I decided to watch it on Lifetime with my laptop open. Below, are a few preliminary thoughts on the movie itself. There are several *Spoiler Alerts* in what I’ve compiled, so if you plan on seeing the film and don’t want to know what happens, don’t continue any further. Summarily, my wife told me afterwards, “That movie was so bad that it made me sick.” While I agree with her that the movie was bad, this was not an epic fail on the same scale as “
September Dawn,” given the fact that the “real” LDS Church is portrayed in the film as an organization willing to help those who leave the fictional polygamous sect based in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. However, the historical “flashbacks” recounting the story of
Ann Eliza Young ARE problematic for a number of reasons, and these, among other issues, will be discussed here. As a disclaimer, I only saw the movie once, and at times I struggled to keep up with typing some of the things I was hearing. If there are mistakes in transcription, they are my own and I take full responsibility for them.
The Lifetime-produced film is an adaptation of a book written by
David Ebershoff entitled “
The 19th Wife.” From Lifetime’s website:
“The 19th Wife” book connects a modern-day murder mystery in a polygamous community with authentic work written by Ann Eliza Young over a century ago. Ann Eliza was formerly a plural wife, married to the leader of the Mormon Church in 1875. She rejected polygamy and became an outspoken critic, aiming to expose her views about the evils of plural-marriage arrangements. In the present-day story, Jordan Scott is a young man who was expelled from his polygamous community in his early teen years. After struggling to adjust to an unknown world, he creates a new life and moves on from his traumatizing upbringing. When he discovers that his mother is being charged in the murder of his father, Jordan reluctantly returns to face his past, and ultimately risk his safety to uncover the truth. The true tale of Ann Eliza Young and the fictional drama of Jordan Scott make for a page-turning story.”
The film begins with Crime Scene Investigators busily photographing and bagging evidence. A murder has happened in the fictional Northern Arizona town of Mesadale, a few miles south of St. George. Red rocked cliffs and buttes are absent. Southern Utah/Northern Arizona isn’t a desert in this film, just as it wasn’t in September Dawn. If anything, it looks like Northwest Montana during a wet spring with glacier-capped mountains surrounding a lush, green valley.
A suspect,
BeckyLyn Scott is taken into custody, the murdered man’s 19th of at least 25 wives. She’s shown her prison quarters and forced to cut her long hair which we learn is a sin, because women are supposed to use it to “wash their husband’s feet” in heaven. That’s right; forget the resurrection boys and girls, the Book of Mormon promise that no hair would be lost doesn’t apply to this group. The women of the Mesadale cringe at the thought that their sister-wife is sitting in jail with “Gentiles.” The women at the “compound” are dressed in
long sleeved and modest pastel dresses, typical of many current Fundamentalist sects. Their
hair is worn up or in braids, one of the few things the producers of the film wanted to portray accurately.
As police continue their investigation, the “Prophet” appears on the crime scene in usual, anti-authoritarian fashion. Ominous music plays in each scene he enters throughout the film as sect members refer to him as “Prophet” or “THE Prophet.” The film soon changes scenes to sunny Southern California to the home of
Jordan Scott, an excommunicated sect member and son of the woman suspected of killing “Elder Scott,” the murdered man and father of Jordan. Jordan opens his mailbox to find a letter with no return address containing a newspaper clipping with the headline reading that a murder had took place in a “Renegade Mormon Sect.” He immediately drives to Utah to speak with his accused mother. Unlike the film version, the book version reveals that Jordan was excommunicated from the sect because he was gay. The film version does not state that Jordan was gay. If anything, he was "competition" for other males, and was thus eliminated, a practice utilized by current Fundamentalists today. In response to Lifetime's "De-Gaying" of Ebershoff's original version, Ebershoff was disappointed. According to AfterElton.com Ebershoff stated:
I had no role in the adaptation. A few weeks before filming began I learned that Jordan had been rewritten as straight. I was told that this was a network decision. Obviously I was offended, disappointed, and baffled. I hope that the movie sends people to the book so that they can meet my Jordan, along with his boyfriend, Tom, and their dogs, Elektra and Joey.
