HBO’s Big Love & Frontline’s Mormons
It amazes me sometimes to see quality television. For so long, television has bored me both dramatically and artistically. But recently with Six Feet Under (and most of the HBO shows), Lost, Medium, The Daily Show and much of the PBS documentary shows, I feel like we are in the midst of a Television golden age.
HBO’s Big Love is a great example of what I mean. Previously, this show would not have been made and if by some luck, it did get the greenlight, there would have been along the lines of Desperate Housewives or something that generated a lot of talk but little emotional drama.
I can honestly say Big Love might be as good or even better than Six Feet Under. In terms of cinematic achievements, Six Feet Under has Big Love beat. But in acting and even writing, I think Big Love has put to rest all those wonderful ghosts of Six Feet Under.
Most shows including Lost go through spells of boredom. In Big Love’s first season, each scene, each moment carry so much dramatic weight. When my wife and I sit down to watch an episode, we ready ourselves to enter a fog. We never exchange looks or even pass comments during the entirety of a show. Like a dream, we wake up on the other side, and when that story ends, we abruptly find ourselves in ours. It happens everytime. I have been aware of this during the past couple of episodes but I have not been able to wake myself up during a show. Incredible.
I also find it incredible that a Mormon family practicing polygamy is the best fictional example of the workings of a family. Well, not all of it but you get what I am saying? Family as a pace, as a musical piece playing alternate chords of warmth & coldness, love & hate, competition & cooperation, traps & freedoms, embarrasses & pride. Big Love captures all of that.
The acting ensemble is brilliant, they are all wonderfully familiar and from a different planet at the same time. The writing team possesses the ability to keep it real and at the same time add little pieces of absurdity to keep it fresh. One of my favorite little moments is in episode 5 (which is a classic. Damn, damn good) where Nikki (Chloe Sevigny) is next to the pool spraying down her kid’s teddy bear. Hilarious in the context of her character.
Of course, you can’t watch Big Love online. However, you can rent the DVD from the first season. But because of the show, my interest in the Mormon culture has dramatically increased. In good time, Frontline (another favorite) did a documentary on the history of the Mormons. If you watched Frontline before, you should know this isn’t your run of the mill kind of production. Luckily it is available online.
Watch Frontline’s Mormons
Comments
3 Responses to “HBO’s Big Love & Frontline’s Mormons”
Leave a Reply
Recent Picks
You are commenting on BIG LOVE as a “Mormon” family, when if you watched the show so intently, one of the wives comments that the other wife “MISSES” the Mormon church. The Mormon church doesn’t support polygamy, those that typically practice polygamy are using part of the Mormon beliefs but have spin off their own religion. So this is not a show about a Mormon polygamy family… So I guess you and your wife weren’t watching the show as intently as you thought, since you missed that key point on what religion they even are??
Eh? Did you watch the documentary linked to in the post? Joseph Smith practiced polygamy and so did Brigham Young. Under external pressure, the Mormons decided to abandon polygamy. Mormons who practice polygamy claim there are more in accordance of the teachings of Joseph Smith.
I’m sorry. Just makes no sense to me. i have read the book of mormon out of curiosity only.. and I see nothing anywhere that makes any sense. Big Love was also ridiculous.. Sorry..