Shiny Happy People (2023) - Series Review

What do you get when a massive television conglomerate provides a fundamentalist cult with millions of dollars and a platform to disseminate their archaic propaganda?

Real Life Horror, that’s what.

Let’s Discuss….

I’m going to be honest here. I hate Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. I hate their cult, IBLP, of which they now are rumored to be the leaders of. This is a cult that espouses the ideals of 1950’s Christianity, heavy on the Old Testament. We’re talking woman should be barefoot in the kitchen, children should be beaten into submission, and don’t forget to give your money to the church type of bullshit.

This documentary was painful to watch.

Why?

Because it exposes crimes long hidden behind our nations outdated idea of religious freedom.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe anyone should be persecuted due to their religious belief, but I believe churches should be taxed and their books should be made public.

This is a great documentary that exposes the many parental, spiritual, sexual, and financial crimes of the IBLP cult and their most prominent members the Duggars.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were the stars of the awful reality show 19 Kids and Counting… which if you don’t remember, were the people who kept popping out babies for Jesus, and then utilized the other kids to raise them. They received millions of dollars for showcasing the modern slavery that they called family. They worked their kids to the bone, not allowing them any pleasure in life that the church did not provide.

Oh and their oldest son was a child molester who molested his own siblings and is currently serving 12 years in prison for child pornography charges.

of which the church and Jim Bob himself has blamed on a conspiracy by the Obama administration.

Which I’m no fan of the drone-murder-happy Obama administration, but if Barack slapped the cuffs on Josh Duggar, I’m on the Obama side of this argument.

This series is painful to watch, but beautiful shot and assembled. The directing / editing work of Olivia Crist and Julia Willoughby Nason is spectacular as they weaved a seamless story utilizing the various footage from the cult’s own archives alongside the original TLC broadcast footage. The interviews are staged and directed flawlessly, as the survivors of the cult’s nightmarish acts are laid bare through the tragic narration of its survivors.

This is a must watch series.

This should be required viewing in schools.

Check this out streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.