The “Gentile-dressed” Jordan returns to Mesadale to find
Queenie, a former (and predictably attractive) girlfriend from his youth whom he consults on the goings-on in the community. Queenie is married to
Hiram, the local Mesadale policeman and resident Danite, though the term “Danite” does not appear in the film. As expected, the “apostate” Jordan and Hiram don’t get along. Jordan and Queenie recount their experiences at school together, listening to catechismic recorded sermons from the Prophet who oft repeated the phrases “A righteous boy will populate the earth…A righteous boy will kill his enemies.” An impending apocalyptic war between the “righteous” and the “apostates” fills the minds of sect members. Jordan recounts the story of his abandonment, presumably because he was “competing” for the attention of Queenie. He is told, among other things, to change out of his “sacred freaking underwear” and is dropped off as a teenage “
lost boy” on a lonely road somewhere in Southern Utah.
The book version states that Jordan eventually finds his way to Salt Lake City to the "Ann Eliza House," a safehouse for former sect members. From one book reviewer:
Jordan is saved by Kelly, now running the Ann Eliza Young House in modern day Salt Lake City. There she helps abandoned and shattered Mormon kids victimized by the Fundamentalists’ polygamy and the LDS homophobia. According to Jordan, Kelly saves him because “….she wasn’t just helping, assisting, offering a hand. No, she was researching, reading, learning, talking, understanding. Working hard to understand, wanting to understand, telling herself that’s the most important thing she can do. And it meant more to me than anything else. She got it… She got me. She knew I had been completely totally royally screwed.”
Jordan encourages Queenie to leave, telling her that people from the “real Mormon Church” can help people who leave the sect. Queenie is shown
in possession of a book by Ann Eliza Young entitled “
Wife No. 19.” She’s already having doubts about plural marriage and her faith. The book only serves to solidify those doubts, as well as acting as a “parallel history” to her own life. Historical “flashbacks” tell the story of Ann Eliza in addition to that of the modern murder-mystery. Queenie’s husband eventually finds the book and is furious that she would bring in a book “from the outside.”
Eventually Jordan is chased out of town via the resident Danite, Hiram. Jordan drives into St. George to
consult with his mother’s lawyer, a sect member named Heber. Though she’s only being charged with 2nd degree murder, blood atonement is in store for her via the Utah Department of Corrections if BeckyLyn doesn’t “confess” to murdering her husband. BeckyLyn proclaims her innocence from the beginning. Jordan visits a bustling St. George coffeehouse where he meets one of his “sisters” through one of his father’s wives. Her name is Sarah, who is apparently the fifth daughter named Sarah, thus earning her the nickname “Five.” Five left the sect a month earlier and has lost her faith. Five takes a “liking” to Jordan, though they are related through marriage. How she is able to thrive on the “outside” without any documentation and no previous vocational or educational experience outside the home is questionable.
Meanwhile back in Mesadale, Hiram confronts Queenie about Jordan’s visit. Queenie is told to “follow the commandments of the Church by obeying your husband,” further solidifying a strict, male-only authoritarianism that prevails in the community. Women aren’t allowed to leave Mesadale, though Hiram allows his only wife Queenie to occasionally drive into St. George. Those who have visited grocery stores in St. George on any given day will typically find FLDS women driving around and shopping with their children…but the filmmakers are trying to prove a point. This group is oppressive! Women have no freedom in any form of polygamy!
Jordan and Queenie eventually meet up and make a visit to Heber’s law office. They steal court documents with evidence related to the murder behind the sect-friendly Heber’s back. It is discovered that the murdered Elder Scott was involved in several online chat rooms, convincing women to join his sect and become his wives. He was also having an affair with a woman from Mesquite, who shared a love for gambling with Scott. Upon returning to Mesadale, the Prophet “honors” the home of Hiram and Queenie and removes the jacket of their only daughter. The music ominously plays in the background as though it is a horror film. The girl looks terrified, as does her mother. Hiram is told that he is to take another wife, this time a 14 year old girl. After the Prophet leaves, Queenie expresses her reservations about her husband receiving a girl so young. Hiram also seems reluctant, though he appeals to
“prophetic counsel” in his defense.
At various points, the historical “flashbacks” to Ann Eliza’s account find their way into the film. The first scene shows Ann Eliza on the prairie road alone, whereupon Brigham Young picks her up in his carriage and to Ann Eliza’s discomfort “escorts” her home, asking her about the truthfulness of the rumors that she had refused marriage proposals from previous suitors. She confirms the rumors, to which Brigham responds “It is the duty of all the saints in Zion (pronounced in the film ‘Zeye-ahwn’) to marry.”
