Peter Griffin For Mayor! Family Guy values are what we need!

 

Picture from Wikipedia

 

A certain Pat Bethelot complained in the Herald that the Family Guy episode in which Brian the dog was the object of Meg Griffin’s raging hormones was aired as his/her family was sitting down to dinner.

Shaw Cable wouldn’t do anything about it and so the  Canadian Radio-television Telecommunication Commission (Canuck equivalent to the US FCC) is receiving a formal complaint. Bethelot blames the move from a late night slot for the show to dinner time to apathy and is promising changes. He is running for mayor and says:

“Just for references, it’s the same as the do-nothing attitude that has allowed all or most governments to behave the way they do. I am totally disgusted and can assure you that politics are about to change.

I can assure you our municipal election coming up in 2010 will be one of the most interesting elections this city or province has ever seen.”

To which I replied in a letter published yesterday:

It was was a disheartening start to a glorious morning to realize that there were people in this fair town who need an introduction to the Theory of Cartoons. Alas, Pat Bethelot’s letter (Aug. 21) condemning the outrageous animated TV series, The Family Guy, and announcing his plan to run for mayor was there in black and white.

Cartoons and puppetry often rely on characters that fuse animal and human traits which results in strange interrelationships. TV audiences have long been accustomed to these, including some with cross species romantic liaisons; for example Miss Piggie and Kermit the Frog. At times, fantasy romances and attraction cross the human / animal divide. Again the Muppets spring to mind as the creature characters were sometimes swept off their feet by the human guests.  How seriously should reasonable people take any of this? The Family Guy is certainly coarse and rude, but the show is not only a satire on American society but also on the conventions of pop culture and the entertainment media itself, including cartoons.

It is none of my business whether the Bethelot family has their TV on during their dinner, but why have it tuned to one of the most outrageous shows ever made?  I cannot see how Shaw Cable is at fault. The TV station that aired the episode in question might not even be in the same time zone as Lethbridge. In any case, how were they to know that the Bethelots were sitting down to their dinner at that time with the volume turned up?  Watcher beware! Rather than complain to the CRTC, why not simply pay attention to the TV listings?

No doubt with Pat Bethelot running for mayor the municipal campaign will be “interesting,” but perhaps not in the way the candidate hopes. It might even be able to compete with The Family Guy in terms of over the top self-mockery.

Hell, even PENGUINS get into the act:

Click the pic to be taken to the original size

Picture shamelessly linked from http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/. G’wan, order his latest collection!

But, back to the topic at hand, I can’t wait for the election!

Now, lets have some MUSIC!