HBO's latest effort is called Big Love and it's creating big waves. Bill Paxton (Twister) is your average guy who works hard for a living and tries to deal with the cards life has dealt him - except he does it with three wives and seven children in suburban Salt Lake City, Utah. Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Firm), Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry), and Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line) are the three wives who live in three houses with a common backyard and share a husband.
The kneejerk reaction might be that of resistance — especially if you're a woman — but on watching Big Love, you soon come to realize that this is not a story about how cool it is that Bill Henrickson can sleep with three women with the full consent and knowledge of each one.
Bill is a refugee, metaphorically at least, from a religious fundamentalist commune where polygamy is the norm - the kind of commune that sees nothing wrong in marrying off adolescent girls as the nth wife to men with one foot in the grave. Bill hates the evil that he sees perpetuated there in the name of God but is powerless to escape it; his parents and brother still live there, in the power of Roman, a sinister messiah figure and cult leader who also happens to be the man who lent Bill the money to start his very successful business... and is the father of his second wife.
As much as Bill tries to distance himself from his past, he can't do it. He is a creation of the past and is dragged back to it by circumstances as well as choices. Equally conflicted is Nicki, Roman's daughter, who emerged from the same dirt poor and fanatical past as Bill and who is even more conflicted by it than he is.
Article comments
1 - Ashok Banker
Nice review. Nicely balanced, despite the potentially provocative subject of polygamy and religious cults. I like the fact that you weren't afraid to mention your personal views, while retaining a more genial general outlook.
As for 'too cute' bios, here's my topper: 'Ashok loves reading, writing, writing about reading, and reading about writing.' Howzatt! :~)
2 - Victor Lana
Nice post, Amrita. I do have a little trouble with polygamy and its ramifications. The difference with the call for gay marriages is that two people want to commit to ONE relationship. In the end, marriage is really a confirmation of the importance of love between two people (whether gay or straight) and a firm binding of that love legally (and perhaps in the eyes of one's god).
I'm not quite sure what message this kind of thing sends about one man being married to three women. All I know is that a show about one woman being married to three men wouldn't ever make it onto TV, even dear old HBO.
3 - Aaman
Good to see you around, Ashok:)
4 - Amrita
@ Ashok - hey, thanks! I just have a tendency to mouth off in any and every case. And yes, you did outdo me on that tag! :)
@ Victor - You're right about that polyandry thing but I'd pay money [on top of the extortionate amount charged as it is] to see it. I guess the problem with the whole gay/polygamy issue, is that nuance can often be dismissed as sophistry, especially in high octane 'discussions' about sensitive topics. That said, I totally agree with you.
5 - John Spivey
A good well-written intelligent post. Thanks for that. As a side note, I belive that Utah is one of the leaders in the U.S. for divorce rate and spousal abuse. Fundamentalism of any stripe only ends up abusing its adherents.
6 - David Vincent
The reasons Mormons have misgivings about "Big Love" are unfortunately (and, no doubt, inadvertently) illustrated even in your well thought-out review.
It is incorrect to say that the "mainstream church" forbade polygamy. Rather, the "Mormon Church" forbade polygamy. Groups that continue to practice polygamy are not Mormon any more than Lutherans are Catholic. The Associated Press style guidelines, sundry dictionaries, and predominant colloquial usage indicate that "Mormon" is to be used only in connection with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Polygamist groups are by definition not associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and are thus not "Mormon".
In fact, polygamist groups have in recent years bombed multiple Mormon buildings and continually made death threats against Mormon leaders. (For this reason, my own preferred term for polygamist groups is "anti-Mormon".) It is little wonder that Mormons no not wish to be associated with polygamist groups.
Indeed, perpetuation of the incorrect association between Mormons and polygamist groups leads well-intentioned people such as commenter John Spivey to rely on entrenching heuristics in discussing relevant "facts" (in fact, Utah is consistently at about the national norm for divorce rates, but the divorce figure is much lower for practicing Mormon Utahns -- I haven't looked into spousal abuse figures, but I can say that in the U.S., Mormon women are more likely to attain a college degree than women of any other religious persuasion other than Jewish women, a fact that is inconsistent with typical patterns of spousal abuse).
7 - Janet M. Vasilius
Excellent comments! I love the show. I have been watching the show with my 3 exchange students and American son, ages 17 to 24. They are all hooked, too. We have had great discussions on various (mostly negative) aspects of polygamy in different societies.
Even more interesting is their reaction to the LDS Church as portrayed on the series. They are all very intrigued with the lifestyle presented, even my son, who has never been interested before. Big Love could turn out a boon for the LDS image. While I have never been interested in becoming a Morman, I grew up in Northern Arizona and know them as great neighbors and admirable friends. I think that Big Love clearly delineates between LDS and polygamist sects, and displays many of the positive aspects of the LDS community while poking gentle fun as well (who really enjoys being lectured by self-righteous teens - whether LDS missionaries or goths!)
I think that Big Love is great entertainment, but I think it also teaches. While I want to hiss at "Roman" my heart aches at the distress of "Sara," and "Rhonda" gives me chills. The actors are outstanding and the script even more so. In my own house Big Love has lead to more discussion than any other show. This is a good thing.
For those interested, I recommend UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN as a companion book.