There was a "Big Love"-fest at the 2006 Sunstone Symposium on Friday. Members of a panel discussing the impact of the HBO series about a family of polygamist heaped love upon it.

"All I can say is — I love it," said panelist Richard Dutcher, the LDS filmmaker whose credits include "God's Army," "Brigham City" and "States of Grace." "I want to direct it. I wish they'd give me a call."

"Big Love" centers on a Utah businessman and his three wives as they muddle through life's everyday struggles — marriage, family, children, work. All complicated by polygamy, their need to keep it quiet and Bill's conflict with one of his fathers-in-law, who's the head of an FLDS-like sect.

The co-authors of "Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage" admitted discomfort with the sexual content of the series but in general were more than happy with its portrayal of their lifestyle.

"They do have problems, just like any other monogamous family," said Anne Wilde, who is also the managing editor of the pro-polygamy Mormon Focus magazine. "This is the message we like to get out — we are so normal in so many ways. I think it has changed the perception of the lifestyle."

"In truth, that's how we see ourselves. We see ourselves as just another family," said Mary Batchelor, who lived as a second wife in a polygamous family until the first wife left. She added that she doesn't know any families just like "Big Love's" Henricksons, but she knows of families who live the way they do and have similar experiences. And Wilde praised "Big Love's" portrayal of the "diversity" of polygamy.

"And I like the humor that it brought out. ... We do, believe it or not, have a lot of humorous experiences in my family," Wilde said.

There was some quibbling. Dutcher criticized "minor little things" like the pronunciation of words like "Palmyra" and "recommend." Batchelor found the concept of the earlier wives issuing orders to those who married later unlikely. And Wilde said she wished the show had emphasized the religious aspects of polygamy more.

The panelists brushed off protests against the show, including an e-mail campaign that circulated before "Big Love" premiered. Dutcher said he "could tell by the tone of the e-mails that most of them had never seen it."

Doe Daughtrey, a member of the Sunstone board of directors who is doing doctoral work in religious studies at Arizona State, said, "It escapes critics that while they complain that these people are not us, they insist that 'us' be portrayed accurately," adding that she believes "the response to 'Big Love' has, in my opinion, been driven by the fact that these people are us."

Daughtrey said that women polygamists have become the "new witches" to mainstream LDS society and that "it frightens us" to have them normalized on the show.

But there was lots of love in the room for "Big Love."

"It's really been amazing to us in the polygamous culture that a show like this could be so successful," Wilde said.

The show averaged between 4 million and 5 million viewers per week.

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