You're Not Such a Family Guy

                   
  You're Not Such a Family guy


Most of us know about family guy. It is a cartoon tv series that is specifically made for adults. It is a form of entertainment that brings joy and laughter to its viewers. But what its audience doesn’t know is about the brain washing the show is conducting.

In Family Guy consists of a family Peter(dad), Lois(mom), Meg (daughter), Chris (son), and Brian the dog. They’re middle class family who live in a pretty good neighborhood and whose friends are in the same class as they are. In a way they portray the ideal picture of what a middle class family in the U.S should be like. But when we analyze each character and their interactions with one another we see that there are hidden means of what the show is trying to portray.

For example lets look at Peter Griffin the dad he is a middle class working man. Sounds very normal right? Like most Americans in this day. But what are the characteristics that make up Peter. He is overweight, very dumb, racist, an alcoholic, and sexist. So what does this all really mean? Peters’ qualities are a mirror of the average working/ middle class to be dumb, and unhealthy.  For thirteen seasons Peter and his family have stayed the same middle class and working. What is this really telling us? That if you are born working you will die working? 

Not only that but peter is very racist and a drunk. This show promotes racism by making it seem funny so it can be “okay” and non-offensive but lets be honest, no type of racism is ever going to be acceptable. Peter being an alcoholic can also be assumption that working class men are alcoholics. In addition to being racist peter is also very sexist. He assumes that all control of the household belongs to him and that his wife Lois a stay at home mom should obey all his rules. Having a show that presents men like this can influence men watching the show that it is okay to treat they’re partners like trash and to want to control everything around them.

Peter is the only character that has hidden meaning. The character of Lois the mom of the family is a stay at home mom. Not only that she also has to be very attractive for her husband Peter. Her being a mom who stays at home to cook, clean, and watch the kids pushes the image that women’s roles are specifically those to be a woman. Her being thin, and beautiful gives off the idea that stay at home moms are supposed to be like Lois. It also means that if you are out working and not at home that as a woman you are not doing the duties that you are meant to do.  That’s so sexist and a great emphasis on gender roles. But come on, what year is it? 2014. One salary just doesn’t go far anymore.

Meg the daughter is also another character that sends encrypted messages. In the show Meg’s family as well as other characters constantly target her for being “weird”, over weight and ugly. What is this all saying? That if you’re a girl who looks like Meg your not pretty or smart and over weight. The show advertises these characteristic as bad ones to have and if you do have them that you will b e targeted for it. This is an awful message to send to young girls. It can cause insecurities in a girl and depression.

Family Guy, is a show that is racist, sexist, degrading to the low class and middle class. This show makes it seems like if its funny then it’s okay. It’s not okay. We need to be able to see that, that even though we watch it merely for entertaining it is actually trying to brainwash us. We can’t let it to this. We need to stop shows like this that promote all the things that divide people in this world not keep watching. Choosing not to watch the show is the first step. But coming together and spreading the word of hidden meanings can help eliminate the show completely.

Mulan, I'll Make a Man Out of You

From Disney's Mulan

Mulan is one of the few Disney "princesses" out there who isn't Caucasian. In many Disney princess movies, the girl is always being saved. But in Mulan, Mulan is the one who does the saving. Even with that said, Mulan has to change her identity in order to do this. Having to change her identity means that she really isn't herself. She also has to be the "ideal" woman so that she has the chance to marry into a good family. All this tugs at her to become someone she really isn't and for what exactly? To please others? To please society? To fit in with the general public? Definitely not to please herself.

In the beginning of the movie, Mulan's father was one of the chosen men to fight in the war against the Huns. Mulan's father is not in the right shape to fight in the war because his leg is crippled. Mulan couldn't just let her father fight for China so she decides that she would take the place of her father. So what does Mulan have to do in order to take her father's place? Be a man.

Now get this, only men could fight in the army (in this movie). So Mulan had to become another person in order to help her father. She had to disguise herself as a man. Now this just says something: that women have to act like men in order to join the army. As if women weren't tough or strong enough to enlist or be drafted into the army. This is a hidden narrative telling us that we have to mimic the actions and looks of men in order to be tough or strong. There are more hints throughout the movie that portray Mulan as a weak being when compared to the male warriors.

