About as far removed from the disgusting pieces of shit that make up the Kardashian's as you can get, which is a family consisting of a couple self indulgent skanks and a greasy douche bag, the Robertson's have captivated America with their strong familial ties, work ethic, and all around happy demeanor. It simply amazes me how such a family can pop up and trounce all over the current media sensations without so much as a feigned effort. Think about it, they walked through a veritable pool of reality TV scum, and came out the other end bone dry and with the drain plug in their hands. Which leads me to my original point and the title of this post, the Duck Dynasty family will save the world, and this is why...
I believe, to a degree, that they act the same with the cameras on as they do off. Sure they probably tone down the antics and not having the camera in your face probably grants a return to normalcy most of us will never know, but I sincerely believe that they are who they say they are at their core, and that's important because it gives me hope that there are other people out there like that. I like to think of the Robertson's like the modern day Noah's. This time though, the flood is of stupidity, ignorance, and laziness and the Ark is the link between you and your TV, and your ability to reach down and identify with the Robertson's. There are several Ark's though. One is decked out with tanning beds, workout equipment, and sparkly, bedazzled t-shirts that showcase your nipples like its perpetually cold outside. That Ark is gonna hit an iceberg, probably within the first week, probably at 50 knots...and its going to be hysterical because everyone but them saw it coming. Then you have the Honey Boo-Boat that might just sink on its own, for obvious reasons, and will probably smell like the compost heap at a slaughterhouse. I'll stop myself before I have a fleet of doomed Arks, but you get my point right?
Yeah I've indulged in those shows a bit as well, but whats sad is that in day to day life I witnessed those shows on the street in front of me. I've almost been stabbed by a blowout more times than I care to admit, and I used to think I would be dodging deadly hair cuts my whole life, until the Robertson's and Duck Dynasty.
Now there have been quite a few articles and other media forms trying to defame them by saying they weren't like they are on the show in earlier lives, Phil used to be a drunk, they didn't have beards, yadah, yadah, yadah. Whoopty shit! There is nothing that anyone will try and propagate that isn't anything they haven't admitted to in an interview or written in a book. No single person or family is a perfect entity, and the Robertson's don't try and hide the fact that they're far from perfect, they own up to their pasts, and leave them there. Whatever problems or struggles they had made them who they are, and their problems aren't anything that any one of us wouldn't have to maybe deal with. They don't have sex tapes floating around, illegitimate children popping up in different states, they didn't gamble away pensions of employees or kill anyone. Their problems could be our problems, it makes them real.
They are real people, who are on TV, and they don't have some tearjerker story attached to them or have any particular reason to be there. Yes, the reason they got there was because they are self-made millionaire's and have beards and do "red-neck things." But there have been, and are, plenty of deep south family shows out there trying to achieve what they have, but they lack the vital element, that being they aren't real. Physically, of course, they're walking around somewhere right now punching turtles or something, but they don't resonate because after the show is over, there is nothing to think about, no warm feeling to ponder, just credits and commercials. After watching an episode of Duck Dynasty, sometimes for the tenth time, I still end it with a smile and a want to be part of what they have for just a bit, and a desire to create it in my own life. Whatever they did to get where they are, they are winning in life, and they did it on their own. I want that. And I'd bet the farm (see what I did there) that there are millions of others out there that want that too; and I bet they outnumber (hope they outnumber) those who want to "live like a Kardashian".... I can't believe I just typed that. I'm going to go bleach my fingers, be right back...
OK back. But in all seriousness, that hope and desire to emulate their life in my own way is the reason I believe they will save the world. By being role models for happiness they can break the cycle of idiocy on TV and in our own lives by showing us what you can get when you surround yourself with good people, raise your kids with pride and respect, and work hard at what you do. They make it look so good and never lead you to believe it was easy; how anyone could watch an episode of that show and not think this is beyond me. And to bring back their pasts again, they don't hide what they've been through or used to be because I think they know that they are setting an example for us and they don't want us to think we can't get to where they are in life if were going through shit in our lives. I might be giving more credit than is due but whether they do it on purpose or not they are an inspiration to many.
Sure the Robertson's may have sold out a bit, but it hasn't changed them. Regardless of what people think of them, all the really bad things that have been said are just things taken out of context that they said themselves, and it kind of just rolls off. Countless interviews have come across my path of people that know them personally and not a single one had anything negative to say about them, before or after fame. So take a step back haters, you are not gonna win with this one. Beard or no beard, cheesy photo shoots or lame ass ad campaigns, at the end of the day they go home to their families and pick up where they left off. Like a real person.
I'm gonna wrap this up by saying that I sincerely believe that the Robertson's have the capacity to save the world. If everyone got on board and tried to model any aspect of their lives after them as opposed to DJ Pauly D or Paris Hilton then the crowd of those types of people would fade out faster Snookies book (yes she wrote one...I imagine with crayons or finger paint). Even if it is staged a bit or situational its still them and their values or morals or whatever it is that makes them stand out, shines through. Maybe I'm kissing ass, maybe I'm delusional, but when I'm sitting in my office making a million bucks an hour because Duck Dynasty made me see I could, there's gonna be two things on the wall behind me: a big picture of my family, and this bad boy...
...and I wont even care if anyone thinks I'm a weirdo because of it, it's my dream let me live it. In the wise words of Si: "Some people say I'm a dreamer. Other's say, "If you fall asleep at work again we're going to have to let you go". You tell 'em Si, you tell 'em.
