Reviews

I read these stories as a child in the 80s and I have read them to my five year old daughter for the past three years. This series really does honor the simplicity of the stories written decades ago, from the content to the simple language (they were written to be easy for new readers to read). The series also quite closely matches the original illustrations from the stories. It's really beautifully done. We just discovered the series yesterday and my daughter is going nuts about it. I can't stop watching myself. In order to make the stories long enough for the 15 minute slot, there are a few additional details added into each one, but nothing that makes a negative impact.

It's also a story about most mega churches and churches who strive to be mega themselves. I've been a part of two different ones in the past 15 years and it's the same story as far as the money and notoriety, the covering up of misdoings, etc.

I thought the story was well told, including different perspectives from real people at different locations. It shows how the culture from the "top" is inoculated in all of the other branches regardless of geography.

I also have to add that the music from Hillsong has really touched so many people around the world, myself included. I still listen to them from time to time and I'm grateful for it. That part of the doc didn't really affect me so much, though I can see how it would bother people. I don't have a problem with churches finding avenues to increase income when they're actually doing good work to help the less fortunate people in the world. Unfortunately, many times, this just isn't the case.

When a church is more concerned with how their "campus" looks than how their city looks, that's where the problem is. When the church people begin to worship their pastor and leadership, this is also a problem. That's what has happened with Hillsong and so many other large churches. It's nauseating and infuriating.

I've tried watching other period pieces because they have high ratings but found them boring. After considering this one for a few days, I decided to try it. The brightness of it, the colors, costumes, hair, everything is absolutely stunning! That's what drew me in. My thoughts very shortly into it were that it was an early 19th century Gossip Girl. I would say I'm sure the writers, directors, producers intended it to be that way. As someone who's not read the books (never even heard of them until the show came out), I don't have that to compare it to, but I enjoyed the show very much. I don't care for the "gratuitous" sex as most others have stated either but that's one of the things usually found in this genre so it didn't throw me off so much. I loved the show - it was gripping at times and visually beautiful.