Media Portfolio Entry #10
11-12-07
Family Guy “Griffin Family History”
1.Representation of the Item:
In the “Griffin Family History” The Griffin Family is trapped in a Panic Room because robbers came into their house. Peter then decides to tell the family their family history, from the evolution of dinosaurs to times of slavery to early 1900’s to World War II. Nate Griffin was a black slave, taken from Africa by a white poacher.
2. Intro and Why: Family Guy is a cartoon television series which tackles many big issues. In the episode titled “Griffin Family History,” one big issue that Family Guy writers take on is racism. As Nate Griffin, ancestor of the Griffin Family, is taken from his African tribe. Many other Africans are taken with him on a slave ship where they were all locked together. Nate Griffin is eventually put to work on a plantation where he is far underprivileged and falls in love with the white daughter of the plantation owner. The couple then live a secret life together and even have kids, but they are forced to run away when the plantation owner finds out about the slave and his daughter exclaiming they “will be thrown in jail.”
I chose this as a media item because Family Guy is one of my favorite televisions shows and they always confront major issues in their episodes. IN this particular episode they actually show stereotypes and privilege, but I am just going to concentrate on the racism and slavery issue.
3.Analysis: Family Guy is a hilarious television show that presents many of today’s controversial issues. The “Griffin Family History” in particular displays the problem of racism in early America. They show how Africans were taken from their homes and brought to America on slave ships and were forced to work on plantations. When the white man approaches Nate Griffin in Africa, Nate asks, “Hey, we have different colored skin, do you want to be equals?” The white man says nothing and throws a net over him and drags him off. This episode also gives an example of a slave falling in love with a white girl, and then both the slave and plantation owner’s daughter were both persecuted by the white plantation owner.
This relates to Howard Zinn’s “Drawing the Color Line.” In “Drawing the Color Line,” Zinn tells of how Africans were taken from their homes and brought to America by slave traders to work on plantations. This was a big issue in class discussion on how badly blacks were treated, and all because they had different colored skin. Family Guy shows a detailed example of how this happened.
4. Response: I think that Family Guy episodes could be used for class discussions. The “Griffin Family History” is just one example of how they attack big issues. Family Guy also offers stereotypes, of Asians, Germans, and Irish (for example), and also white privilege. Since Family Guy is one of my favorite shows, I have noticed that some things discussed in class are apparent in these shows.
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