Speaking to the Christian Post in a recent interview, Korie Robertson, part of the Robertson family of “Duck Dynasty” fame, spoke about how thousands were baptized after watching “The Blind.” That film is about the life of Phil Robertson, the family patriarch, as he struggled with an addiction to alcohol and gradually overcame that and became the Christian he is today.
According to Korie, it was the film’s complete transparency about what happened and how faith saved Phil and his family from a dark path and lots of suffering. She said that that faithful rendition of his faith and struggles, a candid portrayal, helped audiences feel a real connection to the Robertson family and its story, something that helped them build their faith in God.
Commenting on the matter to the Christian Post, Korie said, “We want to show God’s faithfulness to us.” Continuing, she explained how they got Phil to do the movie, saying, “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.”
And he agreed to do it. Explaining Phil’s commitment, she 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.”
She then noted that thousands were baptized behind the house of Phil and Kay, inspired by his faith and story. 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.”
Continuing with the story of the baptisms, Korie noted that dozens of people showed up after the movie, telling the Christian Post, “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.”
Then, giving one particularly poignant example of how it saved someone who was like Phil, addicted to alcohol, she said, “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.”
Korie also commented on the ethos behind the film, saying, “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.”
Featured image credit: By Movieguide® – https://www.flickr.com/photos/movieguide/50091735926/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135033353