Phonies?

[BikerDude]

I'd say so.
Typical.

Dirtbaggate?

http://www.inquisitr.com/1304954/duck-dynasty-fake-before-and-after-photos-of-phil-robertsons-family-makes-you-wonder/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW343K1-upo

[Reverend Al]

Of course it's fake; it's all about presenting an image.  They're supposed to be a family of Louisiana rednecks (according to the TV show, that is) and most people wouldn't buy the premise if they still looked like clean-cut versions of The Beach Boys from the 1960s.  I believe their professed Christian beliefs and family loyalties are real, but if anyone watching the show thinks they could actually build and maintain a successful business by doing as much goofing off as they do on the show they're delusional; the show is nothing more than entertainment.

[BikerDude]

Of course it's fake; it's all about presenting an image.  They're supposed to be a family of Louisiana rednecks (according to the TV show, that is) and most people wouldn't buy the premise if they still looked like clean-cut versions of The Beach Boys from the 1960s.  I believe their professed Christian beliefs and family loyalties are real, but if anyone watching the show thinks they could actually build and maintain a successful business by doing as much goofing off as they do on the show they're delusional; the show is nothing more than entertainment.

Well there's redneck Christian beliefs and WASP christian beliefs. Generally a very different animal entirely.
Clearly they don't mind a bit of dishonesty when dealing with the "unwashed masses".
That fits pretty neatly with the WASP'ish image you see from earlier incarnations IMO.
It's purely cynical manipulation for personal gain. And I think that if the people watching the show, sharing a very different version of Christian values saw it that way they wouldn't be buying the swag for sure.

Take a look at some quotes from the show.
Do you think these are legitimate or intended to speak to who they believe their viewership is?
And if so do they show respect at all for the people who they make money off?

"This snowcone is giving me a brain sneeze. It's when your brain needs to sneeze, but it caint cause its a brain, so it just hurts" Si Robertson

First it's pretty tires, then it's pretty guns...next thing you know, you're shavin' your beard and wearin' capri pants. - Si

"If you catch squirrels for your woman she will never cut you off in bed." - Phil

I gotta work with what I got, its called improv-isavation - Si

I don't know. Knowing who they really are it looks like pure disrespect to me. Celebrating their "ignorant" viewers publicly while disrespecting them privately. It's a persona meant to appeal to a view that the average person is dumb and easily duped by the wealthy and educated. Sadly they seem to be pretty correct.
But I guess they aren't always dishonest.

"There are two kinds of people in this world... the educated and the unducated" - Si Robertson

You see Duck Dynasty is actually part of a carefully crafted plot on the part of a Cabal of wealthy people with connections that go deep into the highest reaches of Washington's elite to penetrate and gain the support of redneck culture turning them into an army of deluded "Christian Soldiers" manipulated into supporting an agenda that uniquely benefits the wealthy.
Just kidding. Sort of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr0YNgZyTao

[meekon5]

I've said before the future of television is everyone with a camera on their TV, watching someone else, watching someone with a camera on their TV.

Wait that's already happened:

Gogglebox

[BikerDude]

I've said before the future of television is everyone with a camera on their TV, watching someone else, watching someone with a camera on their TV.

Wait that's already happened:

Gogglebox

I don't know whether to be bummed or relieved that it can't be watched in "my area". Probably the USA.
I wonder how long will it be before they are hiring actors to be on that sort of thing masquerading as real people.

[Reverend Al]

...Take a look at some quotes from the show.
Do you think these are legitimate or intended to speak to who they believe their viewership is?
And if so do they show respect at all for the people who they make money off?

...I don't know. Knowing who they really are it looks like pure disrespect to me...

I don't think the Robertson family has ever put that much though into it.  I think someone at A&E found out about this family in Louisiana that got rich manufacturing and selling duck calls and what not, thought it might make for good television, contacted the Robertsons and offered them a bunch of money to perform in a "reality" show, the family agreed, and somewhere along the way it became Duck Dynasty; they're all playing fictional versions of themselves in the same way every other actor assumes a role and pretends to be someone they're not.  The show may or may not be scripted in the traditional sense (rumors abound), but the premise for each episode is clearly established in advance and they act/improvise their way through.  It's a modern version of The Beverly Hillbillies, except the Robertsons didn't load up the truck and move to Bev-er-leee (Hills, that is; swimming pools, movie stars).