Another thing to note is that Mulan, in the beginning, couldn't achieve anything during the training. She ran the slowest, couldn't shoot an arrow, and much more. She was the only "man" in the whole scene who first started out running the slowest and having no knowledge on how to shoot an arrow. This is a hidden narrative telling us that women can't do what men do. It portrays women as the weaker gender when compared to men. I find this really unfair because women do actually have the ability to do what men can do. Many women have proved that throughout the decade. Also in the movie, we find that Mulan is put down by the male characters once they find out that she's a woman.

When Mulan got injured, she is revealed as a female by the doctor. She is then looked at negatively. According to this text, Mulan is being shamed because she's a girl. From the film, Chi Fu (who works for the army) says, "I knew there was something wrong with you! A woman!" Basically he's saying that girls are of no value and because they are girls, they are defected. How messed up is that? From another text, I also found that once Shang (Mulan's love interest) found out that Mulan was a woman, he lost his respect for her. But before he found out that she was a woman, he had a ton of respect towards "him" because of his war tactics/skills. This movie also shows us the characteristics that fit the male role.

From Disney's Mulan

Based on another text, I realized that Mulan also gave its viewers an idea of what it means to be a man. In one of the scenes, Mushu (the sidekick) says, "No, they're men. And you're going to have to act just like them, so pay attention... It's all attitude. Be tough like this guy here. Punch him. It's how men say 'hello.'" This is Mushu's response when Mulan calls the men at the camp disgusting. This shows us that in order to be a man, you have to have a lot of attitude and be aggressive. We see that men aren't seen to be emotional, whereas women are portrayed as the emotional gender. Not only was there evidence of this movie portraying what it means to be a man, but also portraying what it means to be a woman.

Let's look into the scene in where Mulan was to be matched with a man to marry. She was all cleaned up, washed up, and she had a full face of makeup on. If you look at these lyrics of "Honor to Us All," 

"Men want girls with good taste
Calm
Obedient
Who work fast-paced
With good breeding
And a tiny waist
You'll bring honor to us all..."

From these lyrics, you can see that women have to be obedient and submissive in order to bring honor to the family. We see that the men don't have to do anything, while the women have to go through so much to gain the interest or attention of a man which ultimately makes women the "lesser" beings. The list continues on with all the little hidden narratives behind each scene, character, etc. Even though it may be completely clueless to these children, they will grow up having certain mindsets of what it means to be a man or woman if they are exposed to these symbols of inequality.

All these inequalities put limits on each gender. Children grow up learning that to be a woman, it means to be obedient and polite. Children grow up learning that to be a man, it means to be aggressive, tough, and basically emotionless. If we continue to walk this path, boys will grow up as men who don't allow themselves to hurt once in a while. If we continue to walk this path, girls will grow up as women who don't allow themselves to be tough in fear of being called masculine (in a negative connotation). So how do we stop this madness? Be aware of what you say to others when they don't fit the typical gender stereotype or ideal. Make sure that you don't give yourself boundaries based on what a person "is supposed to be like." The solutions are endless, but we should all simply remove all these stereotypes off of gender. It's definitely okay for a man to cry, society just doesn't allow it.

Being in His Shoes (for one day)

Ever since we were young, we grew up watching chick flicks and romantic movies that usually ended up with the male proposing his love for the girl, or the female anxiously waiting for her prince charming. It's always the male who decides when things between the two should become official, and it's always his decision to decide whether or not they should be in a relationship. Who decided to give men all the power to decide who and when they want to make something official? Why do we always have to make sure they're ready for commitment? This leaves the female with a forced passive attitude. She patiently waits for him to pop the question no matter how eager or ready she is because as long as he's ready, everyones ready..right?

But then came Sadie Hawkins. First off, lets talk a little about who Sadie Hawkins is, and how this day even originated. Sadie Hawkins is not an actual human being, but rather a character from the famous comic strip, Li'l Abner. The story involves Sadie, the daughter of a settler, who impatiently waited at home for several years for men to come court her away to marriage. By the time she reached 35, her father fell into desperation and gathered up all the single, unmarried men to the town. Sadie Hawkins day was then created, along with the Sadies Hawkins race. Men were lined up and were forced to run away from the "to-be-bride" for their freedom. Whoever came in last at the race or was caught by Sadie herself, was forced into marriage with her. So thus the point of the game was whoever she caught in the race was going to be her future husband.

