Big Love

[!Fluffy!]

I get so mad having to wait between seasons. They'll have to end this with a cliffhanger or several and I think it's going to be a really dramatic final episode this season.

If I had to guess judging by the snakes and Alby's threats, I'd say it's going to be all out war between the compound and the family but the Greenes could be mixed in there too. I get the feeling Barb's mom (Ellen Burstyn) will develop a bigger role, like maybe Barb will take her kids and go live with her temporarily while the family is in danger. As a storyline, this would kill several birds with one stone. Aside from the immediate danger posed by the Compound people and the Greenes, Barb knows her kids are in big trouble emotionally. We'd all be wondering if she will be influenced to draw a line in the sand with Bill. Maybe their son will become active in the LDS church and become more influenced by his new granddad to pursue the Air Force Academy. Maybe the daughter will find out she's pregnant, go through a bad breakup with her sperm donor boyfriend, and consider becoming a lesbian with her supportive girlfriend.

It looks like Bill is going to be drawn into the middle of compound politics, his mother and brother will be urging him to take over if Roman dies or remains incapacitated. Barb won't stand for it, but Nicki will love the idea.

Margene will either go off on her own and become a professional surrogate, or hook up with somebody we haven't seen yet. I can't see her tolerating anything about the compound.

Bill might become the next Roman...

I love this show. The possibilities are endless. And the juxtaposition within the characters of outward righteousness and piety while living out a life of total deception and constant subterfuge is fascinating.

 

[Nanda]

I can't see the family falling apart and going their separate ways. The whole point of the show has always been how they ultimately band together despite their problems.

 

[rojse]

Big Love is one of the few shows that I watch on television right now, and thought I would post my opinions up here (it's what the internet is for, right?). Because I am not watching this in America, I am up to the start of Season 3, so I would not appreciate any more spoilers.

Big Love has got good actors, presents religious ideas and moral debates from a variety of perspectives (I think each of the wives with their own opinions on a subject gives a depth of thought on ideas not present in many shows). I also enjoy how they portray life on the compound and life living as polygamists quite entertaining. The only thing I do not like is the "Desparate Housewives" plots, but this is a small complaint.

I would like to know what the complaints are about how Mormons are portrayed, because I haven't heard anything about that (seeing as though Mormons are not prominent here, and the show is a minor show on a culture channel in my country).

 

[Katzpur]

I would like to know what the complaints are about how Mormons are portrayed, because I haven't heard anything about that (seeing as though Mormons are not prominent here, and the show is a minor show on a culture channel in my country).

First off, I'm assuming that you realize that the polygamous family portrayed on Big Love is NOT a Mormon family. The fact that so many people outside our faith seem unable to distinguish between Latter-day Saints (i.e. Mormons) and the various polygamous offshoots of Mormonism is pretty frustrating for us. So, I do hope you understand that Bill and his wives are not Mormons.

When the show first debuted, I was one of the many Latter-day Saints here in the U.S. who was very much opposed to it. I assumed, as did most of us, that the show would lead people to believe that these polygamous families are a legitimate faction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when in fact the word "faction" can NEVER be correctly applied to any denomination that broke off from the Church headquartered here in Salt Lake City. A person is either a Latter-day Saint or he isn't. There is no such thing as being "sort of" LDS. Anyway, I didn't watch the show since I don't have HBO. But after the first season ended, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to rent the first three episodes of season one. I watched them and was hooked.

I agree with everything you've said about the show. The acting is excellent, the plot lines intriguing, and the character development fascinating. In my opinion, about the only negative thing about the show is the way "real Mormons" (i.e. Latter-day Saints) are portrayed. For the most part, I think they come across as pretty fanatical and narrow-minded, which most of us really aren't. They are almost parodied in an attempt to gain sympathy for Bill and his wives. I have seen polygamous women in the supermarket near my home and they're always extreme versions of Niki. I'll admit that when I see them, I sort of snicker behind their backs at their appearance, and if I were to find out that the president of the company I work for, for instance, was actually living a double life as a polygamist, I'd probably be the first to spread the news. I just wish that the few Mormons who are portrayed would be more like the vast majority of us are, and not like the self-righteous neighbor who wants Margie to surrogate a child for her.

