How is it that the last hour and a half that I've seen tonight is stuff parodying feminism?
I mean, seriously, two sexual harassment storylines and a gender-separated education storyline that all have "The feminists are overreacting" as a major plot point. (Well, I've seen the last one before and I guess it's fair to say the theme there was "The feminists are being naive" but the other two paint feminists as jumping the gun and men as needing women to civilize them which pisses me off too) Those stories as irritating on their own, but three in a fucking row is infuriating.
It's especially bad because I don't get a night off to just watch television very often, so it really sucks when it's the night of the antifeminist backlash.
Time to put in a DVD, I suppose.
I mean, seriously, two sexual harassment storylines and a gender-separated education storyline that all have "The feminists are overreacting" as a major plot point. (Well, I've seen the last one before and I guess it's fair to say the theme there was "The feminists are being naive" but the other two paint feminists as jumping the gun and men as needing women to civilize them which pisses me off too) Those stories as irritating on their own, but three in a fucking row is infuriating.
It's especially bad because I don't get a night off to just watch television very often, so it really sucks when it's the night of the antifeminist backlash.
Time to put in a DVD, I suppose.
What in the world were you trying to watch?
ReplyDeleteA lot of shows seem to include as one of those "theme" episodes (like "gay bashing is bad" or "racism is bad"), feminism is bad b/c it is extreme and anti-male >__>;;
ReplyDeleteGet used to it. The wave is building.
ReplyDeleteRMM -- Yeah, I don't care for your humor anymore. Fun is fun, but you're obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteI'll be deleting your comments from now on.
I second lurkerwithout's question.
ReplyDeleteThirding the question, as the complaint's pretty well worthless and the question's entirely unanswerable as written.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on TV entirely. The only stuff I watch anymore is anime (helps me keep up on my Japanese, plus GIANT ROBOTS). Also, Doctor Who.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure RMM is going to take his deletions as evidence that he's speaking truths so damning to Feminazis that they attempt to expunge the record. Speaking as a guy, though, I find him an embarrassment to my gender.
ReplyDeleteSorry fellas, but gone are the days when General Halftrack could chase Miss Buxley around the desk and sexual harassment was good clean fun. These days you have to treat women like they're fully-realized people or something, and to some that's a bitter pill. (And no, you can't punch your wife like Andy Capp either.)
What. Were. You. WATCHING???
ReplyDelete(That's my Internet Batman impression.)
Wow, you guys are demanding. I've half a mind to not answer you at all.
ReplyDeleteDoes every complaint have to be WORTH something? Maybe I just need to vent.
(And the question's unanswerable to begin with, as it's a coincidence that these three episodes came one after the other.)
Anyway, Family Guy, Simpsons, and Scrubs. A sexual harassment episode where a character is brainwashed into acting like a woman when he goes to extreme sensitivity training to prevent a lawsuit, an episode where a female principal divides the school into boys and girls and both genders suffer as a result (I'd agree with much of this one because I think separate gender schools are a bad idea for a number of reasons but sandwiched between the others it looks bad and the digs at feminists are amplified), and an episode where a young lady finds out that it's a bad idea to call out her boss for calling her "sweetheart".
To cheer you up, have you seen today's Something Positive webcomic? A nice takedown of the cliche...
ReplyDelete"A sexual harassment episode where a character is brainwashed into acting like a woman when he goes to extreme sensitivity training to prevent a lawsuit"
ReplyDeleteAs far as this one goes, consider the source. Seth MacFarlane is an incredibly stupid and lazy man, who relies on running gags such as the dad punching the daughter unconscious (Oscar Wilde would be proud!), and aspires to nothing better. I've seen interviews with him and he's perfectly aware of the criticism that his show is essentially written by Mad Libs, and he seems to be proud of the fact that he can phone it in year after year.
That doesn't justify messages that are unconstructive at best, I grant you, but when a retard starts lecturing on current events, you can't really hope for much.
I always got the impression from Seth McFarlane interviews that he was immune to criticism because he was baked out of his skull. Am I the only one who thinks he always looks high?
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, I asked first. So I'm not part of the overly-demanding mob. I'm a demanding trendsetter!
