Sunday, October 14, 2012

Hero or Villain?

In every movie, tv show, or even song there are different roles for each character. Different roles include hero, villian, the helper, and so one. Some mediums have quite obvious roles for each character. However, some are not so obvious. They may present a character as a hero, then for dramatic effect, have that character be unveiled as the villain. Other times, a character will be a hero and villian to show the human traits of that character. To basically show that nobody is perfect.

In Family Guy, these roles exist too. They are not so black and white though. To start, its hard to say who is the hero of the series. It could be Peter. He is the main character, he is usually the focus of any plot or story line. He has done his fair share of fixing things, but at the same time he usually the one who messes things up to begin with. In my own opinion, I believe the hero is Lois, Peter's wife. She usually never gets the family into trouble and is good at fixing the problem. She also helps avert trouble, by calling Peter or anyone else out on their dumb shenanigans. I think it can be argued that everyone involved with the show is a little bit of a hero and a little bit a villian. The beauty of Family Guy is that it portrays a normal, semi-messed up family and friends. Nobody is perfect, their intentions may sometimes be good and sometimes bad.

A show like this shows that we are all human. In real life there really isn't anyone who is a complete hero. They may have done amazing things, but at the same time they have made mistakes too. Family Guy is a medium that portrays this truth, especially with the undefined roles.



3 comments:

  1. I used to like watching Disney princess movies in which the princess is kidnapped by the villain and then saved by the hero, the prince. Those only happen in fairytales, not in real life. I agree with you that the beauty of the shows lies on the obscured hero-villain line. No one is perfect, and that is life.I also think it is more acceptable for viewers to see on TV that heroes might be the villains, and vice versa, for the viewers themselves are not flawless:}

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  2. I agree with your thought that Lois functions more as a hero character than Peter, as Lois tends to be the one who "fixes" things in the show. However, I like that you pointed out that the roles are often switched to show that all of the characters are fallible and make mistakes.

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  3. I believe that shows with less defined roles are more intriguing, as they leave you something to ponder. How do you think that Family Guy would change as a whole if each character had a concrete role?

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