Kozlovic stated that “there are many ways cinematically to signify a Christ-figure” (2004), this is certainly true for Family Guy. It seems depicting Christ figures in popular culture is all the rage. While most portrayals would be implicitly representative or symbolic of Christ or God, Family Guy depicts Jesus (albeit the producer’s version of Jesus) explicitly and without restraint. One particular episode depicts a world without Christianity, ‘a futuristic, happy world where Christianity ceases to exist. The reason it is so advanced is said to be because the Dark Ages never happened’ (Wikipedia, 2012).The show has been accused of being anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, and really just all together anti-religious. The show was criticised for ‘its negative treatment of religion’ arguing that it constantly mocks God (Wikipedia, 2012).
Apparently, the only real connection between scripture and film or television is the connection that the specific viewer supplies, subjectively: “there is no such entity as an objective cinematic Christ-figure” (Walsh and Aichele, 2002 xi). While watching Family Guy, I’m not sure anyone could mistaken their Jesus or God for anything else. On a consistent basis, God is portrayed as a womaniser, a drunk and generally out of control. Jesus is portrayed as a magician.
James Snare, from Hillis Bible Church on Family Guy’s treatment of religion: “The irony is that their mockery and satire has probably done more to bring Jesus and Christianity into the minds of Generation Y than most preachers in the world (Jesus has appeared in Family Guy in 19 episodes…” (Batdorf, 2011)
The fact is: Seth Macfarlane is anti-everything that isn’t him. That’s the spirit (or maybe lack thereof) of the show; it’s part of the appeal (again, could be lacking). Is it enough to argue that those offended by the show should just not watch it, or should the show be banned?
References:
Batdorf, Turner. Family guy and Jesus in Popular Culture. 2011. http://ecarson.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/family-guy-and-jesus-in-popular-culture-by-turner-batdorf/
Kozlovic, Anton K. Fall. “The Structural Characteristics of the Cinematic Christ-figure.” In Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 8. 2004.
Walsh, Richard and Aichele, George. “Introduction: Scripture as Precursor.” In George Aichele and Richard Walsh, eds., vii-xvi. Screening Scripture: Intertextual Connections Between Scripture and Film. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 2002.
Wikipedia. Criticism of Family Guy. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Family_Guy#Allegations_of_anti-religious_sentiments
Image Source: http://www.hulu.com/family-guy
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