Hank Hill Is The Conservative Hero We Need

Hank Hill is a hardworking middle-class man who only cares about three things: his family, propane and propane accessories, fiscal responsibility, and drinking beer with his friends (okay, four things). Despite the fact that Hank is a card-carrying Republican and practicing Methodist with a strongly established sense of self, he’s not an immovable object; a notion that becomes increasingly apparent as the series progresses. Aiming to satirize traditional red-state family values, King of the Hill does an excellent job pointing out the absurdity of being set in your ways, and through Hank Hill shows us that somewhere between red and blue ideologies, there is a beautiful shade of gray that needs to be considered. 

Most importantly, I need to talk about Hank Hill’s relationship with his son, Bobby. In Hank’s ideal world, Bobby would have a flattop haircut, play football, and do manly things like grill, hunt, work on cars, and date cheerleaders. Bobby is the exact opposite, as he embraces stand-up comedy, doesn’t want to shoot deer, and seemingly has no interest in dating girls in the early episodes.

Despite their diametrically opposed personalities, Hank loves Bobby unconditionally and does everything he can to make sure Bobby feels supported no matter what path in life he decides to take, even if he doesn’t necessarily approve of some of his more questionable behavior. 

Hank Hill’s relationship with his own father, Cotton, drives this point home because their relationship is questionable to say the least. Recognizing that he sustained a considerable amount of emotional abuse as a child, Hank’s level-headed yet sometimes misguided approach to parenting is commendable because he knows first-hand what it’s like to not win his father’s approval. In other words, the notion of traditional masculinity that Cotton so proudly embraces stops with Hank because Bobby’s happiness is more important to him than embracing tradition. 

As a friend, Hank Hill deals with his idiotic neighbors on a daily basis, but always functions as the voice of reason they so desperately need to hear when they get involved in their hare-brained schemes. Between Dale’s wild and anarchistic conspiracy theories, Boomhauer’s relentless womanizing, and Bill’s never-ending battle with depression, Hank’s solid footing in adult life makes him the consistent and reliable friend that he needs to be. Though Hank’s behavior in his day-to-day interactions aren’t necessarily reflective of his political stance, his willingness to meet everybody in the middle before giving them a stern lecture is most certainly rooted in what he believes to be a more conservative approach to handling his affairs. 

Always active at town hall meetings, Hank Hill brazenly stands up for his community and takes one for the team when he has to. In “Flush with Power,” when the town of Arlen forces its residents to switch over to low-flow toilets, Hank doesn’t bicker or name-call, but instead comes up with a sound argument to present to the community as reasonably as he could. By reaching across the aisle and laying out his case, Hank Hill proves that the low-flow toilets are ineffectual and saves the day. 

As Hank Hill’s character evolves throughout King of the Hill’s run, it’s clear that he’s an open-minded individual who is always willing to do the right thing– even if doing the right thing goes against his core beliefs. Through this willingness to entertain other perspectives and learn from everybody else in his community, Hank Hill is the conservative hero we all need to look up to. At the end of the day, all you need to do to stay on Hank Hill’s good side is denounce charcoal and butane.

And if you passionately disagree with him, he’ll try his best to kindly educate you.