As members of a multicultural society we are exposed to our peers’ various values and customs on a daily basis. While it may be true that some characteristics may seem unfamiliar at first glance, the media inherently relies on oversimplified stereotypes in order to get the audience to connect with minorities. Even shows that deal with diversity as subject matter fall victims to the trope of using stereotypes as a humor device. Take Modern Family, a sitcom that airs on ABC, as an example. The show challenges the notion of a traditional family but it constantly depicts the characters as parodies of what they are supposed to represent. Gloria Pritchett played by Sofia Vergara is often overly sexualized and given a short-tempered demeanor. Vergara…
In the episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin, husband, father, brother?, there are many racial and other innuendoes. With all this in a show, many would say that it is extremely offensive, but I believe that this episode was not offensive. In the title no one can understand what the episode is about until it is watched. Peter Griffin finds out that he has a black heritage and takes it to the extreme. He enters a black community gathering and finds out more about his past. He changes his attitude, his friends, and also found who owned his family. This show Family Guy is a comedy and also a politically driven show, so when the episodes are made everything to do with politics and certain views. The show was made to be viewed and interpreted in different ways.…
Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people 's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. “Family Guy” portrays carnivalesque imagery such as those seen in “South Park” and “The Simpsons.” The author Peacocke is a fan of “Family Guy” but she says, “It’s important not to lose sight of what’s truly unfunny in real life-even as we appreciate what is hilarious in fiction (308).” Peacocke liked “Family Guy” at first when she realized that the jokes were taking things too far she started to dislike it then liked it again. She felt some people was going overboard and not looking at it to be funny. The show is based…
The Simpsons uses the default setting of a situation comedy, or comedy, as a premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American…
Family Guy often relies on jokes that have absolutely no effect on the plot. They usually are brought up when a character says, "Remember when" or "that's like the time I..." Irrelevant jokes can obstruct plotlines in other shows; the majority of the Family Guy jokes have hilarious results. Family Guy strength lies in references usually from the 1970s culture. Thus, Family Guy is able to reach a wide audience who retains bizarre material from decades past. Recently South Park created a parody episode of Family Guy. Eric Cartman simple stats “Do you have any idea what it's like? Everywhere I go: Hey Cartman you must like Family Guy, right? Hey, your sense of humor reminds me of Family Guy, Cartman! I am nothing like Family Guy! When I make jokes they are inherent to a story! Deep situational and emotional jokes based on what is relevant and have a point, not just one random interchangeable joke after…
Warning: This thesis paper deals with a controversial and raunchy television show. Some content may be inappropriate for a younger audience (or immature persons.)…
p. 306 – Peter is “hardly represented as a figure to admire” viewers should already know that Peter isn’t someone to be like.…
Family Guy is literature because of its references to social issues in today’s society. For example, models think they have to be super skinny in order to be a good model. There is also an episode about how ridiculous reality TV. shows are now and how easily it is to become famous. Also, this show portrays how obese our society is now by letting Peter eat as many burgers as he pleases because he saved a person. This show is not just a show to laugh at; there is a deeper meaning behind every episode that gives examples of how our society is today. Literature in this century consists of today’s problems and expressed in many new ways such as cartoons, online, and even in songs. Kids are no longer reading literature…
The television show Family Guy has been one of the most popular tv shows of all time, and for good reason. While an entertaining and amusing to most, the show reinforces stereotypes and labels given to those who are in lower social classes and of color. The premise of the whole show is following a man named Peter Griffin and his family on whatever adventure they may embark upon. In every episode, there is some type of remark, gesture, or even all out rant on another culture or person. In the episode, “Stewie Goes for a Drive”, Stewie, being the youngest in the family and only a baby, decides to go for a ride in Bryan’s car. Once Stewie is out on the open city streets, he becomes distracted by looking at his phone, then the radio, and before…
Family Guy, an animated sitcom produced by Seth MacFarlane, has humored millions of viewers since it first premiered in 1999. It captivates viewers through its satirical content, which not only tackles issues that are prominent and relevant to its audience, but also entertains them. Despite the initial cancellations of the show, Family Guy has successfully been revived and continues to maintain steady viewership. Matter of fact, it has been nominated for numerous Emmys, the most notable being Outstanding Comedy Series. It also won a multitude of awards for best Animated Show. The show continues to successfully address topics in a humorous and insightful way and is currently airing its fourteenth season. One topic that Family Guy frequently…
Long running animated comedy The Simpsons is known for making its audience laugh at the outrageous antics of its larger than life characters. However, The Simpsons does more than just make us laugh. It challenges us to think about issues we deal with on a daily basis such as morality, institutional power, and politics, giving us an avenue in which we can release tension we have built up over such issues through laughter at the characters’ unconventional handlings of situations arising from these issues.…
Overall, the show does not challenge stereotypes, but instead uses them as a platform for humor. The bold message conveyed is that smart people are awkward and pretty people are not smart (with the exception of Bernadette who is pretty and has a doctorate). The elitist flaws of characters like Sheldon provide contrast to his intelligence, so that he is flawed in some capacity which makes him someone we would not want to emulate. Likewise, Penny is attractive, but her professional failures and lack of intelligence also make her flawed and someone we would not want to emulate. The lack of diversity on the show, and the frequent representation of other races as nothing more than stereotypes does nothing to improve societal perceptions based on…
It seems like television writers run out of jokes so they go for an easy joke to fall back on. So that’s why they always create a character to aim at. Rather that be; the dumb brother or the goofy dad, it’s always easy to take a shot at them. However there is an issue when it comes to race in these television sitcoms we see today. For example in the hit television show Modern family. Gloria, Columbian mother who marries a rich white man, is always being picked on because of her accent or for her lack of knowing any of the references. It is like the writers purposely make it so that all immigrant women are hot headed, loud, dumb bimbos. I agree they can be loud however for them to purposely make fun of her is wrong. Another example of this is…
Stereotypes of African Americans have been around since slavery. Once media got involved it was able to give society a visual as to how other races portrayed them. With television, it’s becoming more and more vivid of how bad the stereotyping is getting. Now a day’s some writers of these shows and try to hide the racial remarks, while others are blunt with it and receive no type of punishment for their actions. You do have some sitcoms that will shine a positive light on the African American community, but these shows never last long. The gatekeepers do not want to put a positive image in your head they want you feel a certain way so therefore they come up with shows like Family Guy and South Park that…
A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996) Stereotyping is a crime committed by all. It is not done intentionally in all cases of course. Everyone will sneak in a little joke here and there about the nature of a certain hair color, race, age, weight, etc. What people do not realize is that these little harmless jokes have created stereotypes. I personally believe that the little harmless jokes ended up manifesting on their own into something much bigger and hurtful. Humor is something that should be a part of our lives daily but not to the point of another’s emotional expense – stereotyping.…