In "He's Too Sexy for His Fat" (Season 2, episode 17), a throwaway scene shows a group of parka-clad Eskimos saying good-bye to a youth on an ice floe. They have harpoons and there are igloos in the background. The young Eskimo says he's headed to Hollywood, where he'll get plastic surgery and become a star. His name is "Jennifer Love Hewitt." (In other words, Hewitt the actress was once a male Eskimo.)
In "Blind Ambition" (Season 4, episode 3), a throwaway scene has Cleveland auctioning a Comanche headdress at Sotheby's. It's apparently an Indian auction because a pottery bowl, a canoe, and a totem pole are on display.
In "Stewie Loves Lois" (Season 5, episode 1), a throwaway scene presents an Indian version of What's Happening? Two black guys in loincloths stand in front of teepees, talk slowly, and say "How."
The first and third bits are stereotypical. They reinforce existing stereotypes and don't do anything to counteract them. The second bit is neutral. The mixing of artifacts from different cultures makes sense since it's an auction.
For more on the subject, see Indians in Family Guy.
I'm going to go out on a limb here but I bet your average Family Guy fan, or if you will, a person who watches family guy, the average viewer doesn't give a rats @$$ who they are insulting. It's racist against everybody. It's a funny show, and what you described of it sounds funny. And yes, I am ndn and proud to be. It's just a terribly wrong in so many ways show, we will be here for days if we discuss the politically incorectness of the show.
ReplyDeleteMr.Chill Pill
Lightenupsville, OK
For my response, see Family Guy Offends Everybody?
ReplyDeleteEskimos, or Inuits to be more proper, are not Indians in any sense. Indians (as in Native Americans, due to the East Indies) are more polynesian looking. Inuits are more of East Asian, resembling that of Chinese and Japanese. Inuits came in a separate migration centuries after the first Native Americans arrived.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that minor clarification, Ashoro. Although this posting is generally about Indian bits, it's specifically about two Indian bits and one Inuit bit.
ReplyDelete