Three Wives, One Husband

I think this was done really well. I was genuinely interested and invested in the family's in the show. I think they did a good job highlighting a lot of the similarities and differences in "traditional" monogamous relationships and generally made the entire show very engaging.

It also made me a bit disturbed how some of the people rating this reacted. giving low ratings because they thought the life choices of those portrayed in the show were, presumably, morally wrong. This again presumably on the grounds that the people where... unhappy sometimes and had conflicts. It was clear in the show that all the people lived mostly happy and fulfilled lives while being in loving supportive families.

I never cease to wonder at how religion can twist people's minds! How little must a woman think of herself in order to not only accept, but be thrilled at the idea that she'll become a n-th wife of a guy who believes he's a direct emissary of God! How twisted is this representation of faith!? How does one manage to educate so many children, let alone feed, shoe and dress them? I can understand that women coming from the same religious background, with little education and probably no experience of the real word, are eager to embrace the same lifestyle. Needless to mention that men are thrilled to enjoy the intimate company of a different woman every night, but how about the children? The positive aspect of raising them in the open, without the oh, so common invasion of technology, is clearly a plus. At the same time, keeping them under the unique influence of a distorted view on religion is blatant abuse. If everyone in that community really believes in what they say, I pity them for not wanting to know any better. If they just play along to a tune which is actually just a smoke screen to hide insecurity, lust or who knows what else, well then, praised be the Lord! But often in this series the eyes and the body language tell another story than the mouth.

I was so intrigued by this lifestyle already and I loved being able to get a glimpse into these people's lives. It was so well done gaining insight into each individual person's mindset, struggles, hopes, and visions for their family. I have been fortunate to know several Mormons and have never met a Fundamentalist Morman that practices plural marriage. This piece was done in such a way that I feel as though I know and understand them on a deeper level. Beautiful. Heard. Respected.

The documentary promised I would change my perspective, for me it moved me in the opposite direction of what they intended. While I believe the documentarians did a fair job of showing the emotions shared by the "wives", the men came out to be spoiled kids, while the women did the vast majority of the emotional heavy lifting. It doesn't even become an issue for me because of the fact that I only approve of being married to one spouse. It's a matter of accepting something that is terribly selfish on one person's part, and has often proven to be abusive even amongst the women (Joseph Smith's own wife pushed his younger pregnant wife down a flight of stairs, and the younger wife miscarried). And the documentary glosses over issues that are key to what involves these parties. Gross financial deficiencies, physical and emotional abuses- all of which have a direct corollary with plural marriage. It is a "We'll make it appear that we are giving all sides a fair shake, but really we only want to share one perspective."

Interesting that more than 66% of their sons can't practice this religion even if all their daughters choose this. Someone needs to do math. No polygamist should be legally married to anyone. Its fraud. It's bad public policy to allow so many men to be unable to secure a spouse due to the gluttony of others.