Family Guy not for the family

A critique of animated shows for adults

by Natalie Hall
Courier Staff

What do “The Simpson's,” “Family Guy,” and “ South Park ” all have in common? They are adult cartoons; yes, cartoons for adults! When we were growing up we watched “The Smurfs,” “Transformers,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Care Bears,” etc. Who ever thought there would be cartoons targeted to us as college students?

Growing up in the ‘80s, I can remember watching the Claymation cartoon Gumby and Pokey, as well as Fraggle Rock. However, today you can flip to MTV and see clay/animated celebrities fighting and ripping each other's limbs off on “Celebrity Deathmatch.” Whatever happened to Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff?

The other night I was watching a preview for “Family Guy” and noticed that it said “Viewer Discretion Advised.” Cartoons have come a long way in recent years, in that some can't even be watched by children!

“ South Park ” is arguably the most explicit animated series. In this show, four young boys cuss, fight and talk about sex. In each episode a character, Kenny, is killed. Does this sound like appropriate material for your son or daughter to be watching? I think not.

How is it that these “adult” cartoons evolved from the innocent, child-like animation we remember? In my opinion, one of the early cartoons with an adult theme came with the DreamWorks movie, “Shrek.” This film appealed to both child and adult audiences, with the fact that there was underlying adult humor that went unnoticed to children, but was caught by adults. This way it was suitable for young viewers.

As for “Family Guy,” it is anything but a family show. This series features the Griffin family: a mother and father, Peter and Lois, and their three kids: Chris, Meg and Stewie. Brian, their dog, keeps baby Stewie in check while he deals with his own issues and tips back martinis. Stewie, on the other hand, is a diabolical genius with a British accent who speaks of nuclear disaster, world domination, and tells his family to “Go to Hell!”

As if children weren't confused enough about what they could and could not watch, now they can't even watch some cartoons! It seems that television has become less and less kid-friendly. A generation ago you didn't see sexually explicit material, expletives or adult humor on cable television. Nowadays, it is uncommon to see the bright and cheery side of childhood, like in “Reading Rainbow.”

Because of shows like “Family Guy” and “ South Park ,” it's hard to find a family show that is friendly to both children and adults.