 

[rojse]

First off, I'm assuming that you realize that the polygamous family portrayed on Big Love is NOT a Mormon family. The fact that so many people outside our faith seem unable to distinguish between Latter-day Saints (i.e. Mormons) and the various polygamous offshoots of Mormonism is pretty frustrating for us. So, I do hope you understand that Bill and his wives are not Mormons.

When the show first debuted, I was one of the many Latter-day Saints here in the U.S. who was very much opposed to it. I assumed, as did most of us, that the show would lead people to believe that these polygamous families are a legitimate faction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when in fact the word "faction" can NEVER be correctly applied to any denomination that broke off from the Church headquartered here in Salt Lake City. A person is either a Latter-day Saint or he isn't. There is no such thing as being "sort of" LDS. Anyway, I didn't watch the show since I don't have HBO. But after the first season ended, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to rent the first three episodes of season one. I watched them and was hooked.

I agree with everything you've said about the show. The acting is excellent, the plot lines intriguing, and the character development fascinating. In my opinion, about the only negative thing about the show is the way "real Mormons" (i.e. Latter-day Saints) are portrayed. For the most part, I think they come across as pretty fanatical and narrow-minded, which most of us really aren't. They are almost parodied in an attempt to gain sympathy for Bill and his wives. I have seen polygamous women in the supermarket near my home and they're always extreme versions of Niki. I'll admit that when I see them, I sort of snicker behind their backs at their appearance, and if I were to find out that the president of the company I work for, for instance, was actually living a double life as a polygamist, I'd probably be the first to spread the news. I just wish that the few Mormons who are portrayed would be more like the vast majority of us are, and not like the self-righteous neighbor who wants Margie to surrogate a child for her.

Thanks for your reply.

The distinction between LDS and Mormons was quite lost on me, as I have had little to do with any religion, and have had nothing to do with Mormons socially. I can appreciate that they were not within the traditional church structure, but your clarification made it so much clearer.

I can appreciate that the show might not be fully realistic in their portrayal of people of different religious groups, because they are not just making a show that is a realistic portrayal of polygamy and cult religions, but they also have to make it so that they can get a large TV audience.

 

[Katzpur]

The distinction between LDS and Mormons was quite lost on me, as I have had little to do with any religion, and have had nothing to do with Mormons socially. I can appreciate that they were not within the traditional church structure, but your clarification made it so much clearer.

Actually, the correct name for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is "Latter-day Saints." But since we believe in the Book of Mormon, we have been nicknamed "Mormons." Most of us don't really mind being called "Mormons," but we kind of prefer "Latter-day Saints" or "LDS." But NONE of us practices polygamy. The people who do are not "Mormons" or "LDS." That's what we want people to know.

I can appreciate that the show might not be fully realistic in their portrayal of people of different religious groups, because they are not just making a show that is a realistic portrayal of polygamy and cult religions, but they also have to make it so that they can get a large TV audience.

And that they do. I absolutely LOVE "Big Love." By the way, season 3 hasn't started yet and I haven't heard when it's going to, so you're all caught up.

 

[Nanda]

They're filming it now.

 

[Watchmen]

I'd like to make the argument that Bill and #1 ARE Mormons. They are on church records that would be announced at general conference, right? Are they polygamists? Yes. What would happen if Mormon leaders found out? They would be excommunicated. However, technically, they are Mormons in that they were baptized and have not been excommunicated or had their names removed (so far as we know).

Thus, they are inactive Mormons practicing polygamy, which the Church stopped over 100 years ago and if they are ever caught, they're out.

 

[Nessa]

I'd like to make the argument that Bill and #1 ARE Mormons. They are on church records that would be announced at general conference, right? Are they polygamists? Yes. What would happen if Mormon leaders found out? They would be excommunicated. However, technically, they are Mormons in that they were baptized and have not been excommunicated or had their names removed (so far as we know).

