Family Guy' Mocks Sarah Palin's Son Trig For Having Down Syndrome - Page 3

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 1:29am

I didn't have a problem with the character at all. I thought it was done well and funny as hell that she was a little sh*t. The Alaskan Governor line didn't bother me, either. I had a problem with Stewie's song.

Updated On: 2/19/10 at 01:29 AM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 6:39am

Yeah JG2. To me, Stewie's song was clearly mocking of Downs Syndrome.

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 6:43am

i don't care what sarah palin did or did not do that is *not* a reason to make fun of someone with down's syndrome.

[romantico]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 7:08am

Well, Stewie has issues. He wants to kill his Mom. Isn't that sending a message? Quagmire treat women as sex objects.Seth does not exclude anyone. From Stutterers to bed wetters to pedophiles to you name it, Family Guy has mocked it. What about the way Family Guy mocks stroke victims, African Americans, Jewish people, Gays,Asian Americans,Deaf people and tons of others. This is why I LOVE South Park and Family Guy. If the show or characters offend people,change the channel.It's not for everyone.

Everyone see's something different in it.Was Stewie Mocking a character with down syndrome? Yes. Was the actress who played the part who has down syndrome offended? No, but others were (but I doubt Sarah Palin honestly was). Here is a similar example that was discussed on the View regarding deaf people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIifyWvSQVs

Everyone has a different opinion about this but those who are fans of the shows tune and expect this sort of thing. Marlee Matlin and this actress both were in on the joke and like the ladies said, does that make it less offensive?

Updated On: 2/19/10 at 07:08 AM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 7:19am

Yeah...I get it. Family Guy makes fun of everyone and if you tune in to watch you are bound to catch an episode that you might feel crosses a line.
What I find interesting is that people are saying the episode didn't mock down's syndrome at all. And it did..clearly. And I'm wondering if people are giving it more of a pass because of Sarah Palin. Even though this episode had to have been written way before Palin's defense of Rush Limbaugh.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 8:44am

will this cause rush and rove to ask that their performances be pulled from an upcoming (or did it air already, i don't have tv) episode of family guy?

[romantico]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:26am

I did not see it as mocking people with DS but I could see where some did. Yeah, Stewie's song was mean but anyone who watches the show and knows the character knows what they are in for. They did a song and dance about a prom night dumpster baby and AIDS.

I see Chris asking a girl out because she is beautiful and nice not being cruel to those with DS. So, she happens to be a total bitch towards the end (that's the joke). The point he was making was you are just like us,meaning she was being a total A-hole! (so Seth MacFarlane did not sugar coat it or kiss up. Instead he approached it just like anyone else)The girl with DS was fitting in and that is the way the actress playing the part and her family saw it I assume.

Stewie mocked Hitler,Nazi's, and Bin Laden as well. EVERYONE is fair game on Family Guy. Those offended by last weeks episdoe I say get in line. I am glad Seth or the show did not cave in and apologize.

I don't see this as getting a pass at all. Fox has devoted a lot of time to it,which is surprising since Family Guy is on the Fox Network. MSNBC and CNN has also devoted,in my opinion, way too much time on the subject which is why I asked will the actresses comments now be covered as much as Palin's lame a$$ response?

Rove and Limbaugh's episode still has not aired and from what I have heard liberals are NOT gonna be happy (which is why I am sure they did it). Will all these conservatives be complaining then?Of course, by then Sarah Palin will be praising the show and all of this bickering about this episode will be long forgotten.

Updated On: 2/19/10 at 11:26 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:39am

The actress who plays the character speaks out

"I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor," she said in an e-mail to the New York Times. "I thought the line 'I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska' was very funny. I think the word is 'sarcasm.' In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life."

Link

Updated On: 2/19/10 at 11:39 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 12:11pm

I think there is a difference between the show mocking someone and a character on the show mocking someone. If a monstrous character (which Stewie is) does the mocking, to my mind it's an Archie Bunker sort of thing.

Did "All in the Family" itself, or creator Norman Lear, have a problem with minorities? Was the point of the show to denigrate black people and Poles? Clearly not.

Nor do I think the "Family Guy" episode's point was to mock people with DS. Quite the contrary.

But as I always say, if you were offended, then you were offended.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 1:11pm

i am offended that my dad never got royalties from archie bunker.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 1:26pm

I thought Archie Bunker was my father!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 2:11pm

CNN left out the best part of Andrea Friedman's statement.

What I find interesting is that people are saying the episode didn't mock down's syndrome at all.

I think a lot of people have only watched the clip where she says her mother is the former governor of Alaska, not the entire episode. In that scene, they didn't mock people with Down Syndrome, they mocked Sarah Palin. That was the scene the media highlighted, not Stewie's song and dance number.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 2:20pm

Thanks skittles...that's what I'm trying to get at.
I know Family Guy mocks everyone. I know it's always bound to offend someone. This issue might be more sensitive to me because of the work I do. So for me, it was an episode that crossed the line. But I know if that's a show I choose to watch it's bound to happen.
My arguement is with the people who are claiming that the episode didn't mock people with diablities at all. That might not have been the overall message of the episode, but there is no question that it mocked people with down's syndrome.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 2:25pm

There's no question in your mind that the episode mocked people with DS.

It didn't, to my mind. The episode was about Chris falling in love with a girl with DS.

