Four Phenominal Documentaries That Make Idaho Look Ugly

The last five years have seen tremendous growth for Idaho. People have been moving here faster than we can accommodate them with housing, making what was once a nice, affordable secret into a well-known escape for Californians and others trying to escape the high cost of living and unfriendly tax policies.

Looking at how our state is portrayed in the media, you might wonder why so many people would want to move here. It's not exactly the darling of many filmmakers, even though many stars vacation and have homes in Idaho.

There have been several comedies that make fun of Idaho for various reasons. You rarely see a Gem State reference without quickly being followed by a lame potato joke. Why are potato jokes still funny to people?

Comedies are one thing, but the most disturbing weapons in Hollywood's war on Idaho might be the documentaries that like to paint Idaho negatively. Over the past twenty years, there have been several documentaries with a limited distribution that don't exactly make Idaho look good.

The short-lived reality show, Polygamy, USA (2013) is about polygamists on the Idaho border that have become controversial for many things, including underage marriage.

HBO's Meth Storm (2017) is about rural America's meth issues and features some Idaho border towns.

The Netflix docuseries The Family (2019) mentions the Idaho location of "The Fellowship" and its influence on conservative politics.

While those documentaries may not have had a large viewership, others did. Here is a look at four that had wide distribution and made it into the national conversation.