Community Chat

[Stella Dallas]

On 3/3/2015 Sister Golden Hair said:

If this is a perfect life style, then why all the picking at each other and you can tell they are jealous.

Exactly.

They all SAY they're happy with this kind of life but all they DO is cry and complain. At least Meri's got some sense and is doing something outside the polyg-lifestyle and, my guess is, planning to extricate herself. This bunch is a hot mess. And I really feel sorry for their children, although the older ones seem to not be tied into the multiple-wives life and are going their own way. I hope they'll help the younger ones do the same...because Lord knows, 17 (is it 17 or more? I'm not really sure) children can't get enough attention from their parents.

Have any of them said, lately, how their jewelry line is selling? I've looked at it and I found it unappealing and overpriced. How did their attempt to get backing work out? I wonder if it's been as much of a financial bonanza as they had hoped it would be. I suppose their jewelry might appeal to people of a conservative Christian segment of the population but once you've saturated that market, you need to broaden your appeal.

[Stella Dallas]

On 3/3/2015 daisyk said:

On 3/3/2015 sophiamarie said:

On 3/3/2015 Stella Dallas said:

Some good observations here.

I think Meri is the only one of that bunch who has anything on the ball; she's going to college to improve her skills in the work she loves, and I wonder if that is preparatory to her leaving, so she can support herself. I agree, she really needs to lose weight, get healthy, etc., but I wonder if once she gets away from that toxic bunch would she just naturally start focusing on her own health and taking better care of herself.

This is mean but others have said the same thing, only in code: I can't get over how fat and unhealthy the two blonde wives are. Holy cow! I had never noticed how unhealthy (i.e., overweight) a lot of those kids are but now that someone's pointed it out, it seems obvious.

I really had to laugh about how on-target the anthropology students were about a lot of aspects of that group, and especially how they had Kody's number pretty quick: that he is very controlling and always wants to be the center of attention. No wonder they felt uncomfortable with them; they nailed the whole toxic dynamic.

I wonder how Robyn will feel when her only ally, Meri, is gone.

I think maybe you misunderstood what they were saying. The girl said that's the way she "thought" the family would be but when they got to know them, she saw things totally differently. There is no favorite wife and they seem to be a happy, well-adjusted family - kids included. They didn't see any controlling on Kody's part and everyone got along. She said she expected Kody to be a "showboat", etc., but things turned out differently. Even on their tweets, the family said the students pitched in and helped around the house and acted like members of the family.

Hey, maybe I have it all wrong????

You are right. She was saying her preconceived notion was that Kody was controlling, etc. but that wasn't what she saw after spending time with them.

Kody has a goofy, likeable air to him but he is VERY controlling and is very much concerned about being the center of attention. With 4 wives and close to 20 children, how much more attention does he NEED???

It seems to me that they (or he, at least) gets more than superficially involved in his children's lives only when they start to show some kind of independence, like dating a boy he doesn't like, etc. Otherwise he lets his wives shoulder most of the burden.

One other thing--does Kody have any kind of a job or anything? Or is his financial support from this program?

[Lion]

I don't put much significance on the anthropology team's findings. They were only with the family for a few days and I'm sure Kody and the wives were all on their best behavior.

I agree that Meri is planning for her future but I don't think it's because she plans on leaving Kody.

She's beginning a new stage of life and going to college preparing for a new career is a great idea for her. Her life is very different from the others now. She doesn't have dependent kids and she's much more free to focus on herself than they are.

[tansy]

I don't think Meri plans to leave Kody either. Out of all the older kids, it's her daughter Mariah who seems to be the most invested in the family's polygamous lifestyle.