What the hell is the matter with 'Family Guy' and Seth Macfarlane?

This last episode of 'Family Guy' had Quagmires'(sp?) father have a sex change operation. Throughout the episode Peter and Lois keep referring to transsexuals as 'gay'. It would be like "Ida is a woman now." answered by "No. It is gay." Being a transsexual woman myself, I am offended by this directed bigotry against transgender people. "How does it have sex?" is not only offensive to see broadcast into my television, but is helping to spread ignorance and fear. Watch this small clip before Fox removes it from Utube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ_uVM96Nb8
At the very end, Brian yells out "How did this happen? They're supposed to notify you when they move into the neighborhood, that's how it works!"

Seth Macfarlane, you can kiss my transsexual ass you son of a bitch! I, and transgender people, simply by being transgender ARE NOT SEX OFFENDERS! I hope your show(s) all get canceled you bigoted bastard!

... especially Brian's reaction when he found out Ida was the former Mr. Quagmire.

My BFF is transgendered and I saw all the grief she bravely lived through during her transition.
It's nothing to joke about.

Somehow it was far more offensive than the previous week when Brian was literally eating shit out of Stewie's diaper.

doing other stuff and I heard the "gay" and "Ida is a woman now" etc. I immediately stopped to listen and was very surprised. Now I'm straight but am knowledgeable enough to know this was complete BS. The least one would expect is to get what they think is funny..well, correct. I don't blame you for being angry, it was stupid and bigotted...

I TiVo'ed the show and didn't watch it until recently. WOW! I have to cool of and get to a census work meeting in a hour. Grrrrrrr! I'll cool down.

I don't think there is a bigger picture perspective on satire.

I don't give a shit how far he wants to 'push it'. The man is a bigot and everyone related to this show are showing their cards about what they think about transgender people. You had better believe that others will be next.

Never get into a shit-flinging contest with an incontinent baboon.

I'm not sure what the context will be, but I like it.

a vulnerable population to the point of allowing bigots to hurt them because they are its, not people. he fucked this one up and we should all gut up and admit it.

:grr:

and I mean everyone at some time.

One episode will have you laughing your ass off when they take on the group you disagree with.

The next episode will have you offended and angry when they take on your group.

I don't say that to dismiss your feelings btw. Far from it. Family guy has pisssed me off several times too many.

Personally I hate the show even though it is clever and funny sometimes. The other aspect is that it tends to draw in kids given that it is animated and sometimes slips up parents radar till they are shocked when they hear the dialogue.

That show really pushes the bounds, usually at the expense of the bigoted. They way the show shows "balance" is having at least one character who has a more educated opinion and helps at least one more turn their bigotry around. However, this episode had no such format. It was disappointing.

Does Brian see the error is his way of thinking? Even within that clip, there was a level of satire with the "how does it have sex" to Brian talking about his soul mate and having great sex. Granted, kind of subtle extreme-envelope-pushing satire, but there nonetheless.

Quagmire has a big slug fest with Brian for 'having sex with his father' and they just leave everything hanging. I've been working for GLBT rights since 1986 and when I see this kind of stupid shit, I have to wonder 'how much longer?'. Christ On A Chruch!

Usually, as mentioned above, the lesson is learned.

Family Guy, South Park...a complete waste of time.

What bothered me the most was that while I thought that there were many opportunities for enlightenment, there were few taken. That said, I do think it's good to get these issues 'on the table' for the average American, I just wish they had done it better. I'm trying to remember how it ended - I thought I watched until the end, but I may have turned it off.

And in this case, he could definitely use some correction.

I'd tell you that your anger and frustration is certainly justified, but you don't need me to validate it. I'm just suggesting that rather than write the guy off completely, we let him know how we feel about his recent douchebaggery.

But for all we know, he plans on keeping this as a continuing story arc and having Brian grow out of his bigotry and marry Quagmire's dad.

In any case, I wouldn't throw Macfarlane under the bus, but maybe he needs a close look at the wheel wells while it's moving.

You can contact Seth Macfarlane here:

http://www.sethmacfarlane.planetricki.com/Cast.htm

I'm going to write him via snail mail. Thank you Ian David, you have always been good to me.

I hope he writes back to you.

I also hope I'm right about this episode just being the beginning of a story arc in which Brian eventually does grow out of his transphobia and marry Quagmire's dad.

did you watch Family Guy NOT expecting to be offended? That show can't go three minutes without something disgusting.

