Big Love

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   IntimatEvolutionposted 14 years ago

   So how true is the HBO series Big Love?  Are Utah mothers and wives prescription drug addicts, and do they have to be perfect?

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      goldenpathposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      As a Latter-day Saint, I submit that this production is false in every sense.  Do not trust Hollywood and it's ego to portray a "glamorized" belief system.  It is their job to make a story more interesting and compelling to the viewer.  If they were to do an actual portrayal the series would have never made it past the second episode. 
      
      The show is false and is a demeaning representation of the Latter-day Saints.  I would suggest not viewing such crud.  The more it is viewed the more the viewer sees it as true and correct.  As one who knows, please stay away from it.  If anyone wants to know the doctrines and/or practices of the Latter-day Saints they should ask one directly.  Where else should one get the information untarnished.
      
      I thank you for your inquiry into the show.

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         Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Making yourself out to be one that is objective (untarnished) is a little far fetched...
         
         Objective but knowledgable sources would be my recommendation.
         I have to agree however that what hollywood fictionalizes cannot be accepted as truth.

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      Daniel Carterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      There are Utah mothers who are meth addicts. It's very sad. But truthfully the statistics aren't any higher there than a lot of other places.
      
      In regard to the lifestyle of polygamist cults, the mainstream Mormon church disavowed polygamy about 1890. However, the break-off sects continue to practice it. Most people, though, don't make any differentiation between mainstream Mormons and break offs.
      
      The show itself (Big Love) is pretty sensationalized, but really if you've watched special reports, etc., about the polygamist cults, you can see there is some truth to it. There's a lot of cover up, wrong-doing, etc., so all that means is that they are just about like every other sector of society, trying to cover up their ills by pretending to better than they are.
      
      So yes, there are some "kind of" true depictions in the TV series, but you have to realize it's about ratings, mostly.

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         Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Well said D.C.

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   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   Sure Hollywood glamorizes, misreports etc. but most writers and artists just arent that inventive, much is based on fact even when fictionalized
   
   so a simple a google search turns up:
   
   http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/a … 15827.html
   
   "It's a story that is all too common in this state. Utah leads the nation in prescription drug abuse, according to the most recent statistics from the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse Prevention. Deaths caused by prescription drug abuse exceeded vehicle fatalities in 2007 for the first time in Utah's history."
   
   ..so its certainly not false in every sense,

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      Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      agreed, and Goldenpaths version will be just as true with just as many falsehoods...

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      Daniel Carterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The news article is probably pretty accurate. Any group of people who are taught that most of their life is based on NOT being able to do things, there is certainly going to be a lot of depression and anxiety, as well as rebellion.
      
      The same is true with the polygamist sects. Young wives, young men and young women are often either ostracized or they escape from their sects because they've simply had enough. So in reality, the more rules an organization inflicts on its member, the more rule-breakers you create. Hence, drugs, sexual promiscuity and a whole lotta other gunk.
      
      You know, the longer I live, the more I see that it NEVER matters what religion you are. People always pretty much act and react in the same ways about the same things. I can't see that any sect of people are more "holy" or "better" than any of the depraved sorts. It never adds up to me.

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         Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Truth finds a way. Eventually the rule makers have to make laws to remain in control that create unhappiness among their followers, that is when personal happiness becomes more important than following the tyrants rules.
         
         In the words of the Founding Fathers:
         
         "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under ***absolute Despotism***, it is their RIGHT, it is their DUTY, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." {Government being the ruling church leaders in this case}

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            Daniel Carterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I find myself on the same wavelength with you more often than not, Mikel. Great quote, and yes it does apply to just about any governing body, I think.

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               Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               

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      IntimatEvolutionposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I thought that might be true.  I'm not at all surprised.  I know quite a bit about the Mormon faith.  I cannot imagine being a woman, and an active participant of that belief system.  Matter of fact, I just would not do it.  So when the show started to show that side of that faith, I thought there had to be something to it.  That's a shame.  Somebody needs to be addressing the issue.  Makes me dislike them even more.

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   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   [that's quite an avatar, SF] 
   
   sorry intimate, just a mindless interruption.

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   wyanjenposted 14 years ago

   polygamy is just a vehicle for the story. They're not trying to be accurate, they are trying to be dramatic.
   
   I agree with your point, Daniel. When you look beyond the big label and see the individual people, it's really all the same. Nobody is more, or less, holy. People are people IMO.
   
   I watched this show from the start, but I had to turn off my HBO last year and wouldn't you know it - who joins the show? Adam Beach, my helpless crush.
   Why oh Why did I turn off my cable....
   
   

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   earnestshubposted 14 years ago

   I saw a little of it. I found it boring as watching grass grow, badly acted with story lines that may have been written by Freddo the frog.

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      wyanjenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well, you must have missed the scenes with Adam Beach. Nothing is boring when he is on the screen.
      I don't THINK anything is boring, I mean... I'm really not paying attention to the show at that point
      good lord it is a helpless crush I have.
      
      I like the show quite a bit. Watching a little here and there doesn't give you the whole effect. IMO
      The drama builds slowly, lots of tension over many episodes.

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         earnestshubposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I think I understand your interest if you have a thing for someone in the show, I used to watch anything with my fav girl in it.
         I don't have a crush on anyone in the show, and the writing is always the problem for me.
         If I can predict where something is going and how it is going there, (the writing) I am gone. Sorry, different strokes and all that!

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            wyanjenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I'll grant you that.
            And, I haven't had HBO since the Sopranos ended... so I actually haven't seen any recent episodes.
            It may have gone completely off track from the first few seasons.

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               earnestshubposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               The Sopranos I felt was well written. It was certainly well caste as well. I enjoyed it very much, and I am not a fan of the genre.

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      Daniel Carterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       
      
      So what you're saying Earnest, is that it reflects real life way too much.

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