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Will "Big Love" be a cultural tipping point? (polyimPRESSions)
Mar 18th, 2024 by Viviane
The HBO polygamy drama “Big Love,” scheduled to run Sunday nights for 12 weeks, has turned public attention to non-monogamous families like nothing in recent memory. Opinions in the polyamory community are very mixed, but the show is certainly better than many feared, and it has won some over. For instance, an essayist at Polyamorous Percolations writes in a review titled “Big Love, Big Opportunities”:
…As I sat and watched I found several subtle things that we in the polyamorous world can point to and say “This is very true.” Such as the support network created by an extended family.
…The show started off with all the family gathered together about the table sharing dinner. Notice the important word - family. Not a separate dinner with each wife, not a harsh word between the wives; a general sense of well being and community was instead implied.
All three wives are shown at the table dividing up the income, working out a fair and reasonable way to “share” the attentions of their mutual husband and discussing various things…. [When] Margene was way over her head while watching the kids… who comes to comfort her? Not Bill, but the other two wives who cradle her and express mutual support and love for each other.
And that’s exactly the idea, say the show’s creators, Will Scheffer and Mark Olsen, according to an article in the February 26, 2006, Los Angeles Times:
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