Duck Dynasty: Another Reason to Avoid Reality TV

[The Pecman]

There's a weird show on American TV cable network A&E called Duck Dynasty about a clan of Louisiana country hicks who managed to make millions and millions of dollars manufacturing the best duck calls for hunters in the world. Somehow, an unlikely reality show about the eccentric family has managed to become a reality-show hit, mainly because the family is very colorful, eccentric, has a unique kind of language, and is charming in that folksy, country kind of way.

Until recently.

Family patriarch Phil Robertson, who dabbles as a preacher, made the following statement in a recent interview with GQ magazine:

“It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man’s anus," Robertson told GQ. "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.”

“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine," he later added. “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

Robertson followed this outrageous, homophobic blather by saying that black people didn't have it so bad prior to the civil rights era in Louisiana:

“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person," Robertson is quoted in GQ. "Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

What's really disturbing is that now celebrity conservatives like Sean Hannity and Sara Palin are supporting this racist, homophobic schmuck, as are several Krazy Kristian organizations:

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/duck-dynasty-suspension-christian-org-launches-campaign-calling-aes-move-discriminatory-censorship-1200976794/

I'm absolutely appalled by the whole thing, and wonder why some PR guy didn't tell this multimillionaire jerk to just shut the F up and keep his personal opinions to himself. I'm all for free speech, but there's a time and a place for everything, and I also think it's extremely unwise to tell your audience that your Bible is better than my Bible, and that you get to judge what I do under my own roof.

Apparently, A&E's management (and advertisers) agree, and they've "indefinitely suspended" Mr. Robertson. Fans of the show are in an uproar, and there's headlines all over the net and Facebook pro and con about the controversy, including many conservatives and Christian groups who feel that Mr. Robertson has the right to spew his bullshit.

My opinion: Coo-coo-ca-choo, Mr. Robertson. Jesus doesn't give an F about you anymore. Shut the hell up and go back to your bayou and leave us alone. Write A&E and tell them you won't stand for this kind of crap:

aefeedback@aenetworks.com

[Merkin]

Singing and happy, and living on watermelon...riiight.

[Chris James]

Never seen the show, never intend to look at it. Reality shows are like vomit, they leave a bad taste in the mouth. I think A & E did the right thing for their image.

Pecman could tell you that stars on any kind of show have a contract with lots of sub clauses, and perhaps in Robertson's contract there are obligations we don't know about. I would think shaving his beard during the season would be one no-no. Making the network look like fools for hiring an ignoramus is implicit.

But his First Amendment rights have not been violated. He said what he did, it was reported and he was suspended for it. He is still free to express whatever he wants, just not under contract to A & E. What he does say is ignorant and bigoted, and those who defend him are starting to look like the real idiots. Robertson is a Louisiana redneck, we expect him to be ignorant, but so are the television pundits on Fox News and right wing fanatics who are defending him. No surprise there.

From a gay perspective A & E did the right thing. What they did wrong was put this show on television in the first place. Duck Dynasty could be replaced with reruns of Looney Tunes cartoons and I doubt if their viewers would notice the difference. It takes a weak mind to support a fake reality show cast with escapees from the ZZ Top fan club.

You may find this article amusing, or at least gives some insight to A & E's thinking:

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=844417

[EleCivil]

Southern Christian preacher thinks being gay is a sin. Breaking news?

I think the crazier part of his statement is when he said that pre-civil rights, African Americans "weren't singing the blues".

I mean...I'm pretty sure there was a great deal of blues singing going on. There are recordings and everything.

[Lugnutz]

Haven't watched TV in many years. I'm not missing much. This sounds as bad as Jersey Shore. They have DD hats at the gas station here too.

[Cole Parker]

I understand the other members of the Duck cast are saying they won't go ahead without the dumbass being on with them. This was a huge decision by A&E. This was by far their highest rated and most lucrative show. There's no doubt if the show goes off the air, some other network will pick it up and throw out a lot of gobbledy-gook about freedom of speech and the public's right to hear differing opinions when really all they want is the money.

I don't subscribe to A&E, so haven't seen that show, or any of their others, but I do applaud this courageous stand. I just hope the loss of the revenues coming from that show doesn't bring the network down.

