Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So has anyone seen the latest episode of Family Guy?

I have mixed feelings about this episode.  While I don't think transgendered people should be off limits for the show, I do think they went about it in the wrong way.  Sure Ida, formerly Quagmire's dad, is portrayed as a decent individual but that's all I really like about it.  When Brian finds out he just slept with a transgendered person, he literally pukes for 20 seconds--which sends the general message that people like us are repulsive.  They also trivialized the transition process.  The common misconception is that someone just goes for a sex change operation and Ta Da! everything is taken care of in a matter of hours.  They could have poked fun at the topic of being transgendered while still maintaining tact.  They could have given Ida an impeccable fashion sense rivaled only by gay men and expanded on that.  They could have had Peter comment, "Now you'll know if size really does matter," or "you can tell us who has better orgasms."  They could have even had Mayor West pursue Ida saying something like "I've always wanted to try that," which in a way objectifies us albeit not in the repulsive manner displayed in the show as aired.  I guess the main point I'm trying to make is that I don't mind a laugh had at my expense as long as some education comes of it, however the show failed to deliver in that regard.

In the future, Meg is FTM too. It's not really an "educational show," you know?

I'm sorry to ask this, but since when has Family Guy been educational? They have a dog that has sex with women, a baby that makes gay stereotypes look overstated, and the father is a complete dirt bag ripoff of Homer from the Simpsons etc.
Family Guy pokes fun at pedophilia which I think is a step too far also. The show is so unoriginal it's a shame it's still going.

I've seen the episode and the whole vomiting act by Brian is straight out of The Crying Game, most of these shows, including SouthPark and the Simpsons pay homage to other movies. And the time lapse after the surgery was short, maybe they should have had Ida come back home already post-op, but they needed the extra fodder to make the tasteless jokes.

Is this in poor taste?  I ask again, when is Family Guy not insulting anyone and anything? I wouldn't take it too seriously and I don't think the general public will.
Probably already forgotten the show as is.  ;)

My favorite part of that show is when the person that matters, Ida's son, Quagmire, tells her that if she's happy, he's happy.

Comedy tends to do most of the things you listed Maddie...in regards to any subject matter. *shrug*

Knowing that Seth McFarlane will stick his thumb in anyone's eye, and that no topic or person is off-limits to him allowed me to take the
episode with a grain of salt.

However, Brian puking for 20 seconds ala the Crying Game didn't sit well with me.

And speaking of trans-people in cartoons I wish that I had seen the Boondocks episode on Tyler Perry's character Madea which caused so
much furor.

The Quagmire's Dad episode made some misconceptions about the transgendered community. These misconceptions include: that all transgendered/transsexual people want SRS, that the gender transition process is done over a few days. The comments Peter made about transsexuals were insensitive, and Brian's reaction by throwing up after he had sex with Ida made him look like a hypocrite because he is a LGBT rights advocate. I did like Quagmires affirmation and acceptance of Ida as she is and saying if you're happy then I'm happy.

I'm coming in way late to this conversation, but I still wanted to put in my two cents.  It seems to me like when something like the puking comes up, they're more making fun of the people who have negative reactions than trans people.  I see it as them pointing out just how ridiculous people's reactions are.

I think the whole show is crap, like virtually everything else on here at the moment. It is just one of many that I don't switch on for.
Karen.

A lot of my family watches this show and when they saw this episode they now joke and say to me "why couldn't you just be gay", which I guess was one of the jokes in the show? When Quagmire asked his dad if she was gay she said no and he said thank god and then she said she was trans and that's when he said that. I'm not sure exactly how it went since I don't watch Family Guy... although I am guilty of watching American Dad.

I don't get upset over it since I joke about them all the time, that's just what we do.

It's hard not to get mad over how people who are trans in the media are exaggerated or poorly featured but at least we are not the only ones who get targeted.

Even though the transitioning process isn't an operation, three hours in and out and you're fixed, what many shows could mean by that is that to other people around them that is what it feels like. I remember when I first came out and a year later I started hormones and people thought it was too soon, and got a lot of 'when did that happen' type of responses. And when I see people I haven't seen in a while they say things like 'you look so different, that was fast'. So even though to us it seems like a journey, everyone around us seems to freak out and think we transition at the speed of light.

Brian also eats his own vomit and Stewies poop too, so I'm not all that sold on him being a role model.

Besides the throwing up thing, I didn't like how Brian called Quagmire's Dad "it". Isn't Brian suppose to be based off of Seth Macfarlane himself? What kind of message does that send?

I don't think that it's supposed to be taken at all seriously, Brian also has an involuntary hatred of black people!!

That said, they could give the 'crying game' vomit joke a bit of a rest, it's pretty lazy! >:(

Maybe they should have turned it around and had Ida vomiting when she realised she had sex with a dog!!!! :laugh:

I'm normally laid back with that kind of stuff, but 'it' is kinda going far imo. ._.

it is condescending but it's also just a comedy show.

