Family Guy And Freud Reaction Paper

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Pedophila, mental disabilities, and terrorism are not usually the first things that come to mind when we contemplate comedy. Despite this fact, they are all subjects I have witnessed the well-known television show Family Guy poke fun at. This show represent a father, Peter Griffin, and his family and all of the ridiculous circumstances they get themselves in. While most people do not find these subjects funny, they still find the show hilarious and support the show full-heartedly. While I am not saying that everyone supports the vastly inappropriate jokes made on the show, a large portion of society love it. What makes it okay for this show to make fun of these very serious subjects? Antonia Peacocke, author of “Family Guy and Freud: Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious”, discusses how Family Guy changed her viewpoint over these seemingly obscene jokes. Although I find Peacocke has some very interesting points in her article, I do not agree with her entirely. Making jokes about certain subjects is okay to do before it crosses a certain line. Family …show more content…

In the article, Peacocke summarizes what the producer of Family Guy claims in an episode by suggesting, “MacFarlane makes an important point: that no amount of television censorship will ever change the harsh nature of reality- and to censor reality is mere folly” ( 306). She is saying that the family in Family Guy depicts a realistic version of a family in the United States, and that we should not censor reality. I disagree with Peacocke when she says this because the Griffins are not the typical family. They say and act in extremely obscene ways, much more vulgar than a normal family. If we accept the idea that the Griffins represent a regular family, then we are lowering our expectations for families. Perhaps even encouraging a family similar to the one on the