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Within the last ten to fifteen years, shows like South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, and American Dad have been creating huge crowds of followers.
These shows are unique in that they are animated, and animation allows for greater freedom of expression and more watering down[footnoteRef:10] of what may seem offensive when real actors are used – things like violence, bodily functions, and even stereotypes are depicted with less grit[footnoteRef:11] than would be in real life. [10: Watering down: to make something weaker] [11: Grit: strength]
The question is: Are these portrayals – especially the stereotypes – positive or harmful? Are these shows making fun of stereotypes, or are they really just continuing the damage?
The show South Park is known for its stinging[footnoteRef:12] social and political commentary, and the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have won several Emmy awards because of it. But within the social commentary – whether it be on the environment, the homeless, or illegal immigration – some serious stereotypes emerge. [12: Stinging: the quality of being harsh or cruel ]
There’s the stereotype of the flaming gay man, portrayed through the characters of Mr./Mrs. Garrison (who went through sex-reassignment surgery from male to female, and back again), Big Gay Al, and Mr. Slave. And there’s the stereotype of the disabled child – Jimmy, who walks with the support of braces and stutters when he speaks, and Timmy, a boy in a wheelchair who can’t say anything other than his own name when he speaks.
There’s also Sharon and Sheila, the nagging housewives, Randy the doofus husband, and others. And while these stereotypes in and of themselves can be problematic, especially when taken to the extreme (something South Park is known for), they can also be used to make a statement or challenge the status quo[footnoteRef:13]. [13: Status quo: existing state of affairs ]
Through the stereotype of the schoolteacher Mr./Mrs. Garrison, we see the promotion of children’s acceptance of LGBTQIA+ teachers in the classroom. Jimmy and Timmy, who often go on crazy adventures together, give voice —and even more importantly, action — to disabled children on television, where often there is very little.
Meanwhile, Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy — a show similar in style to South Park — has its own share of potentially problematic stereotypes. One of the most popular of these is the character Consuela — the town’s Mexican-American maid who speaks broken English, and always wears a uniform and rubber cleaning gloves, while walking around spraying everything with Windex. Problematic? Probably.
But one could argue that if we look more closely at Consuela’s character, we could see that she is more than just the stereotypical Latina housemaid. Oftentimes, her character behaves in a way that lends us to believe that she is fully aware of the oppressive, stereotypical situation that she’s in and acts accordingly as the bitter character that she is.
In one such episode, the Griffin family’s youngest son Stewie (the talking baby) accuses Consuela of stealing his play money (with yet another stereotype that all maids are thieves). Consuela acknowledges that she’s taken the money and when Stewie demands that she return it, she responds with, “Come get, b*tch”.
But even if these hidden messages do exist beneath the stereotypes that overshadow them, are their meanings strong enough to shine through? Because even though Parker/Stone’s and MacFarlane’s intentions may be to expose problematic stereotypes by shining a spotlight on them, not everyone sees it that way.
After all, although there are many who watch these shows for pop-culture references, and can overlook the stereotypes, there are those who watch them specifically because the show makes fun of gay people, Asians, Italians, or whomever the viewer holds prejudiced views toward. And that’s never a good thing.
Family Guy in particular makes fun of people, cultures, and disabilities for no apparent reason, without the accompanying social commentary to diffuse the jokes. And I fail to understand how repeatedly making rape jokes, mocking how Asians drive, or picking on Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s-related mannerisms is funny, even in the name of “insult comedy.”
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