The comments of a 67-year-old, Southern, Christian man remain national news. Phil Robertson, the star of the number one cable television show, Duck Dynasty, remains in embroiled in a controversy surrounding his interview with GQ Magazine. As nearly everyone knows by now, the controversial comments were concerning his view of homosexuality. While the choice of wording and tone were a bit strong and some might argue overboard, they were not, in their distilled sense, unbiblical.
The controversy has brought several participants into focus. My early read is that the Ducks will be fine. Here’s why.
The television show Duck Dynasty is wedded to normal, everyday Americans. These guys are folksy, real, family-oriented, Christians. Their genuineness is one of the attractive features of the show. The comments by Robertson come out of this vein. In other words, he said what you would expect a Bible-believing, Christian man from Louisiana to say. It is not like he commented on foreign policy or Obamacare; he talked out of his biblical worldview with the accent of his style. No surprises.
This would not be a clincher on its own. However, this show, and more importantly this man is greatly endeared to the American people. As is the strange case with television shows, people feel like the know him. Everybody knows and like this strange duck from Louisiana (I couldn’t resist).
Ironically, this is a play out of the Gay Rights playbook. Over the last two decades those promoting the Gay agenda have, through Hollywood, introduced us to relatively normal, likable, friendly, Gay people. We have Ellen on the afternoon talk show, Modern Family and The New Normal on the sitcoms, characters like Oscar in The Office and so on. These people have made the Gay lifestyle somewhat normal and acceptable for some people and less offensive for others. Ironically, the same thing has happened here with Duck Dynasty. People have become endeared to them and are not weirded out by Bible-believing Christians.
I was in Walmart last night picking up a few items. If you haven’t been there in awhile it appears that they are the warehouse for Duck Dynasty. I saw pillow cases, pajamas, toys, hats, and everything else. I saw, and I am not joking, several people walking around with strange duck hats quacking. It was surreal. And who shops at Walmart? The majority of Americans. Not only is the show number one on cable it is ubiquitous in America’s number one store.
As we have seen with the moral revolution in terms of same-sex marriage, public momentum is tough to slow down.
This deep endearment of Phil Robertson and his family to the average American tells me that they may not only come out of this ruckus ok but also better. One might argue that this whole thing made them more intriguing, compelling and popular. I believe the show will continue; if not on A&E then somewhere else. And this becomes an interesting cultural commentary.