But that's just one man's opinion.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 2:38pm

Of course they mocked people with DS! In case you haven't noticed, that show mocks EVERYONE.

Gays
Blacks
Asians
Sex Addicts
Cripples
Republicans
Democrats
Teen Age Whores
Children

That's why the show is so funny.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 2:48pm

I only saw the clip on Entertainment tonight, but I would say it's mocking her more than her son.
I'm all for mocking her!!!

That said...my sister was paralized in 2007 and on Family Guy (or American Dad) it should a woman changing her newborn baby and her paralized husband's diapers at the same time. That kinda hurt my feeling a bit, so I can understand where she is coming from.

But, I am glad that he tailor it to her specifically and not just DS.
Also, I'm glad that Corky's GF is still able to get some work!
Updated On: 2/19/10 at 02:48 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 7:39pm

This actress is really giving Sarah Palin a piece of her mind. THANK GOD! Someone sure needs to. She is still talking and is not done with Sarah:

In an e-mail message, Friedman writes:

My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the Extra Large Medium episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentines day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in "Smudge" but I was a blonde in Life Goes On. I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is sarcasm.

In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.

Q.
How were you hired to do this episode of Family Guy?
A.
Family Guy talked to my dad first, before I knew about Family Guy, because I never watched it. But since Iâ??m watching it, itâ??s really funny. They told me I was going to be animated, they were going to draw me, and I did not have to know the lines by memory. I just had to read it. It was really funny. I enjoyed it. I had a nice time doing it.

Q.
Did they specifically tell you that the character you were going to play also had Down syndrome?
A.
Yeah, they told me I was playing Ellen, who was Miss Bossy. I didnâ??t want to be bossy, but since they want me to be bossy, I just had to be as the character. I had to be bossy, as part of my process. Thatâ??s the only way to transform the real me to an animated person. So I had to do what an actor does. I just wing it and have fun with it.

Q.
When you get asked to play characters who have Down syndrome, does that make you at all uncomfortable?
A.
No, Iâ??m proud of it. Iâ??m not embarrassed. But mostly, it doesnâ??t matter if you have Down syndrome. Really, it just matters to have a different challenge.

Q.
When did you find out about the reaction that the episode elicited from Sarah Palin and her family?
A.
[laughs] That I did not even know about until my mom told me, Youâ??re on Channel 4 And when I watched on Channel 4, on Extra,â?? and I saw Sarah Palin with her son Trig. Iâ??m like, Iâ??m not Trig. This is my life.â?? I was making fun of Sarah Palin, but not her son.

Q.
Do you agree with what she and her daughter Bristol were saying, that the character and the jokes were insulting to people with Down syndrome?
A.
Itâ??s not really an insult. I was doing my role, Iâ??m an actor. Iâ??m entitled to say something. It was really funny. I was laughing at it. I had a nice time doing voiceover. It was my first time doing a voiceover, and I had fun.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-voice-actor-says-palin-does-not-have-a-sense-of-humor/

Updated On: 2/19/10 at 07:39 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 8:56pm

Not sure if anyone here's mentioned it yet but Seth will be on the season premiere of REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER discussing this tonight. I really can't wait.

[romantico]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 9:32pm

Hey thanks! I was planning on watching Real Time anyway but that's nice to know. Hopefully Seth will get in some classic digs towards Sarah the Quitter.

Andrea Fay Friedman Talks to the Insider about Sarah the Quitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhMSA6Chiag

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 10:08pm

deep down inside (or maybe not that deep) sarah's probably thrilled that the media is, once again, focused on her.
because it's all about her, right?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:38pm

This is Seth on Real Time:
http://tv.gawker.com/5476160/seth-macfarlane-responds-to-sarah-palins-attacks-on-real-time

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/20/10 at 3:28pm

Are Fox News and Fox the station (sorry best way I could word it) part of the same corporation?

If so, then how ironic that they are fighting with their own people.

As for Sarah Palin...really that episode was showing that people with DS can go on dates and do anything that "normal" people can do.
It was not making fun of her son...it was making fun of her!

My advice would be not to worry about it because as a person who does long-term substitute assignments for people with Special Education, I can tell you that it's a sort of a waste of energy to feel sorry for them person they have "eternal childhood" and could give a **** about that.
There are different levels, but most are happy and easy to please the way a child is.
People with Down Syndrone are usually the highest mentally speaking though.

[romantico]

Posted: 2/20/10 at 4:00pm

Yes, both owned by News Corp/Rupert Murdoch. They pretty much let Seth do his own thing. The Simpsons has also in the past made fun of the Fox News Network and they have just ignored it. Only time Fox has stepped in was recently when they refused an episode for this season of FAMILY GUY. It's known as "the abortion Episode" and apparently it was to edgy for Fox.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/08/family-guy-abortion-episode-video-.html


Its all about Sarah and no one else!She is her own biggest fan!! Tina Fey is hosting SNL in April and she has confirmed she will be reprising her Sarah Palin act.I can assure you Sarah is already on the 3rd draft of her statement that will be up on her Facebook page the Sunday after SNL airs.Its all about the poor innocent victim, Sarah the Quitter.No one else. All Sarah all the time. The most thin skinned and selfish public figure there is.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/20/10 at 4:10pm

"My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes. "

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Good for her!!!

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/20/10 at 4:24pm

The only real reason to feel sorry for Trig is that he became an uncle when he was only about 1.5 years old!