When I say thinking outside the box, for Family Guy it is almost literal. They have moved beyond just television.
I read Chapter 13, Saturation, Fluidity, and Loss of Meaning of our class textbook, Media, Identity, and Culture. One section stuck out to me, The Internet as Virtual Playground I realized this related to Family Guy because I have seen several ads on TV about a virtual online Family Guy simulator.
I looked into this a bit more and found out you can create your own Family Guy like character. You run around with Stewie and Brian at the beginning. This allows the fans to feel as though they are directly interacting with the characters of Family Guy. Thus, proving the internet really is a playground when it comes to Family Guy
"...users are rendered free to develop their virtual identities in whatever way they desire." (Hodkinson 275)
Fans can create their character to look however they want, male or female as well. They are free to roam about Quahoag and must complete missions that the main and secondary characters may give them.
In conclusion, it becomes fairly apparent, by having the internet readily availible Family Guy creators were able to give their fanbase a way to "interact" with Peter, Lois, Stewie, Chris, Brian, Meg, and so on.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Lois Griffin- Typical Housewife?
This week we will be looking more in depth on Lois Griffin. She is the wife and mother on Family Guy. She does not have a job, shes involved with their Catholic Church, and she stays at home. She takes care of the baby, Stewie, and cooks and cleans. She sounds like the stereotypical housewife. Or is she?
To start, in season 4, episode 10 (Misbeahvior) Lois becomes a model. She says it was her lifelong dream. Proving she does not truly want to be a housewife. She eventually becomes so wrapped up in modeling she forgets her family. Not that it is a good thing, but it proves how she could hardly stand her role as a housewife.
I think the shows creators were making a point. Although she has never actually come out and said "I hate being a houswife, I need a purpose in life." They basically showed this is what she is thinking. I respect women who are housewives; for it can be a tideous job. But what irritates me is how on some shows, or most shows for that matter, the housewife always loves being a housewife. They never show any ambitions they mgiht have once had when they were younger or still have to this very day.
Family Guy shows a great example of people in real life. The show uses Lois to show how just because you perform a certain set of duties, such as a housewife or any other job, does not mean thats all you may want out of life.
To start, in season 4, episode 10 (Misbeahvior) Lois becomes a model. She says it was her lifelong dream. Proving she does not truly want to be a housewife. She eventually becomes so wrapped up in modeling she forgets her family. Not that it is a good thing, but it proves how she could hardly stand her role as a housewife.
I think the shows creators were making a point. Although she has never actually come out and said "I hate being a houswife, I need a purpose in life." They basically showed this is what she is thinking. I respect women who are housewives; for it can be a tideous job. But what irritates me is how on some shows, or most shows for that matter, the housewife always loves being a housewife. They never show any ambitions they mgiht have once had when they were younger or still have to this very day.
Family Guy shows a great example of people in real life. The show uses Lois to show how just because you perform a certain set of duties, such as a housewife or any other job, does not mean thats all you may want out of life.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Racism in Family Guy?
Family Guy has a few different races throughout the show. First there's Mort, hes Jewish. Cleveland, although not in the newer episodes, is African-American. And finally we have Peter, he is Irish. During the show all of these Racial stereotypes are made fun of.
To start, we have Mort. He owns a pharmacy and falls into the stereotypical thrifty Jew. The creators really play this up. At one point in the show, Peter and Lois have Mort and his wife over for dinner. They talk about how they plan on suing someone from high school for bullying them over 25 years ago. This is obviously a joke played to show how money concerned they are since they are of Jewish descent.
Cleveland is African American. His stereotype isn't made fun of as bad as Morts, but more so his now ex-wife Loretta is the butt of the joke. Loretta is overweight, loud, and often says things like "mmm-hmmm". Cleveland is also overweight, he is not very educated and has a low end job. He spends a lot of time at the bar. Loretta eventually cheats on Cleveland. This also is part of the black stereotype in todays world, showing how African Americans seemingly can't stay monogamous.
Finally, we have Peter. He is a Catholic, alcholic, Irish man. He gets drunk in front of his children and says very disrespectful things to his wife Lois. This is a typical Irish stereotype: The man is a drunk who treats his family awful. Peter is selfish and expects Lois to wait on him hand and foot. At one point he even misses a homecooked dinner, just to get drunk in his basement.
Knowing Family Guy, these racial stereotypes are meant to poke fun at societal views. However, I can't help but wonder, what if younger children are watching and they take this seriously? The show has a rating of TV-14, but I doubt many parents supervise their children that much. I think the show's producers need to be a little more careful with how they portray certain people on the show, funny or not.
To start, we have Mort. He owns a pharmacy and falls into the stereotypical thrifty Jew. The creators really play this up. At one point in the show, Peter and Lois have Mort and his wife over for dinner. They talk about how they plan on suing someone from high school for bullying them over 25 years ago. This is obviously a joke played to show how money concerned they are since they are of Jewish descent.
Cleveland is African American. His stereotype isn't made fun of as bad as Morts, but more so his now ex-wife Loretta is the butt of the joke. Loretta is overweight, loud, and often says things like "mmm-hmmm". Cleveland is also overweight, he is not very educated and has a low end job. He spends a lot of time at the bar. Loretta eventually cheats on Cleveland. This also is part of the black stereotype in todays world, showing how African Americans seemingly can't stay monogamous.
Finally, we have Peter. He is a Catholic, alcholic, Irish man. He gets drunk in front of his children and says very disrespectful things to his wife Lois. This is a typical Irish stereotype: The man is a drunk who treats his family awful. Peter is selfish and expects Lois to wait on him hand and foot. At one point he even misses a homecooked dinner, just to get drunk in his basement.
Knowing Family Guy, these racial stereotypes are meant to poke fun at societal views. However, I can't help but wonder, what if younger children are watching and they take this seriously? The show has a rating of TV-14, but I doubt many parents supervise their children that much. I think the show's producers need to be a little more careful with how they portray certain people on the show, funny or not.
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