[BikerDude]

...Take a look at some quotes from the show.
Do you think these are legitimate or intended to speak to who they believe their viewership is?
And if so do they show respect at all for the people who they make money off?

...I don't know. Knowing who they really are it looks like pure disrespect to me...

I don't think the Robertson family has ever put that much though into it.  I think someone at A&E found out about this family in Louisiana that got rich manufacturing and selling duck calls and what not, thought it might make for good television, contacted the Robertsons and offered them a bunch of money to perform in a "reality" show, the family agreed, and somewhere along the way it became Duck Dynasty; they're all playing fictional versions of themselves in the same way every other actor assumes a role and pretends to be someone they're not.  The show may or may not be scripted in the traditional sense (rumors abound), but the premise for each episode is clearly established in advance and they act/improvise their way through.  It's a modern version of The Beverly Hillbillies, except the Robertsons didn't load up the truck and move to Bev-er-leee (Hills, that is; swimming pools, movie stars).

Well I find the "never put much thought into it" part a bit tough to believe.
In my experience a person doesn't go from looking like the cast from "Friends" to the Beverly Hillbillies naturally.
It's just too far. I can't imagine it as anything but a strategy. Characters intended to appeal to an audience.

I doubt that A&E just found them. In fact they had 2 shows before Duck Dynasty.

On the show, Mr. Robertson, a graduate of Louisiana Tech, pretends he's just an unassuming backwoods hick from the Louisiana swamps and not a former teacher who earned a master's in education. Given his penchant for philosophically astute observations, it shouldn't come as a surprise that at 67 Mr. Robertson is the most self-aware character of "Duck Dynasty" and the one most likely to engage in didactic pronouncements on matters both religious and cultural.

His playful references to his three daughters-in-law as "yuppies" is a recurring trope that highlights his disdain for their city-slicker roots and their unbridled pursuit of suburban creature comforts. He frequently uses "rednecking" as a verb and subtly positions himself as an example of a more authentic way of life.

Still, it was probably the show's writers, rather than Mr. Robertson, who were most at fault. He was merely following a script he had been given. He's several seasons into mastering the role of the stoic Christian swamp lord who refuses to be "softened" by his family's half-billion dollar fortune. He knows his role is to be the clan's most uncompromising redneck and cultural evangelist.

Moreover, the producers of Duck Dynasty seem hellbent on not just lauding the good, old-fashioned Robertson family values, but downright exploiting them. If you?ve never watched the show, every episode ends with the family seated around a dinner table and Willie, in a machismo fashion, says grace. It has been widely circulated throughout the year that producers at A&E asked the Robertsons to tone down on the prayer. While this has since been proven false, such a rumor created a huge uproar among the show?s faithful following.

You?d be crazy to think that A&E would actually want the cast members of Duck Dynasty to stop praying. A&E ran the focus groups, they saw how prayer tested among potential viewers and the target audiences, and they know what it brings to the table. Sad as it may sound, prayer is a plot device used masterfully by A&E. Duck Dynasty is catered to a conservative audience, many of whom are going to be drawn to the prayer aspect. The network wants the prayers because they know it is one reason viewers keep tuning in. It made total sense to make the ending ?grace? a staple in every episode; it closes off each story perfectly.

Doesn?t that stir the pot just a little? Doesn?t the most wholesome show we?ve seen of late seem a little more constructed and even, dare we say, manipulative? It does to me. It also perpetuates the issue that the forms of media we take in that shape our worldview are all about ratings. We see peoples? lives after they?ve been redesigned to fit certain archetypes and we?re fed these archetypes rather than actual people. It?s the equivalent of eating a McDonald?s chicken nugget and thinking it?s free range chicken. The end result might be more artificial than organic.

[Reverend Al]

Well I find the "never put much thought into it" part a bit tough to believe.
In my experience a person doesn't go from looking like the cast from "Friends" to the Beverly Hillbillies naturally.
It's just too far. I can't imagine it as anything but a strategy. Characters intended to appeal to an audience.

