STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

jacL · Coach

Big Love

tara t · Marc Jacobs

i kinda liked it. i'll have to watch a few more times to form my opinion, but i'll def. watch next week.

twinkle · Coach

agree... it was a bit boring but has the potential to get more interesting. i'll give it another couple tries.

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

tara t wrote:

i kinda liked it. i'll have to watch a few more times to form my opinion, but i'll def. watch next week.

Ditto. Polygamy fascinates me. I really don't understand how women in that situation can deal with sharing their husband. I don't believe that anyone could be truely comfortable/secure with that.

sfclinevandy · Coach

I liked it. It was slow at first, but I really got into it and can't wait for more episodes for stories to play out. And Deb from Napoleon was in it, so what's not to like?

I'm also fascinated by pologamy. I can't believe such a bizarre institution is done in the US.

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

I don't get HBO but now I'm intrigued to hear that Deb from Napoleon was in this...

Tonight I was looking at the engagement/marriage announcements in this past Sunday's New York Times, and HBO took out three fake ads announcing the Bill Paxton's marriage to each wife. There was a tiny thing saying "advertisement" above it. Pretty clever marketing ploy, I thought.

RyanJ · Coach

I will totally have to watch it. I have a werid thing w/ polygamy too. I tivod a show on AE about polygyamy and I am going to watch it in a few mins.

Deuce · Dooney & Bourke

I thought it had potential, but I felt very sorry for the wives. It may be purely my opinion on that but I spent the whole show questioning the mentalities that are behind this. I am all for live and let live but I kept thinking "I could never live like that." All in all i thought it was decent but probably wont follow it closely.

Eurodaisy · Dooney & Bourke

I watched it as well, and have been obsessing about it for days. I too am fascinated by polygamy and the LDS church generally. Normally you imagine that people who adopt unconventional beliefs have been "brainwashed"... and though perhaps some have, others arrive at their views because they truly think it is right and the best way to live. I'm also curious to see how the power struggle between the wives and the husband plays out... even though it seems like he is in charge of how the family is run, finances, etc., I'm sure that they have their own ways of maintaining their "turf." And, of course, it's a show I can watch with my DH (for reasons I'm sure you all can understand

).

Maven · BCBG

I grew up in Salt Lake and still have family there. My great-grandfather was a polygamist and high up in the Mormon leadership. No, I am not a Mormon, nor are any of my immediate family.

Right now I think the writers are just setting the scene and the characters. There are a lot of different directions the show could go. So far they are underplaying the religious underpinings of polygamy (which is still a part of Mormon doctrine despite all the disclaimers.)

I know a number of people who have been involved in polygamy--a friend whose DH decided after more than a decade of marriage and 5 kids to join a polygamous group. She divorced him and had the guts to go back to college so she could support her kids. (She wasn't going to get anything from DH once he added a bunch of new wives to his "family.") I could go on, but I won't.

I hope they show the tragic side of polygamy (the murderous jealousies, the forcing of teen-age girls into incestuous marriages, the "lost boys" and the widespread subsidies via the welfare system and your tax dollars to support all these children.)

The best book I have read on what it's like to grow up in a somewhat "normal" polygamous family (such as that being portrayed on Big Love) is Dorothy Allred Solomon's Daughter of the Saints: Growing up in Polygamy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/102-3721899-4283315?search-alias=aps&keywords=Dorothy%20Allred%20Solomon

halleybird · Hermes

I haven't seen the show, though I am interested in it. There is a huge polygamist sect in my state, and they are building a giant compound in Texas, too. I just hope it doesn't sensationalize. People get so caught up in the "multiple wives" aspect that they tend to forget a lot of the horrible abuse, rape, etc. that happens in these communities, as Maven mentioned. There is a lot of welfare fraud too.

Also, LDS (the Mormon Church) and FLDS (the polygamists) are NOT the same thing. The Mormons cannot stand the polygamists, because they reinforce a lot of negative stereotypes the church has tried to escape. (Not that the Mormon curch doesn't have its own issues, but they pale by comparison).

If anyone's really interested, Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven is a great book about this.

halleybird · Hermes

OK -- I finally watched both episodes of this show. I like it! At first I was really upset that they put the characters in such an upscale, suburban setting (which is not the case for most FLDS people), but once they introduced the "community" they came from, I was sold.

I like the concept of seeing a polygamist trying to function in the "real" world, outside of the isolated community. I like that they don't ignore some of the bigger problems, like young girls marrying. I like that the old guy and his son are a perfect copy of the Jeffs family. But it needs to do more with that angle.

Also, FLDS women (and many Mormon women) wouldn't be caught dead in shirts as short as the youngest wife wears. I don't get that part. And it's surprising that there's not much talk about Jeanne Tripplehorn's character having a job, because that would probably be frowned upon too. But I assume they'll address all of those things later, as they seem to have a good handle on the background info.

I do hope they cut down on the sex scenes. I'm no prude, but seriously -- I get it, he has three wives. No more naked butt, please.

Tashina · Kate Spade

i am hooked allready. i really liked it. but after watching it last night, i found my self having nightmares about having to share my hubby. i wouldn't be able to do it. especially if i were the original wife.

just a note: i don't know if charter communications is just for california or what not, but if you have charter digital cable and you get hbo on demand, they have next weeks episode on today and you can watch it anytime.

boobaby · Kate Spade

I found it interesting. I hate Chloe Sevingy, though. Like Gwyneth Paltrow, her mere presence ruins things for me. However, I hate her character, so she's not bothering me as much as usual.