The season finale of "Big Love" is this Sunday (oh no!), and things are about to boil over for polygamist Bill Henrickson. His three wives are unhappy--with each other and him. Barb seems poised to leave (go Barb!), Nicki feels Bill betrayed her family, and Margene is losing patience when it comes to being the third and the least public wife.
This on top of the fact that Bill and Barb's two eldest children are torn between Mom and Dad and monogamy and polygamy. Weber gaming might take down the whole family, and oh, yeah, the other night Barb and Bill came home to find a nest of poisonous snakes under the covers of their bed!
So how true to life is "Big Love" anyway? Poisonous snakes in the bed aside, is this kind of jealousy, in-fighting, and kid trouble "normal" for families that "live the principle" for real?
To find out, check out "Entertainment Weekly's" fascinating interview about just this question with reporter Brooke Adams, who covers "the plural life" for The Salt Lake Tribune.
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Q: “So how true to life is "Big Love" anyway? Poisonous snakes in the bed aside, is this kind of jealousy, in-fighting, and kid trouble "normal" for families that "live the principle" for real?”
While I can not speak for the Mormons, Polygamy is a valid and accepted lifestyle in 85% of the world’s cultures. There are many families, both in the United States and around the world, who live in polygamous families and are all the happier for it. While I can not claim that this system works for everyone, I can honestly say that I’ve known several families who do practice this lifestyle. The majority of them were not Mormon and had never been Mormon.
From my own observation, I would say that the producers of “Big Love” may have emphasized the conflicts, as most entertainment producers and scriptwriters do, for the purpose of making an entertaining story. Granted, in any polygamous relationship, there are bound to be conflicts, just as there are conflicts in monogamous relationships. This is an unfortunate part of the human condition. However, I have to give “Big Love” credit for also showing the goodness, the joy, the closeness, and the love that is present. Actor Bill Paxton (who plays the leading man) hit the nail right on the head in an interview when he said that he agreed to this role because he loves a good love story, and that’s exactly what this is: times three!
For a more academic point of view on polyamory as a lifestyle, Derek McCullough and David S. Hall, Ph.D., of the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality (Volume 6, Feb. 27, 2003) wrote a terrific article called “Polyamory - What it is and what it isn't.” It is available at http://www.ejhs.org/volume6/polyamory.htm, and worth the read for anyone who may be interested in this subject.
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