Sadie Hawkins may seem like just a fun idea where women ask men out but what does this say about women and male dominance? Do women have to be married in order to have a happy life? The Sadie Hawkins race mocks the ability of women to court men. Apparently women are unable to court men unless through comedic races at high levels of desperation. Sadie Hawkins proves that women just lounge around and wait for men to come to them. Women are clearly seen as the weaker link, and inferior towards males. Men have always been dominant over women and are automatically raised and taught to always be more powerful than women, and to always be the one that makes the decisions.

We have grown accustomed to the power of male dominance so that it seems "new" or "unusual" when women are the ones to have authority. Why do we need a day that allows women to ask men out? Why do we have to label it? Women have the complete ability to do so without just restricting it to a one-day only event. Sadie Hawkins is the only exceptional opportunity where a women is finally given power over the male.  It seems as if now if women were to court a man, she'd be offending the male and it wouldn't follow tradition. Sadie Hawkins restricts women to a day of freedom and choice, when it should be always-all year long. The power of male dominance has taken over our everyday lives but yet nobody notices this because it has become so normal to the American culture.

Cinema and White Supremacy

Cinema is magic. We see things on movie screens that could never happen in real life. To me, watching a movie is like slipping into another world. A part of myself lives vicariously through the actors. Every aspect of the film from the lighting to the soundtrack serves to draw the viewer in and allow them to experience the reality presented in the film. It's what makes movies so great. 

Take a seat, nerd.

However, it is this quality that makes cinema problematic.  Movies are edited in a way that hides the fact that they were edited. Take for example a fight scene in "Pirates of the Carribean". Any given scene probably took days or even weeks to film, and even longer to cut and edit together. But when you watch the finished product on screen, the fight lasts only about a minute. No one can tell that it probably took months of filming and editing to create that flawless scene. By making cuts, camera angles and lighting seem natural, the line between reality and fiction is blurred. People no longer question what they see on the screen, rather they are immersed in it. This is what makes movies interesting and thrilling. It is also what draws us into the world of the film, and causes us to accept the reality presented to us without question. 

Great costumes and lighting, key to immersion.

Things get hairy when the reality presented in film carries or enforces something negative while presenting it as "normal". There is a whole slew of prejudices and norms that are presented in movies that people often do not question simply because the film makes them seem "normal". One prevalent issue is the whitewashing of movies.  Take for example a movie like "The Impossible" (2012). The film is about a rich white couple vacationing in Thailand and are caught in a tsunami. 

First off, the film is set in Thailand, yet stars two white actors. The film could have starred two Thai actors and have been just as good. Not to mention, tsunamis  are typically experienced by Asians. So why not tell the story through the people who actually live the story? It is the active choice of the director to cast white actors over actors of ethnic background. 

Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise.

Here's another movie, "The Last Samurai" (2003) starring Tom Cruise. That sentence alone should raise a red flag. A movie titled "The Last Samurai" starring a white guy? It would be fine if the movie wasn't about Japanese fuedal-era warriors, but it is. The premise of the movie is that Tom Cruise is an American soldier who is shipped to Japan and learns the way of the samurai. An exciting film to be sure, but clearly whitewashed.

The whitewashing of movies has its roots in a history of white supremacy. Too often are western films are dominated by the idea of white supremacy. No matter the film's subject matter, the heroes or the stars must be white. A most appalling example of white supremacy can be seen in the upcoming movie "Exodus: Of Gods and Kings" set to come out this December.

The rulers of Egypt must have spent a lot of time indoors...

The movie is a retelling of the story of biblical Moses and his quest to free the slaves of Egypt. As you can probably guess, the lead roles are all played by white actors. (Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgarton) Now, what makes this case of whitewashing most appalling is that not only is the film set in Egypt, the characters played by these white actors are Egyptians. Meaning you have white actors playing historically Black figures.

