Friday, November 7, 2008
Family Guy vs. Racism
^^posted on Youtube by user simpsonssite9999
As anyone familiar with Family Guy knows, and anybody else knows after watching these two clips, the show often deals with racism. Family Guy is famous for "crossing the line" in many ways whether it be racism, bashing religions, making light of tragedies too soon, or even making jokes about those who are mentally challenged.
While I have found myself thinking "wow, that was too much" I also realize that there can be a message behind the jokes. Sure, the show IS comedic but much like many animated cartoons there are reasons for the jokes (in most cases). On the other hand there are times that the jokes are just jokes...and meant to be offensive. In many of the examples in the above videos the episodes are dealing with issues in which the best way to get the point across is to show how ignorant people are. The writers use the characters to represent what is wrong in our society. There are many who believe that racism is a thing of the past, but unfortunately it still pops its head out daily. Some may not know what they are doing is racist, or what they are saying is racist...but it's these instances that need changed. I think Family Guy does a good job pointing these situations out.
On the other side of the spectrum are the people who are unintentionally racist by trying too hard to not be racist. One of the clips above is from when Peter swallowed a cell phone. He receives a call from Quagmire who says he "had sex with a black chick" and a black couple walk by and hear the conversation. Peter freaks out and tries to apologize even though the black woman says "what, he just said black?" Peter, like many Americans, thinks by simply mentioning blackness will offend the black man who "looks like your typical angry black man". This is a perfect example of ignorance that plagues society even today.
In conclusion, I believe many of the clips above speak for themselves. Knowing that they are jokes I am able to laugh at many of them. Some of them remind me of things I've heard in public or from friends, and it reminds me of just how sad it is that people still can't get over color. Ignorance is not always bliss. If people would open their eyes and realize we're all the same...life would improve. Society would improve. Until then.
-Weston White
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13 comments:
I agree so much they really do cross the boundaries, but almost in a good way to show what most people feel uncomfortable talking about. They get down to the problem and with comedy exploit it to get their points across.
-Katelyn Rose
I think this is a very accurate description of Family Guy. I feel that by bringing up the subject in a humorous light, we are more susceptible to actually thinking about it. It’s a way of desensitizing the issue. Not to say racism does not exist nor am I belittling it, but if we recognize the issue we can really make progress. By “crossing the line” as Weston put it, it’s a crude yet effective way to bring it into the forefront, into the limelight for all to see. Comparatively speaking, though the writers of Family Guy are using a technique of shock and awe, it is reminiscent of social commentary on the Sunday Comic Strips. I feel that a show such as South Park pushes the limits of what is taboo on television, simply to do just that, where as Family Guy tries to convey several short but sweet messages. Of course there are some instances where I am wrong, but now I’m just rambling. Great article Weston!
-Wes Lucko
http://anekaw.blogspot.com/2008/07/identities-in-family-guy-race-class.html
On her website she talks about class race and gender in Family guy. . . It's good, you should take a look!! :)
-Katelyn Rose
That was a really cool post and totally agree. I have had several times watching Family Guy (almost every episode) that I cannot believe what they just said, showed, or did. They cross the line all the time and I agree it is to bring light on the situation. I've heard it said that the reason Family Guy is ok is because it takes a stab at everything. The have an "equal opportunity racism" so to speak. I think comedy can be a great social tool.
The great thing about family guy is that it set itself up to not be taken serious at all.. so even if they say things that are so terribly offensive, it's hard to give it any weight since the show and the characters are just so ridiculous in the first place..
-Sean Thompson
In the new season there was a particular episode where Louis goes to Paris and at the end of the episode, Chris' teacher hurt himself and cried for the kids to "Go get that big --beep-- Black Nurse" This was extremely racist towards African American female nurses. Not only that, there was a part in the episode where a drivers Ed teacher was Asian and a Math teacher was Black. Peter says "well today I guess math will be taught by a Black Man" my boyfriend and I had a huge fight about it. He says that its all funny jokes and yes its racist but its still enjoyable. Honestly family guy is real fun to watch but listening to these types of jokes are a complete turnoff. Maybe family guy has enough money to where my little bit of input won't ever matter or actually make a difference... but because of those jokes I left my boyfriend in bed cuddling by himself because I DONT think its funny and NO honey I DONT forgive you...and yes if you ever put family guy on again while Im over BELIEVE that you will be sleeping alone for the REST of your life. Goodnight.
