(no subject)

[technoir]

I don't know if it is a sign of age or what. I finally saw something so offensive from family guy that I wont watch the show any more. For those who want to know, it was the Mexican Superfriends skit. It is so racist that I am mildly embarrassed I even watched it and I have seen Birth of a Nation. It was not funny just offensive.


oh well.

Comments

[goblinkatie.livejournal.com]

I've never actually been offended by the show, and I've seen the one you are talking about multiple times.

I guess I never take it seriously, which is why it doesn't offend me. I've got a lot of Irish ancestry, but the "Peters Two Dads" episode still cracked me up. We all know that the Irish are not the drunkards the show portrayed them as, and we all know that not every Mexican lives in a multifamily dwelling. I'm less inclined in getting offended over mockery of a stereotype than I am when Jessie Jackson says Obama is trying to "act white" or someone pulls the race card just because they are criticized. That is the real world, Family Guy is a cartoon.

For the record, the Marx brothers often mocked high society, the Germans, and got their start in comedy by a string of insults aimed at the town where they were performing following an interruption in their act.

One of the Smothers Brothers (I forget who) once made a crack about Jesus emerging from his tomb on Easter. The punch line to the joke was if Jesus sees his shadow we get 6 more weeks of winter.

I'm guessing you don't remember the "macho Man" singing pigs from the Muppet Show? Hardly what I would call innocent comedy.
Here it is if you forgot.

Every form of comedy is going to mock something, there is no purely innocent comedy. Comedy in and of it's self comes from picking up on an idea and making it humorous. To make something humorous one has to focus on what isn't making sense about the subject. In pointing out that weakness, people connect with the realization that the person delivering the joke is, in some aspect, making a correct observation.

In the style of the humor that Family Guy uses, the laughable part is in the display about how wrong people can be. The Mexican Superfriends are funny because there really are people who believe that scene is a correct generalization of a culture. It's not a personal attack against a culture, the writers are not saying that is what they personally believe, it's mockery of a ridiculous stereotype.

I do applaud you for realizing if you don't like it you don't have to watch it as opposed to making it a crusade to see it off the air. I wouldn't want to live in a completely friendly, lovie-dovie society where no one is allowed to make a joke that someone else might find offensive. I find it funny while I really don't care for South Park. It's just a different style of humor and while the two shows are pretty much mocking the same things, I think Family Guy's method of delivery is funnier.

[technoir.livejournal.com]

part of my problem is the skit was not funny. It was just insult. Not good natured ribbing or saying something cogent. If the point was to make fun of people who believe that is how things are, then they failed epicly. It came off as pure racist drivel. They encourage people who think like that with that skit.

I will say at least they are funnier than South park.

[goblinkatie.livejournal.com]

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I don't feel like it's genuine racism, I feel like real racist behavior is something intended to restrict the right of a person based on their race.

I think I might be more desensitized to racial humor because of the fact I work in construction and a lot of my contact with people of different races has included race related humor. I play WoW in a guild with two Asians (both Korean) and they often make cracks about gold farming and the correct racial slurs for their culture. My black roommate enjoys his nick name of "Mochabear." Roofers know some of the most shocking jokes you can imagine, and they are usually cracks on their own race and culture.

Most of the people I associate with who aren't white don't take their race so seriously that they allow it to be a way to injure or demean them. While I'm not going to use the same sort of jokes a black guy makes about blacks, laughing with him give us something to build a good natured and relaxed basis to interact. I completely respect there are some things that you never say, like the "n" word, I'm not going to let something like the color of a person's skin stop me from laughing at the ridiculousness of stereotypes or feel guilty for doing so. If I get called a cracker, I laugh, because I'm comfortable with understanding there's no ill meaning behind it. I'm positive that Seth MacFarlane's intent is not to hurt people. Some folks are more sensitive than others though, and while it may not bother this group of people, it may bother another. Does that mean it shouldn't be done at all? Should entertainment become sterile to avoid offending people?

There's a HUGE difference in the tone of hate and the tone of humor. I guess what I'm saying is that I interpret the tone of Family Guy's occasional racial/cultural humor differently due to the personal experiences I've had. There's nothing wrong with that or with the fact you don't care for it.

What I do love is being able to discuss this topic like the rational adults we are. Thanks for that honey. :)

[technoir.livejournal.com]

I am always open to a rational discourse. That is to say I will argue at the drop of a hat...any hat. I am kind of known for it.

I can see your point on race sensitivity. I can joke around with Winston along with the best of them. I hang out with Ray. I am not someone who normally takes offense easily. I suppose the difference is Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles is one of the funniest movies ever. It deals with the same themes but where as Blazing Saddles does it with a strong sense of irony and humor is at the expense of the bigots they targeting. The Mexican Superfriends though did not seem to target anyone but the Hispanic characters. At no point did it seem to poke fun at the people who thought like this. It seemed oriented towards reinforcing that stereotype.

here is another question for you. Do you feel that maybe our relative comfort at joking about race has lowered our ability to tell when it goes too far? Is our willingness to joke about more and more offensive things lowered our perspective?

just a thought.