Only Sky ✏ A review of “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets”, episode 1: “Meet the Duggars”
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| Adam Lee |
Even if you don’t closely follow the religious right, you probably know who the Duggars are. They presented themselves to the world as a wholesome, devout family that also happened to have a huge number of kids. They starred in their own reality show, which was a hit. It made Christian patriarchy seem normal, relatable, even aspirational.
But beneath the surface, the Duggars were covering up an ocean of secrets and lies. Their exposure, and their downfall, is the subject of “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets“, a four-part documentary on Amazon Prime. It blows apart the Potemkin-village façade that the Duggars presented to the world and reveals what was going on when the cameras were off.
I’ll be doing an episode-by-episode review of the series. This column will cover the first episode.
The rise and fall of the Duggars
Jim Bob Duggar grew up Baptist, but his childhood religion wasn’t as extreme as he later became. In fact, according to the documentary, both his parents and his wife Michelle’s parents disapproved of the course they took.
Continue reading @ Only Sky
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