Over the past two months a new reality show has taken the internet by storm. The show goes into the lives of eight Mormon mom TikTokers and the scandals that surround their lives. It follows them as they keep up with the church and its values, while also breaking the mold on a women’s role within the Mormon community.
The show is centered on MomTok: the Mormon mother side of TikTok and the women who make it happen. The show first premiered to much criticism regarding the display of Mormonism within the show and the various issues that are brought up such as: gender roles, femininity, and monogamy.
Straight off the bat I was hooked on this show. The scandal that started the drama and the effects of the scandal was all intriguing , Hollywood could not have scripted it better. The show and its producers did a good job of including everything that makes reality TV reality TV. The show begins with the aftermath of the scandals committed by the show’s leading lady, Taylor Frankie-Paul, the aftermath being a nasty divorce and arrest.. I’ll be honest, I was a Taylor hater during the first two episodes. She was in a terrible situation which made her a terrible person. But as the show went on Frankie-Paul started to grow on viewers, sharing her problems and healing journey. Even though she had a long road ahead of her, Frankie-Paul became an enjoyable figure to watch on the small screen.
Now moving on to a personality that became the complete opposite, Whitney. She was initially portrayed to be the picture perfect, white picket fence, mormon wife, but as the season continued the influencer’s true colors came through. To viewers Whitney appeared as a problematic, hypocritical, two-faced individual who only cares about herself. Yes, this is reality television and everything should be taken with a grain of salt, but Whitney’s characterization was necessary to keep the show moving along and interesting, with her being the catalyst for the majority of the drama. I do hope she finds inner peace in her life and with the people she surrounds herself with.
A heavy topic in the show was the gender roles of the LDS church and how Momok challenged these roles to empower Mormon women. The church of LDS is strict, conservative and more narrow-minded when it comes to women and their role in a family. A majority of the women on the show are stay at home moms and their form of income is through social media. But some mormons still have the idea that women are to be sheltered and confined to a small room of what and who they can be. Take for example, Jen and Zack Affleck, a couple on the show who exhibited these issues to a tee. Zack was the domineering husband studying to be a doctor, while Jen was the stay at home mom to their two young kids, who even helped pay for her husband’s schooling with the money she made on social media. However, their marriage is on the rocks with Zack’s strong distrust in Jen over her social media presence and role on MomTok. It enraged me so much to see a man still believe he is entitled to tell another human being how to live their life in an attempt to take away what makes them happy. Mormons have been criticized for their views on marriage and women, and I think the show handled both sides of the argument very well. Displaying women who are independent and away from those thoughts and showing how the other half lives, was important to viewers and me who could form their own opinions on the situation(s).
Overall, this show featured various sides of LDS and to someone that is not a part of the faith, it was intriguing to learn about something new and see the depth within a certain faith. The show has been renewed for a season two, coming in 2025 which I am so stoked about. For anyone who loves drama, gossip and all of the above this show absolutely does it all.
