People that cannot be ugly cannot be beautiful.

     With today's society, people believe that others who don't pretty themselves up for publicity won't be recognized. What I mean by that is, people expect a good image in others before they get to know them. In this show, the creators take advantage of that; Peter Griffin has a daughter (Meg Griffin) who is considered ugly and fat, who also happens to have ugly friends that are all shunned from their society just because they aren't beautiful. Here is a clip where Meg is celebrating Halloween with her three friends and are in hopes of meeting random men who may be interested in them, but because they are "ugly," they plan to wear masks and seduce them without revealing their true appearance:

     Towards the very end of the clip, Meg's father drives by with his friends and call the girls "Ugly B*tches" without even acknowledging who they are. To the audience who watch this show, they would of course understand the reasoning of the joke towards Meg, but to those who don't understand, the joke is trying to justify that Meg and her friends will always be ugly. The point is this; without even getting to know someone, it is definitely wrong to judge someone based on their entire appearance. Not only does it hurt their feelings, but it makes them feel unwanted, because with today's society, no one really wants a boyfriend or a girlfriend that is ugly. People judge too much on looks and less on their intelligence or common interests. Family Guy is wrong in this sense because they discriminate against ugly people when honestly, people are only ugly when they don't appreciate another person's beauty.

Not the handicapped!

     This show takes the next step in discrimination by illustrating a clip against handicapped people. Peter Griffin supposedly opened up a new business and refuses to let handicapped people dine in his restaurant. Even one of his closest friends, Joe, arrives with other handicapped people and Peter points out a sign which says "No legs, no service". Discrimination against a race is one thing, but hating on a person who was born with a disability is just inhumane:

     Towards the middle of the clip, Peter and Joe have an argument between each other for reasons why the handicapped are not allowed to eat in the restaurant. Peter Griffin responded with, "I think it's immoral; it's a lifestyle choice you're forcing on America." From this point in the clip, there should be no argument against discrimination people because these people never chose this type of lifestyle and they definitely do not try to force it upon other people. People born with disabilities or develop a handicapped position have no lifestyle choice because not only do they just try to fit in with society and the world, but they do their best to not become a burden with their disabilities.  Honestly, there are no appropriate reasons in hurting feelings that belong to someone born with a disability. Some parts of society already believe that disabled people are hurt in the inside for being born that way, but I know that there are people in the world that believe that the disabled feel stronger because they must work harder in life to match with people who don't have a disability.

     Nick Vujicic should be considered a hero amongst the handicapped society because he took his time and efforts to become a motivational speaker to children and adults around the world. He took advantage of his disabilities to explain that people in the world should just be thankful that they are even alive and are blessed to be the person that they already are:

      Around 1:40 in the clip, he explains that "It's a lie to think that you're not good enough; it's a lie to think that you're not worth anything." This quote and entire clip showed me a new insight to myself and others, including handicapped people, that there will be things that drag you down but it is better to push that feeling away and go on with life. Nick Vujicic has never given up and even grew stronger; he eventually got married and still works to send out messages to people about society's view upon disabilities. Family Guy pokes fun at the lifestyles of handicapped people by ridiculing them through clips, which is inappropriate because while they attempt to humor their audiences, they don't realize that some of those people are only growing stronger and stronger.

You Doctor Yet?

     "You doctor yet?" "No dad, I'm twelve." Talk to me when you're doctor." A very short yet long message in this video clip as an Asian dad expects his son to become a doctor.

                                                                                                                                                             

        There are numerous hidden messages in this video that the audience may not be completely aware of, the main one is the Asian parent stereotype. As seen in this video, the father barges in and asks his son if he is a doctor yet. When replied with the answer he was not looking for, he told his son to talk to him when he becomes one. This Asian father expects nothing less out of his son than being part of a high ranking job that pays for a lot of money and is a high class society job. In this setting the father will not acknowledge his son under any circumstances unless he becomes a doctor. Also, the son is clearly the first generation in America because the son has a normal American accent whereas the father has a thick accent from one of the Asian countries.
        Another thing worth noticing is that the father is not in tune with his sons life. All the father cares about is his education and has already decided the lifestyle that his song will be living once he is an adult. He does not take into consideration what the son wants and what he chooses to do with his life. The son is living in a completely controlled environment by his father.
        Kids should be able to do whatever they choose. They should be able to decide what jobs they want as adults. It is a parents duty to guide their children and raise them well to be able to live on their own and become independent as they become older, not to control ever aspect of their life or else how will they learn if everything is already done for them? Making mistakes is a part of growing up and you learn better from those by making it right again. Every parent wants their child to succeed in life, instead of thinking how you want them to succeed,think about how they want to do it. 

