Duck Dynasty in Pop Culture

As we have been talking about reality television shows and how they are portrayed in and through the media, it was no surprise that Duck Dynasty would be one of our topics.  Earlier this year, Duck Dynasty set the new television record for viewers during their season premiere.  With a show that has that much influence, it may have people wondering how exactly it happened.

As we discussed in class, some people portray the Duck Dynasty cast as dumb and uneducated.  The facts are that this couldn’t be further from the truth, even though they are self-proclaimed “Rednecks”.  The Robertson’s are the family that started the Duck Commander Buck Commander Company.  It was originally started by Phil Robertson.  On the show, he stated that all of his siblings, except one, as well as himself, had college degrees.  The sibling without the degree is Si Robertson.  On the show, many subtitles are used when he speaks because of his accent and quick speech.  He is portrayed as the lesser intelligent Robertson, while Phil definitely has knowledge unknown by the others.    

The show also portrays the family as a middle class.  Their company has given them a lot of wealth, the show has just greatly multiplied upon that.  They are not a modern family that has been made wealthy by their show; such as Honey Boo Boo.  In college, Phil Robertson was the starting quarterback for Louisiana Tech.  At the time, his back-up quarterback was a guy by the name of Terry Bradshaw.  They have been great friends ever since college.  So having had a very successful company and being best friends with Terry Bradshaw, I’d say this family is being portrayed as something that they are definitely not.