Christianity,  Entertainment

Why do people like Duck Dynasty?

In the video above, Laura Ingraham explains why she thinks “Duck Dynasty” is such a hit. I think she may not be too far off. My family enjoys the program for all the reasons she cites. We also love it because Louisiana is our home state, and the show is set in my wife’s hometown. Where else on television can you tune in and see live shots of the town you grew up in? (My wife spotted her high school in the season premier.) Also, there’s nothing like hearing some “y’alls” and “fixin’s” to make some expat Louisianans feel a little closer to home. So there’s a lot of nostalgia in this one for us.

Kelly Boggs has as similar take in the Baptist Press. He writes:

I believe the elements that keep viewers tuning in for the Robertson clan are wholesomeness, authenticity and values.

Duck Dynasty is good clean fun. The Robertsons pursuit of life is wholesome. The show is free of sexual innuendo, coarse humor and perverted dysfunction. People who are looking for entertainment to enjoy with their families have found it with Duck Dynasty.

Regarding the Robertsons’ authenticity, what you see is what you get…

Additionally, the Robertsons’ faith and values are real. They are unapologetic about the fact they are Christians. They also defy the typical stereotype many people have of what a Christian should be. The Robertsons live their faith; they don’t feel the need to portray it via perma-press clothes and coiffed hair.

Each episode is peppered with staunchly conservative values. At the close of each program, a moral is drawn from the program, always emphasizing something of virtue.

Read the rest of Boggs’ article here.

10 Comments

  • Charles Putnam, (@aboutcepimages)

    How would you respond to someone that makes their being part of a Church of Christ a ‘deal breaker”? Everything that I’ve found indicates that neither the Robertson’s, nor their pastor, hold to the “traditional” CoC view of baptismal regeneration.

    • Lynn Burgess

      Charles: I’m not certain what constitutes a “deal breaker” for a TV show, but here is a personal experience. My best childhood friend married a man in the Church of Christ and subsequently told me she had embraced the belief of one needing water baptism for salvation. I did not buy it on any level. They were married a number of years and he was an ok guy, active in the church, sometimes would go out in the middle of the night when someone wanted to be saved/baptized, and faithful in Bible Study. One day, low and behold, while studying Romans – he was born again!

  • Aaron A. Smith

    Not to be oppositional, but on the few times I have watched this show, I have been surprised at the amount of verbal abuse passed back and forth. Now there may be some cultural or family stuff going on, or just dialogue exaggerated for television. However, that isn’t the way I would want my brothers talking with me, or my kids, when I have them, talking with each other.

    • Ryan Abernathy

      Are you kidding me? Verbal abuse? It’s called sarcasm and is all in fun. People who love each other tease each other and mess with each other. That’s love not abuse. In my home, with my brothers, with my friends that’s the way we talk all the time. Truthfully, if I don’t like you then I don’t tease you.

      I think you might need to lighten up.

      • Aaron A. Smith

        To be fair, kidding around is fun and a way to show acceptance. However, the banter seemed to be pushing too far and become mean spirited. I acknowledge this could be my cultural lens.

        In the episode I am thinking about, one of the characters wanted to lose weight before his high school reunion. The other guys wouldn’t let up with their nonstop teasing. The guys gave him exercise opptunities but only berated him during that time. He tried yoga, and was made fun of for that. He wanted to lose weight to fit into a jacket. At the end, his wife swapped it for a larger jacket, but he thought that he had lost weight for the smaller jacket.

        Teasing and ribbing have their places, but so does James 3 and the Golden Rule.

  • Aaron A. Smith

    While I still think the weight loss episode was a little harsh (and now the whine festival with the guys not wanting to help their wives with their parents’ wedding announces), I do admire the openness of Christianity on the show. That part is refreshing, and a nice break from TV show painting Christians as ignorant hate mongers.

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