Further scenes show Ann Eliza’s parents consulting with her on the subject of marriage. It is made clear that Mr. Webb will be “paid” for his daughter’s hand, and Mrs. Webb assures her daughter that “plural marriage is not a choice. It is God’s will.” Later we learn from Ann Eliza’s brother that “the prophet can do as he pleases. His power is absolute.” Ann is married to Brigham because her brother needs money to build a telegraph line.
Returning to the main story, the interior of the polygamous Scott home is shown. Towering on the wall overlooking the room are three picture frames resembling a First Presidency. The Prophet of the sect is featured prominently in the center, while two lower-tiered frames on both sides feature paintings of Brigham Young at his right hand, and Joseph Smith on his left. Latter-day Saints would easily recognize both pictures. The Prophet of the sect is featured with a white tie, looking suspiciously like the “official” portraits of previous FLDS leaders.
Queenie finds her way to the basement, sneaking Jordan into the house as well. They find Elder Scott’s office in the same condition it was when he was murdered. An adult magazine sits atop a copy of the Book of Mormon, the holy book which Jordan believes his father “never read.” Flipping through the pages of the book, a section has been carved out wherein a leather-bound daily log book is found known as a “Marriage Management book.” The text of the book is written in code using terminology associated with gambling so that only Elder Scott can understand. Later on, it is revealed that the book contains a record of birthdays and each time Scott is “intimate” with one of his wives. The log also reveals plans for Scott to get rid of his older wives and replace them with newer, younger wives. Ed Decker couldn’t write a more sensationalized script for a movie lampooning Mormonism.
Eventually we’re brought back to Ann Eliza’s story, who recounts her experience leading up to her “Wedding Night” with Brigham. In a typical, nineteenth-century anti-Mormon polemic fashion, Ann Eliza is told that she’s “coincidentally” the new 19th wife of Brigham Young. Of course, Brigham has had many more wives than that according to the story; Ann Eliza is only serving as a replacement wife for those who have grown too old. These old wives are “no longer wives in the biblical sense” because the older wives have “stepped aside for the potency of youth.” The “potency of youth” we learn from this sensationalized account, “is of the utmost importance to ‘Zeye-ahwn.’” The scene ends as a terrified Ann Eliza looks on as Brigham Young feverishly blows out the dark room’s only candle.
In the film she’s shown as someone who was previously unmarried. The fact was however, that she was a 24 year old divorcee with two children already. Records suggest that she was not Brigham’s 19th wife, but rather his 52nd. She was married to Brigham sometime around 1868-69. The movie portrays Brigham Young as a reckless libertine. While Ann Eliza enjoys the monetary rewards of being “the Prophet’s wife,” these luxuries would soon end for her. The only reason he would bother to visit Ann Eliza according to her own account was for his own self-gratification. After one such visit, Brigham crawls out of bed and boastfully informs her that she would be “cut off entirely” from all monetary support. She describes herself as “completely at the mercy” of Brigham Young and as “helpless as my mother.”
She eventually takes in “Gentile” boarders to make ends meet. Brigham refers to the Territory of Utah as “Desir-it” (Deseret), further complicating an already grossly distorted movie. The boarders counsel Ann Eliza to divorce Brigham, which she promptly does. The fact is however, she filed for divorce in January, 1873. Two years later, the divorce was finalized. Ann Eliza demanded a large amount of alimony. The court however, did not grant the alimony on account that plural marriages were not considered legal, thus invalidating her claims and potentially indicting herself and Brigham Young for unlawful cohabitation. The film portrays Ann Eliza as an innocent, persecuted victim who was driven from her home with her family in the middle of the night by an armed, torch-lit mob of Danites. Historical facts speak otherwise. She abandoned her children and lectured across the United States for years against the “evils of polygamy” which she regarded as “a system of bondage that is more cruel than African slavery ever was, since it claims to hold body and soul alike.” Ultimately, she would remarry and divorce years later.
