John “On the Spot”: CNN thinks Family Guy went too far the other night…(and they’re shocked!)

First, check out this video from CNN.com’s “Showbiz Tonight” after the jump.

 

Next, check out my review of the episode here so that you get the basic premise of the story…I’ll wait.

 

Good? Ok…as I stated on the bottom of that review I kind of had a feeling this episode may get some feedback so I made a proactive attempt to dispel some of the accusations in the Family Guy episode.  But, basically the CNN people(sister company to TBS AND Cartoon Network, both networks who broadcast reruns of Family Guy a thousand times a week) think this week’s episode was making light of the seriousness of domestic abuse. I disagree, I simply thing Seth was shedding light on a dark subject that most people in the media turn a blind eye to. Instead Dr. Walsh claims that the guys at Family Guy broke two rules of comedy:

1) All comedy is tragedy viewed from across the street. My take? Where did this rule come from? Hey Lady, I would say a good portion of the comedians that are out there not only make jokes at other peoples’ expense, but their own as well.  Everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Will Ferrell make fun of themselves in one way or another in their routines be it stand-up or elsewhere. Some of Howard Stern’s funniest material is when he talks about his dick being too small…how is that NOT funny? Conan O’Brien constantly makes fun of his pasty-white skin, why? Because, it’s all in good fun.  Family Guy didn’t do this…

2)  They made fun of the victim more then they made fun of the assailant.  They weren’t making fun of the victim. They were showing how naive some people can be of their husband’s bull shit. It happens all the time! Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Joseph Stalin are at the end of the day guys that were married to women who were too fucking stupid to say anything about all the wrong things their respective spouses did, and instead they just sit there and keep quiet. Yes, there are women and children out there victims of domestic abuse, and I am not condoning violence one bit, but their are WAY more victims that are keeping quiet about this then there are ones who leave their husbands and file for divorce. Ever see the movie, “Pay it Forward”? Same idea, a drunken wife(played by Helen Hunt) keeps taking back her dead-beat husband(played by Jon Bon Jovi) despite the fact that he beats her in drunken fits! IT HAPPENS! If anything I think this episode of Family Guy was more real then anything they’ve done in a while because its showing the world what real life is like.

On the last clip they show Dr Wendy claiming that this episode is no longer satire but is now too close to home. Well, Wendy do you know the definition of satire?  According to Wikipedia(which is always right) “Although satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon.”

This makes perfect sense, Family Guy/Seth Macfarlane has been and is a voice for a generation of people that have always had something to say but no way of saying it. With, “Screams of Silence” Seth merely shows this to us and says “Hey, If this is YOU…then WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!” And we need more people like that…