This interview contains discussion of spiritual abuse.
The producers wanted to expose a powerful organization
It’s great to connect with you guys.
I watched the series, and it’s really powerful.
Olivia Crist:Thank you.
Julia Willoughby Nason:Thank you so much.
Olivia, what drew you to this project?
Crist:It boils down to this principle of authority and authoritarianism.
When you have a structure like that, it’s rife with abuse.
I know you had some family members in the docuseries.
Willoughby Nason:I would hope so.
Crist:It’s key here that there is a large community.
There is a way out.
How did you work through the layers of indoctrination and misinformation that you encountered throughout these many interviews?
A lot of the themes came back to authoritarianism and patriarchy.
Everything circled back to this one route.
All of these examples, like you said, come from the same core, essentially.
Crist:Telling a story like this, it’s almost a down-the-rabbit-hole approach.
The deeper you dive, the more rotten it gets.
Like Julia said, it all circles back to this theme of authoritarianism and the men having absolute control.
Crist:We were very fortunate to have some great commentary on the show on that …
It’s hard to get into the weeds like you would with a documentary.
In reality television and in general, it’s reality, but it’s not.
At the same time, there’s invented storylines, and I’m sure each production is different.
Speaking specifically to the Duggar show, you see the IBLP principles on the show.
All the women dressed very modestly.
These messages are coming through.
They might not always be overt, but they’re very much there.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
How much research did you do in that sense?
Crist:A lot of hours.
A lot of TV.
What was it like reviewing the material on the Christian influencers on YouTube and social media?
Was that anything you had encountered before this project?
There’s politicians involved with IBLP, the police, the military.
Social media is part and parcel with that.
Willoughby Nason:Exactly.
Reviewing the Christian social media through research on this project …
It was familiar in a strange way.
“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” premieres June 2 on Prime Video.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