Please bear with me, this will be super lengthy as I plan on pointing out [most] all the racist comments.
I USED to find Family Guy funny (read: I used to be extremely racist and ignorant). Now it enrages me because my eyes have been opened to a new level of awareness and while it seems great that they make these known, they do not correct these behaviors. They don't make them better. These stereotypes are already known, and that is the problem. I don't know that I have fully reached the point of being rid of all my racist beliefs and such, but you can bet my life and your life that I am working on fixing this massive problem!!
Let's look at the bottom episode, where Quagmire says he had sex with a black [woman]. This episode was riddled with unacceptable racist stereotypes all throughout.
While we whites may be able to laugh at it, because we don't experience it, those that do experience it (some if not all - every day) aren't going to find it funny because it's their reality and it's highly unpleasant and WRONG!
(cont.)
Did anyone notice how it was Cleveland who got beat up...and worst of all, the automated system PLANTED the gun beside him as it announced "Danger. He has a gun. minority suspect."? Worst than this still, his own supposed friends did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to stop it except for Joe yelling at him to stop; thus clearly aware of what it was going to do but did he roll in the way to stop him? Did they leap to help fight off his oppressor? No, they just stood there and ignored it. After seeing what it wrongfully did to Cleveland, Did any of them try to change this system so it didn't beat up a friend of theirs? No! This is happening even still today. Very few are even standing up and speaking out against racism. Some blacks are incarcerated just because they are considered a suspect even when they are doing NOTHING wrong or suspicious at all; it is all race-based assumptions.
A woman in my class told us about how her black boyfriend was walking down the street with a backpack on so he could go to the gym. Cops pulled him over "just in case" and requested to go through his stuff because "there were burglaries around the area and they 'had to be sure he was safe and did not have anything in his bag." I certainly have never had this problem as a white woman. Nor have I been followed around a store because "I might steal." Racism is still happening today, but it is more subtle, and just as harmful and negatively impacting because of these stereotypical assumptions out there, we are taught to believe that they are the truth. Thus the reason for these blacks having a wrongfully harder time. Thus creating inequality. America is not as equal as we are lead to believe.
Next, did anyone notice how the dolphin's "talked black" and one of them said he "almost drowned" thus making it sound "stupid" (because it's a dolphin and should automatically be able to know how to do that behavior.) There are racist jokes out there like this, demeaning blacks as "stupid." Yet how many intelligent black people do you know? How many stupid white people do you know? It is not just about your race. People of varying races, socioeconomic class, and so on have a varied level of education. None are "so stupid" they are "not human" though. The very fact that they are human, makes them human alone and adds to the variety of what humans are. This demeaning is just a way to be more powerful and keep people down.
Let's move on. A black man wants to move into town, or visit town, and yet Kermit cocks his gun and tells him to go away. I find it horrifying that they used a puppet, some inanimate toy that is not even human to send the black man away thus making it seem as if blacks are even lower and worse to have in town than animals/puppets/etc. Think this isn't happening? Take a look at your neighborhood or any neighborhood around. What's the black-to-white ratio? What's the perceived expectation about that neighborhood (i.e., is it safe? Is it a slum neighborhood? Is it dangerous? Guess which ones are labeled as which.) Some white neighborhoods do not even HAVE blacks in them. Others may only have one or three blacks compared to a dozen whites. There are people that will leave when a black family moves in (this is called White Flight). What for? Because it is said to decrease the value of the homes- all because they are Black. Does no one else find this ridiculous and repulsive that our society is shamefully like this? It's like Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes exercise. Judging someone because they have blue eyes and therefore are stupid, can't do anything right, are more dangerous, more aggressive, and so on. Even when you can find those same traits in brown eyes.
Then we have the episode where Quagmire's talking in Peter's stomach. (On a side note, the word "chick" demeans women. Another way that Family Guy promotes problems, but for this segment, we won't go beyond this comment.) Just saying black IS fine, hell, it's good. It ACKNOWLEDGES the differences that are out there. We are NOT all equal. Our cultures are different, even amongst races. So trying to teach that we are "all the same" is just as damaging and bad, and will continue to promote racism because it will allude to the blind belief that the skin color doesn't matter when it does. We make it matter. It's part of who we are. Just as some of us are blondes, some have green or blue eyes, some have brown or black eyes. Some of us are bigger built and some are smaller built. Some of us come from collectivist cultures, some from individualistic. The foods we typically eat are different. Do you understand the point; we are not all the same. We are different in countless ways. Even promoting equality for all is a bit difficult on some levels: would you feed a 4 year old the same amount of food that you would feed a 10 year old? Would you feed an adult and a baby the same type of food? There are some things that should be equal, and some things that should take all factors into consideration. Acceptance and understanding and even willingness to learn about others and so on-- that's a better message to promote, in my humble opinion.
