All together they have 8 children. Throughout the show the family struggles with keeping their polygamous lifestyle a secret from their quite white "picket fenced" neighborhood, Bill attempting to keep his family business (Home Plus) afloat while at the same time dibbing and dabbing in a gaming business and recently attempting to acquire a casino on a Native American reservation (hmm..), Bill's attempt to juggle the relationship with his 3 wives and most importantly his strained relationship with Nikki's (evil) father Roman Grant as well as the family struggling with issues caused by family members who live on a polygamus compound and other members of their family who disagree with their life style.
All in all this show has so many twists and turns I often find it hard to keep up with. None the less the 3rd season deals with the introduction of a 4th wife into the family, Bill and Barb's oldest daughters preganacy and miscarriage and their son's attraction to Marge, Roman Grants arrest for rape and underage marriage, and a whole bunch of other crap. I watched 9 of the 10 episodes for season 3 and towards the end I found myself questioning a few of the confrontations the family had to face throughout the season.
Confrontation 1:
The oldest daughter engaging in pre-marital sex resulting in her pregnancy. The daughter was able to hide it from her parents for approx. 3 episodes and it was not discovered until the end of a family trip. Both Bill and Barb were hurt by her actions but I felt as though there was more of a concern for their daughter engaging in sex b4 marriage versus her emotional and physical well being in regards to losing her baby. It became more of an issue of going against their religion and it provided a perfect example as to how religion is used to control the actions of others. I am not going to disregard any parents feelings of disappointment in that situation esp. since the way in which they had to find out was pretty jacked up, but their perception of the situation as just involving their daughter going against their religion I think is crazy.
Confrontation 2:
Bill and Barb's daughter's situation goes hand in hand with Nikki taking birth control pills and not telling Bill and her sisterwives what she was doing. Everyone was under the impression that she was having problems with her fertility. Both Barbara and Marge took her to a fertility clinic and unknowing to them Nikki disclosed to the doctor that she was taking birth control and accepted another prescription from the doctor.
This is a touchy situation being that once again this is where the family's religion comes into play. Accroding to Bill and Barb the goal is for their family to grow and by Nikki taking birth control it hinders with the ultimate goal they are tryna achieve. Now i understand that it is not about the individual and I do agree with the fact the Nikki should have been more honest about her decision to take birth control but i dont feel as though she should not have control over her own body. This is where the religion portion comes in. Nikki's acts go against their religious beliefs. So essentially one does not have the right to make their own decisions because it goes against what their Mormon religion tells them is right. I also feel like the growth of their family should not be a major concern esp since Bill is trying to keep 2 of his businesses afloat while trying to start another.
Confrontation 3:
While the Hendrickson family was out on their family vacation Bill and Barb's youngest daughter Teeny was talking to an older African American gentleman about their Mormon beliefs (their family trip was based on learning about their religious ancestors and visiting historical landmarks that involved Mormons) and why the Mormon way is the right way. Bill came to his daughter's side and apologized on her behalf. The older man stated that he disagreed with the Mormon religion and claimed that being a baptist was the best way, he also raised the fact that the Mormon religion never accepted Blacks. This point was over looked and brushed off by Bill. Let me make it clear, all Christian religions have been utilized as a means of control over all people of color so I am not in support of Christianity. I found this interesting being that the Book of Mormon does not have anything good to say about Blacks.
Essentially the Mormon religion believes that whites are the ones who are the defenders of good against the devil and his goons and African descended people are those who are neutral...thats how they came to exist. (don't believe me--> look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaWt03Z3w)
What disappointed me the most is that Big Love does not address this aspect of their religion (neither do they look at the relationship between Mormons and Native american peoples). I think these relationships are most important to address being that the show attempts to portray mormonism in a "non-biased" light but it neglects to provide the truth about the Mormon religion. Maybe I am asking for to much from a t.v show that is solely based on drama.
The issue with this though is that people watch shows like this and are not critical. I noticed how hard it was for me to watch the show being that i did not agree with the way the show dealt with certain issues. Not to say that i will not watch season 4-but my eyes/mind will be more open to how they address certain issues...
Keep asking questions & being critical yall
Bless...
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