TV: "Family Guy"

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Speaking for myself, as a writer I would not encourage anyone I know to get involved with the entertainment industry. That said, I would not discourage them from getting involved in local creative enterprises.

I believe my calling from God is to show my Christian brothers and sisters that television has gotten gradually worse over the past 30 years. Even cartoons, at one time only for kids, are expanding into what is euphemistically called “adult” territory. This is not a good thing. When I see an image of the father from Family Guy in drag with a feather boa, I have to ask myself: Where is this going? Or South Park. Or even the Simpsons (Underachiever and proud of it.)

And it is consistently marketed in books, magazines, the internet and even videogames. The same perverse, unGodly junk that’s on TV. A friend of mine was showing me a new videogame where one of the characters pauses for an off-screen sexual encounter with a woman. Puh leeez, how far does it have to go before someone thinks, “Ya know. Things are bad. Really bad.”?

I pray for Hollywood and the end of the sexual, profanity dysfunctional disorder that has infected all media.

God bless,
Ed
 
EdWest,

Here’s an option to go along with your message for people to beware of main-stream media programming: encourage those you know who have teen children, nieces, nephews, godchildren, grandchildren who have expressed an interest in cinematography, casting, video game programming, directing, and such to consider John Paul the Great University in San Diego, CA.

This university is geared toward educating and forming young adults to enter into the very fields which have been overtaken by secular society. Rather than discouraging youth away from television, cinema, stage, video games and such, they are encouraging them to improve the industries from within. I applaud their mission and truly pray they will be successful.

Yes, the media has been overtaken and is a mess, but I do believe the answer is to take it back, not to boycott it.

Personally, I find Family Guy 80% hilarious. I like it better than South Park. Yes, I cringe and many of the premises but they do mock all of them rather well. The fact remains the program, like South Park and The Simpsons, is popular among kids and adults. As a parent and RE teacher I watch these programs so that I know what it is the kids are being exposed to and looking for ways to use what is shown to teach solid moral ethics using these caricatures. It’s a useful tool, something they can relate to.
 
I find Family Guy funny because I don’t see it encouraging immoral behavior as much as I see it making fun of parents who do encourage it. I find it funny because it satirizes the state of the family today (men not assuming their role as head of the family, kids not living up to their potential or getting along, etc.) and shows what needs to be changed. It’s one of my favorite shows (I only watch two, the other being House).
 
This program only shows what needs to be changed to those with perspective. There’s the secular world and then there’s the Christ centered life all Christians should lead. I don’t need to see a guy sitting on a toilet with another next to him telling him to hurry up.

God bless,
Ed
 
Well, the creator, Seth McFarlane, is Catholic!!! He sure doesn’t have that reflected in the series. In one episode, he poked fun at the Pope by showing a Cardinal waking him up but he acted like a teen and whining about it. Brian, the dog, is very liberal (has a gay cousin who had his wedding at the Griffin house). Quagmire is a lot like Boomhauer on King of the Hill. I just really hate it when the show starts off really funny and then he has to toss in a Catholic reference in there that kills the episode. Boo.
 
dbacks5439 said:
Well, the creator, Seth McFarlane, is Catholic!!!
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He and one of the writers are Catholic in the past only – on a DVD commentary the writer states how he thought his Catholic upbringing “screwed him up” – they can probably safely be considered “fallen away” without risking too much judgment.
 
I think Family Guy is hilarious. But there is a lot of anti catholic stuff in it…anybody who denies that is blind or crazy. But I just don’t laugh at those parts. It does make fun of other religions and stuff though. I just think Seth is a disgruntled ex catholic…but hey, the show is funny, and anti catholic things aren’t in every episode. I wouldn’t let kids watch it…or even teenagers…but adults can watch it and laugh, and still be good Catholics. My best friend loves the show too, we talk about it all the time, and laugh, and we’re both good Catholics.

