This
assignment asks us to analyze and interpret a certain television show that we
watch on a regular basis. Sara asked us to come up with three different cultural
group stereotypes that we noticed while watching the show. As soon as I read
the assignment description, I thought about the shows that I watch on a regular
basis, granted, I don't watch all that much television, but I am definitely not
against sitting on the couch and wasting a Sunday catching up on shows I have
missed. One show that I hardly ever miss would be Duck Dynasty. I have been
hooked on this show since the very beginning and when the new season started a
few weeks ago, I had something to look forward to on Wednesday nights. I know
that there is already another blog post about Duck Dynasty, but, I love
watching this show too much to not write this blog on it.
If you have never seen the show, it
is based on the Robertson family who are from Louisiana. The Robertson’s have
been in the duck hunting world for a long time and have made millions of
dollars by selling duck calls and duck hunting equipment. Even before the
camera crews started following them around, the Robertson’s had their own
series of waterfowl and big game hunting DVD’s on the market. In recent years,
they have started their companies of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, and
truth be told, they make some quality products, obviously their duck calls are
the main focus of their work, but they make a wide array of other equipment.
The Robertson family was not in any money troubles before their reality show
started.
The main creed of the Robertson
family bases on three things. Faith, family and ducks. This is kind of how I
will base this week’s blog post.
"Faith, family and ducks..in
that order." --Jase Robertson
Faith.
One of the biggest aspects of the
Robertson clan revolves around their faith. Throughout all of the episodes I
have watched, there are countless examples of them talking about their faith in
some way shape or form. There are many aspects of faith talked about in the
show through their various conversations had back and forth, but the main
aspect of this stereotype comes into play at the end of every episode. At the
end of the episode you always see every family member gathered around the
dining room table with Phil, the leader/father of the Robertson crew, at the
head of the table. They are all sitting together and then Phil will tell
everyone to bow their heads and then goes on to say a short, quick prayer
before they all eat. He will always end his dinner time prayer with, "In
god's name we pray" and then they will all eat their dinner.
Upon researching this blog post I
came upon news that I would never have guessed. According to Phil himself,
"I repented when I was 28, turned to Jesus and about a year later, I told
Miss Kay (his wife) find me a place down by the river." In a blog written
by Pastor Rob Sumrall, Phil wasn't always the upstanding, god-fearing citizen
he is today. At one point, decades ago, Phil went on a bit of a drunken
escapade and he "kicked his wife and kids out of the house in a drunken
rage." A few months later, Phil got his act together and went back to his
wife "Miss Kay" for forgiveness. "Fortunately for all of us, Kay
was strong enough to forgive Phil and take him back. But....Phil had to quit
drinking and walk away from his rowdy friends." (Robertson 2012)
From that point on, Phil and the
rest of the Robertson's started focusing more on their faith...and ducks of
course. Phil quit his job as a school teacher and pursued his dream of
creating and selling duck calls. He started attending church multiple times a
week, attending bible classes nearly every day and essentially turned over a
new leaf in his life. Faith is a very strong and influential part of a person’s
life and their culture and this show broadcasts this Robertson's family strong
beliefs to millions of people during every broadcast.
I have talked about faith multiple
times throughout my blog post and found a lot more interesting information
about the Robertson's and their faith, but, I don't want to over load the blog
too much.
"Faith, family and ducks....in
that order"
Family.
Like I said at the beginning of the blog, Duck Dynasty is a show based around the life and actions of the Robertson family, with a few other oddballs thrown into the mix. Throughout the episodes you constantly see bickering among family members, sibling rivalry and the always common horseplay among family members. The Robertson family is very much an "average" family, with just a few more clowns and characters than most, which is why I think people enjoy the show so much. They get to look at the dumb and idiotic things that happen within their family and home lives and compare it to the weird and quirky things they do and get a feeling that maybe the viewer’s family isn't so strange after all.
Like I said at the beginning of the blog, Duck Dynasty is a show based around the life and actions of the Robertson family, with a few other oddballs thrown into the mix. Throughout the episodes you constantly see bickering among family members, sibling rivalry and the always common horseplay among family members. The Robertson family is very much an "average" family, with just a few more clowns and characters than most, which is why I think people enjoy the show so much. They get to look at the dumb and idiotic things that happen within their family and home lives and compare it to the weird and quirky things they do and get a feeling that maybe the viewer’s family isn't so strange after all.
The family aspect of this show can
tie in with many different cultures across the world. Every single person in
this world has some kind of family of their own. Some may get along with their
family, some might not; some people might love hanging out with their family,
others might not really know anyone in their family, but the one thing that
every person in this world has in common, in some way, shape, or form, we all
have a family out there somewhere.
One thing that I give the Robertson
family credit for is working with each other day in and day out. I have worked
for my Dad before and don't get me wrong, I love my Dad with all my heart, but
the reason I am in college right now is so I don't have to work with/for him
for the rest of my life. There is just something about working for family
members that I am just not able to do. But, then again, I am sure "behind
the scenes" there are plenty of people to dump your work and make life a
little more bearable.
"Faith, family and ducks...in
that order"
Ducks.
No, I am not going to include ducks
as one of my cultural stereotypes. In my opinion, ducks represents a level of
tradition within the Robertson clan and tradition can be a very important part
of any culture. Whether the tradition is hunting, in the Robertson's case, or
the some other tradition such as family vacations, passing down a wedding ring,
naming your son/daughter after a family member or a great list of other family
traditions, this can be a very important part of your culture.
Traditions are passed down from
generations to generations with the intent of keeping the tradition alive.
Traditions vary widely among cultures and they are, in a sense, a way to link
current cultures with those of the past. Many traditions can revolve around
religion, such as Christmas, Easter, and others, but some traditions are more
unique among different families and are used as a way to
interact among family members.
Stereotype is kind of loosely
defined in our textbook as, "widely held beliefs about a group of
people." (Martin & Nakayama 2012 p 210) Every culture, every race,
every person is going to have their own stereotypes of themselves and
stereotypes they believe about others. Television is a good way to familiarize
yourself with the different stereotypes of cultures and people.
Television might now always be the best way to learn about different cultures,
but, in certain situations it can be a very effective learning tool.
Duck Dynasty Star Jase Robertson Speaks Out On His Faith Accessed 3-27-2013
Duck Dynasty - Duck Dynasty Sibling Rivalry Accessed 3-28-2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFSA4LipDrg
Duck Commander Phil Robertson - How It All Started
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXVCzo6M640
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXVCzo6M640
Duck Dynasty Picture Accessed 3-28-2013 http://www.empowernetwork.com/acceleratingnow/files/2013/02/duck-dynasty-16.jpghttp://robsumrall.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/what-duck-commander-is-really-selling/
Willie and Kay Robertson (2012) Duck Dynasty: The Duck Commander
Family New York, NY: Howard
Books
Duck Dynasty is such a great example of popular culture mixed with classic redneck stereotypes. Great choice of show to analyze.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this show, but I liked how you explained the themes you found so that anyone watching the show for the first time would be able to easily pick up on the themes.
ReplyDeleteI don't/can't watch this stuff, but one point that I thought of when reading your post is that the existence of shows like Duck Dynasty says a lot about pop culture not necessarily in terms of reinforcing stereotypes but in sort of the South Parkian (is that a word?) question of where the bar is in society... it is a bit concerning to me that these stereotypes are displayed and glorified so proudly on national television.
ReplyDeleteBut I suppose it is pretty compelling TV.