The main story of the film later features the “apostate” Jordan being beaten by the sects own Danites. The Prophet appears at the home of the slain Elder Scott,
assuring his widows that he would “marry each of them personally” the next day. The women worshipfully flock around him crying “oh Prophet, oh Prophet” as he surrounds himself with an ever-expanding marital group, assuring them that the “gates of heaven will be opened to them” because they are the Prophet’s wives. Ultimately, it is learned from the marriage log that BeckyLyn was “taken off the list” of her murdered husband’s wives because she’d grown “too old” and was “no longer useful.”
Eventually we learn the story of Five and her escape from Mesadale. As Church leaders counseled with her beneath the portraits of the sect leader, Brigham Young, and Joseph Smith, they told her that she must marry an older member of the sect. She refuses, while the Prophet threatens her that he would kill her mother if she didn’t comply. “If you don’t marry Brother Scott as I have ordained,” he shouts as he presses her against a wall, “you’re going to find your Mother’s head in a bag.”
Later that night, Queenie lies in bed with her husband, assuming he is asleep. She confesses to her husband that she cannot “believe in plural marriage” not just for her, but for anyone. Hiram is pretending to be asleep as she does this, though the camera pans down to his insatiable rage. She eventually confesses to the “Prophet” that she doesn’t believe in plural marriage. He asks her about her love life and counsels that they shouldn’t use any form of birth control. “Womanhood” will provide an army as their “glory” to fight the battle between the righteous and the apostates in the last days. Jordan comes to her rescue and is warned by the Prophet that he’ll one day open his door “and find Miss Queenie’s head in a bag.” Seems like it’s a common threat.
Scenes soon return to BeckyLyn in prison, who proclaims “more than anything I want to believe that our prophet is infallible…my worst fear is that our prophet had something to do with your father’s death.” Her confession would indict him, hence the reason why she does not want to speak out against him. Queenie responds, “He can do anything that he wants to us.”
Five soon leaves St. George for family members on the outside. Jordan gives her a kiss on the mouth…something she awkwardly wanted from her polygamous brother in his late 20’s. This was surprisingly off-putting for both myself and my wife. DesertMissy, the code named woman who was having an affair with Elder Scott, acts as the Rosetta Stone for interpreting the code book which she “invented.” From this book, the intentions of Scott are soon known. He had been given the “Queen of Hearts,” his code name for the already married Queenie, as his future wife by the sect leader. Knowing that his wife would eventually become the wife of another, Hiram retaliated in his typical, Danite fashion by killing Elder Scott in his basement. Thus the crime is solved and Hiram is sent to prison.
Eventually Queenie vows to her now imprisoned husband that she will run as far away as she can “just like Ann Eliza did.” The formerly imprisoned mother of Jordan returns to her polygamous sister wives claiming “it’s too late now” to leave the faith. Queenie and her daughter change out of their oppressive "prairie burkas" and get cosmetic "makeovers." The film ends with Jordan and Queenie driving triumphantly out of Mesadale and a message detailing the future of Ann Eliza Young, who “disappeared in 1908” undoubtedly because she’d been “blood atoned” by Mormons who opposed her national crusade against polygamy. The fact is, she moved into relative obscurity after her revised edition of “Wife No. 19” failed to attract the readership that it had before. She simply had nothing new to say that hadn’t already been said. At least one historical record suggests that she died in Rochester, New York in 1925. Her divorce from her third husband may well have played a factor in her ultimate move into obscurity.
“The 19th Wife” is problematic for a number of reasons. For one, it presents the story of Ann Eliza Young as a historical fact. Not only was it a demonstrably false historical narrative, it also undermines the efforts of those who seek to accurately portray history. There will always be a demand for anti-Mormon propaganda. Given the heavy reliance on Ann Eliza’s sensationalized account of her experiences with plural marriage and exit from Mormonism, I cannot recommend this film to anyone legitimately interested in understanding the history of Mormonism, Brigham Young, or the various splinter groups that have formed in the last century from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Perhaps the film might be viewed solely for entertainment purposes, but not as an “authentic work” or “true tale of Ann Eliza Young.”
I make no apology when I say I love the work of the late LDS scholar Hugh Nibley. Though I have a number of points upon which Nibley and I might disagree, his work has impacted my life in a number of remarkable ways. Many a late night has found me pouring over thousands of pages of groundbreaking material that remains foundational to Mormon scholarship. In addition, two Nibley biographies are also available to the inquiring reader which are invaluable when investigating the life of a man who was never short of words. 
What's with polygamy and Mormonism anyway? 
