The team behind Prime Video’sShiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretsaims to spark change.
Thefour-part docuseriesclosely examines theDuggar familyand theirmany scandals, with and exploration of the family’s ties to the ultra-conservativeInstitute in Basic Life Principles(IBLP) taking center stage.
Shiny Happy Peopleproducer Blye Faust tells PEOPLE that when it comes to the special’s biggest takeaway, “There’s a couple of larger things to unpack.”
“One is that systems need to be in place to protect the most vulnerable,” says Faust.
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She adds, “Our hope is that people really take a look at that and start to ask of themselves, ‘How was this allowed to flourish?’ And ‘What was all of our roles in it? And ‘What do we do? How do we course-correct this going forward?'”
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Cori Shepherd, a fellow producer on the project, says she “certainly” hopes that their docuseries can help create widespread change.
Shepherd also notes that “a lot of people” who watched the Duggar family’s TLC series19 Kids and Countingare now questioning what they “consumed” while tuning in.
“A lot of young people who are now growing up, having their own families and starting to question, ‘Wait a minute, what the hell was I watching?'” she continues. “We were consuming misogyny as entertainment. Consuming, watching, intellectual abuse happen, educational abuse happen, and seeing it as like, ‘Oh, isn’t that wacky? They make tater tot casserole.'”
Unlikesome of their relatives, family patriarch and matriarchJim BobandMichelle Duggardo not appear inShiny Happy People— though they did issue acritical statement.
“The recent ‘documentary’ that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love. Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format,” their statement ontheir official websiteread. “This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”
“We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile differences, is through love in a private setting,” the statement concluded. “We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one. Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.”
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Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretsis now streaming in full on Prime Video.
source: people.com