My favorite is when Peter’s Catholic dad doesn’t like Lois because she’s a protestant, and tells the Pope that even a tamborine shakin’ baptist could see his son’s no good. LOL
 
Oren said:
I think Family Guy is hilarious. But there is a lot of anti catholic stuff in it…anybody who denies that is blind or crazy. But I just don’t laugh at those parts. It does make fun of other religions and stuff though. I just think Seth is a disgruntled ex catholic…but hey, the show is funny, and anti catholic things aren’t in every episode. I wouldn’t let kids watch it…or even teenagers…but adults can watch it and laugh, and still be good Catholics. My best friend loves the show too, we talk about it all the time, and laugh, and we’re both good Catholics.

My favorite is when Peter’s Catholic dad doesn’t like Lois because she’s a protestant, and tells the Pope that even a tamborine shakin’ baptist could see his son’s no good. LOL
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I liked when their car said “Just Married” and his father wrote below it “to a Protestant W***e.” So funny.
 
edwest2 said:
What a misnamed show. A cartoon about a perverse “family.” The mother gives her teenage daughter a little advice about how to get a guy interested in her. “Why don’t you just show him the goods?”

Scatalogical (I’d like to meet the person who made up this word) humor abounds. Problem is, it’s not funny. And indecency in general abounds. Time to send another e-maill to the FCC.

God bless,
Ed
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Sure, it is very crude, but it’s funny. It’s a comedy, what do you expect? Nice polite jokes for all ages?:rolleyes: I wouldn’t let your kids watch it, though…
 
I think it is a good idea for parents to keep in mind that just because something is animated, it’s okay for children. I cringe when I realize my children watched the show until the day I overheard something so crude, I ran to the tv and changed the channel, and said “nevermore!!” I was taken in by the title “Family Guy”. Kids should NOT see this show!

As for adults, I guess it’s up to you if you think you can watch it and not get dragged down a little. It is unquestionably funny, but in a way that makes me, personally, a bit uncomfortable.

That being said, I have not problem watching shows with a certain amount of violence…I guess we have to be our own judges of what material might lead us into sin??

imho
 
I used to watch stuff like this, Futurama, the Simpsons, etc. But then I started to ask myself, what would God think of these shows? I rather quickly deduced that He probably does not approve of them and the messages they send, so therefore why should I? Been a month or two since then, and I haven’t watched any of the shows since.
 
Here’s my dilemma: I think FAMILY GUY is hilarious and I love watching the episodes on DVD.

However, while I love most of the humor on the show, I noticed that Family Guy and its creator, Seth MacFarlane seem to spend an inordinate amount of time making off-color jokes against Catholicism and Christianity in general.

It’s crystal clear that MacFarlane is as liberal as they come and so, of course, the Griffin family follows suit. I can’t even begin to recount all of the jokes they’ve done at the expense of Jesus. And while they make fun of the gays, Seth MacFarlane is all for gay marriage.

I know this because they had an episode about Brian’s gay cousin, Jasper *(a dog, by the way) *getting married to a Filipino guy and Brian’s all for it. Lois is against gay marriage, but the turning point is when she realizes that her parents taught her to be anti-gay for all of the wrong reasons, thus converting her to pro-gay.

I actually listened to the commentary portion of that DVD episode and MacFarlane actually says, *“Anybody who’s against gays getting married is a f**ker.” * The show appeals to me in so many ways, yet they never stop with the anti-God, ultra-liberal stance.

It would seem that the answer is simple: Just stop watching it. Yet, once I get past the anti-Christian parts, I spend the rest of the time laughing almost hysterically at times. I’m wondering if God would disapprove of my watching Family Guy even though none of Seth MacFarlane’s anti-Christian rhetoric would ever turn me off from believing in the One True God. <")))><
 
You might want to pray about it.

For me, I can only take so much anti-Catholic bashing. My favortie TV show is Scrubs. While they don’t blatantly bash the Christians, there is enough promiscuity and bad behavior to make me uncomfortable. I used to love the show Rescue Me back in it’s first season but it quickly showed it’s true rabid anti-Catholic sentiment and I found myself angered more than entertained. I was looking forward to the new show “Saving Grace” because it alluded to a spiritual theme but ended up being yet another anti-Catholic piece of agi-prop. So for me, it becomes a matter of loyatly. If I love my Lord, I really can’t bear to see Him bashed repeatedly on TV. It’s like watching Him crucified again and again.
 
