S05.E11: A Family Meltdown

[DakotaJustice]

Well, Christine's usual MO whenever anyone says one word indicating perceived criticism of their "lifestyle" is to go apeshit.  When they were in Boston and visited the Plymouth Plantation she got all wigged out when one of the actors (someone ACTING A PART) said something about plural wives and Christians.  She was rude to the actor and then put on her defensive "I'm being persecuted" persona.  Honest to God, there are a million different religions in the world.  Why is it so difficult for her to accept that her way is NOT the only way?  But then isn't that the norm for most brainwashed fundies?

 

I've noticed that's kind of a trait with polygamists in general.  They LOVE to harp on the "persecution" aspect even though it's probably been 50-60 years since anyone was jailed for JUST polygamy (i.e. no underage stuff going on).  Even Hyrum on PUSA went all dramatic that he "could be" arrested for his lifestyle choice. 

 

I'm sure that they realize that polygamy on its own is the equivalent of sparking a doob in public pretty much anywhere in the US.  Outside of Utah, unless it's Warren Jeffs stuff going on, no one gives a rats'.  

[ghoulina]

If they really wanted to make money they should have opened a party supply store.  There's this one huge family in Las Vegas who will splash out on a fully decorated theme party about anything at the drop of a hat.  Seriously - apart from a million birthdays, anniversaries, and graduations, there are 60's hippie parties, Casino Night parties, heck, even Hanukkah parties!  Any inventory they could think of to stock, this family would buy!

Oh, wait...

 

Haha!

 

Maybe they could rent themselves out as performers? "We'll flash mob dance, lip sync, or create a movie...all to embarrass your family and make you wish you were never born. $150 an hour". 

[LucyEth]

Not sure why Christine got so crazy about the remark Kody's friend made.  She is just trying to draw attention to herself and get some "Kody attention'.  Also she is very insecure in this relationship IMO. 

[Persnickety1]

I hadn't watched this hot mess in absolute ages and decided to start tuning in again this season.  Yes, I must be either a masochist or extremely bored.

 

Just a couple of things.

 

"My Sisterwife's Closet."  Seriously?  Does anything about any of these 4 women bring up the word "fashion" in any sensible woman's mind?  Well, unless it's as in "fashion-challenged."

 

What the seven bloody hells were they thinking to even stick their collective countless toes into anything fashion oriented?

 

I could almost see them perhaps finding a niche for a cookbook or maybe even organic beauty and bath products but fashion?  Not so much.  This venture just has "epic fail" and "tax write-off" written all over it.

 

And, because I just have to say it, if I were one of King Kody's wives, I'd be holding my goddamned breath and saying a prayer to the Mormon gods that this chucklefuck would not want to include me in his sexual rotation schedule.  Just...Ew, no.

 

I'd have a fucking migraine so severe that it would require an emergency room visit any time the schedule rolled around to my name.

 

Blech.  

[Kellyee]

What happened to Meri going back to school and enjoying her life? That just disappeared.

[ghoulina]

Well, I feel like this season started IMMEDIATELY after last season ended, which they normally don't do. Maybe Meri had just decided what she wanted to do, but now she needs to go through the process of applying, filing for financial aid if need be, etc. I'll give her a bit more time, but yea...I hope it's not something that just fades into the background. 

[Kohola3]

What happened to Meri going back to school and enjoying her life? That just disappeared.

 

The words "Meri" and "enjoying her life" are mutually exclusive.

[suomi]

Would a person get some static from their Bishop if it was known they were hanging with polygamists?

 

Oh, my. Yes. And depending on the ward/the bishop, also if hanging with outsiders of any persuasion; even, maybe especially, if the outsiders are family members. The static can be subtle or it can be overt, but it is a given.

 

DakotaJustice, on 14 Jan 2015 - 1:04 PM, said:

I've noticed that's kind of a trait with polygamists in general.  They LOVE to harp on the "persecution" aspect ... [snipped for space]

 

It's a given with both polygs and mainstream members, and is seen here among polygs because that's the premise of the show. To provide strength/reassurance/justification, one of the basic teachings is that persecution occurs in direct proportion to the legitimacy of their beliefs. Persecution validates that they are The One True Church. A missionary's resolve is strengthened each time a prospect won't open the door, won't invite them in, tells them to leave, etc.

[lamadeleine]

I'm coming late to the party, but I just had a chance to watch this episode. My thought on KenGate:

 

What a bunch of ridiculous, unnecessary drama. Yes, it was insensitve for Kody to insist on trying to make plans with a buddy that he knows you have an issue with..but, you know, welcome to your marriage- this is the dude you married.  However, if this apology for a comment made.. a year/a few years ago.. was so important, Christine, here's a radical thought: this is 2015, not 1915- call Ken and ask for an apology yourself.

 

When she and Kody were having their one-on-one and she was talking about how easy she felt it would be for Kody to just ask for an apology, I noticed she went from "I need an apology", to "the wives need an apology"...what?? No one cared about the stupid comment but you, Christine. If you're going to wallow in self-righteous indignation, then at least own up that you're alone in it.  Gawd.

