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The fact "Family Guy" raised the ire of Sarah Palin seems inevitable.
Last week, the show featured an episode in which teenager Chris goes on a date with a classmate, Ellen, who has Down syndrome.
Actress Andrea Fay Friedman, who voiced the character, is also afflicted with the disease.
In a quick side-joke, Chris asks Ellen what her parents do and Ellen replies, "My dad is an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska."
The joke refers to Palin, whose youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.
Of course, Palin was upset, calling the show’s writers "cruel" and "coldhearted."
While Friedman and "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane assert that the joke was on Palin and not her son, Palin has a legitimate reason to be offended.
Her son’s disease was still used as a way to attack her. Down syndrome wasn’t the target of ridicule here (some have praised the episode for Ellen as a normal teenager), but it was the vehicle for a cheap shot.
Although "Family Guy" brings back fond memories of my high school days, I have thoroughly hated the show for last couple years.
And I almost always pass on the reruns of the older episodes in favor of better options.
For all the show’s attempts to be edgy, it has no satiric value.
On other adult cartoons like "South Park" and "The Boondocks," for example, potentially offensive content is used humorously to make serious and thought-provoking points about our society.
These shows have enough substance to justify their content. "Family Guy" does not.
It did not make any point about Palin or America. The joke was nothing but a low blow.
But that’s what I’ve come to expect from "Family Guy." The writers throw jokes at the wall and see what will stick for a short, cheap laugh.
Nothing on the show has ever been deep or thought-provoking, and the episodes that do cover current issues or events only provide shallow pandering to people who have the same mind-set as the writers.
I like dumb shows sometimes but not ones that try to be smart and fail.
"South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren’t always the kings of subtlety, but MacFarlane makes them look like Woody Allen.
Palin was right to call out the MacFarlane crew for having no heart behind its criticisms and therefore, no real claim to satire.
But other recent events suggest that Palin doesn’t actually understand satire either.
At the beginning of this month, Palin called for the firing of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after he said that liberal groups wanting to run health care-related ads against Democratic legislators were "f---ing retarded."
There’s really no defense for comparing those who disagree with you to the mentally challenged, right?
Palin basically answered "wrong" to this question when she defended Rush Limbaugh for saying, "our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult’s taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards ‘retards,’" as the beginning of an insensitive tirade.
In an interview with FOX News’ Chris Wallace, Palin said Limbaugh’s statements were acceptable because he was "using satire" to shed light on Emanuel’s remark.
Palin said she "did not hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with ‘f-ing retards.’"
As seen above, he did, minus an expletive.
So what makes Limbaugh different from Emanuel? In Palin’s eyes, it’s the fact that she politically agrees with Limbaugh.
Palin and MacFarlane are, in many ways, binary opposites.
Palin is a conservative who emphasizes traditionalism and religious values (as they are generally considered), while MacFarlane is a liberal and an atheist.
In actuality, they are not so different.
Both make it clear they see their own views as what people’s normal thought patterns should be and opposite views as irrational or unintelligent.
Both are willing to use crass or rude expressions when going on the offensive against those opposite views.
Both are ready to defend their actions by saying "it was just a joke" or "they’re only offended because they didn’t get it" when criticized by the other party.
And both have thousands upon thousands of fans to encourage them to be this way.
Comedic satire should be fueled by the purpose to present an issue in a way that is accessible because of its humor while not understating the complexity of the subject.
The Palin-MacFarlane method is to use humor as a crutch in personal quibbles.
We should expect more from political figures and entertainers.
39 comments
There are no intelligent and compassionate people with Cancer? Last I checked that was a disease.
(I didn't make the Wikipedia post--but the ones referring to knowing someone with Down)