Palin/Family Guy at E! News
Palin/Family Guy at Yahoo News
A brief disclaimer before I begin: I am not the parent of a child with Down syndrome. I'm not a parent at all. I do, however, have nothing but the utmost respect for those who care for people with Down syndrome and for those who are born with it, live with it, and achieve success in everyday life. I've had the privilege of knowing just one person with Down syndrome, and she was a great, kind person.
That being said, here are my thoughts. First of all, I highly doubt Mrs. Palin actually took the 30 minutes to sit down and watch the full episode in question. Why is that important? First of all, she seems to only be offended because there was a vague reference to her in the dialogue. There's no mention of anything specific by either her or her daughter in interviews, just what seems to be a canned response to any offensive remark regarding Down syndrome.
Taking it a step further, I thought they were being more politically correct than usual (if Family Guy is ever PC to begin with). We're talking about a show that's had two episodes deemed too offensive to air -- When You Wish Upon a Weinstein (which was eventually aired), and Partial Terms of Endearment (which was supposed to air this season but was deemed to offensive and relegated to DVD release only). Not only that, but there have been episodes that HAVE aired that have been far more thoroughly and directly offensive than this one, and to boot, this isn't even the first time this particular subject has been brought up -- there's Petarded, for heaven's sake, and a recurring character called Opie:
I'm assuming this image belongs to Fox. Thanks Fox!
And it's this week's episode that finally incurs the wrath? Seriously? It's not even the first time they've taken a shot at Palin! During the 2008 campaign, Road to Germany contained this scene:
I voted for the other guy and I still thought they went too far with that joke. And yet looking back I see almost no backlash from that, and none from Palin directly.
I watched this episode 24 hours or so before any of the controversy arose and, quite frankly, found the remark in question dumb, but not offensive, as though one of the writers had said 'let's throw a Sarah Palin joke in there somewhere for the hell of it.' I even made a comment along the lines of, 'But it's her son that has Down syndrome, and he's a baby... that doesn't really make any sense.' To be frank, if there was anything in the show that was even borderline offensive, it was the Down Syndrome Girl song, and even that wasn't so bad.
As of this morning, the National Down Syndrome Society has made no comment at all regarding the episode. They do, however, have a statement on their site condemning the use of the 'r-word' often associated with Down syndrome in any derogatory or inappropriate context. Considering the recent controversy over this topic, time might be better spent addressing that rather than a brief remark on a cartoon show.
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