The Robertson family of “Duck Dynasty” fame has always been transparent about their lives, both good and bad, and even candidly portrayed Phil Robertson’s early struggles with alcohol addiction in the movie “The Blind.” It’s this kind of transparency that has allowed audiences of all backgrounds to feel a genuine connection to the Robertson family. Korie Robertson told The Christian Post, “We want to show God’s faithfulness to us. We went to Phil to talk to him about doing this movie because it’s his story. He shows the hardest parts of his life, and that’s tough to put it out there on the screen.”
“The Blind,” now streaming on Great American Pure Flix, unpacks Phil’s story from his childhood through 1985 and focuses on the challenges faced by the bearded Louisiana native and his wife, Kay Robertson, during the early years of their marriage. Disappointed by his father’s abandonment of his family, Robertson is shown struggling with anger issues, alcoholism and emotional instability until he surrenders his life to Jesus.
At the core of “The Blind” lies a narrative of redemption and faithfulness, themes deeply intertwined with the Robertson family’s journey. Korie highlighted the significance of portraying the raw and broken parts of their story to underscore God’s unwavering faithfulness. Korie said, “Phil said, from day one, ‘If it impacts one person, if one person changes their life and gives their life to Jesus, because of my story, because of the darkest parts of my story, I’ll do it. It’ll be worth it.’ One of the greatest rewards has just been to read the comments and read the emails that have come in that have told us the life change that has happened in people’s lives after seeing this film.”
Korie, who is married to Phil’s son, Willie, said the family has heard countless stories of those who’ve been baptized, delivered from addiction or seen their marriages healed after watching the movie. Some of the baptisms, she said, have happened right in Phil’s backyard. She said, “I wish we knew how many thousands of people have been baptized in that river right behind Phil and Kay’s house because Phil loves to baptize people and has done it right there in his backyard for years and years and years.”
She continued, “People would head straight to the church or head straight to the body of water right after seeing the movie; one group had like 27 baptisms, and right after the film, everyone just kind of continued and went somewhere worshiped. One woman said her husband had been an alcoholic for 17 years; he never goes to the movies with her. She convinced him to come to the movie with her because he loved Phil and our show. He reached over and held her hand for the first time in years while they were watching the movie. I read that and just bawled.”
As a producer on the film and a member of the family, Korie Robertson said delving into her in-law’s story also impacted her views of redemption and family unity. It was profoundly emotional, she said, to witness the power of forgiveness and transformation. She said, “One of the things Kay taught me early on is forgiveness and its impact and power. There’s this narrative that we have in the world that people can’t change, and seeing their lives and Phil’s life showed me early on that people can change, they can, and they do. You can hold out hope for that.”