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It’s pretty easy to crack a Sarah Palin joke. (And I’m talking about “Why did the chicken cross the road?” easy.) When you live in Wisconsin’s liberal bubble, it’s even easier. But when you’re “Family Guy,” it’s easier still.
So it comes as absolutely no surprise to hear that Seth MacFarlane and company took a stab at Palin in Sunday’s episode of “Family Guy.” What comes as a (slight) surprise, however, is the national spotlight focused on the show as a result.
The episode in question is “Extra Big Medium,” in which Peter Griffin deludes himself into thinking he’s gifted with psychic abilities (and stupid hilarity ensues) and Chris goes out on a date with a girl with Down syndrome.
Now, this caught my eye initially because I have an older sister with Down syndrome and, knowing “Family Guy’s” history with sensitive issues (read: none), I was concerned that a) the episode would amount to tactless mockery, and b) that I’d have to hear my mother yell on the phone about how upset she was about it. So, I watched it.
Here’s the joke in question: Chris asks his date, Ellen, what her parents do for a living.
“My dad’s an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska,” she says.
For those of you who don’t keep close tabs on the life of America’s favorite maverick (and I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t), Sarah Palin has a son, Trigg, who has Down syndrome.
After the episode’s aired Sunday, the blogosphere waited with baited breath for a reaction from Palin, which came the next day in the ever-eloquent form of a Facebook note. She described the joke as a “kick in the gut,” and one that “begs the question, ‘when is enough, enough?’”
The answer is that “enough” doesn’t exist. For “Family Guy,” the world of Quahog is one in which absolutely nothing is sacred. And the moment lines are laid between what subjects can and can’t be made fun of, the whole objective of being an irreverent show is defeated.
“South Park” was faced with the same dilemma when Isaac Hayes, or the voice of the beloved Chef, took issue with “Trapped in the Closet,” the episode that unapologetically mocked Scientology and unforgettably featured Tom Cruise, John Travolta and R Kelly literally trapped in a closet. After the episode aired, Hayes left the show, and Chef was then killed off with the help of lightning, a bear and a mountain lion.
Were shows like “Family Guy” or “South Park” to tell their writers what can and cannot be written about, the results would be more hypocritical than Miley Cyrus wearing a purity ring. To the contrary — a show without sacred cows creates a level playing field where everything is up for taking a hit. Think of it as equal opportunity.
Although the media’s attention in this issue has focused on Sarah Palin’s reaction to the joke, little attention has been paid to special needs organizations and their reactions to the episode. Perhaps it’s the total media eclipse that is Sarah Palin, or maybe they saw the episode and discovered there was nothing to worry about.
As it turns out, for a show that’s known for its defiant tactlessness, the writers at “Family Guy” handled the Down syndrome plotline with surprising sensitivity.
For example, after learning what’s “up with her,” Stewie doesn’t make fun of Ellen. Instead, he just accepts it and moves on, encouraging Chris to ask her out and helping him getting ready in the best way he knows how — through a classic Hollywood song and dance sequence.
Of course, there are jokes. In the musical number, Stewie takes advantage of a common stereotype — the idea that people with Down syndrome like to hug — and says Ellen’s hugs are “tighter than a vice and they go on for an hour.” And there are references to her distinctive, almond-shaped eyes, which Stewie calls “kitty cat impersonating.”
Unlike other “Family Guy” characters who have their one main “thing” from which all of their jokes derive — like Quagmire’s insatiable sex drive, Joe’s disability or Cleveland’s race — Ellen is a well-developed character who isn’t there just because she has Down syndrome, nor is she there as an excuse for people to make fun of Chris. As the episode continues, viewers learn that what ultimately breaks up Chris and Ellen’s budding relationship is her pushiness, not her disability.
Furthermore, when pushed off the edge by her attitude, Chris delivers the lesson of the episode in a way that’s as close to an after school special as “Family Guy” will ever get.
“I used to hear that people with Down syndrome were different from the rest of us, but you’re not,” he says. “You’re not different at all! You’re just a bunch of assholes like everyone else!”
Now if that isn’t equality, I don’t know what is.
Yet the most compelling piece of evidence is the voice behind the cartoon. The woman with the microphone is Andrea Fay Friedman, an actress who has Down syndrome herself. Knowing that MacFarlane chose to be authentic in his casting decision as opposed to having a regular cast member read her lines is indicative of a layer of respect most people probably didn’t know he had. I sure didn’t.
While Sarah Palin may feel like she got a “kick in the gut” because of “Family Guy,” she’s just a maverick that needs to cool her jets a little. Taking the joke in the context of the episode as a whole, she should consider how a character with Down syndrome — someone from a marginalized group of people — was brought to primetime TV and treated on a level plane as her peers. And for someone like Palin, who considers herself a champion of the special needs community, she should really consider how important of a milestone that is.
And like I said, making fun of her is just irresistible.