C

[Camy]

I can't believe anyone becomes mega-rich selling hand made duck calls. How many duck hunters can there be?

[EleCivil]

I can't believe anyone becomes mega-rich selling hand made duck calls. How many duck hunters can there be?

When I was living in a large, northern city, I would have thought the same way. This year, I moved to a Southern rural town. You know how many of my students own guns, dress in camo every day, and absolutely love Duck Dynasty?

All of them!

They keep telling me to watch it, but I just shrug and say "I don't own a TV," and they look at me like I'm from Mars. Granted, I frequently drop hints that I am from Mars, so it's understandable.

[Lugnutz]

You want a bigger WTF look? Tell them you don't have any king of game system and barely played one before.

[Guest Dabeagle]

God @TheTweetOfGod Follow

The Duck Dynasty guy who likened homosexuality to bestiality makes a living helping people trick ducks into thinking they want to fuck them.

Yep, that's about the size of it. It's incredibly disappointing seeing people shroud themselves in the cloak of religion to justify their comments. The people supporting this are the worst, though. They don't give a damn about free speech (not that is right to do so was infringed upon) but more that their entertainment may be interrupted and thus it's inconvenient to them. One more nail in humanity's coffin.

[JamesSavik]

I'm thinking that this is a publicity stunt by the duck people.

They may look stupid but they've got 400 million dollars that says they aren't.

Duck Commander, the man at the center of this has a Masters degree and is a lay minister.

Their fans are livid and there are significantly more than a shitload of them.

If they aren't on A&E, they will be somewhere.

[Nigel Gordon]

I can't believe anyone becomes mega-rich selling hand made duck calls. How many duck hunters can there be?

Well it probably does not need that many given the number of times I hear some of my hunter friends complain they have lost their duck call. They probably just sell over and over again to the same group.

[Guest Dabeagle]

There are a few things online that this guy has said, this GQ statement is really just the tip of the iceberg. James may be right that it has a PR slant to it, otherwise it just may be the unedited fuckwit shining through. Sadly, I do think James it right - they will show up somewhere if A&E doesn't bring this guy back.

[E.J.]

Hell has indeed frozen over......Cracker Barrel has pulled all Phil Robertson related material from their stores.

I also read that Duck Dynasty has already finished filming for next year's episodes. It will be interesting to see if the shows run with Phil or if he is edited out.

[Guest Dabeagle]

More free speech from Phil, in case anyone thought his views were new.

http://www.towleroad.com/2013/12/phil-robertson-calls-gays-insolent-arrogant-god-haters-in-church-sermon-video.html

[Chris James]

I was amused yesterday when Robertson came out and said he wasn't ignorant because he had a college degree. Perhaps he can use that piece of paper to wipe his ass. College degrees do not confer intelligence or common sense, even a redneck should know that. Like many fundamentalist Christians he's read the Bible and chooses to forget what he doesn't like or that which doesn't fit his small minded view of the world. That is the very definition of ignorant.

I did run across this short opinion piece which pretty much states my own view of free speech rights. Robertson and the knuckleheads who have come out in support of his statements should heed the intelligent thoughts in this article, but they won't. Ignorance won't allow it.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/12/let-me-explain-freedom-of-speech-to-all-the-phil-robertson-duck-dynasty-supporters/

[Chris James]

A big LOL to Sarah Palin. And to think this woman might have been a heartbeat away from the Presidency. This ought to give the GOP pause to reconsider it's mindset. Her defense of Robertson was just another quack brain fart:

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/12/sarah-palin-actually-has-no-idea-what-phil-robertson-said-watch.html

[ricky]

I was amused yesterday when Robertson came out and said he wasn't ignorant because he had a college degree. Perhaps he can use that piece of paper to wipe his ass. College degrees do not confer intelligence or common sense, even a redneck should know that. Like many fundamentalist Christians he's read the Bible and chooses to forget what he doesn't like or that which doesn't fit his small minded view of the world. That is the very definition of ignorant.

I did run across this short opinion piece which pretty much states my own view of free speech rights. Robertson and the knuckleheads who have come out in support of his statements should heed the intelligent thoughts in this article, but they won't. Ignorance won't allow it.

