There’s a great thing about hindsight, especially when a documentary plays with it. You likely know the outcome, so everything building up to that endpoint can be sometimes tragic, sometimes beautiful, or, in the case of God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty, simply delicious.
In this revealing documentary, Giancarlo Granda, former pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, shares the intimate details of his 7-year relationship with a charming older woman, Becki Falwell, and her husband, the Evangelical Trump stalwart Jerry Falwell Jr. Directed by Billy Corben, God Forbid outlines Granda’s entanglement with the Falwell’s seemingly perfect lives and the overarching influence this affair had on a presidential election.
While I was only familiar with the scandal at its roots and the meme of the hotel pool boy that circulated the internet (which is addressed in the doc), this special offered an insightful, humorous, and deeper look at Granda’s side of the story, with all the corroborating evidence and witnesses to help tell the story. The whole thing starts off as candy, and I couldn’t stop smiling knowing full well knowing the conclusion of the story, and the fall of the Falwells…who fell quite sloppily, in the end.
The documentary also features a cast of characters involved in the true story, the most relatable of which happens to be Giancarlo’s sister, Lilia, who will likely echo the thoughts of many an audience member shouting “What are you doing?!” to their screens. As she appears countless times throughout, peppering her version of the tale, she seems to act as the surrogate viewer and the side of reason with the whole scenario, having a tight bond with her brother where she knew what was going on since the beginning. The story unfolds in sometimes shocking ways, with additional personalities, politicians, and journalists getting involved. Some expected, like Donald Trump and Michael Cohen, and others like Tom Arnold seemingly coming out of nowhere.
While presented in a way that will most likely be interpreted comedically, at times the story does get very dark. It could be the personal trials and tribulations of Granda, or just the events on the world stage, as this story begins in 2012 and progresses through to today. At times, the entertainment fades to the background while serious political issues come forward, helping you sympathize with Granda and his personal guilt, considering it was his tumultuous relationship with the Falwells that might have been used to help get Trump elected for president.
That said, Hulu is the most appropriate venue for this documentary. The subject matter is not Disney+ or even ABC 20/20 appropriate. I even hesitate to go into detail here, but the scandal and subject material, with text message content shown and descriptions of events sounding like Taxi Cab Confessions, definitely fits more on this platform than any other. That’s also why the story is so enticing, the Falwells, known from Jerry Sr.’s Moral America and Moral High Ground movements, is filled with such hypocrisy that viewers will become a meme themselves – any of these:
God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty presents itself much like the offer that Giancarlo got in the first place. You’ll get seduced in the first 90 seconds and then be along for one delicious, hypocritical story, except unlike Granda, you won’t regret it. 4.5/5
God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down A Dynasty arrives on Hulu on Tuesday, November 1st.