Big Love

[Desmond Hawkins]

Did anyone else see the new HBO series?

It is about a polygamous family in Utah, where the central character, Bill (played by Bill Paxton), has three wives in three separate, adjacent houses. He pays for all of this with the couple of home supply stores he owns.

So far, I find this show fascinating. All the dynamics are interesting. I mean, to anyone who has taken any anthropology, it is interesting pointing out all the parallels between how this family runs and how other polygamous families around the world run.

There are interesting dynamics such as the ones between older men and younger men in the larger polygamous compounds, where the older men tend to throw out the younger men when they reach teenagehood so that they can hoard the women for themselves (as happened to Bill when he was a young man). This is the macro-scale effect.

However, on the micro-scale it is hard not to notice certain economic advantages to grouping three households together. There is a certain sharing of workloads that allow the families to achieve economies-of-scale in tasks of cooking/cleaning/shopping.

Anyway, has anyone else seen it? What are your thoughts? Do you also find it somewhat humourous that the Mormons are the "normal" people in the show? I mean, Utah just seems fascinating and surreal to me (I am aware that the vast majority of people in Utah are not polygamous).

 

[luiz]

This series was reviewed in a weekly news program that I watched, everybody liked it.

I must get HBO, all good series are there.

 

[Narz]

sounds interesting

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

It is odd, because it is like a modern American version of the west African tribes I remember studying in Anthropology class. Adding on more adjacent houses to the family compound as it develops. A hierarchal, but close and sisterly relationship between the wives.

Then just Utah itself. Something about the Mormon church being the status quo and everyone else "deviating" from that.

 

[joycem10]

I've read that Bill Paxton's naked ass features in every episode. I'll pass. Game over man.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Well, it is HBO, and I imagine it just makes for a more realistic portrayal, considering he has THREE wives to take care of, if you know what I mean.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Heck, this illustrates why I could never live in Utah. Being surrounded by other Mormons all the time would be bizarre. I need to feel that I am in the minority, at least religiously speaking.

 

[GenMarshall]

Heck, this illustrates why I could never live in Utah. Being surrounded by other Mormons all the time would be bizarre. I need to feel that I am in the minority, at least religiously speaking.

I thought it was only the fundamentalist groups that broke off from mainstream Mormonism that practace that. (I do know that the LDS did ban polygamy a century ago )

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I thought it was only the fundamentalist groups that broke off from mainstream Mormonism that practace that. (I do know that the LDS did ban polygamy a century ago )

That's right, the only ones who practice polygamy are members of the offshoot groups - and a few people who break off from the LDS Church to practice polygamy (it is now an excommunicable offense). We tend to view them as a little weird, obviously. But heck, I think "mainstream" Mormons from Utah are a little weird.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Ya, I don't have any problem with polygamy per se. It just seems as though on a large-scale it could have bad side effects when it comes to young men with no marriagable women. That can only lead to some serious societal problems.

Is people's revulsion by polygamy mostly a religious thing?

 

[IglooDame]

You know what the universal punishment for polygamy is?

Two wives!!

*rimshot*

I don't get HBO, else I'd watch this one purely to see some semblance (even Hollywood-ized) of polygamy in action.

 

[jonatas]

Is people's revulsion by polygamy mostly a religious thing?

From one perspective, I don't have a problem with it, theoretically speaking. From another, more practical perspective, it could be abusive of individuals. Ie. Polygamy as practiced now in the American Midwest, by certain Fundamentalist Mormon and Christian Polygamist groups has been linked to sexual abuse of minors, incest, emotional abuse of people in general, poverty, control over individuals' lives (both minors and adults), and pretty extreme indoctrination of polygamist ideology onto minors. None of these things are good.

Now, if you ask me, theoretically speaking, do I have a problem with a man having two wives, or a woman having two husbands, well I wouldn't necessarily, assuming we're talking about well-rounded, educated and intelligent individuals. However I would question whether it's a good environment to actually "raise" children. Also the problem is that polygamy as practiced in the American Midwest apparently is part of a pretty bizarre lifestyle, where minors are often brought up in an environment where there is a lot of pressure to accept it. I don't think it works in modern society. Maybe it would work if you were a rich Saudi prince and could afford a harem, but as far as for average people in modern society, no, I don't think it's a good idea. And I'm not religious.

Btw as a side note I think Colorado City has the highest percentage of Polygamists in America. It basically survives on welfare.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

So ya, it is sort of what I have noticed. On a micro-level it is not a problem, but on a macro-level, at least in the religious context of the American west, it tends to produce higher incidence of severe problems.

 

[downtown]

Heck, this illustrates why I could never live in Utah. Being surrounded by other Mormons all the time would be bizarre. I need to feel that I am in the minority, at least religiously speaking.

Aww man, i hear you, i hear you. People in the "Mormon Corridor" are WEIRD. I would likely be thought of as quasi-apostate out there. The only bad thing about being out here is that your dating pool is much...much smaller.

As for the show, i dont plan on seeing it. I find polygamy pretty creepy, and its just going to result in another round of polygamy questioning that i really dont want anything to do with.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Well, in the show, LDS really isn't "implicated" much. It is more a mainstream entity that is clearly outside of what the polygamist communities are up to. So if you are worried about your religion being misrepresented, I imagine the show is actually not too bad for that.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

It's not so much that we are worried about the mainstream LDS Church being confused with the polygamists. What MattBrown and I find funny is that Mormons are usually outsiders, so it is unusual to see them here as the 'mainstream' - and we ourselves are atypical among Mormons, so even we are outside 'mainstream' Mormon culture, but not theologically.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Well, he said he wanted to avoid another round of polygamy questioning, so that is why I made that assumption.

 

[GenMarshall]

Ya, I don't have any problem with polygamy per se. It just seems as though on a large-scale it could have bad side effects when it comes to young men with no marriagable women. That can only lead to some serious societal problems.

Is people's revulsion by polygamy mostly a religious thing?

On a non-religious note. That is my major reason why I dislike and oppose polygamy. Is that it will lead to a single males not having any single females around.