See, that's why we asked. Family Guy sucks unbelievably and getting angry at it is like giving a shit what Ann Coulter called you. You just got TV-trolled.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure The Simpsons was attacking feminism per se. Lisa's generally the voice of the writers' political opinions on the show, and she's openly feminist.
ReplyDeleteAnd the episode did seem to have the message that the perceived differences between boys and girls are brought about by socialisation rather than inherent traits. I guess the pseudo-feminist "women are more gentle and loving" principal was annoying, but it's not like those sorts people don't exist.
Family Guy is terrible. I can't stand it.
I can't remember the details of the Scrubs episode off the top of my head, but I'm guessing it was in the early days when Elliot was still fairly incompetent and incredibly insecure as a doctor(then when they finally fixed some of that, they saddled her with wall-to-wall romance and marriage story lines) I like the show, but it can be a little annoying at times.
-Phil
"See, that's why we asked. Family Guy sucks unbelievably and getting angry at it is like giving a shit what Ann Coulter called you. You just got TV-trolled."
ReplyDeleteThe one concern I have is pretty much the same between Ann Coulter and "Family Guy" (and "South Park" for that matter): they may be stupid and intelligent people know enough not to overestimate them, but there are lots of stupid people who take Coulter seriously. People used to mock me when I would gripe about "South Park" and its idiot "angry white man" message, until "South Park Republicans" came to be recognized as a real phenomenon and not just my imagination. Now, the only question is, is there any chance of there being anything like "Family Guy Social Conservatives"? I like to think "Family Guy" is just too scattershot for anyone to hitch their wagon to, then again, stupider things have happened.
In other news, I used to enjoy how one of the producers of "Married ... with Children" was a black guy who felt that "political correctness" was a growing problem in this country and the feminists needed to be put in their place. In a perfect world that uppity darkie would have been fired for sassing whites (and white wimmens no less!), but of course he would have been the first one complaining that his inalienable rights were violated. (All racism in this paragraph provided simply to illustrate a point about how he's the beneficiary of a great deal of "politically correct" social advancement himself.)
Wait... so, I'm not the only person on Earth who thinks that Family Guy is utter shit?
ReplyDeleteoh thank god im not alone
Honestly, the thing that pisses me off the most about that show is just how poorly-drawn it is. A two-year-old could draw their characters.
I can only echo what the others have said: Expecting Seth MacFarlane to have a shred of sensitivity is like expecting the same from Rush Limbaugh, only with way more penis jokes.
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI think you're really selling South Park short. In fact, I've always seen it as the anti-Family Guy because I think it actually makes good points a lot. I don't really see what's so "angry white man" about it. Cartman, who seems most like the typical angry white man, is by no means the moral compass of the show and is in fact, ridiculed or thwarted almost 100% of the time. In the rare case when this not done explicitly it is shown implicitly toward the audience. The show is certainly no Ann Coulter, that's for sure.
As far as these shows, yeah Family Guy is shit, and I've never really had any time for Scrubs either. The Simpsons one doesn't sound too bad, and I've always seen the show to be pretty equal-opportunity in its ribbing.
But yeah, I watch mostly DVDs nowadays too.
"I think you're really selling South Park short. In fact, I've always seen it as the anti-Family Guy because I think it actually makes good points a lot. I don't really see what's so "angry white man" about it."
ReplyDeleteYou never noticed the episodes where it's revealed that people who believe in the existence of global warning are crackpots (Terence & Philip reunion, ManBearPig), how believers in basic social tolerance are themselves intolerant Nazis (Lemmiwinks), how it's liberals who are responsible for anti-drug campaigns (future Stan), how only leftist fools would believe that Saddam Hussein doesn't have WMDs (ladder to heaven), or how people who believe that secondhand smoke is dangerous are big-time liars and hypocrites (the secondhand smoke episode)? I know Parker and Stone deny it, but time and again they come down squarely on the side of the Dittoheads who think they're being somehow oppressed.
Here's an article on "South Park Republicans"; note that between Parker and Stone you've got a Republican and a Libertarian:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_Republican
If you can show me how they've attacked the real world right-wing idiots nearly as much as they've attacked the liberals they imagine are out there, I'll recant; in the meantime I'm all for calling a spade a spade.