[kassa]

Christine and Kody stare at each coldly other across the cul-de-sac and Robyn runs down the road waving a pregnancy test in the air.

 

 

While Meri watches broodingly from behind the curtains of one of the many empty upstairs rooms in her house. 

 

Meanwhile, Janelle’s in the back yard, kicking back, listening to her ipod and enjoying the silence while she can.

 

Christine acted totally irrational with the 'Ken' situation. Ken said that 'remark' a 'season' or 2 before. In front of at least a few of the 'Sister Wives'. If they were 'so insulted', it should have been dealt with THEN.. Christine should not be stewing about it months, if not a year later.

 

 

I tend to cut her some slack. First, because chances are she DID raise a fuss at the time, and Kodi brushed it off with "I only see him every ____ years, and you don't have to deal with him again if you don't want to -- we'll do guys' night. Get over it!" and then two years later it got plonked on her lap that she was going to have to spend the day with him and the issue was still unresolved.  Yes an evolved woman would say "I'm going to have to sit down and work this out with him."  

 

But mostly because people have to be deprogrammed out of cults, and she was raised in one from birth.  For the first decades of her adulthood, even when joined with the Brown’s considerably reformed version, she was STILL hiding her identity as a polygamous woman in most every interaction with the outside world.  I expect it’s hard to transfer decades of silently thinking “if these people only knew who we were they’d hate and persecute us” to doing anything but thinking “these people know who we are, so they’re looking for reasons to hate and persecute us.”

 

As long as it’s not passed on to the children (and I really don’t see that it has been), I’m fine.

This was a whole new thing for her, after all, those kids were not allowed to do much at all outside the house, few dated and those who did supposed got that stupid talk about how if they kissed, their hormones went into the mouths of the person they kissed. (I would have loved, just loved, if there was a real doctor on that show to dispute that one.) Can you imagine that if it was real? 'Susie, you really have to stop kissing your BF so much, you are getting too much of his hormones!

 

 

There is a scientific basis to the transfer of testosterone during kissing – presumably so the male can influence the woman’s sex drive. And that's not to mention the hormones triggered by kissing itself, that make you want to do things other than kiss...

[purpleflowers]

 

But mostly because people have to be deprogrammed out of cults, and she was raised in one from birth.  For the first decades of her adulthood, even when joined with the Brown’s considerably reformed version, she was STILL hiding her identity as a polygamous woman in most every interaction with the outside world.  I expect it’s hard to transfer decades of silently thinking “if these people only knew who we were they’d hate and persecute us” to doing anything but thinking “these people know who we are, so they’re looking for reasons to hate and persecute us.”

 

This is a really  good point, I never thought about Christine this way. I guess that basis makes her behavior seem a little more reasonable, but it's still a bit astonishing to me that she feels this persecution fear so strongly given that she's got this whole tv show based on that very lifestyle and although many may find them annoying, people seem to pretty much accept them as long as they aren't engaging in any illegal activity, be it money-related or familial. I think there is something to the theory NewBaku proposed that she gets very defensive about these things because of her own doubts as a plural wife. I think she loved this lifestyle as the last wife when she never had to feel jealous or insecure, but those days are gone and maybe she can't justify living this way of life as much to herself anymore. 

Edited January 18, 2015 by purpleflowers

[SometimesBites]

 

I think she loved this lifestyle as the last wife when she never had to feel jealous or insecure, but those days are gone and maybe she can't justify living this way of life as much to herself anymore.

Pretty sure we all knew why Christine slammed the lid on reminiscing at the Lehi house. In those pre-Robyn days, she understood her role: home-schooling, last-one-to-birth-a-Brown, stay-at-home mom; youngest and most fun-loving wife. They had gotten themselves into a home that gave them the best of both worlds (all under a single roof, but with some privacy), and other than perennially bad money management, things were working well for them. Enter Robyn and reality TV, and all Lehi represents to Christine is the place where her world fell apart.

 

Edited because I am a comma hunting grammar monster.

Edited January 19, 2015 by NewBaku

[laschifosavita]

Rewatching this, I think it might have been edited to make Christine seem more irrational.  When they're talking on the bench, it sounds like Kody might have called Ken to see if they could go boating with him before Christine knew they were trying to make plans.  It definitely doesn't sound like Christine charged over when they were just initially suggesting it.  She specifically mentions a phone call.  I think her response is a lot more justifiable if they were going behind her back to make plans with someone they know she hates, which is what I'm starting to think might be what happened.

[MarysWetBar]

There is a very obvious lack of intelligence with Christine. Add on being incredibly sheltered from the outside world, and it helps you to understand why she is frightened. If she had any desire to learn more about how the rest of the world lives, I'm sure TCL pays for an internet connection.

