Laura Obernesser- "Family Gay"
Introduction
I watched "Family Gay", Episode eight: Season 7 of Family Guy. The episode was about Peter Griffin being injected with "the gay gene" and becoming gay. I would like to explore the use of minoritizing, and universalizing discourses in the episode.
Summary of "Family Gay"
"Family Gay" (Episode 8 of season 7) was about Peter Griffin being asked to purchase a can of beans for Lois, but he comes back with a retarded horse instead. He decided to breed horses, and thought that the best place to get potential clients that would realize how great he is would be at a horse race. Instead of having success at the horse race, the horse went crazy and caused 100,000 dollars worth of damage, so Peter Griffin volunteered to be a guinea pig for experiments for the benefit of science that said that they would "pay handsomely." When Peter went to get his "procedure" done, the scientist told him that he was going to inject him with "the gay gene", which would prove that being gay is genetic and has nothing to do with lifestyle or environment. He got injected with it and immediately started to act flamboyant, and exhibit stereotypical feminine-coded characteristics. When Peter realized suddenly that he was gay, he started to watch lifetime, and left Lois for a man named Scott. When the gene wore off, he went back to Lois and went back to his normal, destructive self.
Minoritizing discourse
"Family Gay" used a minoritizing discourse a lot more than universalizing discourse when it came to representing LGBT issues in the episode. Heterosexuality was represented as being the normative way to be, while being gay was represented as deviant. When Peter was gay, he was treated with shock, and Lois said "people will treat you differently, and you will be treated badly." By saying this, Lois was implying that Peter being gay would make him deviant, or freakish. The fact that Peter was shown as having an extreme transformation from straight to gay represented the minoritizing discourse, as it gave the impression that gay people are very different from heterosexual people. When Peter was on a date with his new boyfriend, Scott, instead of them saying "I'm so in love with you," or "you make me want to be a better man", they said "I am so gay for you", and "you just make me want to be a gayer man." The use of these statements emphasizes how different gay and heterosexual people are supposed to be. Another issue with the episode that needs to be addressed is the use of stereotypes. When Peter Griffin was "turned gay", he came back from the lab with a lisp, flipped his hand when he talked, had the stereotypical "gay" voice, had both ears pierced, wore pink, and spiked his hair. He sat with his legs crossed, and sang what he wanted to say instead of talking. He drank wine rather than beer, baked muffins, picked out lingerie for Lois (wouldn't have sex with her), and cuddled while watching lifetime with his new boyfriend. The fact that he was gay made him unwilling to have sex with Lois, but in reality, anyone can have sex with anyone. He didn't say "I don't want to have sex with you", but he said "I can't have sex with a woman. I'm gay." These statements emphasize the gender binary, which creates very polarized gender categories (not a continuum).
Universalizing discourse
"Family Gay" didn't use much universalizing discourse, but there was one scene that did. Stewie said "they should just keep it in the bedroom, I don't go around waving my heterosexuality in their face." This statement, no matter how crazy, doesn't marginalize gay identity, as it pointed out a similarity between heterosexual and gay. The reason Stewie said this is because Peter said "I'm gay" in just about every scene. Although this scene didn't necessarily marginalize gay identity, it didn't help anything, either.
"Can Romantic Comedy Be Gay? Hollywood Romance, Citizenship, and Same-Sex Marriage Panic" by Moddlemog
Moddlemog points out that the only time same-sex desire is shown in the media is almost always for comical reasons. In this episode of family guy, the making out scenes between Peter Griffin and Scott were there in order to evoke laughter. The scene where the couple had an "elevensome" with other men was also done to be funny. There is an extreme shortage in representations of gay couples that aren't placed there for the purpose of humor. All of the scenes where Peter was depicted as gay, he was not only shown stereo-typically (as a way to moc the gay community). The scenes that showed any kind of sexual connection between a gay character and a character who shares their physiological sex, something would happen for the purpose of humor in order to pair the laughter with the same-sex activity or desire.
References:
- Moddelmog, D. (2009). Can romantic comedy be gay? hollywood romance, citizenship, and same sex marriage panic. Heldref Publications Journals,36(4)
I agree that this show produces a lot of minoritizing discourses. From what I’ve read, it seems that Peter was respected when he was straight, and then when he turned gay he was outside of the “center” and became aware that heterosexuality was in fact the norm and he was a deviant on what society depicts as normal. This episode also shows minoritizing discourses because it depicts homosexual men as flamboyant and feminine rather than showing a continuum and range of characteristics that homosexual men have. Gay men can feminine, manly, or a mix of the two depending on the type of person but from this episode gay men are depicted as exclusively feminine which is minoritizing.
ReplyDeleteI find this episode really funny, but must agree that this is really some extreme minoritizing produced by solely this episode. "Gay Peter" represented every flamboyant trait upon getting the "gay gene" injection, and was in turn shunned by former friends and family. I feel this is real jab to most gay persons in that this episode depicts solely negative stereotypes (as most comedies detail) and that the television representation of gay is exaggeratedly flamboyant and feminine, alwhile there are many different personalities to gay persons (though making note to any other would make this episode probably not so funny). Even moreso to offense is the "gay gene" concept, in that homosexuality is not all that serious, in that it can seemingly be turned on or off.
ReplyDeleteIt's always hard to do an analysis on comedies. On one side, they produce many minoritizing discourses, but on the other hand they do it in a very blatant way which makes you question if they are going with the heteronormative standpoint and just injecting with comedy, or if they're using comedy to show how wrong these statements are. Either way the use of "injecting" a gene implies that your sexuality is solely based on genetic, or even one gene, and it simplifies it. Also, by using a stereotype of a gay person and portraying it as if it's something to be laughed at not only makes a gay persons lifestyle into a spectacle that is abnormal, but enforces a preexisting belief.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably one of the few episodes of Family Guy I have actually seen. Although it was indeed funny, it definitely shows many minoritizing discourses. I agree that it's very typical of media to mock homosexuality on TV even when it is presented. It's often not shown in a positive way but in a solely entertaining way. His wife tries to explain that homosexuality is "wrong" and he will be judged negatively for it which is a perfect example of how homophobia is shown in society and in the media. I also agree with the fact that this episode is especially minoritizing because it only shows gay men in a flamboyant light as opposed to a more transgressive light where gay men can also show masculine characteristics like any other male.
ReplyDeletethe the purposes of this assignment, i think that you picked a very good example that noted on the fact that peter turned "gay" to evoke a sense of humor in it rather than it supposed to be taken in a serious way. based on many of the shows that exist today, i do not believe that there are really any shows out there, besides maybe Glee, that have homosexuality in their plots as something that should be taken seriously. obviously, family guy is supposed to be a funny show and we are supposed to laught at the jokes that are made, however flaunting homosexuality in such an overt way pokes fun at it more than it does the gay community justice. i also think that having episodes such as this one on television allows people to think that they too can make fun of people different from themselves because Family Guy did it. the overly stereotypical portrayal of gay men through Peter is entertaining, yes but can also be seen as offensive
ReplyDeleteIn this episode of Family Guy, I found it hard to decide if they were pushing stereotypes of how gay men should behave so much on purpose. I'm wondering if they were just trying to make it completely ridiculous to show how the things people assume about gay men are just that, ridiculous. Injecting Peter with the "gay gene" is such a silly concept, but there are a lot of people out there that think that being gay is in your genes. However, I will agree that regardless of the intent it does not necessarily have a positive effect on the acceptance of the LGBT community. As you said, it does put an emphasis on the how different heterosexuals and homosexuals are when maybe we should be attempting to show their similarities.
ReplyDelete