I just had a thought about Duck Dynasty. Remember last October when Phil Robertson was complaining that the “editors” of the show were putting in random bleeps to make it sound like the clan was made up of a bunch of foul-mouthed hicks? I wrote about it, The Sad Reality of Duck Dynasty. At the time, I speculated that Phil Robertson knew exactly what was going on and that’s why he complained about the editors and not the producers. Well, I’m still sure that’s the case. But something occurred to me just now.
The reason that the producers thought that it would be just fine to make the Robertson clan look more like hicks by throwing in implied expletives is that they already knew that the Robertson clan had no problem pretending to be hicks by growing long beards. So the bleeps was just part of the same thing. And I assume that the producers have been doing that for a long time. But it was only once the show was hugely popular that Robertson went out and started complaining. Anyway, that is undoubtedly what the producers were thinking, “Why would the Robertsons care; they’re a bunch of phonies anyway.”
I’ve had another thought. Maybe the days of Duck Dynasty really are numbered. I know that the show will get a bump from the recent controversy. But the people who I know who like the show, like it because the Robertson’s are rich backwoods hicks. They don’t dig on the “good Christian values.” If the Robertsons manage to make the show as boring as Phil would like to make it, they will be left with the Christian crowd, and that isn’t their main audience. They are currently on their fourth season. I would be surprised if the show makes it past the sixth season.
The truth is that in America, you can be a good Christian or you can get good ratings. I know the Robertsons are just a bunch of rich assholes who are Christians only in a cultural sense. But the repeated attempts by Phil Robertson to save face have lost the show much of its fake credibility. But it can easily be replaced. How about, Romney Riches? Sounds like a winner. Especially if they all grow beards.
