John Schneider's new film, To Die For, comes with a trigger warning: "This movie is intensely patriotic. If patriotism and love of country offend you in any way… watch this film… then move somewhere else." Before becoming a propagandist and claiming to be a victim of the "woke left," Schneider played Beauregard "Bo" Duke on The Dukes of Hazard.
The Dukes of Hazard aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985. A comedy – of sorts – set in Hazard County, Georgia, the series told the story of cousins Bo and Luke Duke, Daisy, Uncle Jesse, the commissioner Boss Hogg, and sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane.
On probation for moonshine distilling, i.e., convicted white criminals, Bo and Luke drove an orange Dodge Charger with the Confederate Flag painted across the roof. On Friday nights for six years, between The Incredible Hulk, and the nighttime soap opera Dallas, the Duke boys entertained America. Normalizing breaking the law – for the right reasons, of course, The Dukes of Hazard personified and glorified Southern confederate culture and the toxic notion that "boys will be boys." Norman Lear was probably horrified.
John Schneider is also a country music singer and filmmaker specializing in patriotic dude flicks, reinforcing simple notions of good and evil, strong and weak, that women are objects and tools, and the United States is the most benevolent empire in the galaxy's history. Produced by John Schneider Studios, this self-identified "Redneck Rebel "has released a trailer for his new movie, To Die For.
(Full disclosure, I did not shell out $19.99 to rent the movie.)
"Even in this ever-changing world some things refuse to bend. Meet Gunnery Sergeant Quint North. A creature of habit and discipline, the current PC world and patriots are the enemy of progress mentality makes no sense at all to him. The propensity of athletes taking a knee and disrespecting not only this great country but also those who gave their lives protecting it makes even less. But what can one man do to fight the intentional decay of the greatest country the world has ever known? Speak out. Live a patriotic example. And, if necessary, die for his flag. Why..? Because she's worth it."
North is the quintessential aggrieved innocent white male victim, persecuted by liberals, a premise that will get traction in the current reactionary cultural environment in the United States.
