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Monday, May 9, 2016

Everything Wrong with Big Love Season 2

EPISODE 1
-the lady yelling outside the meeting about Roman Grant seems unusual.
-I have never heard of South American sites being called the "Holy Lands". The Holy Land is in Israel/Mid-East. We'd call the South American sites "possible Book of Mormon sites", as there is no consensus on where it actually took place.
-that's a pretty big Baptist church for Sandy, although there are a couple bigger ones in the area so I won't say is necessarily wrong.
-at the prayer meeting, "celestial heaven" would more likely be celestial kingdom. And testimonies are not done prayer style on the knees.
-the LDS grows most or all of its own wheat and alfalfa for the welfare program and bishop storehouses, I guess they might have bought it from private farmers at one point though.
EPISODE 2
-Bill and Ben were driving north away from Downtown, about 45 mins from where their home would be, south of downtown (20th east in Sandy) when they saw the supposed downtown, state street sign. They would've been in Bountiful, on the other side of a mountain from downtown.
-Nikki and Margene were driving westbound out of Lehi toward Eagle Mountain, and Nikki says they saw the graffiti billboard on their way out of town... Except they never would have passed downtown.
EPISODE 3
-there is no way any modern LDS Mormon would believe that it would be better to die than to give up your chastity. That is ridiculous.
EPISODE 4
-There's no Meeker county or town in Utah.
-there is a Jefferson County in Missouri, but I think they meant Jackson County, which has significance in Mormon culture.
-We just joke about Democrats being heathens, mostly.
-how could Adaleen possibly have gotten back to the compound to get Bills call? Other episodes imply its hours away.
EPISODE 5
-the yelling to pray or repent or something was weird to me, I don't know of any Mormon groups that do something like that.
EPISODE 6
-tons of people in Sandy own boats, but they'd likely never consider taking them to the Great Salt Lake. When people say they're taking the boat to the lake I assume Jordanelle or Deer Creek, which are about an hour east near Park City. Sometimes Utah Lake, about an hour south.
-Bill finally reveals Juniper Creek is a few hours south, which really destroys some previous scenes and references to the compound.
-there is no newspaper in Utah called the Sun-Times.
-not wrong, just worth noting, it would've taken Ben awhile to drive to this church, its at 700 south 2500 west in Syracuse, at least an hours drive from his home near 2000 east in Sandy.
-that is definitely not the bishop's office in an LDS church. There would not be a kitchen next to it, a glass door, or a display of books and pamphlets. The large table would likely be in a different meeting room.
-a Bishop doesn't have a parsonage and should not be counseling with parishioners in his home office.
-also those aren't LDS books and pamphlets.
-and if this guy were the Henrickson's bishop when they were still on the church, he is not likely to still be a bishop. Most serve for only 5 years and the Henricksons left the Church 7-8 years ago when Bill married Nikki.
-which brings up the point that Ben was only 8 years old when they left, half a lifetime for him. Not many 8 year olds have met with their bishop more than once so the "I feel more comfortable talking to you" is weird.
-Bishops are unpaid so they usually have regular career jobs during the day and would not be able to meet with Ben in the middle of a weekday, especially if he dropped in with no notice.
-the bishop's little speech isn't quite doctrinally accurate. Yes sexual morality is important when it comes to creating an eternal marriage but honestly probably half the Mormons I know had sex before marriage, and are now in sealed "eternal" marriages like it never happened. We all make mistakes, repent, and move on. I wouldn't say that temple marriage is the only moral way to start a family, only that it is the best way. And the bishop shouldn't be focused on converting the girlfriend, just on helping Ben.
-"Reverence and Morality" and "Satan's Thrust" are actually titles of talks given by LDS leaders in the 70s and 80 addressing sexual immorality, but they are from Gordon B. Hinckley and Ezra Taft Benson, respectively. Not Rommel Resonoble, Jeoffery Dingcong, or someone named Pamela as the pamphlets say. (if you go through the effort to find 30 year old talks, why don't you go through the effort to be accurate with other things?)  The talks are pretty outdated and old-fashioned, I can't imagine a bishop in 2007 referring to them when there are so many more modern resources.
EPISODE 7
-Not much here, but I've noticed that Nikki keeps saying "the" before she says the name of a highway. (i.e."the 215")  They say that in California, but in Utah we just say the number. ("There was an accident on 215")
EPISODE 8
-I'm not positive on this, but I don't think a bishop can go to the parents like that. Maybe they can, but in my experience if he thinks the teen should talk to the parents he encourages the teen to tell them and if the teen wants support might have them all in to meet with him together.  It's an interesting situation with him not being their bishop. He has no authority over Ben or the Henrickson family so I'm not sure there are any protocols in this situation.
-I don't think activity/inactivity is listed on membership records? Maybe it is. He could probably see that neither of them held a calling or had a current temple recommend, which might tip him off. But I don't know if even that information is accessible to leaders outside your current boundaries.
-the stake president comment is bordering on wrong. This comment seems to imply that people wanted him to lobby for stake president but he decided against it. You can't lobby or apply for that position, you can only say yes or no if it is offered to you.
-When the Bishop tells Barb that they are always welcome in his ward... its true, but you do need special permission from both bishops involved (and often the stake presidents as well) in order to have your records and "home ward" be other than the one to which you are geographically assigned. And what it had to do with Bill not being able to "righteously lead the family" is beyond me. This bishop is weird and pushy.
-There is/was no Meineke at the 5300 South exit.
EPISODE 9
-Ben says there is a Murray store, but previous episodes have said there are two stores, one in Sandy and one in West Jordan.
-Bill says he is going "up" to the compound, previous episodes have said it was 2 hours south, which would be going "down" to the compound.
EPISODE 10
-a good Mormon girl wouldn't take the name of God in vain
-there are no palm trees in Wendover
EPISODE 11
-Joseph Smith was never a pioneer and thus is rarely featured on Pioneer Day floats.
-the neighbor would probably know that Barb wasn't LDS because LDS congregations are assigned geographically, so they would likely be assigned to go to the same ward.
-not going to say that no LDS guy would be such a jerk like Howard, but in my experience that wouldn't happen.
EPISODE 12
-"if I don't have a family for him we'll have no family in heaven" just isn't LDS doctrine. I've never heard of a man divorcing his wife because she couldn't have kids, but I guess it could happen. He'd probably be hated by everyone though.
-"lost boys" are really only those who have left very closed off groups like the FLDS. Leaving a polygamist family who are living out in the world like the Henricksons wouldn't put you in the lost boys.
-on the news report: the pioneer parade is actually called the "Days of '47" parade, and there is no channel 6 in Salt Lake (ironically, that was always HBO). Also, did we still watch VHS tapes in 2007?
-there is no "pioneer week grand marshals parade"
-Utah Bell is not a phone company















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