Awwwwwwwwwww Yeahhhhh!

A machine  that takes on the stereotypical the views of African-Americans and shows the state of heart health the patient is in. The beeps are in the form of “yeah,yeah, yeah,yeah,yeah” in a deep voice. The machine takes has two voice settings,  “Barry White  and “Bill Cosby” voice.

With it being labeled, an “African-American” heart monitor, it only displays two people with different voices, which can lead an audience into seeing that there is a “comedic" side and “serious and slang”  side when it comes to African Americans. It seemingly narrows it down to being only two types of African-Americans as it implies. A way to avoid being labeled as a stereotype, the heart monitor could be labeled as using the voices of the people described but this is what the default setting is. Because of the supposed Ebonics used in one of the settings, that projection will somehow (automatically) qualify an African-American as their total language use.
Here  we will see the controversional use of Ebonics in the English language.
Dr. Robert Williams, an African-American social psychologist, states:

   "We need to define what we speak. We need to give a clear definition to our language.    We know that ebony means black and that phonics refers to speech sounds or the science of sounds. Thus, we are really talking about the science of black speech sounds or  language."

  
When someone is targeted with speaking Ebonics , they are going to be presumed as an African  American. The stereotypical projection of Ebonics is often referred as an ignorant language, thus can envelop African-Americans in an ignorant atmosphere. Speaking a language that is stereotypically supposed to deal with ignorance does not mean that a speaker is truly ignorant.

ALLAHU AKBAR!! BOOOOOOM!

From a first impression of the video, anyone can give the analysis that this is a stereotypical view of Palestine.  The chant made by the alarm is supposed to praise the name of the Muslim god.
Because of the higher raise of awareness of  suicide bombings associated with a Muslim, its going to be always featured as a Muslim. Muslims have done suicide bombings, but that does not mean their religion is based upon terrorism or harming upon others. This will then be a projection of society into believing that all Muslims or those living in countries in the Middle East will display this type of behavior.

By looking into the suicide bomb rates in Israel, ( here) we will see the year with the highest rate of suicide bombings was in 2002. Prior to the year 2002, the numbers were increasing and after the year , the number of casualties decreased due to the decrease in suicide attacks. The bombings did not fully verify the full responsibility of any extremist religious groups but one fact is for certain:  Muslims should never have all the responsibility only because a small portion of their populous believes in radical ways. Yet this is the projection displayed here amongst some people in the U.S.
When I heard the bombings in Israel for the first time, a decade ago, people demonized the Muslim religion and accusing them as a whole that their religion is full of radicals. There were some Muslims in my elementary school and they were looked upon differently from the other students. I recall one of the students, who was told by their parents, that “ My dad said Muslims only want to keep bombing the U.S and destroy it and who were sent here by Osama bin Laden”.  The statement did not catch up to me until I matured and understood how these people were truly thinking like; they were being stereotypical of all Muslims. Ironically, many can picture the U.S as terrorizing its own Muslim citizens.

Without Religion

       As depicted in this video, a world without religion would be a much more peaceful and happier place. Two guys compliment one another by saying, "I like you and have no reason not to." A third character comes in and says, " Hey did you hear about that magic baby that was born in Bethlehem?" A split second later after the comment, they all pull out swords and start slashing each other killing all three of them simultaneously.

         The world today is separated by a numerous of reasons: race, ethnicity, culture, and religion. Religion, as defined by www.studyreligion.org, "Religion plays a fundamental role in bestowing meaning and significance on human existence. It marks off what is special and true, provides order and structure, and sets forth the projects and goals for humanity." In simpler terms, this means that religion provides peace and balance among humans in their life, it gives them something more to live for, that there is a better purpose for just existing for more than only yourself. Going back to the clip, the two men are gladly accepting each other regardless of what they look like or what they think, but once the third man comes in and mentioned the slightest hint about religion it turned into a blood bath.
        I interpret this video as religion causing bloodshed and many people die because society cannot agree with what others may think. There is no right or wrong there is only a right and people in this world will fight to the death for what they believe in. Would a world without religion actually make the world a more peaceful place to live in? Would everyone get along with one less problem that separates us humans as a whole? I personally believe that religion has the power to bring us closer together and the force to distance ourselves apart. We will never live in a world where everyone will be accepting of others religions that oppose their own, nor will we live as peaceful as we do now without it. We can neither live with or without religion. It is part of our human existence and no matter how hard we try, there will always be debates about who is right and who is wrong.  

