DaBeast on 10/9/2013 at 14:24
Maybe I'm just being pedantic, but I wouldn't say the point of satire is to highlight anything in particular. It can be used to do so, but you're kind of suggesting that satire is a tool to fight the evils of mankind when its just a way of making a funneh.
The problem I have with MacFarlane's kind of humour is that for every person complaining because they think its racist/sexist, there will be plenty of people laughing for the same reason. Plus you can always just use satire/irony to excuse a blatantly racist joke.
The impression I've always get from any of MacFarlanes work was that he wanted to do something like South Park and Simpsons but wasn't talented enough to make an intelligent joke so he embraces being blunt and obvious and just goes with that instead.
The later seasons are much better than the first. Episodes had an actual plot instead of just a collection of cutaways and the humour improved a lot. Still pretty dumb sometimes, but not as bad as some make out.
Vivian on 10/9/2013 at 14:40
Quote Posted by DaBeast
Maybe I'm just being pedantic, but I wouldn't say the point of satire is to highlight anything in particular. It can be used to do so, but you're kind of suggesting that satire is a tool to fight the evils of mankind when its just a way of making a funneh.
According to facts, that actually IS the definition of satire: (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire)
Also family guy isn't satire. It's scatological humour. Well, it's an attempt at it, I guess.
henke on 10/9/2013 at 14:52
Naah, deth does have a sense of humor, and he does get satire. He's just trying his damndest not to see it here. You see, dethtoll is a guy who has a hard time merely disliking a thing for what it is. Instead he regularly has to dredge up some thing that the creator of said thing has said or done in the past which allows him to frame his dislike in terms of "this artist (and his fans) are bad people", and of course the flipside to this is that deth, simply by disliking the thing, gets to claim the moral highground.
Deth, you don't need to construct a whole narrative about how you're fighting racism, sexism and homophobia by not tuning in to watch Family Guy. You can simply just not watch it.
DaBeast on 10/9/2013 at 15:15
I stand corrected.
Also,
Quote Posted by wiki
Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon and as a tool to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.
Kind of shits on the idea that satire
must be funny
Vivian on 10/9/2013 at 15:23
Witty isn't always the same thing as funny. I mean, 1984 is probably one of the most famous satires ever written, and aside from a certain sense of absurdity I doubt many people would call it funny, but I would argue it contains some good examples of wit. The concept of doublethink, for instance.
faetal on 10/9/2013 at 15:40
Quote Posted by henke
Naah, deth does have a sense of humor, and he does get satire. He's just trying his damndest not to see it here. You see, dethtoll is a guy who has a hard time merely disliking a thing for what it is. Instead he regularly has to dredge up some thing that the creator of said thing has said or done in the past which allows him to frame his dislike in terms of "this artist (and his fans) are bad people", and of course the flipside to this is that deth, simply by disliking the thing, gets to claim the moral highground.
Deth, you don't need to construct a whole narrative about how you're fighting racism, sexism and homophobia by not tuning in to watch Family Guy. You can simply just not watch it.
I endorse this message.
[EDIT] I'd argue that FG
is satire, just that it is very shallow and scattergun in its approach.
Vivian on 10/9/2013 at 15:49
I guess I would have to watch more of it to find out if it ever actually tries to make some kind of social point, and I can't be fucking bothered. Everything about it sets my teeth on edge.
henke on 10/9/2013 at 16:01
Social point? Naah, Family Guy makes jokes, not points. It's episodes are mostly just a string of gags and non sequiturs loosely tied together by a story.
Also, I'm not interested in trying to define satire or figure out what exactly to label the jokes Seth was making as. All I can say with certainty is that they were jokes, and trying to interpret them as earnest statements about race, sex and sexual orientation is silly.
faetal on 10/9/2013 at 16:03
It pretty much takes the piss out of every possible stereotype I can think of. In order to do that, you have to find something to ridicule. Because it is shallow and quickfire, it's easy enough to miss, but the fact that I find myself regularly laughing because of the resonance of a particular kind of idiocy where the FG lampoon hits the mark, means it is there (IMO obvs). It's extremely hit and miss and the chaotic pace of it does wear thin, which is probably why I far prefer American Dad, which stays on a far more even keel. But yeah, it's no 1984.
[EDIT] One example which I can use is when Chris Griffin joins the peace corps and before being parachuted onto the tribal island he is serving on, is told by his superior as a valedictory flourish "oh, and the word 'coloured' still flies down there, so get your fill", which is pretty blatant reference to certain types of people who consider political correctness to be contextual based on who they think would disapprove rather than what is actually good character.
june gloom on 10/9/2013 at 18:33
Quote Posted by henke
Naah, deth does have a sense of humor, and he does get satire. He's just trying his damndest not to see it here. You see, dethtoll is a guy who has a hard time merely disliking a thing for what it is. Instead he regularly has to dredge up some thing that the creator of said thing has said or done in the past which allows him to frame his dislike in terms of "this artist (and his fans) are bad people", and of course the flipside to this is that deth, simply by disliking the thing, gets to claim the moral highground.
Deth, you don't need to construct a whole narrative about how you're fighting racism, sexism and homophobia by not tuning in to watch Family Guy. You can simply just not watch it.
This is so completely off-base and insulting. So not liking an unfunny show with unfunny misogynist jokes means I'm some sort of tumblr social justice crusader?
Fuck you all, I'm so disappointed in you. Some of you are smarter than this. I'm done with this conversation.
