The stain of reality TV reached all across the country last week when the star of Duck Dynasty spoke what’s left of his mind on his beliefs about homosexuality in GQ. Half the straights and all the gays in the country went bat shit and started calling for his head. A&E in a primo exhibition of Hollywood guts did the heroic thing and canned the jerk.
Now, I have always been a supporter of gay, lesbian, etc. rights. I have attacked in print, those who I thought were causing them problems, including the President of The Catholic University of America, but after reading Robertson’s comments, I am more than a little surprised about all this uproar. Sure they’re out of line, but certainly not earth shattering. I thought they were kind of mild coming from a redneck bigot who looks and dresses like one of the prophets. I mean what do you expect a guy like this to think and say?
His statement; “It seems like, to me, a vagina – as a man – would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: it’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
If you just read the statement, it’s a man expressing his opinion on a personal choice, at least until he starts talking about sin. We’re all entitled to personal choices as long as they don’t impinge on anyone else’s space. Even the whole statement isn’t up to the uproar it has caused. The guy’s a jerk. Many, including myself, disagree with him but that doesn’t make what he said a violation off anyone’s rights. It certainly wasn’t worth the brouhaha that followed.
And then there’s A&E. What a stupid reaction. They hired this freak exactly because he personifies the dumb red neck, and as soon as he acts like one, they fire him. They weren’t so damn outraged when he was earning them big commercial minutes, were they? And don’t compare him to some heroic type who is found pawing a twelve-year-old girl. That’s outrageous behavior and against the norm. This guy was just being the guy they hired. They liked him fine when he was packing in the viewers, but as soon as there is a threat among those viewers they fold like a cheap suit.
The show is about a family of evangelical knuckle draggers. What the hell did A&E expect hem to be like off camera? Unless of course, these guys are actors. But A&E is selling them as the real thing, so either the network is lying to the public or they are the most hypocritical bunch of cowards in TV and that’s saying a boatload. So for all those turkeys that think it’s fun to watch the lower orders perform for their edification; you get what you ask for and don’ expect anything else.
Of course Bobby Jindal, the mouse that roars, had to step in and give the whole thing a crooked slant. God save us from politicians who see free airtime, No Bobby, this isn’t a first Amendment story. This is a commercial cowardice story. Robertson wasn’t dragged off the air by the government, he wasn’t jailed on some trumped up civil rights baloney. He lost his job because a cowardly network was terrified that they would lose some viewers because of what he said. Maybe what he said a wrong; I’ve heard a lot more offensive drivel from a lot more intelligent speakers but it is what it is. I’m glad Robertson is off the air, I think they should boot the rest of his brain-dead clan with him but that’s a personal point of view, it’s an evaluation of them based critical entertainment criteria not on any interpretation of their social value.
People watch shows like Duck Dynasty, Swamp Men and all those shows about loggers and truckers because it gives them something to look down on and many people, mainly those who lead lives of quiet desperation, unfortunately need that. Maybe networks like A&E and the History Channel should re-think their entertainment model. Maybe they should consider programming that would enrich the lives of their viewers instead of just giving them something to look down on.