Before the premiere of “Big Love” advertisements were taken out in several major newspapers.  These ads were a slight bit devious.  Each was published not in the Calendar or Arts section but in the wedding announcements section.  The New York Times ad took up a full third of a page and proclaimed the unions of Bill Henrickson with Barbara Dutton, Nicolette Grant, and Margene Heffman, with accompanying photos of each couple.  Take a moment to consider the rare opportunity this ploy afforded.  Imagine the issues the editors at these papers had to consider.  Imagine the average reader coming across the weddings page and, if she didn’t recognize the actors, what she might have been thinking.  Imagine the other couples, those who were in fact marrying, whose nuptials were announced in proximity to this clever bit of advertising.  To some people, this discovery would be disconcerting.  To others it would be provocative and mind-opening: a chance to take a moment to consider what marriage really means.

The members of the trio finally give in to their sexual urges.  And although not every side of their triangle is fully consummated, the characters in Threesome hold their cobbled-together relationship as dear and unashamed.  Others may look on in moralistic disgust or with incredulous trepidation, but who cares.  If we’re happy, they seem to think, then that’s all that matters.  It holds true for the happy interracial couple, the happy lesbian couple, and the happy triad.

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