Big Love and politics....

[palsgraf_polka]

I adore the series Big Love on HBO. It's well written, amazingly acted, and just perfect in almost every way.

Now I read Television Without Pity's board on the show, and someone offhandedly mentioned that Mitt Romney's father was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, which is the outpost for polygamists who have fled the country under persecution from the federal government of the US. So I did a little digging and found this article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2901419

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to smear Mitt Romney, as I really don't care all that much if his family was polygamist in the late 1800s-early 1900s or not; but the article is fascinating. The whole concept of Mormon polygamy is fascinating. I watched a documentary on PBS a couple of weeks ago on the Mormons and their history is so interesting.

Comments

[arthur-sc-king.livejournal.com]

I agree. The whole polygamy thing is quite fascinating, especially given the cover of "no-one wants to talk about it after 1900".

It's especially complicated by the fact that:

1. Many groups continue to practise it, thinking that Wilford Woodruff screwed up in 1890;
   
2. Some groups have "returned" to it, thinking something vaguely similar;
   
3. Many of those groups marry the girls off when they're young (by today's standards; remember, 15-year-old brides weren't all that uncommon in 19th-century America).

I haven't seen Big Love yet, but maybe I'll download an episode or two.

The cool thing about the article you linked was that I didn't know that one of Mitt's ancestors was Parley P. Pratt. He was a very interesting character. His murder was seen as one of the triggers behind the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which is getting a lot of press this year (being the 150th anniversary of the tragedy).

[palsgraf-polka.livejournal.com]

You would LOVE Big Love. You can "borrow" all of season 1 in one shot in the usual places. Since it's HBO it's only 12 episodes. Season 2 just aired it's 3rd episode on Monday, and this season is even better than the 1st.

[toohipanna.livejournal.com]

im so digging big love...this season started well.