I should have chosen my words more carefully or, better yet, expanded on that statement.  When I wrote that they never put much thought into it, I was responding to your previous comments that implied (as I interpreted them) the Robertsons were masterminding the show and that they altered their appearances and created their respective on-screen personas purely to ridicule and/or parody potential viewers.  Surely they're protective of the empire they've created and knew in advance that the show would likely be a tool to generate more sales of their products, but I don't see any of them sitting in a board room plotting evil deeds and twisting their mustaches like a cliched villain in a silent movie; that job falls to the strategists at A&E who spend their days devising ways to get better ratings for the shows they produce.  Also, I'm sure the changes in their appearances was suggested by someone at A&E.  Hell, father Phil and his brother Silas already had beards, so for them the change wasn't much of a stretch; they just had to "redneckify" the boys.

But to boil this down to it's basics, I think we're simply examining this issue from different perspectives.  You seem to be (or are pretending to be) surprised and/or offended by the "discovery" that something on television isn't real.  I, on the other hand, am surprised that anyone would think anything they see on television is real.  And that includes these so-called "reality" shows.  It's all fake.  Yeah, a crew followed these people around and filmed them, but the footage is edited by producers in order to tell the story they (the producers) want to tell regardless of whether or not that was how the events actually unfolded.  With regards to Duck Dynasty, although I have no evidence to support my opinion I'm sure they have a meeting of sorts before filming each episode, during which someone on the A&E payroll tells them, "Okay, this week you're going frog hunting on a golf course," (or whatever the premise is for that week), and somewhere along the way they come up with the dialogue and the gags that wind up in the finished episodes.  It's entertainment, and if they manage to generate a fan base and sell a few more duck calls (which they have), so much the better.

[BikerDude]

Well I find the "never put much thought into it" part a bit tough to believe.
In my experience a person doesn't go from looking like the cast from "Friends" to the Beverly Hillbillies naturally.
It's just too far. I can't imagine it as anything but a strategy. Characters intended to appeal to an audience.

I should have chosen my words more carefully or, better yet, expanded on that statement.  When I wrote that they never put much thought into it, I was responding to your previous comments that implied (as I interpreted them) the Robertsons were masterminding the show and that they altered their appearances and created their respective on-screen personas purely to ridicule and/or parody potential viewers.  Surely they're protective of the empire they've created and knew in advance that the show would likely be a tool to generate more sales of their products, but I don't see any of them sitting in a board room plotting evil deeds and twisting their mustaches like a cliched villain in a silent movie; that job falls to the strategists at A&E who spend their days devising ways to get better ratings for the shows they produce.  Also, I'm sure the changes in their appearances was suggested by someone at A&E.  Hell, father Phil and his brother Silas already had beards, so for them the change wasn't much of a stretch; they just had to "redneckify" the boys.

But to boil this down to it's basics, I think we're simply examining this issue from different perspectives.  You seem to be (or are pretending to be) surprised and/or offended by the "discovery" that something on television isn't real.  I, on the other hand, am surprised that anyone would think anything they see on television is real.  And that includes these so-called "reality" shows.  It's all fake.  Yeah, a crew followed these people around and filmed them, but the footage is edited by producers in order to tell the story they (the producers) want to tell regardless of whether or not that was how the events actually unfolded.  With regards to Duck Dynasty, although I have no evidence to support my opinion I'm sure they have a meeting of sorts before filming each episode, during which someone on the A&E payroll tells them, "Okay, this week you're going frog hunting on a golf course," (or whatever the premise is for that week), and somewhere along the way they come up with the dialogue and the gags that wind up in the finished episodes.  It's entertainment, and if they manage to generate a fan base and sell a few more duck calls (which they have), so much the better.

