AngelaBassinet

I've watched a few of Gwens reaction videos and I'm a bit stunned by how little she seems to know about her own family? I can kinda give her a pass for saying she came from an FLDS background because she was only attending AUB Church till she was 8 and probably doesn't realise that the FLDS is a very specific group she was never part of and thinks it means any fundamentalist LDS group. But so much else. She thought MSWC was still a business and that Robyns elder daughters were working for it? She didn't know her Dad sold guns? She didn't know that some of her siblings had serious issues with Meri? She didn't know Kody wanted Garrison and Gabriel to move out during covid? She didn't hear a thing about the terrible Christine goodbye to Flagstaff? Among many, many other things. And I get that the SW fandom can be obsessive and she's probably less interested in the intricacies of her family than some SW fans but it's not sitting right with me. Either a lot of the stuff we see on TV is entirely manufactured for the show so the family don't talk about it because it's fake or most of this family don't communicate with each other in any real way, despite Gwen saying how she's close to a lot of family members and they talk a lot. And she's also a Reddit poster and admitted she read the SW forum at the very least on occasion. Somethings off.

I'm with ya. They were all conned that this was a beautiful lifestyle that would make them Christ like. Kodys Mom got sucked into it so sucked the family into it, so Kody came back from his LDS mission to this new family set-up and new version of the religion he'd been brought up in. The true way, the right way that Joseph Smith intended. The chosen people. He went from the unpopular kid at school and the not macho enough son to the twinkly eyed handsome boy in a new church that the girls were crushing on. Heavily influenced or even groomed you could say by Meris parents and Christine's Dad who was the murdered leader of the church's first legal and public son. A patriarch too. Meris Mom was the biggest advocate of plural marriage and Meri got married to the popular new convert and according to Christine, they were the hot young couple in the church. Janelle got converted by Meris parents and Kodys Mom and Dad and so did her Mom. Christine was a star in the church who got to marry the only man she wanted, and as 3rd wife which she wanted. Her Dad was thrilled, as were Meris Mom and Dad. Christine brushed aside her Moms experience and anyone else who left the church. And they had a few years of a crumbling facade and drama and pain behind the scenes but a great image in the church. They were it. The perfect polygs. So much so that when Tom Green, Rodney Holm and Warren Jeff's abuses were being publicised, Christine was chosen to be a spokesperson for their church to try and control the narrative. Then Meri was miserable in a crumbling marriage with sister wives that didn't like her and trying to be the cool wife, and wanting a sister wife on her side, thought it would be a good idea to get Robyn on board. Robyn had an unrealistic view of plural marriage based on the relationship her Mom had with her step-Dad where they lived in different states for years so whenever he was home it was a wonderful reunion cause everyone was on their best behaviour and not wanting to ruin it. Then the scarlet woman getting pregnant out of marriage and in a shitty abusive relationship for years met the Knight on the white charger and the perfect it seemed, polyg family. They were all so convinced that they were the epitome of the cool polygs, not like those other ones and they wanted fame and money so they hawked their family around looking for a show. They were pick mes. Hi I'm Kody, all these women chose me and I'm not like those other polyg men, my wives are strong independent women and they run the show. Hi I'm Meri, I started this family and approved all these other wives because I wanted plural marriage. Hi I'm Janelle, I work and am logical and not needy like other women, I'm independent and this works great for me. Hi I'm Christine, I got the hottest husband in town as 3rd wife so I smoothed everything out and I wanted to be the stay at home Mom and have sister wives too cos dang, men are hard work yay sisterhood! Hi I'm Robyn. I've been saved by this awesome man and family, I tear up thinking how amazing it is that these wonderful women want me to be as happy as they are. They were all victims of polygamy in my opinion. But they believed their own naive arrogant bullshit and thought they were gonna show the public just how they weren't like those other polygs and all the benefits of this wonderful lifestyle. And there are happy plural families. It can work but not very often and not without immense sacrifice. And not with the unrealistic expectations the Browns had. They just weren't a successful plural family and all they did was demonstrate how shitty it can be, even if you're not being forced to marry old men at 14 or being beaten by your husband or having to have a baby every year. Hate to say it, but I actually gained a teeny bit of respect for Kody in the season before last because he was the only one speaking truth. He was saying I can't advocate for it, it's a failed experiment, we've f-ed this up, it is fundamentally unfair to the women and I can't believe I have done it to myself or to you all. This is shit, it doesn't work. All the wives got pissed about that but he was spitting facts.

I don't like Meri at all but I agree. And I get that people coming out as gay or trans shouldn't have to justify themselves or explain but when it's your parent I feel like you should be willing to discuss it with them. Meri was blindsided and had some reasonable questions most parents would have like how long have you known? Are you seeing anyone? Are you still religious? But when Meri tried to ask them on the family holiday Leon was eye rolling and hostile. And so I have the impression they'd be like that with any family member. But I think that's what families do don't they? If my child or sibling came out I'd have some questions. And Madison and Mykelti sure got questioned about wanting to join the LDS church and get married. When you love someone you want to know what they've been going through and want a bit of reassurance that they really are making the best major decisions about their life, for them. I don't think Leon tolerates that, I think they just want you to celebrate and if you're not 100% there yet, you're out. It's like when they posted that picture of Audrey hugging them from behind with their hands on Leon's very prominent belly and someone asked if they were pregnant and they attacked the poster and told them to gtfo and alleged they were transphobic and fatphobic. I mean, no-one should be asking anyone if they're pregnant but Leon's been on TV and social media for years, they know the kinda stuff people say. And they do have a very large belly and it was a classic pregnancy type pose. I don't think it's okay but if you know social media you know social media constantly speculates about pregnancy. Especially reality TV people like the Duggars and the Browns. It happened to Maddie and Mykelti before they announced their pregancies. Happened to Robyn when they wore a floaty shirt last year in a bar. Leon jumping to that person being transphobic or fatphobic and being so aggressive was just uncalled for. I don't think assuming malice when ignorance is more likely, is the way to go

I have the feeling Tony is neurodiverse and that's where the unusual social interactions come from. Just basing it on the pre-wedding and the wedding itself. Some guy Tony didn't seem to know was wearing a musical tie and Tony was like "can I press it?". During the ceremony he kept talking to Mykelti and she kept having to shush him. When the dude gave him the ring Tony said "look how cool this is" and started showing it to Mykelti and he had to be shush again and refocused. Then when Christine was singing he was looking at people on his table in turn and asking them if they'd ever heard the song before while they were looking embarrassed and trying to get him to focus on Christine. I understand the urge to try and drown her out lol but it's not polite. He could just be a dick acourse or maybe cultural differences but his behaviour just wasn't what most people would see as socially typical. Edit left out a word.