White Guys Go! Everyone Else Go!

    "DVDs are out dated and obsolete, like white track stars." Peter explains to his son Chris that white track runners are no longer in competition with African American runners. As seen in the video, the referee gives the two white runners a few seconds heads start before letting the rest of the runners (who are all African American) go. Once given the signal to start, the African American runners easily run by the two white runners. 

      This video is a two way insult. Once the gun is fired, the referee says, "White guys go!" Then moments later he yells, "Everyone else go!" The referee did not even acknowledge the African Americans, what race or ethnicity they were, only stated them as "everyone else".  African Americans are viewed as invisible and are only taken seriously when it comes to their athleticism. As depicted in this video, African Americans are clearly much better and faster runners than the other two white competitors who are left in the dust not even compared to their speed. To add insult to insult to injury, as the white competitors are being passed, one of them say, "Phew I thought they were coming after us." You're on a track field running a race, why would they be after you? Even in a controlled environment when the white competitors knew it was just a race, they still saw the African Americans as a potential threat if they are being chased by them because likely they will not be able to out run them.
   
    

Do Math

Yet another cut scene where an Asian stereotype is introduced in an episode of Family Guy. In this clip you can see that Peter is having a flash back when he took the SATs. Everyone pulls out a calculator, Peter looks around nervously but instead of pulling out a calculator himself, he pulls out an Asian boy and sits him on his table, poking him with his pencil demanding him to answer his math questions.

Asians in society have been given the stereotype to be geniuses when it comes to math.  Are Asians so great at math simply because they are Asian? Or do they just take the time to study a little more and care about their grades and education. There is a second hidden message in this video. Not only are Asians portrayed to be great at math, but are also to be smart on the SATs in general. Asians are portrayed to be of above normal intelligence. People who watch the show will be encouraged and will reinforce the idea that all Asians can significantly excel in all subjects including math. I for one do not believe this. I am an Asian and I am horrible at math. Asians do not succeed in math because they are just simply Asian. Anyone is capable of having the same success if taken the time to study, work hard in school and soak up every little bit of education that is given to them. You do not have to be Asian to be smart in school, you just have to be smart the way you use your education.

Religious stereotypes? Really?

  This particular blog entry isn't about Family Guy stereotyping about an ethnic race, but the peoples from a religion which has been ridiculed on for years and years and years....etc; which is Judaism. Jews have been pushed around and made fun of since before the stereotype came around where Jewish people have a love for money, or the process of making so much income. In this clip from Family Guy, Peter Griffin and his wife have a dispute on settling how to deal with ways to keep their lottery winnings around:

     With such a portrayal of the Jewish population, thanks to this show, this could implement a discriminating idea into the minds of young viewers of this show. Because of this short clip, kids of the new generation may not want to socialize with other Jewish children if they have a sum of money in possession because they could fear what Peter Griffin was afraid of in the clip above. It is unclear on how Jewish stereotypes such as this came about, but with the many Jewish people I knew back then and now, Jewish people are nothing at all like the ones Family Guy illustrates. They may make a lot of money and have a lot in possession, but they do not obsess over it to the point of how Family Guy views it. This helps explains a point of why Family Guy is not funny; it is just rude and unaccountable for the jokes and skits they portray.

Today's victims, Italians.

     Peter Griffin (the fat one wearing a fake mustache) walks into an Italian store with his loyal white dog, Brian. As Brian begins to order some meat as the cashier appears, Peter butts in and insists in ordering because he can "speak" Italian. Peter tries to communicate with the cashier but results in nothing while tossing their arms around; portraying a stereotype against Italians:

     If you hadn't noticed before, the stereotype found in the clip is how Italians communicate. Some people around the world and obviously the show Family Guy believe that Italians argue with a negative attitude and use drastic hand motions to speak with one another. There are two more stereotypes which are portrayed in the clip and in Marina's Bloggariffic; where she explains her Top 5 Italian stereotypes. One is the dark hair and "olive" skin that which the Italian store's cashier has. It's not mentioned in the clip, but is considered a #1 stereotype in Marina's blog. The second claimed stereotype is the mustache both of the human characters have in this clip; if people were asked to depict an Italian person, they would first come up with an image of a man with a thick mustache, or perhaps the video game character, Super Mario. Overall, this stereotype is demeaning and drastically over-exaggerated in this clip from Family Guy.

