‘Have You Seen The News? He Was Right About Everything’: Reddit’s Conspiracy Community Mourns Dale Gribble Voice Actor Johnny Hardwick
Yesterday morning, it was reported that King of the Hill, ed away in his Texas home at 64 — or so they want you to think.
In all animated sitcom history, few characters are as synonymous with the bunker-building, tinfoil hat-wearing, pocket-sand throwing community of conspiracy theorists than trusted and loved his friends and family deeply — and no one loved Dale more than the real-life skeptical exterminators and libertarian bounty hunters who saw themselves reflected on the lenses of his aviators.
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In a post mournfully titled, “We Lost a Compatriot,” Reddit’s /r/conspiracy community eulogized Hardwick and his most famous character. When the government finally releases images of those aliens we know they’re hiding from us, we hope they look a little bit like Joseph.
“Pouring out some pocket sand tonight because we lost a real one,” the top commenter proclaimed to the Venn diagram intersection of conspiracy enthusiasts and King of the Hill fans, which looks suspiciously like a circle. “RIP Mr. Shackleford,” another soon added.
The original poster explained his grief in his submission statement, writing, “Dale may have been a parody, but he was our representation in popular media. Let’s take a moment and reflect on how Dale opened a younger generations eyes to conspiracy.” However, someone who definitely isn’t a CIA plant cracked, “Unironically identifying with Dale Gribble is so f-ing funny man, lmao.”
Many s echoed OP’s sentiment that the character was their entryway into the world of chemtrails and NASA cover-ups, with one noting, “I’ve had so many awesome memories of this show. Dale made me the conspiracy nut I am today.”
“Decent and well-crafted humor is indicative of truth, and it’s this strange relationship that we all instinctively understand. … Perhaps if this world wisens up, we could all laugh together just how ridiculous these globalists, cabalists, whatever title they are referred to, was all just a giant glaring joke of a stain on humanity,” one particularly loquacious skeptic said of Dale’s (and Hardwick’s) impact on the world. “RIP, thank you for nurturing critical thinking people through humor, in a world desperate to oppress or ignore that very inquisitiveness.”
One was confused at the community’s conflation of Hardwick to the character he developed and played, asking, “He was a voice actor. What do we know about his true opinions?” To which another replied, “Ya we get it. But he’s the actor who gave us a voice.”
Another succinctly summarized, “Global warming is a hoax.”