I'm not surprised or offended by the fact that something on TV is not true.
And sadly I'm not surprised that so many people clearly do think it is true.
I'm disgusted by the fact that so many people think it's true.
And consequently that we end up with Phil addressing the Republican Leadership Conference 2014 as in the video that I posted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr0YNgZyTao
I mean come on! How much more of a complete joke do we need to make American politics?
It's bad enough that we have televangelists flaunting and proving the gullibility of people, but once we have it penetrating politics I admit to finding it all a bit offensive.
But it's old news by now.
It eventually boils down to rich people realizing the payoff in playing into the Credulity of simple folk in order to get votes or make money or whatever.
Reality TV plus politics. Wow! We have reached a new low.

As far as the Robertson's go I do think that there is clearly a strategy at play.
When a guy who is a college graduate holding a masters degree in education presents himself as a "simple feller" who speaks in backwoods broken English it's obviously a persona. A strategy to appeal to some audience and demographic. Obviously a demographic that is not college educated. And I totally agree with you that the people at A&E script stories and situations meant to present these persona for ratings to that exact demographic.
But when later he leverages the popularity of an invented persona and stands at the podium and gives a speech in character in order to drum up political support for a party that derives most of it's campaign funds from extremely wealthy people(true of both of the big ones) who once elected, consistently represent the interests of the wealthy to the exclusion of the very people they peddle their bullshit to, (true of both of the big ones) well again how much of a complete joke has American politics become? He knows he's not the character we see and he has to know that he's there specifically to appeal to people who think that he is. From where he's standing he simply could not possibly miss that reality.  It does make the whole thing a sham. It's like that movie Wag the dog.  Now we see pictures of these guys looking like the cast of Friends? No big surprise. As a biker I've seen plenty of yuppies who buy themselves a 20 grand new personality and all of a sudden they go from an alligator shirt to a torn tee and  they are supposed to be "bad to the bone" so maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this sort of thing. I'll grant. But I'm sorry these type of phonies don't represent any type of "lifestyle" that I ascribe to. It's just dress up.

Playing God Bless the USA at political rallies and the tendency of politicians to overuse the term "folks" and freedom fries or trotting out the Duck Dynasty guys etc etc. It's all bullshit. Calculated to appeal to people they'd never deal with otherwise. Devised by people who would call security if most of the people who they are trying to sell to ever showed up at their country club. And it works like a charm. And it makes the entire process a joke. Sadly politics has become reality TV. I just find it sad and pathetic. And if it didn't work, it wouldn't happen.

There are 2 things that you can bet are usually complete bullshit when it comes to politics and media.
Religion and patriotism. If either is important then we should not except the fake version that we generally see.

Fucking  Douche Dynasty. Ha! Laughable mang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoqlvldPB2Y

[Reverend Al]

...As a biker I've seen plenty of yuppies who buy themselves a 20 grand new personality and all of a sudden they go from an alligator shirt to a torn tee and  they are supposed to be "bad to the bone" so maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this sort of thing...

A former co-worker referred to those types as Chromosexuals, i.e. the types who trailer their bikes behind their $500,000 motor homes to somewhere near Sturgis, then ride the last 5-10 miles and act as if they had biked the entire journey.

As for the rest of what you wrote, I agree.  Politics in this country (and others) is about as real as those so-called reality shows, and the politicians clearly don't give a shit about anyone outside of their personal inner circle.

[BikerDude]

...As a biker I've seen plenty of yuppies who buy themselves a 20 grand new personality and all of a sudden they go from an alligator shirt to a torn tee and  they are supposed to be "bad to the bone" so maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this sort of thing...

A former co-worker referred to those types as Chromosexuals, i.e. the types who trailer their bikes behind their $500,000 motor homes to somewhere near Sturgis, then ride the last 5-10 miles and act as if they had biked the entire journey.

As for the rest of what you wrote, I agree.  Politics in this country (and others) is about as real as those so-called reality shows, and the politicians clearly don't give a shit about anyone outside of their personal inner circle.

A sad state of affairs for sure.
We are becoming a McCountry. With McValues and McPatriotism and McReligion etc etc etc...
And yup McBikers and McPolitics.

Ok I'm a cranky old fucker.
Fuck it Dudes.
Very sad indeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n34eeXWjUQ

Our Basic Freedoms...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTOQhPd2Xh4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dD5zHfC-5Y