Family Guy is comedy based off a stereotypical middle-class family, but like all families, they have their problems that can be very strange. Individuals typically admire shows that are different from any other ones currently represented in the media because of the archetypes and reoccurring plotlines that currently exit in manty shows. Family mocks many of those archetypes in various ways. In this show, you have:
- The drunken fat husband
- A pretty housewife that loves her fat idiot husband
- Megan the oldest, yet very unattractive daughter
- The middle-aged son Chris, who also is not the brightest of the bunch
- Their one-year-old infant child Stewie, the evil and smartest of the family, not to mention he’s homosexual
- The family also has a pet named Brian, who talks.
Some find the show to be very interesting for various reasons such as their use of comedy, violence, and its slight case of predictability. What some people fail to realize is that it is a funny show, but the messages behind the jokes are often, absolutely degrading. Family Guy has numerous episodes where there are racial jokes, religious jokes, and almost every episode talks about homosexuality in negative ways. Not to mention the abuse that is shown towards their daughter, Meg. The whole family (even the infant Stewie) treats meg like crap through bulling and physical violence. They often tell her to shut up and there is an episode where they send meg downstairs to get food, while their house was getting robbed, but first they spit on her to slide her done the air vents. Family Guy has made their infant child (Stewie) a homosexual baby. In many episodes you see Stewie demonstrating or saying many things that are considered to be on the flamboyant side. Which reinforces many of the negative stereotypes that the LGBTQ community has to face. Many in that community act opposite of the stereotypes and feel like those who may be flamboyant can affect the community by backing up the stereotypes that some individuals in the community do not like. There is nothing wrong with people in television shows that are considered to be homosexual, but a one-year old baby is not something that people should be promoting. Religiously speaking Family Guy has a way of mocking some religions, for example Mort Goldman, the Jew, is teased and made into the subject of a joke in almost every episode that he is in. Even when Jesus appeared on an episode, he was considered a “player". Although Family Guy has multiple issues, the racial stereotypes have to be by far the worst. Many episodes demonstrate this. For example, the episode when Peter had a black guy and an Asian guy teach Chris and Meg because they were being homeschooled showed how the series brings in racist jokes. Peter Automatically assumed that the black guy was the driver's Ed teacher and that the Asian man was the math teacher, which in reality was the other way around. Peter then begins to laugh and then makes a racial comment and says “let’s learn math from a black guy". This reinforces the stereotype that Asian men "must" be extremely capable at math and black men are not. Also, the family dog Brian is doesn’t like black people. He barks when they come near and there is even an episode where he stated that he did not get along with his roommate he had before he joined the Griffin family because he was black. Overall, Family Guy is an enjoyable show for most individuals. However, those individuals need to realize that the show has some serious flaws and acknowledge what those flaws are possibly representing.
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