"Well that's not TOO bad", you might say. "I'm sure there's some black actors in the film!" There are, but take note of their roles compared to the roles of the white actors.

Whereas the white actors take the leads of kings and queens, the black actors take the roles of servants, slaves, assassins and thieves. This is a blatant display of white supremacy where you have a story about black people, but cast all the important characters as whites and all the unsavoury characters as blacks.

The reality is that Moses probably wasn't white, nor was Ramses. No civil war veteran ever really became a samurai. White people are probably not the best people to tell stories about tsunamis. But movies work in whiteness in a way that make us accept these things as nothing out of the ordinary. But, given some thought, it's easy to realize that these premises are very far from ordinary. Not only that, it denies a voice to people of color. It denies them representation, and it prevents them from gaining power.

I'm not telling you to stop watching movies. I love Tom Cruise. He's great in Mission Impossible. But you can't turn a blind eye to the kinds of things that happen in Hollywood.  Stay woke. 

Hakunamatata, Means You Should Worry

Hakunamatata, Means You Should Worry

The best strategy to manipulate ones mind is to mold it while it is innocent and vulnerable. If you are able to get a hold of a persons mind while their young, you can insert metaphors that may always stay there. Stereotypes, racism, etc. can all be molded into our children's brains and we do not even realize it. What better way to this than insert these horrid ways of thinking than in a children's movie.

In the children's movie "The Lion King", Pixar throws a lot of different metaphors subliminally throughout the movie. They throw metaphors from racism, sexism, and even classicism. Exposing our children to these things at such a young age can alter their view of life, and even people.

In today's society a big issue that is continuously argued about is "Dark-skinned vs. Light-skinned". In The Lion King, the main and "royal" lions (Mufasa and Simba) are a yellowish cream color (fair skinned). They are the kings and leaders of their packs and are seen as the hero's by all of the other animals. The animals bow in their honor in the beginning of the movie. Showing that the light-skinned lion is supposed to be superior and greater than the rest. That they hold the power and should be praised. 

The evil lion (Scar), that's goal in life is to get the throne and kill his brother is a dark-skinned lion. The king (Mufasa) and dark-skinned lion (Scar) are brothers, but the one that is evil is dark-skinned. They creators of the movie made Scar an evil, blood-thirsty lion that is "no good". 

Another example is the three main Hyena's in the movie are also dark-skinned. They are Scar's assistants who also are there to help kill the King. The voices of the hyenas are all spoken by different types of people that are not totally accepted in society. One is a Latino voice, one an African American, and the last one is portrayed as stupid or slow. Is this saying that these people are "no good" like the characters they play? Why is it that the people of color need to play the characters that have negative traits?

The light-skinned lions live at "Pride Rock" where the sun shines high in the sky and the center of everything. The hyenas live far out past this kingdom where there is nothing but darkness. They live where people are scared to go and "should never go to", the location they live could be seen as a "ghetto". The place they live is full of bones and skulls; its dirty and where nothing can GROW. In society the communities that are predominantly minorities (Latino and African Americans) with low-incomes are called ghetto's. Are they saying that in these places the people cannot grow? So from a societal lens, the fair-skinned live in a beautiful place, while the dark-skinned  "trouble-makers" live in the "ghetto's".

In society today, this battle between Light-skinned and dark-skinned is so common that is now normalized. People from the same race, wither it be Latino or African Americans, people argue who is better. People fail to realize that no matter the shade of skin we are not a different nationality; we are still the same race. The oppression that has been place on people of color has been internalized and now we are doing it to each other.

We were once at a "race war" with the blacks vs. whites during the civil rights movements; now it seems as though we are at war with ourselves. Memes on social media glorifying racism, and jokes being said against a person just because they are darker than another person.

This is showing children at a young age that the lighter color you are the better you are. This could lead to the rejection of the darker skinned people, or just because they are different complexion, that they are worse people.

This normalized issue is being internalized by people of color and it is turning races against one another. The children can see this and they could believe that they are "less important" because they may be the wrong shade of skin. This will lead to lower self-esteem and also may lead to them oppressing others (bullying as well).