I have strayed a bit from the Family Guy hashing out, so to bring it back: Peter goes on to say "Yeah, but your boyfriend looks like a typical angry black guys and I didn't want to offend him." Did you notice how he didn't beat the crap out of Peter? He HAD to or he would have been "proving that the stereotype is correct." Yet if Peter beat the crap out of the black man, would he be labeled as an "aggressive white man?" Not likely.
Then Peter tries to bump his fist and just brush it off as being cool and alright. Is it really, though? Far from it. Notice how angry they are? Notice how they have to just swallow it and walk away? Or grin and bear it? Yeah, that's what they are taught to do so they can "be white" and "not have problems" in our society and be stereotyped and are forced to work harder to maintain themselves than whites are.
Then there's Brian in a Taxi Cab doing his job, and Cleveland hails the Taxi. What does Brian do? Does he stop and provide accommodations to Cleveland? No. He averts his eyes, thinks of other things, and ignores the fact that Cleveland is right there to avoid providing him service. Yet Cleveland is a friend. What does this say about Brian? About others that do this? About society and Family Guy for promoting this?
Then there are all the people stripping off their "white clothes" and cheering and dancing naked in the streets...while the white/Asian woman stands there completely unamused and all. This one promotes the stereotype that blacks are loud, wild, and get crazy so they would even dance in the street, on cars and buildings nearly naked when given any amount of freedom that is intolerable to others because of it. Sounds great though with the song's message, does it not?
Next we have the bowling ball scene. What a doozy this one is. Phew.
Joe points out that the "self-righteous pins can't be blamed because the black balls in their neighborhood uninvited" -- this goes back to that boat incident and all with the neighborhood. Cleveland points out how the black ball did nothing wrong. Joe brushes it off as not having anything to fear. This puts the blame off the whites and onto the blacks. Trouble is, the blacks often ARE innocent and SHOULD NOT have anything to fear… yet they do not have the power that whites do to make this accurate.
This is a mere two minutes out of the show, and it's packed with a stereotypical punch of inequality, intolerance, and demeaning horror.
Yet we feel this is acceptable because it's "all in good fun." Absolute malarkey. Any time someone stands up against something that is racist, sexist, ageist, etc as NOT being funny, then they get ridiculed for "not having a sense of humor" or for "being lame." WRONG. If you cannot find jokes that do NOT harm others, that are NOT racist or anything else.. Then that person is the one without a sense of humor in a world where there is tons of possible jokes out there to avoid these problems. When it hurts someone, it's clearly not going to be funny for them and they should NOT have to grin, bear it, and laugh about it. If you need to coat the joke with "don't get offended" or "learn to smile and laugh"… That's intolerable, unacceptable, and wrong on many levels.
For anyone willing to delve into this more and understand it from a new, and potentially painful/uncomfortable perspective to witness:
Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes exercises are highly powerful and eye opening in her approach to help others experience and understand what whites have subjected blacks to for far too long. It started out with her trying to teacher her (3rd?) graders about racism after Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered. She tried to teach them by explaining to them what was going on in the world. It didn't really register with them or anything because at that time, racism was acceptable and expected. The children had never interacted with blacks. So she asked them if they wanted to try judging each other by the color of their eyes. The children were excited to try it. The results were terrifying and eye opening for them (and me). I've watched one of these videos in a multicultural club and in class, thus enabling me to see the world through others' eyes; classmates' eyes and not just through the video. It's had a major effect on me. Race has become one of my heated topics to fight against.
Sadly, this message likely won't reach many if anyone since this was posted so long ago... But I am hoping to provide another perspective anyway in the hopes of making a difference in a similar way Jane Elliott has done since I don't think I can pack near the punch that she has done.
Much love and acceptance to everyone. :) Thank you anyone whom has stayed with me through all this. You are highly appreciated. :)
~
Amanda
Well said. There's too much forced political correctness on TV. I just wrote about this very thing. Check it out... http://wp.me/pkoJz-b8
Family guy goes against human moral's, the eposisodes are full of racist, atheist, pedaphilia, violence towards children, everything that goes against being a decent human,it's sad how they promote these types of programs
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