There are a lot of funny shows out there. I don’t think any of them profess strong morals.

I too love Family Guy… and American Dad and The Simpson’s. The humor is totally inappropriate. It would be nice if you could fleece off the genuinely funny parts and remove the parts that are contrary to our morals. Once upon a time I was a Howard Stern fan. Then all of a sudden, I stopped finding him to be funny. I started looking for something else to listen too and found Christian radio. When I found too many flaws in their theology, I scanned the AM band. Lo and behold, EWTN!! Ah Rapture, or wait :confused: 😛

I don’t see this happening in the sitcom realm. Neither do I see a breakout Catholic Sitcom. ( have an idea though )

I don’t think any of us will run into Seth and explain the virtues of our view on sacramental marriage. I doubt he wants to have an intelligent conversation about it. When you are narrow-minded to the point when you cannot allow others to have their views, you tend not to listen. We can only pray that someone will.

Even if he changes his views, this won’t change the vein of comedy. The nice thing about these shows is they pick on everyone. When they pick on you, you should think about when you laughed when they picked on the other guy.
 
ChristianWAB said:
Here’s my dilemma: I think FAMILY GUY is hilarious and I love watching the episodes on DVD.

However, while I love most of the humor on the show, I noticed that Family Guy and its creator, Seth MacFarlane seem to spend an inordinate amount of time making off-color jokes against Catholicism and Christianity in general.
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I’ve noticed this too, anyone who watches it can’t help but notice it, especially if you’re Catholic. I absolutely love the show and watch it every chance I get. Usually I just ignore the jokes concerning Catholicism, for some this might be easier said than done.
 
iamscifimike said:
Once upon a time I was a Howard Stern fan. Then all of a sudden, I stopped finding him to be funny. I started looking for something else to listen too and found Christian radio. When I found too many flaws in their theology, I scanned the AM band. Lo and behold, EWTN!! Ah Rapture, or wait :confused: 😛
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I just had to add for the OP regarding prayer: I used to listen to our local radio station’s equivalent to the Howard Stern Show long before I returned to the Church. Once back, I had a hard time pulling myself away from this radio show that I had enjoyed and found so very entertaining. However, it was consistently irritating and the laughs were becoming rare. I started praying that God would help guide me to another form of radio entertainment. One day, I was driving in the city and pulled up behind a car that had an EWTN bumper sticker with the call letters of our local Catholic Radio Station. That very instant I changed the dial on my car radio and never looked back!

BTW: I hate bumper stickers but I do have that one on my car - for the next poor lost soul looking for some Catholic inspiration!
 
If you’re feeling guilty, then may I suggest that might be an answer to your question.

Understandably, there are a lot of people out there who enjoy crass senses of humor, no matter who it offends. People are sinful in nature, and what might offend one would probably go along with another’s point-of-view. In time, you may no longer find the shows appealing. Continue to pray on this matter, and the Lord will provide you with the answers.

God Bless!
 
When I’m trying to discern whether or not I should watch something, I always imagine Jesus sitting right next to me watching the show with me. Would I be embarrassed? Would He look sad or angry because of the show? Would He ask me why I am watching it? (After all, He is with us always anyway.)

I just saw a short video distributed by the American Family Assocation (tried to find it again but couldn’t) interviewing people on the street and asking them if a) they are Christian, and if so b) if they watch R movies. The majority said yes. Then the interviewer asked if they were offended by blasphemy in the movies (believe it or not, the majority couldn’t identify blasphemy); then asked more specifically about taking the Lord’s name in vain. Most said it didn’t offend them because it was so commonplace.

Then the interviewer asked if they would go to a movie that used their mother’s name as a cuss word. The majority said no. Then the interviewer asked again if they would go to a movie using God’s name as a cuss word. Really made them stop and think.
 
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