Many movies that are for kids have metaphors that are hidden that could effect our kids thought process. Exposing their innocent minds to things like racism can lead to them internalizing these beliefs. We assume that these movies are fine for children to watch, but we need to look closer to what we are allowing the youth to see.

Society Makes Muslims "Invisible"

Society Makes Muslims "Invisible"

 

We, as a natural human being, have a sense of logic called judging. Judging other people is a common thing to do and to see nowadays, regardless of their understanding and knowing people’s backgrounds. The consequence is that certain people become invisible to other people, meaning that people who are invisible are meant not to be existed. If they do exist in communities or societies, they will be automatically labeled as dangerous to other people. Muslims for example, due to the media that pictures Muslims and/or portray people who believe in any kind of Muslim activities as terrorist, the media creates an “untrue” norm about Muslims and plant it inside of our mind. Muslims become an invisible narrative until now due to the misunderstanding of their religion from other people. Since most people believe that Muslim is a terrorist religion, people who believe in Muslim force themselves to be silent.

People are mistaken Muslims as terrorist and therefore, the incorrect, inexact definition of Muslim has spread everywhere, including high schools. When I was in high school, I had Chinese class. My teacher, who was extremely strict, believed that Muslim is a terrorist religion. When someone talked about religion, especially about Muslim, he would stop teaching for a while and yell at the student who started the conversation. He would then say, “If you say Muslim, you’re a terrorist.” I was shocking for a while, then a remained silent. I have experienced and heard people put Muslim people down because of the rumor from the media. Just like my Chinese teacher, he’s the reason of why Muslim people become invisible and they rather choose to be silent instead of explaining the true definition of Muslim. Muslim people are oppressed by society who doesn’t accept who they are, yet the society believes the quote that says “be who you are.”

People tend not to realize that not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are Muslims. According to FBI database, 6% of the terrorists are Muslim. Everyone can be a terrorist regardless of their religion, race, and gender. Again, based of the FBI database, the highest percentage of people who commit terrorism is Latinos. The percentage doesn’t make people to change their mind that there are some other races or religions that also commit terrorism. I’m not trying to move and shift the word terrorist from Muslim to Latinos, people need to understand that terrorist can be everyone, not only a certain group.

Muslim people are actually the opposite of what the media has pictured them. They are actually pleasant, friendly, and intelligent. Due to the strong belief of their religion, Muslim has taught them to become generous, acceptable, and grateful. Some people might not able to see their personality as what I just described, and that’s because they are stranger. People shouldn’t judge other people based on what they see from the outside, but based on what they see from the inside.

As we were growing up.

DISNEY MOVIES ARE RACISM AND SEXISM

As we were kids we liked watching those classic movies such as Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lady and the Tramp and many more movies. As growing up, many people like family, friends and even my self thought Disney movies were great for kids. However, since I started coming to SFSU and taking Ethnic Studies, I have learned a lot that the real meaning of many movies. As Americans, we ignore the real theme of the movie.

 As growing up, my favorite type of Disney movies were the princess movies. When younger, I liked the princess movies because for me I thought they had a very happy life since they were saved by prince charming and live with him happily ever after. However, many of the princess movies such as Cinderella, The Little Mermaid Snow White and probably the rest of the Disney movies. According to Julie Z,
she describe the quotes of the pictures is that the assist of beauty and sexuality. For example, the little mermaid has to give up her voice and live for her prince charming. Bell was descried by being different, Snow White lived with seven men and have to prepare food, chores and the rest of house hold before they came back. I feel the movies are saying to girls to give up everything for men.

Some of the movies I believe that are being racism are The Lady and the Tramp and Dumbo. In the movie of The Lady and the Tramp, the two cats that are evil, have a Chines accent. When I was younger, I never notice that until in college that I re-saw the movie and notice they had accents and they had the tiny eyes. Also, In the movie of Pocahontas, the white people call the Indian people savages. Many of the other Disney movies have either racism or sexual thing on we don't notice and show them to our youngsters.

What I believe what we should do to make a differences to to tell our family and friends what is the real message what is happening. So our closes ones to think if they still want to buy Disney products to their children. Everyone has the opinion to still like Disney  or not.