Posted on 05/23/2015 12:44:51 PM PDT by Graybeard58
LOS ANGELES (BP) -- The "Family Guy" animated comedy series increasingly jokes about sexual violence against children and teens, with nearly 80 percent of all such scenes in the past three years perpetrated against that population group, a Parent Television Council (PTC) study found.
Jokes or humorous depictions of rape, statutory rape, molestation or pedophilia against children were included in 91 percent of the series' scenes depicting sexual violence in the 2014–2015 season, up from 75 percent in 2012-2013, according to the PTC study.
"Why would we ever want to be in the position to laugh at humanity's wors[t] offenses against children?" PTC President Tim Winter asked in a May 19 press release. "And at whose expense are we being asked to laugh? Our research report should give every parent cause for concern. At a time when nearly one in three women in America is sexually abused, why would a television network air a primetime program that routinely asks us to laugh at sexual violence?"
On any given Sunday evening, half a million children watch the series, Winter said. Fox Broadcasting, which airs the series, rated all shows in the study period as appropriate viewing for a 14-year-old.
"All of this content aired in the early hours of primetime, when the network knows that millions of children are watching television. We are deeply troubled by the potential impact to children who may become desensitized to, or who will trivialize, real-life consequences of such horrendous conduct," Winter said. "Family Guy has been given a pass for too long, and it's time for that to change."
The PTC will contact corporate sponsors of every episode that included jokes about raping children, Winter said.
"We hope our report is a clarion call for parents who are unaware of the troubling content on Family Guy," he said. "We call on the Fox Broadcast Network to cease using the publicly-owned airwaves to trivialize sexual violence -- especially sexual violence against children."
Viewing such media is harmful to children, giving them the message that sexual violence is not offensive, said Mary Anne Layden, a psychotherapist and director of education at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Cognitive Therapy.
"Media makers may call what they make 'entertainment' but everything a child sees is actually 'education' -- for better or for worse. If they [children] hear jokes about sexual violence, they 'learn' that sexual violence is not much of a problem, not much of a crime, and doesn't really hurt anyone," Layden said in the press release. "Research indicates that children who watch media with sexualized content are more likely to engage in sex of all sorts and to engage in it earlier and suffer the consequences, whether it be pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases or engaging in non-consenting sex. Media makers must take responsibility for the outcomes their products produce in children."
Of the 21 episodes from the 2014-2015 season included in the study period, there were 23 scenes containing some form of sexual violence, 21 of which were jokes and humorous depictions regarding sexually violating children, the PTC found.
Writer and producer Coleman Luck, a PTC Advisory Board member, said "over the past decades, a kind of darkness has settled over much of the storytelling in American television and it is having a deep effect on the audience."
In the study, the PTC analyzed the content of every first-run Family Guy episode that aired between Feb. 16, 2012 and Feb. 15, 2015, examining the type, quantity and graphic nature of content. All of the scenes aired between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Is this on Murdoch’s network?
The whole show [ if you can even call it that ] has always revolved around perversion & often sexual violence so this is not new.
I’m usually inclined to like dark humor, but “Family Guy” long ago proved just to be little more than gratutious vileness. Its comedy has a bullying quality that always seems to particularly target the weak and less powerful. The show is almost akin to watching some old person getting shoved down a stairway.
Yeah, haha, that’s some that’s supposed to be automatically hilarious. That whole “detatched irony” context is apparently what it is going for, but it fails miserably. It lacks the necessary cleverness to even remotely attain that. All it conveys is that base meanness is innately funny. It’s a pretty rancid message for young viewers who haven’t even yet learned or developed any intellectual concept of contexts.
The article was written by the Baptist Press staff.
Saw that after I hit post. Yes, I guess he does get some kind of pass from the left.
I guess the same old question applies: Where are the parents?
Seth M is Brian the dog, in real life. If you know the show you know why I say that.
Hey, PTC:
“Viewer discretion is advised.”
This is a TV show for adults, not for kids.
If El Rushbo is OK with guest appearances, then it’s OK with me.
LOLOL!
Well played.
There is nothing funny about pedophilia. Just because they can go for the lowest form of so-called humor- doesn't mean they should.
Sick.
Ditto what you said. The show is too mean to be funny. It’s meanness pulls me away from the show itself and makes me think about what a bunch of pricks its creators must be.
It tries too hard to be South Park, but without any of South Park’s genius.
South Park has had some hilarious shows- but they go too far from time to time. Family Guy rarely, if ever, leaves the gutter. I just don’t get it’s appeal. To each his own I guess.
it’s=its
;)
I hate family guy.
...That time when Seth entertained Andrew Breitbart's son,then had something nice to say about him:
>>Seth MacFarlane, the creative force behind animated TV shows like Fox’s “Family Guy,” tweeted this on hearing about Andrew Breitbart’s passing.
“All politics aside, @AndrewBreitbart was a fun guy to have a drink with. He shoulda stuck around longer”
So Andrew called his son and handed the phone to MacFarlane, who proceeded to spend 10 incredible minutes talking to the boy as all his different characters from “Family Guy” in a tour de force personal performance that left both father and son Breitbart in awe.
After MacFarlane said goodbye, Andrew told him “I critique Hollywood liberal culture for a living, but you now have a free pass for the rest of your life. Thank you.”
>>People can very good sometimes. Here’s a toast to MacFarlane, all politics aside. You gave someone a good memory about the father who loved them that will last a lifetime. Thank you for being decent.
Everything on TV is not for children.
I know this comes as a shock, but the channels are not babysitters.
They are not responsible for what you allow your child to watch.
Parents need to parent and be responsible.
Personally, I like shock humor. I will watch Family Guy during those rare times that my TV is on and there's no NFL to watch.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.