In television there are many stereotypes played out in our programs that are mostly watched for entertainment. To research the presence of stereotypes in Television programs, I went to a couple of web sites streaming some of my favorite television programs such as Hulu.com and Tbs.com. I watched multiple episodes of some of my favorites including The Simpsons and Family Guy, and noticed that a overweight people are repeatedly stereotyped in both a positive and negative way. The Fat characters are portrayed as being both stupid and comical. They are usually the most hilarious and admired people in the shows.
In Family Guy, Peter Griffin is portrayed as clumsy, annoying, and irresponsible and is constantly pulling pranks to anger the other characters in the show. In one episode of Family Guy, Peter is going out to drink with his friends on Christmas Eve, but their new buddy Joe, who is a cop, forces Peter to be the designated driver. Peter is bored being sober while all his buddies are having a good time drinking and wants to go home. He is supposed to drop off one gift to the toys for toddlers donation before they are through but instead, he frantically donates all of his family's Christmas gifts so he can get back home. In another episode Peter is asked to spend more time bonding with his baby son Stewie. Peter and Stewie start to enjoy teasing and playing pranks on Louis together. They trip her, make her drop things in the kitchen and go as far as locking her in the car and pushing it into the lake. They laugh the whole way home and agree "oohh she will be fine."
In The Simpsons Homer is another overweight character who is also portrayed as dumb and irresponsible. In the episode "No Loan Again" Homer takes out several home equity loans and doesn't understand he will have to pay the money back. Thinking his house will be stuck with the bill, he throws a big Mardi Gras party. Homer squanders his money and the family is evicted from the house. While the house is going up for sale Homer strips the copper wiring out of the walls, hides it under his shirt and gets electrocuted.
Peter and Homer both have dumb moments that people love to watch. It provides good comical situations and often sets the storyline of entire episodes. These television programs definitely reinforce and preserve the common stereotype of fat people being stupid, clumsy and funny.
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I totally agree with you. Fatter people have to assume all of the opposite characteristics of thinner people. We tend not to associate funny with sexy, thus funny gets stuck with fat (the "less-sexy" body type) and sexy sticks to thin. God forbid there be both sexy and fat. What is also interesting is how the media portray fat men versus how they portray fat women.
ReplyDeleteNot that there is any truth behind stereotypes, but i think the media portrays 'Fat' men as funny more often then not. For adolescents growing up, we all know that kids can be cruel. The media already decided that the best image for a male is "Buff"(that is: muscular) and for females "sexy thin".You could argue that humor is a great way to neutralize loaded comments directed at obesity. While some overweight people might have learned to use this defense mechanism, it is in no way full fledged truth. Perhaps the "fat and funny" guy just happens to be the one who made the lasting impression on their memories.
ReplyDeleteIn most of my experience of watching TV i have to agree with that stereotype although i didn't think to use that one. Most shows the role of a fat man has to automatically mean he must be funny. I like the show King of Queens, Doug always makes fun of his weight and jokes about it. I agree with Belec that in reality its possible that many people who had been overweight used humor and comedy in their defense growing up. I could see it as instead of being made fun of .. make it a joke ya know? not necessarily true at all but thats my own opinion.
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