This week’s Family Guy episode showcased Quagmire’s father coming out as a transgendered woman, which came as quite a surprise to everyone. For those of us not familiar with the show, Glenn Quagmire is a chauvinistic and irreverent ladies’ man, to put it lightly. We are all to assume that his father is the same, but we soon learn that he is a woman trapped in a man’s body.
I have embedded the entire episode so that you can watch for yourselves. Offensive? Funny? Neither? You decide.
(Hulu videos are only available in the US, sorry 
)
This isn’t the first time that Seth McFarlane has put the spotlight on the trans community, he previously did so last Thanksgiving with an episode of The Cleveland Show, which, in my opinion was highly offensive. However, this time the trans character is explored a bit more deeply and in typical Family Guy fashion, the crude jokes abound.
For the record, I have been a hardcore fan of this series for a while, but recently have noticed a dramatic downward spiral in humor. Where the episodes once made intelligent, sharp, witty and original jokes, I feel that they now only go for shock value. This is just my opinion though.
Basically, Glenn and the rest of the cast react in different ways to his father being transgendered. I didn’t really laugh but wasn’t terribly offended either. I think that this was an accurate portrayal of how society at large views us in the trans community. At one point in the ‘sode, Quagmire is convinced that his dad is gay, but when it is actually revealed that she sees herself as a “woman trapped in a man’s body”, Quagmire wishes that he were gay.
This was humorous to me because a lot of people say that it is easier to understand when someone is gay versus when someone is trans. Of course, there were the inappropriate jokes that pushed the envelope. Cringe-worthy would be my way of describing this type of humor. However, I kind of look at it as a spoof of how society views trans people. Like it or not, we’ve got a long way to go to change peoples’ minds.
Whether or not this is the right way to go about portraying a group of human beings that you don’t quite understand is a different issue in and of itself. If you are outraged at this episode’s content, I wouldn’t blame you at all. There is dialogue in there that would make even George Carlin blush.
One thing is for certain: there needs to be more of us in the media so that we can accurately portray to the rest of the world the truth about our lives.
JessicaWhoHD
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
in the UK so can’t see it to be offended or otherwise. We are the last easy target! what will they do when, if , sanity reigns and we get included in the shelter of hate crimes and discrimination legislation?
My mom was so delighted when she asked if I was gay and I said no she left quickly and happy, I never did get to explain just what it was… Guess she did not really want to know.
Caroline xxx
I have seen both episodes that you mention and in either case I was not offended. I little disappointed, maybe, but I still laughed my ass off regardless.
In the case of last nights Family Guy episode in which Glenn’s father turned out to be a transsexual and has the surgery done, I was also very much amused at the jokes.
Jokes are made on every subject, individual, celebrity, anything that can be made fun off. As long as the intent is solely for amusement and not inciting hatred or spreading misinformation I am (in most cases) not offended.
One thing stood out to me in this episode, which was something I encountered as well, knowingly or not it was shown that if you want to be a woman all you need to do is have a surgical procedure and you’re done. I have met people that actually do believe that. Though that usually just comes from never having delved into the subject and those people are easily corrected. Most people I know already knew it takes more than a single ‘snip snip’ to be a woman. There is a much bigger difference between men and women than just outer appearance.
What I liked in this episode is that Glenn’s father wasn’t portrayed as a stereotypical “guy in a dress”; Aida (I think her new name was) actually looked pretty decent.
The only real disappointed was the fact that the one character that is always so open minded and intelligent, started puking for 60 seconds straight after he found out he had sex with a transsexual. Though, in his defense, it may have been more the thought it was “Glenn’s dad” rather than that.
The best parts though, came from womanizer Glenn himself. He tried very hard to understand, which was very amicable. When he went to Peter and Lois to explain the situation he already knew his father, now Aida, was straight. Not gay. Of course both Peter and Lois just said “gay” which is actually how a lot of people still view it. Sad, but true and an accurate portrayal of society today.
Later, Glenn really seemed to have come to full terms with it and said “as long as you’re happy, I’m happy” and they hugged. The right message was in there, in this episode, albeit heavily obscured by the typical jokes. But, what do you expect, it is Family Guy not Family Ties.
in short: I wasn’t offended. I laughed heartily. And the right message was even there if you wade through the jokes. Go Glenn!