife the other day that the writing and characterizations were so effective, they actually have you sort of rooting for the polygamists! I mean, the protagonists are polygamists, and they make them personally identifiable and have viewers relate to their struggles.

I mentioned that I often feel like they are trying to make it seem like polygamy's not so bad. My wife said something to the effect, "Well, the Sopranos often made you feel like being in the Mafia isn't so bad either."

Point well taken.

[_Yoda]

Women just don't like sharing a man anymore than men like sharing a woman.

Which goes to show you that the writers on the show must be.....MEN!

;)

[_beastie]

Which goes to show you that the writers on the show must be.....MEN!

I think the primary creators of the show are actually gay men.

[_Blixa]

And yet, I could give a rat's arse for sexual fidelity.

There are, to my mind, many more important forms of loyalty.

I agree with beastie that the Hendricksons are a fantasy. But I think that's intended. I think the creators of the series are interested in using this phenomenon as a metaphor for exploring questions about how people live together. At the same time, they are paying attention to Utah/Mormon history, but always using it for narrative ends. Thus, while I agree with beastie that the ex/post-mo group Sarah attends would not in real life be standoffish about polygamy, I think the scene is used narratively to indicate contemporary Utah unease with the practice (which of course, is purely TBM). I think the series does have "exmo help" (ok I know that it does), but this is always subordinate to the aims of the overall plotting (which are more fictional than documentary, however much it treads on historical ground).

Thus, I can "forgive" much for the sheer pleasure of witnessing so much of my early existence, no, MY IDENTITY (there I said it), creatively and publically expressed.

I've known my husband for twenty years. Most of his adult life.

And after every episode, I can still turn to him and have him acknowledge "stuff" that he finally "gets."

[_Bond...James Bond]

You have it recorded! Figure out how to email me a copy of the episode!

;)

I Tivo-ed it (which is redundent considering I have On-Demand access.....but I don't know how to email it or whatever. Just assume it was hardcore PG-13.

[_Bond...James Bond]

Big Love is getting picked up for another season.......ya team!

Link

[_Blixa]

Ok, Bond. I gotta ask this first:

Enough sex in this episode for ya? I hope the flash of Margene butt wasn't missed!

Interesting, isn't it that the only women with healthy attitudes about sex are the ones with non-mormon backgrounds? I agree, actually with beastie's earlier post that it is "inaccurate" for someone like Bill to look outside of some kind of LDS category for wives, but I don't mind fiction being somewhat less than totally documentary. In this case, you can see how Margene provides a classic foil for various aspects of other characters.

I confess, though, that my favorite parts of this episode were those involving the creepy Greens (esp Hollis's habit of signing off on phone calls as though he were dictating a letter). And he refered to Selma as his brother! The hit on Roman was pure LaBaron!

But you know, ever scarier to me than the antics of Hollis and Selma is "The Bishop." I still get the heebie-jeebies from even looking at that kind of priesthood suit, stance and speaking pattern. Heck, even the tern "ward" still give me the willies.

Poor, poor Ben.

[_beastie]

Hey, there was even Nikki/Bill action, too. The writers must have heard us griping about not enough skin!

Poor ben indeed - and I appreciated how the writers had him think "marriage" was the solution. I've been hoping that they would find a way to work in the fact that many LDS marry far too young and too fast simply due to sexual frustration.

And how did you like Barb's reaction to Ben stating "no big deal" if he finds out his gf is not "the one", he'll just get wife number two! I interpreted her reaction to be not only the realization that this was how her children were interpreting her situation, but that it could possibly really be the interpretation of her situation.