The Righteous Gemstones: Are the Gemstones based on a real family? Details explored

HBO's new comedy series, The Righteous Gemstones, has captivated audiences with its depiction of a successful televangelist family who are up to scandals, power grabs, and extravagance. With the premise of the show, it is no surprise that many ask: Are the Gemstones inspired by a real family?

No—the Gemstones are entirely fictional. That said, the show takes aspects of televangelism and megachurch living from real life.

According to Bustle, creator Danny McBride has stated the series is not an exact depiction of any single-family but is instead drawn from his experiences with religious organizations and his own Southern Baptist background. The show is a satire of certain leadership of megachurches, critiquing the disparity between public and private life and not criticizing religion in general.

In 2019, Mcbride sat down with GQ for an interview and said,

"I started reading about these megachurches and seeing how totally different church is now. And then the more I read about these different pastors, it just felt like it was a world that sort of would be an interesting place to set a story like this."

The inspiration behind The Righteous Gemstones

Danny McBride's personal experiences

According to Distractify, McBride mentioned that his experiences with religion have influenced the show's themes. Although he does not judge religion as a whole, he discusses how certain individuals who are part of religious leadership misuse power and authority. His background exposure to various church environments, particularly the South, shaped his understanding of religious institution culture.

In the same interview with GQ, he explained how the church he used to go to treated his mother differently after her divorce from his father. He said,

"You'd think it'd be a time where the church would try to help her out...instead we found the exact opposite thing. It was people whispering behind our family's back and just being judgmental on my mom for getting a divorce."

Influence of megachurch culture

Relevant Magazine and Observer state that The Righteous Gemstones family image conforms to the general characteristics demonstrated by present-day megachurches, such as the collection of riches, media consciousness, and dynasty families. There have been scandals surrounding certain megachurch pastors, for instance, misusing church funds and scandalous personal lives.

Esquire states that The Righteous Gemstones doesn't so much remind anyone of anything of particular real pastors or churchmen, though. It satirizes some things so that humor can alter them for the sake of comedy and explores greed, hypocrisy, and family feuds as motifs.

Fictional elements and real parallels

The Gemstone Family storyline

The show, according to the Observer, tracks patriarch Eli Gemstone and his children, who all try to keep up appearances as they grapple with their demons. Such themes are par for the course in works of fiction but do not apply to any given actual individual.

The over-the-top depiction of wealth, private aircraft, and mansions is a satirical commentary on the prosperity gospel movement, where some pastors do incredibly well financially off of prosperity-based faith.

Real-Life televangelism

Televangelism has been a staple of religious broadcasting for many years, with televangelists accumulating great wealth and influence. A few of the more noted figures of history have faced legal and ethical criticism for financial scams and lifestyle choices.

According to Relevant Magazine and Movieweb, though The Righteous Gemstones uses similar tropes to satirize, it is not grounded in real events or individuals. Instead, it crafts an independent narrative addressing overarching themes in the religious media landscape.

The use of satire in the series

Satire is an integral part of The Righteous Gemstones, allowing the series to condemn certain actions and institutions without offending religion. Satire used in humor and exaggeration suggests a world where money, power, and morality coalesce in complex ways, allowing serious issues to be addressed without being overly critical or inflammatory.

The Righteous Gemstones is a television series about televangelism and religious leadership but not directly about any single family. Danny McBride has written a satire that plays with the complications of religion, power, and family in megachurch life without making the show too real.

The series is an intelligent but clever investigation of how religion and power intertwine during the contemporary age, employing satire in pointing to subjects of ambition, hypocrisy, and the internal contradiction of public characters.