Sunday, February 5, 2012
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.
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I agree which is why i stay away from watching Family Guy the jokes are cruel and inhumane and i refuse to support them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone should even support this show. The attempted humor which pokes fun at people gets tired out with each new episode that I watch from this show. Maybe if the jokes derived from the plot of the entire episode, then perhaps it would make sense and be appropriate to show the audience. Until then, yeah, there aren't many good qualities in this show except seeing certain characters in the show speak like Herbert the Pervert or Stewie.
DeleteThe episode that you mentioned in your blog post would be seen as funny to an audience that is either not Asian or too young/oblivious to understand the real meaning of this television show. But there's more to to that short clip of nineteen seconds than just "Japanese girls showing off their small objects."
ReplyDeleteI noticed that they perceived these Japanese women with small slanted eyes (which is an Asian stereotype). The episode audited the girl's voices as high pitch and somewhat annoying. Their laughs are ridiculously fast, annoying, and also at an even high pitch tone.
Besides the list of stereotypes that I've listed, you've done a good job explaining why this short clip on the show "Family Guy" is not just funny, but completely inappropriate to the public.
Exactly. All these stereotypes are like hidden within clips such as these in Family Guy. From the other stereotypes you've mentioned, the creators of this show obviously illustrated them in the design of their characters, as well as their behavior. Most Asians I know don't even have slanted eyes, or a high-pitched voice. I'm surprised the animators didn't even incorporate buck-teeth and a rice hat for their Asian characters.
DeleteI also find these jokes to be offensive which is why I too stay away from this show. It gets somewhat annoying hearing things over and over again such as stereotypes. I appreciate you and your group for showing how dumb this show is and exploiting it to the class.
ReplyDeleteI acknowledge your feelings towards this show and I agree. The creators of this show obviously incorporates today's stereotypes into their characters and illustrate it in the way their characters behave. This show is one of many which exploit their means of portraying stereotypes through comedy, but this blog is solely to show you how we feel about it.
DeleteI agree that this show is very vulgar in their jokes. Is Family guy the main suppport of these jokes? Was Family guy the first to state these jokes? Obviously Family guy tries to support the humor that young kids would ebjoy watching. Although the jokes in this show are primarily based for adults, jokes such as this are targeted toward the teenagers. They find these degrading jokes enjoyable. ALhtough i agree that these jokes are inexcusable, i understand that Family guy is trying to go with popular topics in order to intrigue young immature minds for ratings.
ReplyDeleteFor sure! I know that Family Guy is attempting to grab the attention of the younger viewers, but the creators don't realize that even with cartoons, the show may inspire the younger audience into behaving in such ways that the characters in the show do too. From pretty much most of the seasons I've seen of this show, just about every skit the show offers a clip in which a certain race is portrayed and exaggerated, which gets pretty old and disappointing. If the show desires higher ratings, they should try coming up with fresh ideas and lay off the discriminating skits, like the Simpsons. That's a great show :)
DeleteI would hate to say this, but the stereotype that Asians find small things to be cute suits me quite well. Though many Asian girls would find this incredibly offensive, I tend to yap at every small, cute thing in sight and I joke about my small breasts to others so this does not offend me at all. However, I would definitely understand if others were insulted by this. I have a very dry sense of humor so I enjoy watching Family Guy and I think the stereotypes are hilarious.
ReplyDeleteDon't hesitate to say what you feel. That's alright; it's only the audience who feels offended that we are trying to show our claims towards this show to. There are times where this show does get quite funny, especially certain characters like I've mentioned in a previous comment, like Herbert the Pervert; that old grandpa and his pedophile-like behavior towards Chris is hilarious! But just the skits that illustrate the behavior of today's stereotypes are exaggerated and shouldn't really be necessary to be in a certain skit in the show Family Guy. Because when you watch the show, the plot of the show doesn't even remotely offer jokes, just random skits here and there which really have no meaning towards helping them in their episode's story.
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