As surreal as it seems, Big Love relies heavily on research of polygamist sects and borrows from real-life events. Were the "Joy Books" in last night's episode an accurate depiction of FLDS' underage girls catalog?
"Joy Books," as they're called, have been mentioned a lot in news stories regarding Warren Jeffs. They list the names of girls who are eligible for marriage, most of whom are underage (usually around 14 years old). The "Joy Books" have been talked about by members of the church who have fled their respective compounds, but the assumption was that the books merely listed the names of the girls who were to be married off without warning or consent. In the books on Big Love, we see pictures of young girls' faces, feet, hands, backs of heads, and backs of knees, as though they are slaves or cattle. In this clip, Nicki looks through some of the books, which she'd never seen before, and, after finding her own entry, maybe comes to terms with how gross the practice of shopping out girls is.


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