      There are plenty of  other stereotypes out there in the world which are against Italians that the world must be aware of so that they have a chance to stop themselves when interacting with them in the future. One is their so-called "obsession" with a plate of spaghetti and their love of meatballs. Even if the Italians introduced this type of food, why must there be such a stereotype where it is considered an obsession? It's like any other race with their cultural food; Chinese people made chow mein, do they love it? Why are there some racist people who believe black people like fried chicken? This just shows stereotypical people are ignorant and puts people on the spot from the food that they made or eat. Italians are just one of the few bunches of people that are stereotyped just because of their forms of communications, facial hair, and food.

ARE YOU SMARTER?

In a TV game show titled, “ Are You Smarter Than A Hispanic Maid”, the show aims again towards Consuela. The title itself can yet again produce a dim-witted atmosphere around the partially-fluent English speaking populous of a certain ethnic group. The aim of the show makes it look like Consuela is smarter than she actually is but yet is degrading because she would only know  everything she does but at a lower lever.This can  put (English-learning) Latinos or Hispanics on the way they address other people by their first names instead of last. This can give those who do not fully address others properly, be seen in a dim-witted manner.

The game show also contrasts on the understanding of the English language between one party that is portrayed to know English well and another that speaks it in a different form. An Anglo male is seen to know the correct way to address people yet Consuela calls others by their first name instead of last. This projection shows the way that some English-learning Latinos/Hispanics would professionally address employers in this form.
    The way Consuela  professionally addresses her boss could demonstrate an example of partially-fluent English speaking Latinos or Hispanics in the workforce.  I have witnessed this myself while seeing they way some partially-fluent English speakers address their employers first names if they are not able to correctly pronounce it, which is sometimes the case. Other times, they forget their names.  The part that cripples the image is that those who do not address others properly in a professional environment are needed to be seen in a dim-witted manner. It is agreeable that there is this type of speech impairment among some Latinos in the workforce yet they should noy be seen in this type of atmosphere.

DOGGY OUT, COME GET B*TCH

Consuela engages in another phone-line conversation. Not knowing that Brian is a resident of the house( or probably and does not even care, just doing her job ), Consuela pushes him outside regardless. This can give a small impression that women of Hispanic origin can demonstrate a hint of aggressiveness and recklessness. Of course, this is only a small act as she would naturally do as a  house keeper. However, upon receiving the phone from Brian, she decides to take on the phone conversation into a whole new level. This would escalade an increased prejudice that would  be taken upon the viewers.

    After seeing the more aggressive and hostile role Consuela takes on,  one can assume that older Hispanic women  could become very aggravated  . When she openly admits into taking away money from Stewie,  this can be a stereotypical projection that all Hispanics or Latinos steal when working with jobs that handle with other people’s belongings. The Hispanic reference that  Consuela pertains to can convince an audience that there should not be a trust in Hispanic house keepers like these. The stereotypical Hispanic reference, is one who works primarily labor jobs and immigrates from another country while knowing little English. The reference often  ties with the illegal-Mexican/Latino reference. The two are projected as one entity. The aim is here to show the recklessness  of older Hispanic women as being house keepers. Personally, there was never a worry about a hotel housekeeper going into anyone’s  personal belongings when leaving a hotel. Many housekeepers (have been witnessed to) come in different ethnicities and there was never the fear of any particular one because they are just doing their job.Yet again, here we have a Hispanic model being portrayed as dangerous entity.

Quite absurd, yet humorous.

     T.V. shows these days; the comedies they broadcast are all about desperate humor regarding either pain or offensive jokes. A proper example would definitely have to be Family Guy. When you watch this show, you'll immediately notice that as the show goes on, almost all of their jokes derive from skits; whether from the past experiences which occurred to the family or just a racist innuendo regarding strangers from different parts of the world. In this one particular clip from Youtube, the show Family Guy illustrates a stereotype against Asians, in which Peter Griffin is watching an episode from a show claiming "Japanese girls think smaller versions of things are really cute." In the clip, two young Japanese girls are shopping in a clothing store and compare the small objects they own which are cute:





      It's quite funny when you first watch it, but the people, specifically women that it could offend, would think otherwise. A tiny dog and a tiny phone? Both seem acceptable. But just to finish their joke, Family Guy decides to offend the women, by poking fun at their sexuality. Although it were only referenced by the woman looking down her shirt and saying "everything," it still depicts a ridiculous stereotype amongst Asian women of how small their breasts may be.  How can a show so offensive get away with something like this? If you put more thought about it, the clip doesn't really make sense anyways. The show Peter Griffin was watching explains that it's about the "small" things Japanese girls think are really cute. Does that mean that Japanese girls like having smaller breasts?  Family Guy should refrain from jokes that do not derive from the original plot of the episode, do not make sense, and at worst, poke any sort of fun towards an ethnic group.

