Why does Seth MacFarlane think rape is funny?
October 7, 2008 by Wendy Boswell
Updated: I had to actually close comments on this post because of the sick, disgusting comments in favor of sexual assault on women from a small group of idiots who obviously have major penile issues. Or should I say….minor? Huh.
Okay. So I wasn’t going to bring this up, but it’s been bothering me now for a couple days. In the most recent episode of Family Guy, I Dream of Jesus, this was one of the jokes:
Peter: Can I have that record? I love that song. I’ll let you have sex with my daughter…
Waiter: I don’t know…let’s see what your daughter looks like.
P: She’s…uhh…(pans past Meg to “hot” girl)…right there!
W: Ok, I’ll do her. But can you tell her to cry and beg me to stop?
P: I think that can be arranged.
Obviously, this is a rape gag. I love me some Family Guy, and there are very few times when I’ve thought they’ve gone too far, but seriously – a rape joke? That’s not funny by any stretch of the imagination. There’s no attempt at satire here, it’s not ironic, it’s just a rape joke – and it’s just not funny.
I think what has happened in the past couple of family Guy seasons is that much of the material used for gags in the earlier episodes has become less shocking as the show has gone on, so Seth feels like he has to go further in order to keep the show fresh and relevant – which is why we’re getting the lame rape jokes.
However, in my opinion Family Guy really loses its way when they go for these cheap laughs, mostly because the rape gags are are so disgusting, and conjure up such repulsive and sadly unfunny responses, that they end up being not so much funny as just pathetic and uncomfortable. Oh, yes – Seth, you’re so shocking! But don’t mistake shocking for FUNNY.
Overall, I still like the show, and I think they’ve had some pretty good episodes of late, but the trend towards making light of rape and domestic violence, often in a very direct and graphic way, takes it a notch too far.
