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MasterZChicago -> NCSF Entertainment Media Update - 'Big Love' (3/31/2006 2:32:30 PM)
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National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
Entertainment Media Update - 'Big Love'
March 31, 2006
[email protected]
www.ncsfreedom.org
BIG LOVE (cable television series)
Network: HBO
Airdates/time: Sundays at 10 pm ET/PT; repeats follow
Executive Producers: Mark V. Olsen (creator), Will Scheffer (creator), Tom Hanks
and Gary Goetzman
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Think having three wives is a dream come true? Meet Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton),
a modern-day Utah polygamist who lives in suburban Salt Lake City with his three
wives, seven children, and a mounting avalanche of debt and demands. While managing
the household finances together and routinely sharing "family home nights," they
try to keep simmering jealousies in check and their arrangement a secret - polygamy
is illegal in Utah and banned by the mainstream Mormon Church. (Provided by HBO)
WEBSITE: http://www.hbo.com/biglove/index.html
FEEDBACK:
Call 212-512-1208 M-F/9-5 ET or submit email via:
http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=General%
20Information&questiontype=general
HBO COMMUNITY DISCUSSION: http://www.hbo.com/biglove/community/?
ntrack_para1=feat_main_text
NCSF REVIEWER'S NOTE:
It is NCSF policy to advocate only on behalf of sexual activities occurring between
consenting adults, and the organization condemns any sort of coercive and/or
abusive relationship, regardless of the age of its participants. While NCSF does
not have an official position on polygamy, the series 'Big Love' has drawn an
unprecedented amount of media attention to the topic and, in the process, directed
new focus towards polyamory, alternative relationship structures, privacy rights
and the fight for equal marriage.
Though most particulars of the world depicted on 'Big Love' may be completely
foreign, several aspects, especially the joys and troubles of balancing partners
and of blending families, will hold resonance for many in the polyamory community.
As a "water cooler show," the series will warrant our continued notice for its
ability to coalesce discussion around topics of great relevance to sexual freedom,
providing opportunities to interject our experiences and viewpoints through letters
to the editor, participation on message boards and even casual conversation. (Lisa
Vandever for NCSF)
***
1) Big Love, from the Set
By Stanley Kurtz
National Review
March 13, 2006
"Social taboos may erode gradually over the very long haul, but up close, and
especially toward the beginning, you get little collapses - the quick and
unexpected falling away of opposition. What used to be hidden emerges with
startling rapidity, because much of it was there all along. Polygamy, and
especially polyamory, are already widespread on the Internet. Both practices are
pushing toward a major public taboo-collapsing moment. We can't know when 'critical
mass' might be reached, but 'Big Love' has got to be getting us there a whole lot
quicker than we were." [cont]
To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200603130805.asp
To respond, write to: [email protected]
2) Pandora and Polygamy
By Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post
March 17, 2006
"But this distinction between higher and lower orders of love is precisely what gay
rights activists so vigorously protest when the general culture 'privileges' (as
they say in the English departments) heterosexual unions over homosexual ones.
Was 'Jules et Jim' (and Jeanne Moreau), the classic Truffaut film involving two
dear friends in love with the same woman, about an 'activity' or about the most
intrinsic of human emotions? [continued]
To read this entire article, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2006/03/16/AR2006031601312.html
To respond, write to: [email protected]
3) Don't Do Unto Others: The difference between gay marriage and polygamy
By William Saletan
Slate
March 23, 2006
"...I'm sure polyamorists are right that lots of people 'find joy in having close
relationships ... with multiple partners.' The average guy would love to bang his
neighbor's wife. He just doesn't want his wife banging his neighbor. Fidelity isn't
natural, but jealousy is. Hence the one-spouse rule. One isn't the number of people
you want to sleep with. It's the number of people you want your spouse to sleep
with." [continued]
To read this entire article, go to: http://www.slate.com/id/2138482/
To respond, post to: http://fray.slate.com/?id=3936&tp=humannature
For a compilation of readers' posts about the article, go to:
http://www.slate.com/id/2138327/
4) Saletan on Polyamory
By Stanley Kurtz
The Corner on National Review Online
March 23, 2006
"... Saletan uses an atypical polyamorous breakup to characterize polyamory as a
whole. The Trask breakup came when a husband sneaked around on his wife. Proper
polyamory is about open and honest multi-partner relationships. 'Just because we
sometimes break our own rules of openness and fail,' the polyamorists will
argue, 'doesn't mean proper polyamory won't work, especially when it gains social
acceptance and support.' In any case, Saletan's piece is fascinating and important
(unlike so much of what's said on this topic) for having addressed some of the real
issues at stake." [continued]
To read the entire post, go to: http://corner.nationalreview.com/06_03_19_corner-
archive.asp#093189
To respond, write to: [email protected]
5) 'Big Love': Real Polygamists Look at HBO Polygamists and Find Sex
By Felicia R. Lee
New York Times
March 28, 2006
"'In reality, there's not a woman out there who's going to share a man without
religion being a factor,' Ms. Prunty said. 'That's what's missing in the show. This
seems like some male fantasy, some alternative marriage that is Hollywood.'"
[continued]
To read the entire article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/arts/television/28poly.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
(free onsite registration required)
To respond, write to: [email protected]
6) Were Smith's Mormons Ahead of Their Times?
By Richard Brookhiser
New York Observer
April 3, 2006
"...Polyamory, at least in theory, finds a slot B for every tab A. Yet it scarcely
addresses a great pitfall of polygamy, the repression of rivalry and aggression.
Didn't we learn anything from the 1960's? Didn't we learn anything from college?
When everyone sleeps with everyone, everyone isn't happy. Love creates jealousy and
supplies revenge. Cupid is Mars' deadliest soldier. [cont.]
To read the entire article, go to:
http://www.observer.com/20060403/20060403_Richard_Brookhiser_opinions_brookhiser.asp
To respond, write to: [email protected] (250 words max.)
HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Feedback letters are an effective way to convey a positive image of alternate
sexual practices such as SM, swinging, or polyamory. You can help to correct
negative social myths and misconceptions about these types of practices. These
letters help achieve the advocacy goals of the NCSF.
Generally, for a letter to be published, it's important to include your name (or
first initial, last name), city and daytime phone (for verification only). For more
information, see: http://www.ncsfreedom.org/library/writelettertoeditor.htm
Please alert us to positive, negative or neutral stories about SM, swinging and
polyamory at [email protected]
###
A project of NCSF and ITCR: The Foundation of NCSF
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization committed
to altering the political, legal, and social environment in the U.S. in order to
guarantee equal rights for consenting adults who practice forms of alternative
sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in
the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities, who often face
discrimination because of their sexual expression.
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
410-539-4824
[email protected]
www.ncsfreedom.org
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