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http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/04/03/totally-petarded-the-top-5-masculinity-myths-on-family-guy/?singlepage=true
Look, I'm a fan of Family Guy. Not that it isn't unspeakably appalling at times, and I certainly don't blame anyone who finds it offensive and avoids it. MacFarlane's brand of comedy is swings heavily between satire and absurdism, and as a result, when it doesn't work, it can be offensive, boorish and remarkably regressive. Most of the arguments around his comedy tend to centre on whether or not his work is truly self-realized satire - his supporters often citing MacFarlane's public support for Democratic platforms like the Lillybetter Act, marriage equality, and anti-discrimination - or the callous opportunism of a privileged white guy cashing in on dog-whistle issues for the sexist frat boy 18-34 demographic and using satire and humour as a cover for his exploitive work.
However, this article absolutely finds brilliant new ground that I would have never expected - that the criticism of the Family Guy is because it is too damn feminist, protraying men as moronic, perverse, incompetant beasts who exist somewhere between a cave man and the severely mentally challenged, only paused between masturbation and rape long enough to guzzle a beer. That MacFarlane's satire is just one level of a much deeper, complex way to undermine men by protraying them in ways that prove only women are capable of being moral, family oriented, responsible adults.
The argument is facile at best, but the article shows the kinds of mental gymnastics that currently exist in many places to frame men as the true victims in the world today. It's a twisted funhouse mirror that would be funny if the honest conviction in its distortions wasn't so strong.
Look, I'm a fan of Family Guy. Not that it isn't unspeakably appalling at times, and I certainly don't blame anyone who finds it offensive and avoids it. MacFarlane's brand of comedy is swings heavily between satire and absurdism, and as a result, when it doesn't work, it can be offensive, boorish and remarkably regressive. Most of the arguments around his comedy tend to centre on whether or not his work is truly self-realized satire - his supporters often citing MacFarlane's public support for Democratic platforms like the Lillybetter Act, marriage equality, and anti-discrimination - or the callous opportunism of a privileged white guy cashing in on dog-whistle issues for the sexist frat boy 18-34 demographic and using satire and humour as a cover for his exploitive work.
However, this article absolutely finds brilliant new ground that I would have never expected - that the criticism of the Family Guy is because it is too damn feminist, protraying men as moronic, perverse, incompetant beasts who exist somewhere between a cave man and the severely mentally challenged, only paused between masturbation and rape long enough to guzzle a beer. That MacFarlane's satire is just one level of a much deeper, complex way to undermine men by protraying them in ways that prove only women are capable of being moral, family oriented, responsible adults.
The argument is facile at best, but the article shows the kinds of mental gymnastics that currently exist in many places to frame men as the true victims in the world today. It's a twisted funhouse mirror that would be funny if the honest conviction in its distortions wasn't so strong.
