Is Family Guy Taking Things Too Far?

Family Guy is a popular television show that incorporates stereotypes, gender inequality, racism, sexuality and politics by using a form of humor to disguise the inappropriateness of the joke. Family Guy has episodes that direct inappropriate jokes at transgenders, specifically the character of Quagmire’s dad who becomes a woman. One comment is that “It doesn’t play like comedy; it just feels like unrelentingly cruel to a community that is already marginalized by society at large” (Wojnar). An example of sexuality in this television show is seen when the character Brian (an adult dog) tries to seduce a young teenage girl. The show uses humor but seen past the humor is the fact that an adult man is trying to seduce a young girl and that is just plain wrong. It is promoting rape culture which is already a large enough issue in today’s society and shouldn’t be joked about. Stereotypes can be seen in almost any episode, but a specific example is when the character Peter wishes for a Jewish man to help fix his financial problems. There is even a song in this episode titled “I need a Jew”. The stereotype of Jewish people being good with money is demonstrated throughout this episode. Another example of stereotypes seen in this show is when an asian family is shown and the father goes into his son’s room asking “are you a doctor yet?” This shows the stereotype of asians being highly intelligent. Politics can be seen in many different episodes, but a specific episode was so bold that it was not aired on FOX, and was only allowed to be on dvd series of the show. The episode was centered around the political topic of abortion. In the episode, Lois, Peter’s wife is a surrogate for a couple that then is killed in a car accident. This leaves Lois questioning whether or not she should have an abortion. At the very end of the episode Peter is heard saying “we had the abortion” and the screen then goes black. If aired, this episode would have cause controversy between the democrats and republicans of today’s society. Gender inequality can be seen in almost any episode because Lois, the wife, is a stay at home mom that is always seen cooking or taking care of the children. Peter, the husband, has a job and is never at home cooking or taking care of the children. There are many “jokes” made throughout this series about women not being as equal as men. Racism is seen often in this television show. An example of racism could be seen in an episode involving a middle eastern man wearing a turban and he is constantly accused of being a terrorist. This could also count as an example of stereotypes. These are only a select few examples from the show Family Guy. This show gets away with such inappropriate jokes simply by tying them into humor. Many people are likely to be offended and disgusted with this show while others thoroughly enjoy the inappropriateness. While jokes and humor are enjoyable, there is a line that is crossed sometimes and Family Guy is an example of the line being crossed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVODv8A5-EM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRqOeFxdwIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y15bJwFsAOQ




Works Cited
https://screenrant.com/family-guy-went-too-far-most-offensive-moments/
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