Watch south park's portrayal of transsexuals. Its worse.

Quote from: xxJulia1313xx on July 11, 2011, 12:48:23 PM
Watch south park's portrayal of transsexuals. Its worse.

I believe it.  These two shows have nothing on real life, just the adolescent thinking from the authors.  I go to the South Park, CO region on a regular basis.  People there in Fairplay, where it is set, don't resemble the characters in the cartoon in any way, shape or form.  Fairplay does promote it a little at their "Fairplay Days" event in late June with the cutout board with the characters to stick your head out for that kitschy family photo.  The two authors of South Park live in Boulder, CO and spent 4 summers there one year and never came back.  Boulder, for the rest of CO, is an island of unreal fantasy admidst reality, a people's republic. 
  Joelene

Family Guy's portrayel of transsexuals

http://www.lgbtpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Quagmires-dad-300x200.jpg (http://www.lgbtpov.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Quagmires-dad-300x200.jpg)

South parks portrayel

http://www.southparkstuff.com/images/stories/epiimgs/epi901/epi901img07.jpg (http://www.southparkstuff.com/images/stories/epiimgs/epi901/epi901img07.jpg)

After seeing it on TV again I don't care anymore lol

Quote from: xxScarletxx on July 11, 2011, 12:48:23 PM
Watch south park's portrayal of transsexuals. Its worse.

Not really. Mr. Garrison is a sort of parody if anything. He's a mega conservative gay man who didn't want to be gay so he got a botched sex change so he wouldn't be gay if he liked men. Though a few of the episodes did have bad implications about transsexuality. 

I'm a Family Guy fan however the newer episodes really do tend to be horrible. The political ones are especially bad; FG needs to stick to off-color humor. 

Quote from: Ribbons on September 07, 2011, 09:13:43 PM
Not really. Mr. Garrison is a sort of parody if anything. He's a mega conservative gay man who didn't want to be gay so he got a botched sex change so he wouldn't be gay if he liked men. Though a few of the episodes did have bad implications about transsexuality. 

I'm a Family Guy fan however the newer episodes really do tend to be horrible. The political ones are especially bad; FG needs to stick to off-color humor.

Hmm, I never thought of it like that.

Family Guy is ok. I just like american dad better.(even if they do have a bad portrayel of transsexualism)

I actually liked the Quagmire's Dad episode.

Granted, transition, SRS, breast augmentation and sex in one night was about as realistic as a talking dog who drives a Prius, but the prejudices were spot on, and Peter and Lois were unambiguous ->-bleeped-<-s throughout the episodes, the antagonists of the storyline.

What I really didn't like was her reappearance in the recent thanksgiving episode. McFarlane had an excellent opportunity to address some of the criticism, but Ida didn't even participate in the storyline, she was just subject to ridicule and abuse. Brian came really close to standing up for her, but then dismissed her when she didn't agree with him (which Brian has done to others in the past). One would also think she would have made progress in her transition since her last appearance.   :(

One would also think she would have made progress in her transition since her last appearance.

No one in cartoons (except for dream sequences) ever changes or ages, it's part of their charm.

Quote from: Rain Dog on November 29, 2011, 10:54:11 AM
Brian came really close to standing up for her, but then dismissed her when she didn't agree with him (which Brian has done to others in the past).

Actually that made me lol. Although it was annoying when Lois told her she could use the yard. (When she asked for the bathroom)

I feel bad for bringing this topic back from the dead, but I just saw the episode for the first time and read all the controversy around it. I have mixed feeling about it. I know Seth is a smart man, and not the most ignorant person either. He expressed that the trans community would really enjoy the episode which didn't turn out so hot.

I think this is because in his mind, all the really stupid reactions like calling Ida "it", throwing away the crumble, etc. are supposed to really stupid and over-the-top showing how cringeworthy, idiotic, and immature some people actually feel about transpeople. Unfortunately, satire isn't for everyone especially when the general audience is incredibly ignorant of the issue being satirized, which is this case is transphobia. Ida herself is shown as a strong woman, she herself is never actually portrayed in a joking manner and is actually admirable. So for anyone smart enough to understand that the Griffin's family reaction is meant to be disgusting because transphobia is disgusting, it's positive.

However, the masses aren't that bright and many will see this as justification of making transphobic jokes and being as non-PC as possible to fight the system or whatever the hell they do to protest "Political Correctness". Even Seth himself is a bit backwards because he said in any interview that cismen discovering they've had sex with a transwoman should be a unsettling thing. When obviously it shouldn't, but it just goes to show how much more a struggle we as transpeople have in the realms of awareness and understanding.

Quote from: ~RoadToTrista~ on November 29, 2011, 03:16:56 PM
Actually that made me lol. Although it was annoying when Lois told her she could use the yard. (When she asked for the bathroom)

In all fairness...she asked for the powder room.