I grew up a mainstream Mormon. I know the culture better than most. I've attended BYU, and have served a Mormon mission. I still attend church and appreciate the togetherness with my local church-going community. We bond. I do not currently live in Utah, but I HAVE lived in Utah.
That being said - I would probably be considered the "PIMO" Mormon - physically in, mentally out - in the sense I no longer adhere to the fact that we are the one true church, and this is for reasons very similar to what this show (and book) bring to light.
With this in mind: this show does not portray mainstream Mormons or fundamentalists Mormons properly. For those that are not Mormon, but are FRIENDS with Mormons, I know they would say the same thing. Mormons can be weird, me included, don't get me wrong, but the weird things you see in the show are not fully accurate to our "weirdness" today.
The show is accurate in that we constantly wonder and hope that we are doing things according to "Heavenly Father's will," but we don't communicate about it all the time as if we are some massive cult blindly doing just whatever people tell us to do. Mormons started off that way, and fundamentalists might be like that, but mainstream Mormons generally like to blend in with the crowd, and just be that: normal.
We can be kooky, perhaps, but some people, and especially the fundamentalists (Mormons that still live in polygamist colonies and the like), can perhaps portray us as being culty. However, it is not as intense as this show seems to indicate. The show makes us seem as if the Mormons are as much a cult as those that followed Warren Jeffs, or the Branch Davidians, which we simply aren't.
Now, watching this as a "PIMO" Mormon, the show is not my personal favorite just based on the story telling. The music is engaging, they keep it spooky, but they don't do the best job at connecting the dots and moving parts. It seems like it is slightly unorganized. Essentially, they leave me thinking TOO much, rather than guiding me along this story.
Worth the watch? Yea - it has me hooked right now. If it keeps going too heavy on the "kooky" side of Mormonism, though, I might have to step away simply because the story's fiction is not a depiction of the truth, which is what fictional stories should be.
That being said - I would probably be considered the "PIMO" Mormon - physically in, mentally out - in the sense I no longer adhere to the fact that we are the one true church, and this is for reasons very similar to what this show (and book) bring to light.
With this in mind: this show does not portray mainstream Mormons or fundamentalists Mormons properly. For those that are not Mormon, but are FRIENDS with Mormons, I know they would say the same thing. Mormons can be weird, me included, don't get me wrong, but the weird things you see in the show are not fully accurate to our "weirdness" today.
The show is accurate in that we constantly wonder and hope that we are doing things according to "Heavenly Father's will," but we don't communicate about it all the time as if we are some massive cult blindly doing just whatever people tell us to do. Mormons started off that way, and fundamentalists might be like that, but mainstream Mormons generally like to blend in with the crowd, and just be that: normal.
We can be kooky, perhaps, but some people, and especially the fundamentalists (Mormons that still live in polygamist colonies and the like), can perhaps portray us as being culty. However, it is not as intense as this show seems to indicate. The show makes us seem as if the Mormons are as much a cult as those that followed Warren Jeffs, or the Branch Davidians, which we simply aren't.
Now, watching this as a "PIMO" Mormon, the show is not my personal favorite just based on the story telling. The music is engaging, they keep it spooky, but they don't do the best job at connecting the dots and moving parts. It seems like it is slightly unorganized. Essentially, they leave me thinking TOO much, rather than guiding me along this story.
Worth the watch? Yea - it has me hooked right now. If it keeps going too heavy on the "kooky" side of Mormonism, though, I might have to step away simply because the story's fiction is not a depiction of the truth, which is what fictional stories should be.