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/12/let-me-explain-freedom-of-speech-to-all-the-phil-robertson-duck-dynasty-supporters/

Hey, go easy on the red necks. Gays come in red neck too. And red neck is not an IQ but rather a way of life. I'd like to point out that non-rednecks do some pretty ignorant things too. I would think that someone who views themselves as intelligent would not say something so . . . uhm . . . hmm, perhaps you can fill in that missing word. It's not that I'm lacking in vocabulary but rather that I have a surplus of manners.

Merry Christmas!

[The Pecman]

Note that Mr. Robertson has a Masters degree in Education, so he's not quite the country hick he seems to be on the show. But that doesn't mean he isn't also a bigoted asshole.

Good piece here analyzing the PR mess, basically saying this was yet another calculated ploy to deliberately drum up ratings and create more interest in the show:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/12/23/truth-about-duck-dynasty-controversy/

The show's cast members have said that if A&E wants to drop the show, they already have six other cable channels willing to run it. Discouraging news. And note also that Duck Dynasty is one of the highest-rated reality shows on American TV -- 9 million viewers for a recent special. The trades say that A&E was insane to let Robertson talk to GQ in the first place, and that Robertson has been spouting crazy-religious anti-gay vitriol for many years:

http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/duck-dynasty-debacle-has-tv-industry-abuzz-execs-cite-aes-rookie-mistake/

[Nigel Gordon]

Note that Mr. Robertson has a Masters degree in Education, so he's not quite the country hick he seems to be on the show. But that doesn't mean he isn't also a bigoted asshole.

Having seen the output of the modern educational system in the Western World since the requirement to be a teacher moved from having a degree in the subject you teach to having a degree in education and knowing nothing about the subject you teach, I'm of the opinion that a Master's degree in Education is probably a clear indication of intellectual inferiority.

[dude]

Having seen the output of the modern educational system in the Western World since the requirement to be a teacher moved from having a degree in the subject you teach to having a degree in education and knowing nothing about the subject you teach, I'm of the opinion that a Master's degree in Education is probably a clear indication of intellectual inferiority.

I think your assertion is a sweeping generalization and in many cases, untrue, Nigel.

I wonder what EleCivil has to say about that... having just completed his Masters....

Mike

[Cole Parker]

I received degrees in engineering when college age, and later in life when back for a teaching credential. I will say without qualification, the classes in education were no where near up to the rigor of the engineering classes. There was no comparison at all.

Of course, this is anecdotal. Two colleges out of the hundreds of possibilities. But I would expect even E/C would agree: they'd don't do much as far as teaching you how to teach, and that's really what it should be all about.

C

[Camy]

Great teachers - those that can inspire, and control a class with their humanity and the joy of the subject they're teaching, are rare. Which is not to say that the majority who train to be teachers are intellectually inferior. Teaching is like acting: some can't, some can, and a very few are brilliant.

[EleCivil]

Oh, hey, somebody called my name. Haha. As mentioned in that other topic about education, if you ask for it, I’ve got to give it to you. I'll try to hit the highlights.

1.) "Not getting a degree in content, but getting a degree in education and knowing nothing about the subject."

Depends on the state. Most require education degrees, some will accept content degrees. Programs like Teach for America recruit people with content degrees and give them a crash-course in education, but such programs have a track record for producing poor quality teachers who tend to quit the profession within two or three years (a generalization, of course - some do manage to stay in the game and become excellent teachers). Now, every state and every school is going to be different, but I can share my experience.

In order to get my Bachelor of Education, I had to essentially triple-major - I took a full courseload of English and Science courses that would have been enough to earn a BA or BS in those areas, and then a full courseload of Education Theory, Policy, and Pedagogy courses. In order to get my certifications, I had to also pass a series of both paper/pencil tests (each lasting about 3 hours) and practical tests ("Here's a room full of students you've never seen before. Teach them this set of standards, and this state-licensed Master Teacher will observe and critique your methods.") In order to finish the program, I had to complete six months of field work in several schools, teaching both of my chosen subjects at several different grade levels while performing field research.