I'm sorry, I understand what you're coming from... but honestly, it's kind of like you're asking for a kosher menu at Bob and Sal's Pig-Out Barbeque Hut. You can expect only disappointment.

I will agree with that. It wasn't all reactionary, but it was bad.

The Jeffersons’ Transgender Episode

By Guest Contributor Monica, originally published at TransGriot

The episode entitled ‘Just A Friend’ from the fourth season of ‘The Jeffersons’ was groundbreaking in many respects. It was the first time that an African descended transwoman character was shown on TV who didn’t fit the stereotypes we all know and loathe.

It was also broadcast in 1977.

While I didn’t care for the part where George tried to pass off Leroy as Edie, for the most part the episode is on point. You also have to remember at the time ‘The Jeffersons’ was a Top 10 rated show that many African-American homes watched.

So if they weren’t aware of the trans issue affecting African descended people, they were after that broadcast.

More:
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/05/20/the-jeffersons-transgender-episode/


See also:


Episode Summary

Les' reputation, and ability to conduct locker room interviews, is on the line when a baseball player accuses him of being gay. So he takes to walking the ledge of the Flimm Building.
WKRP in Cincinnati: Les On A Ledge http://www.tv.com/wkrp-in-cincinnati/les-on-a-ledge/episode/18537/summary.html
25 min - Sep 20, 2007
http://www.hulu.com/watch/297/wkrp-in-cincinnati-les-on-a-ledge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcKY6_DwIzs&feature=player_embedded

Which is extra funny, because:

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy is a brilliant comedian who has not really received his due but let's not forget how ugly his routine used to be.

In this clip (starting at .40 seconds), Murphy's comments about gay men and the audience's appreciation of those comments gives a perfect example of how just how far the lgbt community has come.

If some comedian would dare to say some this stuff now, he would be roasted.

Which goes to prove that so-called "political correctness" has its good points.

And by the way, I am not going to go into detail about that 1997 incident with Murphy being caught with a transsexual prostitute in his car. Nothing was proven and he was not arrested. Also, in all honesty, Murphy had already apologized for his nasty anti-gay humor long before the incident took place.

More:
http://holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com/2009/07/know-your-lgbt-history-eddie-murphy.html

...but Seth MacFarlane is an equal opportunity offender. Family Guy - and, to a lesser extent, American Dad (I won't watch that Cleveland Show abortion) - relies almost exclusively on shock value for its humor. MacFarlane is a well-known bleeding heart, so I'd be surprised if there was any actual malice meant by the episode. But, again, I haven't seen it.

http://gender.org/remember/about/core.html

The next time you think it would be funny to misinform and spread fear about another minority, please consider these.

and ignorant on their part.

not a bigot, and not having seen the whole episode, I can't judge. He's very pro-gay rights...maybe you didn't get the satire?

seems to suggest that he's a free-thinker, and that he usually falls considerably left of center with very few exceptions.

The characters of Peter, Lois, and Quagmire being disgusted by the sex change doesn't surprise me in the least- those characters have typically been portrayed as such throughout the show's run. I would have expected that Brian would have been different, but honestly- I think the point might have been to suggest that many people who outwardly claim to be progressive really and truly are a lot of talk (particularly when the subject involves sexuality). Had Brian not have already had sex with Quagmire's father, he likely would have been defending him and calling everyone else bigots, etc... Brian's reaction was SOOOO far over the top (the... ummm.... vomiting and all) that I couldn't really see it another way.

But I'm not so sure that transsexuality was the best choice of vehicle to make this point....

good grief if we reacted to everything homer simpson believes . . . .

Anyway the timing and delivery of the humor in that clip was a certainly more like "a casserole down there" than a skillful clip and tuck.

I don't think it was bigoted - it portrayed how ignorant and bigoted people think and behave so we could laugh at them when their worst fears come true - i.e., sleeping with a dude who got clipped and tucked but is still a dude (their cartoon view, not mine).

The anti-transsexual comments sounded over-the-top and ridiculous to me, but they also emphasized the way a lot of people actually think. I thought Ida was portrayed in a positive way and the characters around her were acting like fools. To me the message was "Bigotry is stupid." Not a bad message, IMO.

But agreed.

I don't see that Brian is an out-and-out bigot most of the time, but for whatever reason- he does often seem like his progressive stances (Jasper's gay marriage, his driving a hybrid, etc...) have an air of superiority about them. But perhaps that makes him even worse than Peter and Lois?