Cailley Hammel is a junior majoring in journalism and communication arts. E-mail her at [email protected]
Editing errors from the original copy have been edited. Seth MacFarlane’s name was spelled incorrectly, and we sincerely regret the error.
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“…the results would be more hypocritical than Miley Cyrus wearing a purity ring.”
Are you implying Miley Cyrus is impure in some way?
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@ Anonymous (IP hash: d38281a1) Are you implying that she is pure in some way?
This is a great article. Sarah Palin is in this for Sarah Palin. Not for Trigg not for America and not for anybody else. She will exploit whatever she can to stay in the news. Unfortunately for her, all it does is confirm over and over again that she is not fit for higher office or any other office for that matter. Its just sad to see people liking and “following” somebody who has absolutely no authenticity whatsoever.
Maybe thats one of the problems with America today. There are too many “celebrities” and “famous people” who do nothing more than being famous ‘cos they have a medium through which they can be outrageously insensitive and shockingly callous. I mean the old world principles that made America so endearing (hard work and reward) is almost extinct. Too many people who don’t deserve an audience have a legion of followers. I just hope that sometime soon someone will come along and really inspire us out of this mind-boggling stupidity.
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Here are some of the lyrics from the show….
“And though her pretty face may seem a special person’s wettest dream. […]
You must impress that ultra-boomin’, all consumin’, poorly-groomin’, Down Syndrome girl. […]
You want to take that little whore and spin her on the dancing floor. […]
My boy between the two of us we’ll get her on the shorty bus and then you’re gonna take it on a whirl.”
Wow Cailley! Is this how you treat your sister? You really think it’s okay to portray anyone with downs like this? The fact that Seth thinks Downs girls are “whores” is disgusting.
You are either lying that you even have a downs sibling, or you are a heartless and hateful person. You owe your sister as well as the special needs community a huge and real apology.
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So how is this any different than poking fun at anyone else? Just because they have a different label than someone else? Bald people get made fun of; it’s also a medical condition, but I don’t hear you sticking up for them. The same goes for obese people. In case you haven’t noticed, Family Guy picks on everyone, even the Pope, no one is “off-limits.”
Is Seth calling all those with Down Syndrome whores? I HIGHLY doubt it—-that just happens to be a small part of one, one-time character in Sunday’s episode. Do you regularly, (and unfairly), make conclusions on a group of people based just on one person? If you pay any attention to the show, Meg has also been directly called a whore, (in addition to Peter admitting/making fun of the fact that no one likes Meg, [including himself]). The mother was also briefly a prostitute and anorexic, but I don’t see you complaining about any of those things. Apparently those aren’t taboo enough for you.
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Do you even have or know someone with downs or are you what we call a PC person? Because I work with special needs and have a daughter with DS and believe or not they are people and yes some are a very sexual! There people get over it!!! When you put them in this “box” then it just shows ignorance.
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If you are easily offended don’t watch the show. I find it hilarious how people will laugh at some jokes, even if they offend another “group” of people, but when it’s something that hits close to home they get all offended. Hypocrites
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Why is Sarah Palin still pretending Trig is her son? Everyone is well aware that he is the child of her daughter Bristol and husband Todd. The shame of the incestuous relationship is why Sarah faked the pregnancy in the first place.
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You are a class A moron.
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My son had Down’s and to be perfectly honest, I’m not in the least bit offended by this…maybe I will be when I see the episode!
Down’s is still something that still has a lot of stigma surrounding it…any press for it isn’t exactly bad!
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My daughter has DS and I work with special needs kids and I was excited to hear my favorite show did an episode with someone who has DS. I think that’s awesome because it brings awareness to everyone and also allows you to laugh. The most important thing I try to teach my students (and daughter when she gets older) is to laugh! I really think that the “special needs” exceptence has been getting so much better these days and shows with watching my students interact with other kids in the school and how many “regular Ed” friends they have. So I say good for Family Guy, thank you for writing a refreshing look on the topic and as for Sarah Palin…well it won’t be the first or last time someone will make fun of her and is it me or once again is it all about her and her reputation and not about her son????
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This article wasn’t bad, but does no one over at the Herald copy edit or fact check these articles? It’s Seth McFarlane, not McFarland, for crying out loud.
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you would think such a poor writer would compensate by fact checking, especially household names like seth mcfarlane. who pays your copy editors anyways?
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actually? it’s MACFarlane. not to call you out on your poor writing & fact-checking abilities or anything, but…yeah.
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Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Why does everyone think this is about whether or not Family Guy is offensive or not? It is.
I think most people know Ms. Palin had everything to gain over lynching Rahm and letting her friend Rush off the hook over the “R” word because it makes her look like the victim once the Colberts, Mahers, and Family Guy go after her for her little oversight called “freedom of speech.”
She knew exactly where this was going because every parent knows we can’t control what other people think.
