Bill Whittle: Family Guy Programming Young People to Hate GOP

[Grim17]

You all want a real treat... Listen to his entire speech:

 

[Grant]

You all want a real treat... Listen to his entire speech:

Great speech! Too bad the other story only deals with excerpts, for those with short attention spans.

 

[Gipper]

I see it as more anti-liberal. This is demonstrated by the lampooning of Brian the dog - a hyper-liberal, pot-smoking atheist who comes off as a pseudo-intellectual womanizing drunk.

I've alway felt this guy was full of it, now I am positive. See the video at the link below.

Conservative blogger and screenwriter Bill Whittle called out the show Family Guy as a symptom of America’s decadent liberalism, and said that conservatives needed to regain the power of narrative in order to win elections.

At the RightOnline Conference in Orlando this weekend, Whittle charted the decline of American muscular values through the history of television.

“Any audience of people that grew up with classical Superman automatically love this country, because Superman is about the best America we can be,” he said. “When Superman was all over the pop culture, we were a nation that loved this country. Now, twenty years after the peak of Superman‘s popularity, along comes Gilligan’s Island. That’s pretty neutral in terms of politics. Really about the only message you can get from Gilligan’s Island is if you want to get off the island all you have to do is kill Gilligan.”*

“But if you’re a young person out there today and you can finish the theme song from Family Guy, then all the anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-Christian, anti-morality messages of Family Guy are in your head as completely and thoroughly as that theme song is,” Whittle said.

He argued that conservative electoral success was tied to the ability to successfully weave narratives around conservative beliefs. “You’re programmed by the pop culture, you’re programed by story,” he said. “It’s all about stories, and if we’re the villain in all of the stories that are told we’re never going to win another election again.”

Bill Whittle: 'Family Guy' Programming Youth Against GOP | Mediaite
​

Shut up, Meg.

 

[head of joaquin]

One of my favorite rightwing tropes is conservatives doing cultural criticism via TV shows and movie. Leaving aside the hamfisted fun of seeing philistines trying to do some sort of boorish semiotic analysis, it's just so perfect to watch them tacitly admit that they just don't want capitalism.

 

[Torrent]

Umm, the Avatar capable of winning an Oscar in no way shape or form is a cartoon.

That said...

Avatar the Cartoon > Avatar the movie

True.

But just to make clear...
Avatar: the last Airbender = great
Avatar: the last Airbender the Movie = sad
Avatar (2009) CGI Movie = good cgi/dull over used story.

 

[Jredbaron96]

"Brian, Brian! There's a message in my alphabet cereal! It says, 'ooooooooooooo'."

"Peter those are cheerios."

 

[Grant]

"Brian, Brian! There's a message in my alphabet cereal! It says, 'ooooooooooooo'."

"Peter those are cheerios."

And these guys get to vote.

 

[Perotista]

I've alway felt this guy was full of it, now I am positive. See the video at the link below.

Conservative blogger and screenwriter Bill Whittle called out the show Family Guy as a symptom of America’s decadent liberalism, and said that conservatives needed to regain the power of narrative in order to win elections.

At the RightOnline Conference in Orlando this weekend, Whittle charted the decline of American muscular values through the history of television.

“Any audience of people that grew up with classical Superman automatically love this country, because Superman is about the best America we can be,” he said. “When Superman was all over the pop culture, we were a nation that loved this country. Now, twenty years after the peak of Superman‘s popularity, along comes Gilligan’s Island. That’s pretty neutral in terms of politics. Really about the only message you can get from Gilligan’s Island is if you want to get off the island all you have to do is kill Gilligan.”*

“But if you’re a young person out there today and you can finish the theme song from Family Guy, then all the anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-Christian, anti-morality messages of Family Guy are in your head as completely and thoroughly as that theme song is,” Whittle said.

He argued that conservative electoral success was tied to the ability to successfully weave narratives around conservative beliefs. “You’re programmed by the pop culture, you’re programed by story,” he said. “It’s all about stories, and if we’re the villain in all of the stories that are told we’re never going to win another election again.”

Bill Whittle: 'Family Guy' Programming Youth Against GOP | Mediaite
​

I am not worried about a TV show. There has been plenty of anti-GOP shows out there. At least anti-conservative. TV is entertainment, if you like the show watch it, if not, don't. Flip the channel. Go to the History channel, Discovery, the Science Channel, you actually might lean something and enjoy what you are watching at the same time.

 

[StillBallin75]

So your point is? Are you saying that Family Guy is not biased or that it is biased but people should not care? It is obvious that many in the entertainment business tend to lean left, but is it not OK to point that out?

The point is not that Family Guy is not biased, the point is that blaming the media and entertainment industry for the failures of the GOP demonstrates complete lack of self-awareness. But I guess it's always easier for the party of personal responsibility to point the finger at others for their own shortcomings.

The conclusion that Family Guy is programming people to hate the GOP simplistically assumes a one-way causal relationship when reality isn't all that simple.

 

[rocket88]

And these guys get to vote.

No, actually they're cartoons. Even if they were real, dogs don't vote.

 

[Grant]

No, actually they're cartoons. Even if they were real, dogs don't vote.

Yes, you're right.

 

[Grant]

The point is not that Family Guy is not biased, the point is that blaming the media and entertainment industry for the failures of the GOP demonstrates complete lack of self-awareness. But I guess it's always easier for the party of personal responsibility to point the finger at others for their own shortcomings. The conclusion that Family Guy is programming people to hate the GOP simplistically assumes a one-way causal relationship when reality isn't all that simple.

Perhaps the failings aren't with the GOP but the American electorate.

 

[Captain America]

Most young folks already hate the GOP. The cartoon is just playing to it's audience.

 

[ttwtt78640]

The point is not that Family Guy is not biased, the point is that blaming the media and entertainment industry for the failures of the GOP demonstrates complete lack of self-awareness. But I guess it's always easier for the party of personal responsibility to point the finger at others for their own shortcomings.

The conclusion that Family Guy is programming people to hate the GOP simplistically assumes a one-way causal relationship when reality isn't all that simple.

Yet to pretend that liberal bias in entertainment, the MSM and public education is not a factor that is hard to overcome is also dishonest. I doubt that you share that attitude towards those that point out "white privilege" as being simply unable to accept their own shortcomings.

 

[Jredbaron96]

And these guys get to vote.

Don't worry Grant, last time I checked, the only time they voted was to keep Adam West as mayor.

 

[head of joaquin]

You don't really have to program anybody to hate the GOP; you just have to encourage them to listen to what the GOP actually says. It's ugly, self-serving and subliterate enough for most normal people to react with revulsion, even without the Family Guy telling them to.