After more than a year's wait, Big Love is back! Or, rather, it will be on January 18 at 9 p.m. Yay!I love this show. No, I'm not a fan of polygamy, nor am I a Mormon (although, from what I read, were I a Mormon I would be somehow obligated to dislike this show, whether I'd ever seen it or not). What I'm interested in is how it portrays relationships.
The Henrickson family, Bill and his wives Barb, Nicki and Margene, have a very complicated plural marriage (and in season three, it looks like they might add a fourth wife), but it's based on the love and respect all four of the adults have for one another. It presents a very interesting perspective on the relationships between husbands and wives, and between women who regard one another as friends and sisters. What's also interesting is the way their relationships were all forged of their own free will, rather than forced upon them by someone else.
Of course, the show also presents polygamy in the way most of us are used to seeing it: abusive constructions arranged by a charismatic cult leader who considers himself a community's link to god and salvation. Bill and Nicki were both raised inside one of these communities and still have ties to this community (Nicki being the daughter of the community's current prophet/leader, and Bill's mother and brother still living there), so there is ample opportunity to see how people are taken advantage of, women are joined to men they don't care about, power struggles are played out, how women are joined as sisterwives despite the fact that they hate one another, and how a 70-something year old man feels himself entitled to a 12-year-old bride.
The best part of Big Love, however, is that it doesn't preach or take any sort of position on the issue of polygamy. It shows how it can be done well, and how it can be disastrous.
New episode, January 18. Be there. Or stay tuned and I'll tell you all about it!
4 comments:
I used to watch this show when we had HBO, and loved it. I loved the show Rome more though. I miss Rome. Why did they have to end it? That's the only reason we had HBO!
Never fear, I think Rome will be back, too! There are way more despotic emperors to get through.
Yeah, the good stuff's was just getting started on Rome! Though it is a little disheartening that Lucius Vorenus is now on Grey's Anatomy! I used to like that show but now it's not worth the time.
I don't think Grey's is going to last much longer...ratings are slipping, story lines are getting more and more ridiculous. I wouldn't worry too much--I think Lucius will be back in his leather miniskirt before we know it!
Post a Comment