‘Duck Dynasty’: Unreal outrage

So rednecks need to be politically correct now?

Wait, before the National Association of Rednecked Persons attacks me, let me be clear that I dont mean redneck as an insult. Indeed, Redneck Pride has been on the rise ever since Jeff Foxworthy got rich informing people they might be a redneck.

Redneck reality shows have been all the rage: Rocket City Rednecks, Hillbilly Handfishin and, of course, Swamp People. But the gold standard is Duck Dynasty, which follows the Robertsons, a family that struck it rich selling duck calls. Its like a real-life version of The Beverly Hillbillies. All of the men look like they stepped out of the Hatfield-McCoy conflict to smoke a corncob pipe.

What all of these reality shows have in common is their shock value. And guess what? Sometimes the shock is manufactured. If the cameras werent on, the silicone life forms on the various Real Housewives shows probably wouldnt be throwing wine in each others faces as much as they do.

But heres a twist. Phil Robertson (who shhh! has a masters degree from Louisiana Tech) gave an interview to GQ in which he said that, as a Christian, he has problems with homosexuality. He got a bit too detailed with his anatomical analysis. But his real sin was calling homosexuality a sin comparable with bestiality.

In response, A&E suspended him from the reality show about his own family. Which should give you a sense of how real this reality show is. If its about the family, some producer in New York cant decide whos in or out of the family. If NBC News decided it simply didnt like the Republican Party anymore (not altogether implausible), it could decide not to report on the GOP. But it would stop being a news organization in the process. Instead, it would be producing a kind of reality show for which it makes up its own version of reality (like Top Chef or MSNBC).

Sarah Palin jumped in. Free speech is an endangered species, she warned on her Facebook page. Those intolerants hatin and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.

There are no constitutional free-speech rights involved when a private entertainment network decides to cut a character from a fake reality show. But Palins not entirely wrong, either. Liberals love free expression so long as you free-express things they agree with.

Now, I dont agree with Robertsons take on homosexuality. Heck, I dont even like duck hunting. But I also dont care. What I object to is the insinuation that I have to.

And what I find ridiculous is the shock that an avatar of the redneck renaissance might actually have politically incorrect or just plain religiously orthodox views on homosexuality. Seriously, who called for the fainting couch when they read his interview in GQ?

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‘Duck Dynasty’: Unreal outrage