Don’t be fooled by the happy musical opening! Family Guy isn’t the lighthearted family oriented animated comedy that the opening suggests. It seems the creator, Seth MacFarlane, and the writers of Family Guy are intent on using the half hour comedy to satire whatever social, political or cultural topics they so choose and they aren’t afraid to pull any punches either; although, sometimes it is hard to find the funny in their approach.
Can’t We All Just Get Along
Although Peter Griffin and his family are friends with Cleveland—the only recurring Black character on Family Guy—they still manage to harbor not-so-subtle attitudes of racism and bigotry. Look no further than the episode where Peter finds out he has Black ancestry, which then prompts the entire family to then begin perpetuating a litany of Black stereotypes as a result. In typical Family Guy humor, each family member has a not-so-subtle stereotyping response to learning the new information about their heritage: Meg shouts she can now wear pants that accentuate her big butt while Lois runs out of the house with excitement because she could tell her friend that she was sleeping with a Black man.
As if being a bigot wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Peter is also a full time misogynist, often directing his attitudes of male superiority towards his stay-at-home wife, Lois. For example, in the crossover episode with The Simpsons, Peter created a comic strip in the local newspaper that marginalized women (through a depiction of his wife) as only being housekeepers. Perhaps, the writers of Family Guy are sending a message about the men who feel this way by having the biggest buffoon on the show, Peter, represent the misogynistic viewpoint.
Let’s Talk About Sex
You can’t talk about the topic of sex on Family Guy and not mention one of the biggest—if not the biggest—offender on the show: Quagmire. Despite a plethora of colorful sexually charged story lines, perhaps one of the most memorable was the episode where Meg turned 18 and Quagmire suddenly started to give her extra attention. True, Quagmire is a friend of the family, but we also know that Quagmire is a known nymphomaniac with highly questionable fetishes. In the end, Quagmire may not have gotten his way with Meg, thanks to her parents intervening, but the mere suggestion of him waiting for her to become of legal age so he could pursue her was enough to raise some eyebrows. Still, the show pushes even more boundaries in the episode where we learn that Brian, the family dog, has herpes.
In true Family Guy comedic fashion, the show poked fun at a social issue while at the same time tackling its seriousness. In the episode, Brian knowingly gives Stewie herpes during an attempt to become blood brothers. When Stewie wakes up the next morning, he has a visible herpes breakup on his upper lip and immediately draws the conclusion that he contracted it from Brian. During the actual confrontation with Brian, Stewie pulled back some of Brian’s fur and revealed his entire skin was covered in a blistery breakout of herpes. It was clear that the writers not only wanted to shock and awe the audience with this episode, but also shed light on the serious issue of STDs.
Things You’re Not Supposed To Talk About in Public
A discussion about Family Guy just wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the constant bombardment of satires about religion and politics. Look no further than the episode where Peter wishes for a “Jewish finance wizard,” the one where Peter joins a Muslim terrorist group or the Christmas episode where it is suggested that Jesus is a 2,000 year old virgin. Truth be told, the show does seem to attack all the major religions and therefore doesn’t seem to maliciously target any one particular faith on a consistent basis.
The writers on Family Guy also use irreverent humor to spoof political parties and the political process as well. Take the episode where Peter becomes a member of the Tea Party and ends up being used by the political group (headed up by his father-in-law) to solicit working class voters to help disband the city government, only to restore the same government when the city falls apart. Peter also once campaigned against illegal immigrants, which only came to a halt when he found out he also was an illegal immigrant. Then there was the episode where Lois ran for Mayor of Quahog. In that episode, the writers of the show decided to poke fun at the intelligence—or lack thereof—of voters by having Lois dumb down her approach in an effort to be more appealing as a candidate and ultimately get elected.