In last night’s episode of Family Guy titled “Quagmire’s Father”, Brian (the dog) learns that the woman he’d been dating was transgender.
In a nutshell Quagmire’s friends think his dad is gay.. But it turns out that Quagmire’s dad isn’t gay; he’s a transgender woman. To the episode’s credit, it does point out that “gay” is different than “transgender.” And Ida, the transgender woman, does talk about her choice to get gender-reassignment surgery, saying, “Do I want to be happy the rest of my life, or do I want to be miserable?”
But the second half of the episode is about Brian hooking up with the woman, thinking he’s found his soul-mate, but not realizing she’s transgender. When he’s informed of this, he precedes to vomit for thirty seconds straight; in a sight gag, the whole floor of the room fills up with vomit. “I had sex with her!” Brian says, before screaming like what has transpired is the most disgusting thing imaginable. “When they move to a new place, they’re supposed to notify the neighborhood!” a character says of transgender people.
Seth MacFarlane, who supports the LGBT Community 100 percent had previously told After Elton that “the transsexual community will be very, very happy” with last night’s show. But it seems they aren’t and a flood of complaints is spilling across the internet.
Family guy is absurdist comedy. When do they NOT go over the top? I don’t understand how anyone on here can say that a line was crossed. My gawd, if that’s the case, then the show has crossed about a bajillion lines and more than once. And if it’s to be taken seriously why is no one upset with the fact that Ida, the transexual had sex with a dog? or the fact that her son Quagmire got a boner for her?
But lets not forget that in the end Glenn Quagmire DID ultimately understood and accepted his dad, then ‘defended’ her honor. Whis IS a good mesage.
Society shouldn’t use pop culture as morality lessons, or pick and choose their entertainment based on their political alignment, but people still do. And this isn’t going to benefit anyone who is Transgendered who takes the jokes at face value.
So lets’s cut MacFarlane and Family Guy a break. After all it is a cartoon and we have much more REAL dangers and issues to deal with .
Give them a break? Are you kidding me? This is not the first time McFarlane has done transphobia in his shows. Do you perhaps remember The Cleveland show episode that just happened to coincide with transgender day of remembrance? The man clearly has no respect for the trans community. This is not about getting morals from a television show this is about not continuing to other a vulnerable section of society for giggles. Brians reaction is typical of many cisgender people and it is not funny. The idea that a trans woman is disgusting leads to their deaths.
I agree… I am a transsexual, I transitioned early and I am in LTR of 11 YRS. I have no issues with Jokes and Pokes at myself or the community in which I exist… BUT none of the main characters of this episode ever saw the error in their ways, just seemed like misinformation and hate spewing from the entire Griffin house-hold. Unfortunatly there are still people out there who get their morals and " learn how to act" from TV. It's bound to happen, so a show like this can hurt, in fact it hurt me. The day after the show aired I was at work and a customer made a comment about me to his buddy on the phone and mentioned the family guy episode. I was actully afraid for my life for a few minutes. I was in his house alone with him. My job brings me to peoples houses all day. Let me say this, I am a beautiful woman of 36, I transiioned in my teens. I have never had any REAL issues with people. On occassion I do, maybe once a year. It seems to happen when there is a show about transsexualism on TV. Thanks Seth and the whole cast for making my life a little bit harder, just what I needed… to struggle even harder for the RIGHTS I should have anyway.
Of course they dis… That’s what they f***ing do. If they make fun of genocide and get away with it without you guys throwing a fit then then why would you treat your cause any more special? It’s absurd. I have nothing against those who believe they’re in the wrong body but I don’t support the idea but even then you have to realize that not everything revolves around these people just because they’re a minority. Only select people are really scummy enough to bully transsexuals and if the same people are scummy enough to discriminate against anyone of a different archetype. I’m saying focus on the right causes because these movements ask for the moon because they cry discrimination and oppression and then they become the oppressors.