She did the most vile thing a parent can do to a child and that is to use their disability to look victimized.
Everyone knows there is no one template under which all disability issues fit for the entire population of people with disabilities.
So she picked the very one issue that makes people like me absolutley crazy but we can’t do anything about.
She starts the fires and watches them burn. But we caught her in the act this time. And did you, Ms. Hammel. Thank you.
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Family guy isn’t even funny anymore. I stopped watching it, but what I would like to do, Cailley, is take you out to dinner ;).
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I agree with almost everyone except the person overly sensitive and oblivious to Family Guy and/or South Park’s type of comedy.
Even including the person who said FG isn’t funny anymore.. I used to love FG, but just grew tired of it.. What I love about the Simpsons as opposed to FG is that occasionally you can even(for a moment where you can forget many other episodes) see why Marge love Homer.
You can NEVER ever see why Lois loves Peter. Not only is he stupid(and don’t get in an uproar over the fact that Peter was declared ‘mentally retarded’ in a previous episode, and they do bring that up from time to time).. lazy, obese and selfish. He has done every dispicable thing you can imagine.. and yet, she ‘loves him’.
Seth M and company never give it a rest.. its just getting boring. Even though I love it when they poke fun at the hypocrites like Palin in this case(apparently, I haven’t seen the episode) and the McCain Palin pin on Stewies Nazi uniform when he and Brian went back to WWII - hypocrites like the right wingers who have the nerve to call Obama a Nazi, fascist, socialist and communist - You CAN’T be all of those, its illogical and impossible, people! When Palin is far closer to a Nazi(not really a Nazi, but saying she is closer) because she wants to stop free speech for anyone but her.
And I agree, she uses Trig as an accessory rather than treating him like a child.. I have a feeling when he was born and she first realized he had Down’s syndrome - she probably shouted ‘jackpot!’.. dispicable.
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Very well written, and I agree with you completely. In the world of Family Guy, nothing is too serious to be made fun of. And if it is, there goes the First Amendment.
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The whole Down Syndrome Communty has felt this. this was not point at Sarah it was piont at her very special little boy, and every Parent in the world with a Child with Down syndrome will be feeling this. Only Special people touch by the love and the world that having a Down syndrome child brings to a family.
The only thing at has every touch the writer’s of The Family Guy is ice, having a very cold heart.
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I’m surprised you work for this paper, yet you’re incapable of writing an article correctly.
It’s always good to do your Research first. You embarrass yourself by repeatedly misspelling the Producer’s name. It’s “McFarlane”. You don’t have to look hard to find that one out for yourself. It’s even in the credits of the show…
“Were shows like �Family Guy� or �South Park� to tell their writers what can and cannot be written about” - that sentence makes no sense. Were?
And the stab at Miley Cyrus, hmm. Maybe if you chose a celebrity who has a history of being impure, say Paris Hilton, then maybe that would have made sense.
Also, the syndrome in question is called “Down’s Syndrome”. A term you used correctly for the title, but then proceeded in calling in “Down Syndrome” repeatedly throughout the article.
I agree with a lot of that you say in this article, but I can’t stand it when people write articles so poorly. You work for the paper, you represent them. This is a really poor representation of the paper.
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Also, Josh, “Down syndrome” and “Down’s syndrome” are both acceptable names for the disability.
Try to do your own research before you lash out on a message board.
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Hey Josh! Make sure YOU have the name spelled right before criticizing someone else, it’s MACFARLANE. Moron.
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nice…not one of the nitpickers before you even got it right. hi-5!! =]
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If you watch Family Guy, you’re probably going to be offended at some point. Show prides itself on random offensive things. This is the one with an early episode of an office executive (male) taking a children’s toy that had been assembeled to accidentally resemble a huge penis & testicals, run into his office with it, and shout back “No calls.”
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C’mon, let’s be honest. Liberals hate Sarah Palin so much that there is absolutely nothing off-limits as far as they are concerned, least of all her son with Downs Syndrome. Simply because he’s her son it has now become okay to ridicule and make fun of him. Hilarious!! There are a thousand different ways that Family Guy could have taken a shot at Palin. It’s quite telling that they chose her son to do it. People with disabilities have always been fair game for the mean-spirited. Yeah, why don’t we just start laughing at people in wheelchairs, the blind, and stutterers, it’s okay as long as their parents are conservative.
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Don’t forget that one of the other fairly main characters in Family Guy is in a wheelchair. To the rest of your list of disabilities…ever watch Looney Toons as a kid? They pretty-much have the rest of your list covered.
I bet that at some point, laughing in general is going to become taboo, because let’s face it, anything you laugh about can be construed as poking fun/hurting someone else’s feelings somehow.
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It’s amazing how a lib will sell out her down’s syndrome sibling to make a political point. Sad, really.
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I’ve never seen a conservative use a family member with disabilities to make a political point.
Besides—this article really isn’t political.