Posted on 02/18/2010 9:41:18 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Since it was shown on Sunday, an episode of the Fox animated comedy Family Guy has drawn the repeated condemnation of Sarah Palin, the former Republican governor of Alaska and 2008 vice-presidential nominee.
In the episode, the teenage character Chris dates a girl named Ellen, who has Down syndrome, and who tells him over dinner that her mother is the former governor of Alaska. Ms. Palin, whose son Trig also has Down syndrome, has said that the Family Guy show really isnt funny and was the work of cruel, cold-hearted people. Ms. Palins daughter Bristol has written that the Family Guy writers were mocking my brother and my family, and called them heartless jerks.
One person who supports the Family Guy staff is Andrea Fay Friedman, the 39-year-old actor and public speaker who played Ellen in that episode. Like the character, Ms. Friedman also has Down syndrome.
In an e-mail message sent on Thursday to The New York Times, Ms. Friedman wrote:
I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska was very funny. I think the word is sarcasm.
In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life.
(Excerpt) Read more at artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com ...
To me the real question is whether they were making fun of Trig. Right or wrong, there’s a major effort in the disabled community to have a strong representation on TV, in film and on stage—and that extends to the mentally challenged as well. Thus to have a DS character is seen as an advance for many, and the oblique reference was to Palin as a mother of a DS child, not actually to Trig.
Oh, well that makes it ok then...Ms. Friedman also has Down syndrome. /s
Ms. Friedman is 39 yrs. old. Trig is an innocent baby. If Ms. Friedman has no objection to being used as the butt of tasteless, unfunny jokes about Down syndrome that's one thing. When she does it at the expense of an innocent baby with Down syndrome in order to help get at that baby's family, that is quite another thing.
Sarah's sense of humor is just fine. It's what passes as humor for some folks these days that is the problem.
No, it’s not cool to make fun of the disabled. Too bad some people are too insensitive to realize that. When you have a special needs child, you realize early on that you’re going to have to fight their battles for them. I’m thankful for the people I know who treat my son who has DS with the respect he deserves.
Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap .......one more... SSSLLLAAAPPP. That’s from my mom.
Family Guy - Nazi Soldier wearing a McCain - Palin Campaign Button.
The Cleveland Show - Accused Murderer with a big McCain - Palin sign in the back window of his car.
Family Guy - Down Syndrome joke directed at Sarah Palin.
Still looking for those Obama - Biden jokes. Well actually, most of those are on CSPAN.
Now South Park is funny. I’m not a regular SP fan but if I run across it searching for something to watch I’ll let it run. Not for children IMO but I don’t have any so...
I wonder if he would find this funny...Following the airplane crash that killed a former Minnesota Senator, a reporter asked an NTSB spokesman what type of terrain the plane crashed in. The NTSB spokesman replied, “Well, Stone”
Then she is not presidential material. All the left has to do is constantly attack her kids and she will then spend all her time defending her children and her family and not defending the constitution of the United States.
Family guy has gone way off the tracks leftist in the last few years...I couldn’t bring myself to watch that show now....And if they have such a great sense of humor why not make fun of Obama’s daughters?? I’m sure if they can have the guts to make fun of a defensless infant with special needs...than surely they can make fun of two healthy young girls who their mother calls overweight????
Trig is a BABY! Mothers defend BABIES. Maybe someday Trig will punch somebody’s lights out, but today he is UNDER THREE YEARS OLD. Get it? DEFENSELESS.
You just can’t imagine people who can walk and chew gum at the same time. Sarah can.
I didn’t see this episode, but if Seth hired an actor with Down Syndrome to do the show, I personally hope she publicly says that she went a bit overboard on her condemnation of this bit. I love Sarah and I think since people HAVE been cruel about her son, that she lumped this in with it, but she will appear too sensitive over it if she doesn’t back off a bit here. She should just say that she did not know they had hired a Downs syndrome actress and were not truly mocking people with Downs.
In other words, she should do an Emily Latella.
Obviously, Sarah Palin can do both.
Ha Ha Ha ....she’s a moron, no wonder she thinks its funny
(This is actually causing me to think twice before I post it)
It was a stupid joke, but to lefties any time you can mention Palin it’s funny, so to have found a way to refer to her without naming her was a giggle. Puerile and meaningless, but again to many in the disabled community being unmentionable is worse than being included in the mix of humanity. Thus while defensive parents in particular may be quick to take offense, many in the community would see having a DS character is a welcome step toward recognition and inclusion.
Then why does Sarah knowingly and willfully subject her family to these "terrible" insults.
You know, her commenting on Rahm Emanual saying 'effin retard was really stupid and shows how she is looking to be insulted.
Obviously, Sarah Palin can do both.
I agree. I didn’t see the whole thing. but it didn’t seem too bad..I’ve seen that show do a hell of a lot worse, that’s why i don’t watch it. It’s too over the top. Don’t even think it should be on TV myself. But that would mean we actually had people with a conscience in Hollywood.
So, she doesn't get to be in the public eye until Trig grows up? I challenge you to tell me ONE other public figure with a mentally challenged child, whose child gets ridiculed. And YES, there are some.
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