[Rhondinella]

I'm not surprised that Christine was the one who flipped out over this friend of Kody's.  Christine really is the one who believes the most strongly in living this lifestyle.  She sees it as a sacred calling and essential to getting the eternal family she wants. I always get the feeling that Janelle is only into this polygamy thing because she had to be to get Kody, and I feel the same, only more intensely, with Robyn.  Robyn needed a man to rescue her and her kids from the mess they were in. A huge family with other moms and automatic brothers and sisters was a big draw, too, but I think she saw polygamy as necessary to getting her man.  Meri has clearly been over the this crap for a good long time, but is either afraid to leave, or just too tired to care now that her only child is out of the house.

 

In other words, Christine is the zealot, along with Kody; the rest are there for reasons other than firm religious conviction.  That's my read of it, anyway.

[SometimesBites]

 

I don't think Meri will ever get over Janelle having the first baby.

No, she won't, and it was the first male heir at that. And then, when no more babies were forthcoming for Meri, Janelle got pregnant again. And again. And again. Aaaand again.

[ladle]

My gosh, Christine is exhausting.  She reminds me so much of a co-worker of mine who seizes upon any slight (real or imagined - but mostly imagined) and prolongs it for so long after the fact that everyone's sick of hearing about it.  Like Christine, she has the awareness to realize that how she's acting is maybe a little nuts and that it's impacting others, yet does not modify her behavior accordingly!  It's draining enough to work with, I can't even imagine what it would be like to live with. 

 

And I write this as someone who thinks Kody is a megadouche and generally likes Christine better than two out of the other three wives.

 

Also, maybe I'm a stick in the mud, but I hope they cleaned up the marshmallows.

[ladle]

My Husband's Not Gay topic thread:

http://forums.previo...ay/#entry716176

 

 

This link gives me an error.

[Madding crowd]

Janelle has stated she spends most of her time on the jewerly, and her website has only one listing in her name. She is not supporting anyone in the family, and according to some of her Tweets, she has sold two houses in three years. She is also spending time exercising and helping Kody with whatever his current scam is. She is no better or worse than anyone in that family, but I stand by my statement that none of them actually work.

[Chalby]

Viewership:  1.354 M viewers and a .5 rating.  

Did anyone else catch what the other polygamist family's kids were saying about being in a polygamist family? When the older girl was asked if she views all the siblings as brothers and sisters she answered that she goes by blood more than anything. She calls them all brother and sister, but the full blood related ones are her 'real' siblings. I found that very telling that even though these families talk the polygamist talk, out of the mouths of babes comes the real truth...

 

In other words, Christine is the zealot, along with Kody; the rest are there for reasons other than firm religious conviction.  That's my read of it, anyway.

Can anyone explain to me why polygamist men are assured entrance to heaven based on having more than one wife, yet women aren't encouraged to get more than one husband to assure her of the same heavenly entrance?

[MarysWetBar]

Cus misogynistic hypocrites.

[Featherhat]

Because Joseph Smith got caught seducing his teenage housekeeper by his wife and tried to convince her all the old prophets had multiple wives/concubines. She didn't really buy it even then.

 

I feel sorry for the women of course, believing they have to be miserable to get to heaven basically, but what about the 2/3rds of men who can't get even one wife in this community? Are they told they can't go to heaven at all? Or just stay with their Dad on his planet? Great.

[tobeannounced]

With all the latest news about the divorce and marriage, that puts Christine's meltdown about Ken in a different light for me.  Wonder if all this was going on when Ken made his comment about keeping one wife and leaving the rest.

[youcantbeserious]

I've noticed that's kind of a trait with polygamists in general.  They LOVE to harp on the "persecution" aspect even though it's probably been 50-60 years since anyone was jailed for JUST polygamy (i.e. no underage stuff going on).  Even Hyrum on PUSA went all dramatic that he "could be" arrested for his lifestyle choice. 

 

I'm sure that they realize that polygamy on its own is the equivalent of sparking a doob in public pretty much anywhere in the US.  Outside of Utah, unless it's Warren Jeffs stuff going on, no one gives a rats'.  

Well said! IMO no one should ever enter into a non-traditional/controversial lifestyle unless they can bear criticism. Then again, knowing TLC, Chritine's rant could

very well be scripted.

[Skyblue]

I feel like Robyn and Meri like to team up against Christine a lot. Robyn does a good job of taking Kody's side and making the other wives feel as though their feelings are invalid

[youcantbeserious]

I feel like Robyn and Meri like to team up against Christine a lot. Robyn does a good job of taking Kody's side and making the other wives feel as though their feelings are invalid

That is so right! I don't know how Robyn is so successful being she was the least attractive & only one already a mother. Guess it's strong karma!

[youcantbeserious]

what about the 2/3rds of men who can't get even one wife in this community? Are they told they can't go to heaven at all? Or just stay with their Dad on his planet? Great.

Surprsied to hear that since the polyg women seem so man hungry. I guess those passed over men are physically, mentally or financially unattractive. Maybe they're told to wait for the daughters to become teenagers & tell 'em they got a revelation from God to marry them. hah!