Thus, they are inactive Mormons practicing polygamy, which the Church stopped over 100 years ago and if they are ever caught, they're out.

I don't recall any mention of that. I seem to recall that they stated on an episode that they were not LDS. But either way, I did some research on the net and found :

The show's fictional fundamentalist group, the "United Effort Brotherhood", or UEB, is similar to and was inspired by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) whose financial and legal wing is called the "United Effort Plan".[

Big Love - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They shouldn't be on the Roll of the LDS Chruch.

 

[LittlePinky82]

I'm still waiting for the latest season to start. I haven't seen it on here. *sniff* I love the show and miss it.

 

[LittlePinky82]

Big Love is one of the few shows that I watch on television right now, and thought I would post my opinions up here (it's what the internet is for, right?). Because I am not watching this in America, I am up to the start of Season 3, so I would not appreciate any more spoilers.

Big Love has got good actors, presents religious ideas and moral debates from a variety of perspectives (I think each of the wives with their own opinions on a subject gives a depth of thought on ideas not present in many shows). I also enjoy how they portray life on the compound and life living as polygamists quite entertaining. The only thing I do not like is the "Desparate Housewives" plots, but this is a small complaint.

I would like to know what the complaints are about how Mormons are portrayed, because I haven't heard anything about that (seeing as though Mormons are not prominent here, and the show is a minor show on a culture channel in my country).

Oh yes I love all the actors on there! Everyone brings something to the table. I love that. And the writing is great too. It's unique to see the family go through every day problems but to the extreme since there are more of them than your average couple with two or three kids.

I also like that too about the wives being different on views. You have the more laid back liberalish type of wife (Barbara) and than you have the extreme rightwinger (the "prophets" daughter I forgot her name since it's been so long since I've seen it).

Oh I like that too about the differences from the suburbs to the country side. LOL I love the husbands mother. She cracks me up.

Try the Wikipage on criticism of Mormons. I'm not one so I have no idea. I tend to pay more attention to the plots instead of religion.

 

[rojse]

I actually like the religious component of the show. Television where I am does not show too much religious views. Most of these views are a single, bigoted view, or, at best, two bigoted views that approach the same subject from slightly different angles.

But on Big Love, we actually get multiple views of a debate. For example, the question of whether profiting from gaming machines is moral or not has yes and no views, but for different reasons. Is sex before marriage right or not? Although I might disagree with how this may sometimes be concluded, kudos for actually having the fortitude for approaching contentious topics from multiple angles.

 

[Watchmen]

I don't recall any mention of that. I seem to recall that they stated on an episode that they were not LDS. But either way, I did some research on the net and found :



Big Love - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They shouldn't be on the Roll of the LDS Chruch.

#1 was a baptized Mormon and so were her kids demonstrated by son #1 going to his previous bishop when he had morality concerns. There was also an episode where Bill is in a video being held up as a person who was able to leave the compound and go mainstream. That would imply he was baptized too.

If they were baptized then they are on the rolls of the church.

 

[Katzpur]

Does anybody know when the next season starts? I'm way beyond having withdrawals. I need a Big Love fix and I need it soon!!!!

 

[Watchmen]

First quarter of 2009 according to this article: HBO Moves 'Big Love' to 2009, 'Entourage' to the Fall

 

[blackout]

I wonder if Blockbuster carries the series?

 

[rojse]

I haven't been able to watch Big Love because the channel airing it has axed the show and replaced it with 1995 reruns of Iron Chef. What the?

Still, I will probably get the series' on DVD, and watch all of the shows I missed.

 

[Watchmen]

I wonder if Blockbuster carries the series?

They do.

 

[Watchmen]

I haven't been able to watch Big Love because the channel airing it has axed the show and replaced it with 1995 reruns of Iron Chef. What the?

Still, I will probably get the series' on DVD, and watch all of the shows I missed.

I thought it's only on HBO. Is there a station/network carrying reruns?

 

[rojse]

I thought it's only on HBO. Is there a station/network carrying reruns?

I'm in Australia, I doubt you are interested in the lack of airing of Big Love on local networks.