Are Asians Bad Drivers Even In Animation?

In this particular scene in the comedy animation Family Guy, the scene portrays an Asian being a terrible and reckless driver, causing destruction and mayhem on the road.

As demonstrated in this scene, not only are Asians bad drivers, but also more specifically Asian women are shown as being far worse drivers than Asian males.  The woman is changing lanes without giving any of the other drivers a hint of what she is doing. Not even signaling, she is just scrambling across the road with no hesitation, assuming that the other cars will stop for her and not caring about the lives of the other people. While crossing the lanes, cars are crashing and catching fire all around her while her car remains undamaged, driving along as if nothing has happened. Another thing to consider is way she's talking. With a thick accent and not using proper English only adds to the stereotype of her being Asian and suggests that she was born from an Asian country and therefore an immigrant. This would rarely happen in real life but the possibility is real. This clip just exaggerates what could actually happen.

Everyone makes mistakes when they drive at some point in their life, but apparently Asians are the worst. In another blog, (www.asian-nation.org)I found an article stating that, "Garmin is coming out with a StreetPilot portable GPS device that is targeted to Asians in North America and will be able to give voice directions in five Asian languages.” This post received many comments, some not so content with the idea and argue with the stereotype of Asians being bad drivers. One person commented, “Now only if it would driver for them.” Another said, “I’m so sick of Asian/ Women Driver jokes. We are all horrible drivers at some point, and I can guarantee it has nothing to do with RACE. Distraction and exhaustion would more likely be the cause of poor driving.” Even though this posted a little dated, the argument still stands.

As clearly represented in this video, Asians are terrible drivers. Although it is being used for comedy, the viewers might get the wrong idea and assume all Asians as being reckless and unintelligent drivers who have no idea what they are doing when it's only a stereotype that was given to them by society, but is it just another stereotype? Or is it fact. 

GIVE ME NUMBER

Peter Griffin and the housemaid, Consuela, engage in a phone-line conversation. Peter states the frustration in communicating to others who know little English. As a result, there can be a miscommunication and this wastes of time.What this situation shows is that those who know very little English would be seen like this and be treated in such a manner, as demonstrated in the video.

  Despite being  a comedy in nature, this situation is very realistic but does not mean it should always be taken this way. The broken-English Consuela speaks should not portray all non-fluent English speakers or non-English speakers. It is evident as she does not fully comprehend what Peter is trying to say. Because of Consuela’s Hispanic and house keeping  nature, an audience would  easily portray this ethnic group working primarily labor jobs. This as well may be an example of the projection of society’s views towards this certain group of people. The society is the U.S and Peter plays the role in showing a distasteful attitude. The stereotypical view of non-English or  those who are non-fluent of English will see those are mainly Latinos or Hispanics.

At the end of the phone-line conversation, Peter is finally relieved after being frustrated in explaining the numbers to Consuela. At the end, it shows the futile efforts made by Peter, only to have his explanation become derailed once she needs to seemingly have it explained, all over again. This would create a dim-witted  atmosphere for non-fluent English speakers. In this case, Consuela’s role would be to fill this in with her Hispanic form. The overall representation of this video would be that labor working Hispanics would not speak nor understand English well.

I have personally have came across several partially-fluent English speakers who were  Norwegian, Romanian , Latino and Filipino. They all did not speak English  well at the time I met them. They all had the curiosity to learn more about the English language. The Latino and Filipino were more eager to learn more about the  English language than the Europeans, assuming they would be indiscriminately be poked out by society in fear of being deported. The Europeans, who knew as much English as the Latino and Filipino did not have to worry about being picked on by society. One can assume that whites could just “blend in" within U.S .What the show does is parody on immigrants who deliberately come to the U.S without knowing the English language. They indiscriminately use a Hispanic model in this case.