Was my comment deleted or did I just decide not to post it after I wrote it... or did i just imagine writing it.. :\ i dun remember a lot of what i've done in the past few days... i thought i wrote something else here after you responded.. :(
ReplyDelete"If you can show me how they've attacked the real world right-wing idiots nearly as much as they've attacked the liberals they imagine are out there, I'll recant; in the meantime I'm all for calling a spade a spade."
ReplyDeleteRepublicans are shown as being at Satan's beck and call, with Satan's boyfriend saying "We'll do what we always do, use the Republicans." (Best Friends Forever) Angry white men themselves are mercilessly lampooned for being intolerant and overreactionary toward immigrants, only able to answer reasoned arguements with "Dey tuk er jerbs!" (Goobacks) Conservative people who got worked up over the Janet Jackson's "NippleGate" are shown as fools for overlooking extreme violence for simple nudity. (Good Times with Weapons) Members of religious organizations are often shown in a bad light, especially Christians, caring more about conversions than helping third-world people (Starvin' Marvin in Space), running "pray the gay away" camps where they cover up the numerous suicides (Cartman Sucks), wanting to continue committing child molestation instead of stopping it (Red Hot Catholic Love), and being naive and easily fooled by Cartman during his Christian rock band plot (Christian Rock Hard). Willian A. Donahue, head of the Catholic League, is portrayed as a ruthless, evil mastermind who sees himself as better than the Pope or Jesus (Fantastic Easter Special).
There are probably more instances of liberals being the butt of jokes, but I would say the difference isn't that large. It's just like other shows like The Daily Show making fun of both sides but ribbing the coservatives slightly more. Of course their personal beliefs enter into it on some level, but I still think it's pretty balanced. Everyone needs to be deflated a little sometimes.
Also, looking at your examples, I think the audience was supposed to agree that the idea that Saddam had WMDs in heaven was absurd until the "gotcha" at the end. Plus, in Imaginationland we saw that Al Gore was right about Manbearpig. ;) Also in these examples, and a lot of other times, Stan and Kyle's views, which are closest to Parker's and Stone's, are moderate versions of the extreme liberal beliefs, so they are not so much saying these beliefs are wrong, but are sometimes taken too far.
"Here's an article on "South Park Republicans"; note that between Parker and Stone you've got a Republican and a Libertarian."
I have heard about "South Park Republicans" before, and Stone and Parker's political afiliations, but I'd have to say personally that there is nothing inherently bad about being conservative, as long as one has moderate views, and I think theirs are.
Funny how most of Parker / Stone's bashing of Christians (especially in later years) is targeting Catholics. That's significant because, by a lot of evangelical / fundamentalist standards, Catholics are barely even Christians anyway. And certainly, Catholics aren't the core constituency of the right, what with their anti-war and pro-charity stances. (The Religious Right was able to bring them into the fold in the early 80s only by adopting an anti-abortion position; prior to that abortion was a uniquely Catholic obsession that evangelicals laughed at.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would point out that Parker / Stone caricatures of liberals are the most extreme, distorted caricatures possible, and if any liberals like that are to actually be found in nature, they are so marginalized as to be completely powerless and irrelevant. Over on the right, though, you can look at actual examples of right-wing idiocy that are very real, very powerful, and very destructive (as any real Libertarian surely would have noticed by now), and yet they get a pass in favor of, say, Prius owners. If you dig hard enough you might somewhere find a handful of left-wing weirdos who want "tolerance camps"; meanwhile, the White House, half the Republican Party, several Republican presidential wannabes, and no shortage of radio hosts are all trying to sell torture as a good and desirable way to deal with our frenemies abroad. I'm sorry, but "they took our jerbs" (which is an understandable complaint and one I can respect) doesn't even begin to address the idiocy that America's right-wing has been wallowing in the past few years.
I will agree that there is nothing inherently bad about being conservative. For genuine "conservatives", though, I recommend consulting magazine. You'd be surprised at what a dim view they take of the Republican Party; AmCon opposed the war in Iraq from the very beginning, for pretty much exactly the same reasons that liberals (and the rest of the world) did. I disagree with AmCon pretty often but at least they're reasonable.