about the animated sitcom
"Family Guy" highlights the Griffin family composed of morbidly unintelligent husband Peter; occasionally kinky and destructive housewife Lois; their eldest, ill-fated daughter and black sheep of the family Meg; socially awkward and mentally immature middle child Chris; matricide and world domination seeking Stewie, also the baby of the family; and the intellectual, martini-drinking family dog Brian. This dysfunctional family lives in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island. The show pokes fun at American culture and ridicules society in endless ways. It exhibits its comedic nature through the actions and attitudes of the different family members as well as other recurring characters that make references to current events and/or modern cultural icons. It mixes immature humor and smart satire when portraying common stereotypes, which can easily make them very offensive if viewers do not already know MacFarlane's style. Those who already know what to expect usually enjoy the show more and have helped the series receive numerous awards, including an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series - the first animated show to receive it since "The Flinstones" in 1961.
Those other viewers who do not identify "Family Guy" as comprising comic relief, such as the Parent Television Council (PTC), consider the show and Fox Network to be, "the biggest contributors to the negative portrayal of religion on television." According to an article on Variety.com, shows like "Family Guy", "The Simpsons," and "House" have pushed the PTC to name Fox the "most anti-religious network", with NBC coming in at second. Indeed, "Family Guy" has made significant negative references to the Muslim religion and have negatively portrayed people from the Middle East.
Those other viewers who do not identify "Family Guy" as comprising comic relief, such as the Parent Television Council (PTC), consider the show and Fox Network to be, "the biggest contributors to the negative portrayal of religion on television." According to an article on Variety.com, shows like "Family Guy", "The Simpsons," and "House" have pushed the PTC to name Fox the "most anti-religious network", with NBC coming in at second. Indeed, "Family Guy" has made significant negative references to the Muslim religion and have negatively portrayed people from the Middle East.
islamophobic examples in "family guy"
This clip presents the most basic and misleading stereotypes of Muslims and Muslim culture. Acknowledging many people are not accepting of the Muslim culture, Mahmud is surprised by Peter’s intrigue in it. The problem here is that the only reason Peter is fond of the culture is because he gets to wear a "sweet hat", has an "obedient wife", and gets to shout "Admiral Akbar!" when he does stuff. The stereotype of subordinate, obedient, and weak Muslim women is commonly used and we see a clear reference of that here. Mahmud says, "In Muslim culture, wives are much more obedient." The fact Peter wants to be a Muslim simply due to these things also makes it seem like that's all Muslim culture is about, which is a huge misrepresentation.
This clip here is not as related to Muslim culture as the first clip, but it gives a negative portrayal of Arabs and is stereotypical in the way all the men have similar, if not exact appearances. They are all wearing turbans, robes, have long beards, and an accent. This constant representation gives its viewers the idea that all Arabs look and dress this way. Its main reference is to Osama Bin Laden and his videos and audio recordings and it also denotes suicide bombings.
This final clip shows Peter's Palestinian alarm clock blowing up his house after it shouts "Alluha Akbar!". This clip supports the stereotypes of Muslims as terrorists and makes the assumption that all Palestinians are Muslim. It displays the mix-up between Arab ethnicity and Muslim religion. According to chapter 3 of Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy, only 20% of all Muslims in the world identify themselves as Arabs and a significant number of Arabs actually identify as Christian. The persistence of of Arab characters in American stereotypes of Muslims leads to this confusion and reduces different ethnicity's to one single religion and vice versa.
television creating images and symbols
Television is the modern, dominant producer of cultural symbolism. It depicts what is happening in society and each television network attempts to give it its own flavor. For a lot of people, their personal opinions and beliefs arise only out of what they see and hear on T.V., making the media significantly important in educating the public. Latent Orientalism is a great example of this. Edward Said defines it as the unconscious, untouchable certainty about what the Orient is. It is informed by our own consumption such as cartoons, television, music, and other media. The consumption of shows such as "Family Guy" that emphasize racial humor and use such stereotypes that depreciate and insult certain groups of people may result in real-world discrimination. More specifically, these kinds of shows that incorrectly depict the Muslim community as terrorists, violent, backward, and essentially a threat to our freedom, will perpetuate the negative sentiment and a misunderstanding of the people. It is important for viewers of such shows to not only consciously recognize these stereotypes, but to dismiss them to avoid causing prejudice and hate.