Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Did "Family Guy" go too far?

link in title.

I'm a little confused about why America keeps listening to what Sarah Palin has to say, but I found this tidbit interesting. Apparently the popular cartoon show "Family Guy" featured a character with down syndrome in their latest episode. Palin found it especially offensive, as it was an obvious dig towards herself and her family when the character proclaimed that her mother was the "former governor of Alaska."

At first, I saw why Palin would find this offensive. Mental and physical disabilities are extremely touchy. However, after watching the clip of the show and the AP video, I'm starting feel like Palin is overreacting. She isn't the only one to be made fun of by the often borderline-inappropriate show. And the "joke" was literally two seconds of the entire show. I didn't find it particularly funny or necessary, but I also don't think Palin should really be focusing her attention on fighting this. Is she just looking for things to criticize these days? What do you think? (p.s. it makes a lot more sense if you watch the short video in the link)

8 comments:

Sam Kennedy said...

No it didn't. Public Figures put themselves at the risk of being made fun of by being Public Figures. It comes with the job, and Palin needs to learn to deal with it. She doesn't have to be happy about it, but her anger, while understandable, is unwarranted.

All well known "celebrities" have to deal with this. Even Dawkins has had fun poked at him (and it was considerably more offensive than Family Guy, because South Park is willing to go anywhere). But it is to be expected, and to get upset over it is wasted energy.

Hen to the Ry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hen to the Ry said...

I do understand where Palin is coming from. Usually, I side with the people coming up with the jokes, however, this time is different. I mean, this joke would be understandable if Palin did not actually have a son with down syndrome. I assume that Palin has gotten used to people poking fun at her for her actions during the election, but joking about her son is unwarranted. They could have done so many other things to make fun of Palin like bringing up her "Bush Doctrine" stuff, but I think that this joke was a cheap shot.

-Henry Zhang

Sabrina said...

i agree with Henry in that the joke was a cheap shot and I agree with sam in that public figures put themselves at risk of being made fun of; so, no, i do not think family guy went too far. in all honesty, and from my somewhat cynical perspective, i think Palin making the big fuss over the joke is merely a ruse to get media attention. if she and her daughter hadn't made it a big deal, there would be that much less media attention directed towards them. i think their magnified reactions actually have a counterintuitive effect, for i find it hard to sympathize with people who make mountains out of mole hills. but that may just be me...

Catherine Riviello said...

I feel like Sarah Palin will basically do anything to continue to stay in the public's eye. However, I do think she has reason to be upset here, but I don't necessarily think it's worth fighting. She should voice her reasons for being offended, the network should apologize and that should be the end. I don't think this should turn into a full-blown thing.

Jessica B said...

Yes it did. While I completely agree that public figures put themselves at risk for these type of things, and that they should have a thick skin, Trig Palin is only two and didn't chose to put himself in that position. I think Family Guy crossed the line.

Family Guy has a reputation for tasteless, low brow humor, but this was low-even for them.

I don't think Sarah Palin is using this as a desperate attempt to stay in the spotlight; she has every right to be upset. Poking fun at a two year old with down syndrome isn't funny, it's disgusting.

Justin T. said...

I really don't think Family Guy went too far. Throughout the whole episode, the girl with down syndrome (Ellen) wasn't really made fun of for her disability. Actually, I don't think her disability really had much of an effect on the episode overall

Lizzy said...

I feel like shows like that walk a fine line all the time, and although Palin may have over-reacted a bit I agree with Catherine and Jessica in the sense that I don't feel like it was just to find something to pick on. I feel like because it was about her, she had the right to address the situation, although I also agree with Sam that as a public figure she should realize that things of that sort are going to be said about her.