Monday, March 25, 2013

Duck Dynasty's Willie Wilts


In today's culture, it is a challenge to keep teenage girls dressed modestly.  I am amazed at the lack of clothing many Christian girls wear.  So, I eagerly watched Willie, from Duck Dynasty, last Wednesday, as he confronted his daughter, Sadie, about the very short dress she bought for Homecoming.

The show opened with Sadie showing off her dress to the family.  Willie was not pleased.  While the dress was cute, it was strapless and very short.  In typical Willie fashion, he made a big deal, objected to the dress, and accepted the challenge of taking Sadie shopping for an acceptable dress.  Upon entering the store, Willie returned the dress because it was not enough of a dress.  As Sadie selects different dresses, Willie rejects them even before she tries them on.  Then, she actually tries dresses on, with Willie still rejecting every dress because they are too short.  In typical teenage fashion, Sadie complained about her dad being unreasonable and called her mom, Korie.  Korie appeared just in time to save Sadie from her unreasonable father.  Finally, Willie gave in and approved a dress picked out by Sadie.  Willie looked foolish since this was the same dress that was originally purchased by Sadie.

While Duck Dynasty is one of my favorite shows, I have to be critical of Willie and his family regarding Sadie's dress.  First, Willie gave in on an important issue of modesty.  He was right about the dress.  But, he wilted under pressure from his daughter.  He knew what was right and he did not do it.  By giving in, he allowed his daughter to wear a dress that he believed was not modest.  A father should not do this.  To make make matters worse, by giving in, he makes it nearly impossible to win future battles.  Sadie is now empowered to wear even shorter dresses, lower cut dresses, go out with whomever she wants, stay out as late as she wants, etc.  After all, with enough whining, mom will come and rescue her from her unreasonable dad, who will eventually give in.

Second, Korie, Willie's wife, failed to support Willie.  They should have been united.  Parents will not win battles with their children unless they are united.  Even if Korie disagreed with Willie, she should have supported him in Sadie's presence.  If she disagreed with him, she should have discussed it with him privately and then approached Sadie united.  Korie should have supported her husband, not her daughter.

Third, this is another example of poor fatherhood shown on television.  Typically, television depict fathers as stupid, unreasonable, and wrong.  Meanwhile, mothers are knowledgable, caring, reasonable, and right.  By giving in, Willie perpetuated television's portait of fatherhood.  This was Willie's opportunity to be countercultural by showing a father led by principles, lovingly guiding his daughter toward modesty.

Even though I am critical of Willie and his family in this episode, I look forward to laughing at the Robertson's in future episodes as they, usually, display godly values and show the world that even Christians can have fun.