Spoiler Alert.
The censored episode of the upcoming season of Family Guy enjoyed a public reading in L.A. The Washington Post reports:
The episode, in which Griffin matriarch Lois becomes a surrogate mom for a college friend and her husband, really focuses on the "will she/won't she" abortion question only in the third act, after the couple dies in a car accident. What follows is a trip to a family-planning center, where Peter, initially encouraging his wife to end the pregnancy (and thus avoid her crazy-while-pregnant phase), is stopped by a group of antiabortion activists who try to change his mind with a video featuring Ziggy the Zygote, who just wants a hug.
Family Guy is a college student staple, and I watch every episode. As a feminist, I cringe at the domestic violence against Lois and then cringe at the inevitable accompanying scene where she exacts her revenge. As Samhita pointed out, the hilarious part about Fox's decision not to air the episode is that its audience will likely find it wholly uncontroversial-- to hazard a guess in the absence of polling, Family Guy's audience still doesn't include elderly voters or anti-choicers. The only thought-provoking topic I foresee in the episode could be the struggle between Lois' individual choice vs. a family decision. Lois ends up getting the abortion, after delivering a speech on the value of bringing new life into the world. There is no discussion or apology afterward; it rolls immediately to credits.
It looks like the episode is non-unique to the Family Guy lexicon, offering a little bit of offense to everyone. As equal-opportunity offenders, the writers clearly lean liberal. According to the WaPo article, this episode apparently tackles abortion apologists, abortion protesters, the characterization of pregnant women as insane, surrogate parenthood, experiences in family-planning centers, and a hearty family decision on whether to carry out the abortion. As per usual, the episode will include references to Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. I, for one, can't wait to watch.
Related:
What's with Family Guy's Rape Jokes?
Family Guy Abortion Episode Will Likely Not Air on Fox
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It seems weird to hear that the series which ran "Prom Night Dumpster Baby" is going to censor something centered on abortion. I cringe at any form of censorship (though I also cringe at some of the jokes in Family Guy, but not nearly as often as I roll laughing). That said, I'm a regular Family Guy viewer and will continue to watch the series, and I agree that this should be an anticipated episode.
The series didn't censor the episode, Fox did.
I'm not so much on Family Guy. I watch it and find it funny sometimes (really not at other times). But they regularly and consistently subject women to misogyny and abuse - with such consistency and ferocity that I can't just write it off as satire, especially considering that it's a very privileged white male running the show - though I do notice two women and one woman of color on their writing staff prominently.
I'm also concerned about the moralizing of abortion that seems to be happening in the episode. When an episode about abortion ends on a note of "well, women really should have babies", I'm nervous.
"When an episode about abortion ends on a note of "well, women really should have babies", I'm nervous."
Yeah, but according to the article while Lois rhapsodizes about the importance of women having babies, Peter bluntly points out they had the abortion. So I take this as perhaps being more of a jab at the "the only moral abortion is mine" crowd.
Of course, characters' stances on this show seem to not be set in stone. On an earlier episode Lois said that after giving birth to Meg she became pro-choice. More of yet another jab at Meg than an actual endorsement of reproductive rights though.
There's no such thing as a non-controversial mention of abortion in this country. Pro-life Family Guy fans (you really think there aren't any? really?) won't get upset, but Fox News Corp. needs more than Family Guy fans.
I guess my point was more, if someone's already watching family guy and hasn't stopped watching bc of the racist, ageist, sizeist, ableist, sexist, and homophobic comments, s/he probably won't stop watching cause of abortion.
I think, unfortunately, you're underestimating the ferocious level of crazy exhibited by Fox's anti-choice viewers. There are entire communities of people who have nothing better to do with their time than threaten advertisers with boycotts simply because the advertiser has a commercial on a network that has aired a show (that the protester has never watched, natch) with content the anti-choicer deems offensive. And they are single-issue-obsessed enough to actually do it, too. These nutjobs care more about eliminating a woman's right to choose than they care about any other issue.
I want to point out that progressives just ran a campaign because they were offended and drove Geico off of Glenn Beck's primetime advertisers.
And Walmart, etc. Good on us.
I didn't say progressives never do obnoxious things. I'm just saying don't underestimate the anti-choicers.
I'm saying, I don't think that idea, of pressuring advertisers, is obnoxious.
What I liked about the episode is the fact that the doctor assures Lois that the procedure is low-risk and simple, and I also appreciate Brian as the voice of reason, who tells newly pro-life Peter that Lois' "child" is the size of the tip of a pin.
I think Family Guy episodes about controversial issues (i.e. the gay marriage episode) have positive messages beneath the crude jokes. I know that Seth MacFarlane is pretty left-leaning; I didn't particularly take offense to his stereotypically gay characters (Brian's brother Jasper and his Puerto Rican boyfriend) because I know that Seth is an avid supporter of gay rights.
I actually know a ton of feminists who watch Family Guy. I really think that if the show didn't have some positivity within it, this wouldn't be the case.
The fact that you know 'a ton of' feminists who watch the show doesn't mean it's positive or progressive. Kind of like how having a black friend doesn't make someone not-a-racist.
I was re-watching season two of Mad Men before the new season premiered, and I had forgotten all about the storyline where all the advertisers pulled out of an episode of The Defenders that talks about abortion. At that time the head of CBS said they were going to air the episode regardless. But it really makes me sick inside to see how little things have changed in over FORTY YEARS. I swear, we're regressing socially.
In fact, it sounds like if anything we may have gotten worse. The purely profit-driven model I think has evolved and only gotten more disgusting over the last fifty years. From what I read about/hear about (I wasn't alive then so don't know firsthand) -- and the episode you're talking about would be more confirmation of this sort of thing -- back in the day media outlets actually had a conscience, where if they felt a message was important, they'd air it, even if it meant some financial risk to them. Those days are loooooooong gone, sadly...