Seth MacFarlane isn’t shy about his political views and no subject is off limits for the Family Guy creator. From abortion to the Holocaust to 9/11, MacFarlane and his team will make a joke about anything.
But has the show gone too far? And is there such a thing for Family Guy? If you’re Sarah Palin’s family, the answer is yes. The latest incident causing trouble for MacFarlane comes from this past Sunday’s episode where a mentally challenged character tells Chris her mother is the former governor of Alaska.
Regardless of the obvious differences between the Family Guy character and Palin’s son, this was clearly a jab at the Palin family, and they’ve struck back. Sarah’s daughter Bristol took over her mother’s Facebook page to respond, saying in part: “If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks.”
Wherever the line of decency is, it’s difficult to claim that Family Guy has finally crossed it. In fact, the character in question was actually a positive portrayal of a special needs teenager who is a strong, independent woman. If Family Guy‘s intent was to provoke the Palin family, they succeeded. The failure comes from the Palin family’s response, because they clearly don’t understand that this is hardly the most offensive or messed up thing the show has ever done.
Need proof? Here are some of the most wildly inappropriate political jokes from Family Guy.
McCain/Palin in Nazi Germany
With the aid of a time machine, Stewie and Brian went back to Germany in the 1940s and encountered a Nazi officer sporting a McCain/Palin button on his brown shirt. Ignoring the obvious anachronism, the suggestion that the Nazis support the Republicans – or that Republicans are like Nazis – is indicative of political leanings on Family Guy.
Laura Bush’s Abortions
Proving that women and family members of political figures aren’t off limits, when the Griffins moved to Texas, Meg and Chris snuck onto the Crawford Ranch and found a shoebox full of old Planned Parenthood receipts for Laura Bush. As Chris explained, “She’s been scraped more times than a fisherman’s knuckles.” If Palin’s offended npw, she should look at this episode to see how offensive Family Guy can truly be.
The same episode also pictured President George W. Bush’s freshly cut lines of cocaine sitting on a table while Vice President Dick Cheney dreamt that his lesbian daughter was straight. The show took aim at President Bush’s wife again during a Halloween party where characters kept repeating the “fact” that “Laura Bush killed a guy.”
Osama bin Laden at the Airport
In a scene of disturbing foreboding, a pre-9/11 episode showed Osama bin Laden singing show tunes at airport security to distract the agents into letting him pass. This isn’t the first time that Family Guy has used the events of 9/11 to go after Republicans for using scare tactics to get people to do what they want.
Down Syndrome Girl
In light of MacFarlane’s record, a reference to Palin is a drop in the bucket. Palin and the Republicans may not like Family Guy‘s methods, but, as we can see from today’s dust-up, they get the desired result.
(Images and video courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