My state also requires teachers to enter into a residency program, much like doctors. For your first four years of teaching, you are considered a Resident Educator, not a professional teacher. You have your own classroom and do all the work of a professional teacher, but you report to a Master Teacher and have continuing reflection, observations, and additional scrutiny from above. You are also working on one-year contracts with no job security, so that poor teachers can be weeded out. (I recently got my Master Teacher's credentials, so now I've got a few residents to boss around! I'm mad with power! Before, I was just mad.)

It's certainly possible to half-ass your way through such a program and come out the other end not knowing all that you should, but if you're the type to do that, you probably shouldn't be in education in the first place - you won't be able to hack it, and you'll wash out after a year or two.

2.) "The modern educational system is of poor quality."

Literacy, high school graduation, and college graduation rates are higher at this point in time than at any other time in the nation's history. Test scores are good and consistently rising - the media does not understand how to read and interpret the data, or they are deliberately misinterpreting it because they are corporate shills (not that test scores mean anything). Other countries - even those with "better test scores" - are still sending their theorists and researchers here to try to crack the code of how and why American education creates such powerful and flexible minds. Most people do not get to see this, and instead hear things about how terrible American education is, because there is a great deal of money in convincing the public that the educational system is broken.

Surveys show that the vast majority of American parents are happy with their local public schools. They believe that the education system is broken, but THEIR school is good. Again, the media and various corporate shills work to poison our perceptions.

3.) "Not enough time spent teaching teachers how to teach."

Yes and no. Depends on the program, of course. This is mostly what happens in the bachelor's program, not the master's. Here's the thing: effective teachers learn by doing. They earn their stripes in the field. If I try to teach like another teacher, it'll be terrible. If another teacher tries to teach like me, it'll be terrible. Kids understand authenticity and they see through phoniness, so there's no way to design a course that teaches teachers "If a kid does X, you do Y."

However, B.Ed. programs contain coursework in child psychology, sociology, endocrinology, and cognitive neuroscience, so that future teachers leave understanding the mental, physical, and social states of the children they are preparing to teach. From there, a teacher must study oneself, and from this mass of knowledge cobble together a style and method. The teachers that neglect this step are the ones you see attempting to follow scripts or working out of a book, "not knowing how to teach". They know the mechanics of teaching, but they do not know themselves.

4.) "What's the deal with a Master of Education, anyway?"

Most schools have many different specializations within the M.Ed. program, depending on what the student wishes to do. Some of the common specializations are as follows:

Curriculum and Instruction - How to teach, what to teach, and how to teach others what and how to teach. Specializing here can lead to becoming a curriculum specialist - a sort of on-site coach for teachers, often assuming some of the administrative roles, as well.

Instructional Design - How to create entire programs and curricula from scratch. Specializing here can get you into the state board of education, or any number of for-profit companies that write pre-packaged curricula and study guides.

Educational Technology - How to use, build, and design educational hardware and software. Generally considered to be the "money" specialization, as you can get in with tech companies with this kind of credential.

Leadership of Educational Organizations - For future principals, deans, university presidents, superintendents, etc. Courses specializing in employee evaluation, high-level finance, state and federal education law, leadership theory, etc. Tends to have more in common with a business degree than an education degree.

Some specializations are more taxing than others. Ed. Tech involves taking engineering/comp-sci courses, Ed. Leadership involves business courses, etc. Curriculum and Instruction is honestly pretty easy for anyone who's been in the classroom for any number of years. I ended up taking Ed. Leadership, just because it was something that I knew I didn't already know - I'm a theory-head, so Curriculum/Instruction and Inst. Design would have been a re-tread of what I'd already taught myself.

To get back on topic, it wouldn't surprise me if Duck Commander had specialized in Ed. Leadership - as I said, it's basically a business degree, and he's a successful businessman.

[EleCivil]

Great teachers - those that can inspire, and control a class with their humanity and the joy of the subject they're teaching, are rare. Which is not to say that the majority who train to be teachers are intellectually inferior. Teaching is like acting: some can't, some can, and a very few are brilliant.

This. There's a bell curve. You've got a few that are absolutely terrible and shouldn't be allowed near a classroom, you've got a few that are excellent and stand as paragons of the profession, and you've got the vast majority that are somewhere in between those extremes. You'll likely find the same bell curve when you look at any career.