Happy, Happy, Happy

As Duck Dynasty forges into it’s fourth season opening with nearly 12 million viewers, many are weighing in on the show and what is called its “cultural Christianity.” I think I started tuning in during season two and really enjoyed it. I like rednecks and redneck humor, and with family from the south, I find it easy to laugh with and at these people. But there is more going on here, and we ought to be encouraged.

The show is entertaining, and that is its primary function: to humorously entertain. How does it do so? By following the hilarious life of the Robertson family, their business and family antics. This is how it should be evaluated. It is good entertainment? When we evaluate our entertainment, and we must, we don’t use the same criteria we use for evaluating, say, a sermon. At least we shouldn’t, for that would make sermons into primarily forms of entertainment, which contra your wanna be stand-up comedian pastor, they aren’t.

God is the ultimate Comedian, telling jokes all the time. When we imitate Him well, the humor can be clever, delightful, slapstick, layered, ironic, satiric, involve plays on words, etc. It’s not cheap like a standup comic using vulgarities and obscenities for the shock value. The comedy of Duck Dynasty is consistently funny and happens in an environment where life is enjoyed as a gift and brothers can make fun of each other because they love one another. I would not put Duck Dynasty on the level of Wodehouse, but the two inhabit the same moral universe. 

Much is made of the Robertson’s faith in Jesus and how many examples of it are removed from the show in order to target a larger audience. I know this happens, but anyone paying attention can tell the family is conscientiously Christian, and one recent episode did conclude with a prayer in Jesus’ name. Again, the goal of the show is to entertain, and it would be odd and off-putting to have sermonic interludes–I wouldn’t call that Christian, but lame comedy that doesn’t imitate the Comedian very well. But the Robertson’s are holding the line. They are manifestly Christian, and the things that cannot be edited out are the most potent. 

Most Reality TV gathers attention the same way a car wreck does–people slow down to see the damage. In this world, Duck Dynasty features an extended family running a business, enjoying life, and joyfully raising families. The men are devoted to their wives, especially Phil to Kay who still adores and amorously desires her after 50 years. As many lament the decline of the family and normalization of sodomy in television, here is a stark counterexample. Many people can, and do, learn a lot about how to be a family from Duck Dynasty. A&E promo posters say “Money. Family. Ducks.” But the Robertson’s proclaim it as “Faith. Family. Ducks.” which both sounds better and has the curious advantage of being true. They use their popularity from Duck Dynasty to do lots of evangelism proper, but the impact of the show itself is enormous. It’s not merely culturally Christian, but an example of culture created by the redemptive work of Christ in the life of a family. It’s the sort of thing that people want when they see it, and makes them hungry for the source.

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