Sunday, December 2, 2012

Brian Goes to College


 
One of my favorite television shows is the semi-adult cartoon series "Family Guy."  "Family Guy" chronicles the lives of the the dysfunctional Griffin family and their very human like dog, Brian.  Everything about the story is funny, satirical and symbolic beginning with the family name, "Griffin."  A Griffin is a mythical creature that has the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.  The Griffin family, like the mythical creature, is a composite of the characteristics of different people. 

My favorite episode is episode 14 (season 4), "Brian Goes to College."   Brian is the most "human" of the family members.  It starts with his name, "Brian," which is so decidedly human because it is such a common name.  He is the brightest member of the family, with the exception of the infant Stewie.  Brian also has the most human feelings: he is caring, thoughtful and even neurotic.  


In the episode, Brian has just written an article about "Post Modern American Subcultures" for the local paper.  The famous "New Yorker" magazine want to hire Brian, but once they find out he is a college dropout they boot him out of their building.  Brian decides to go back to college, only having to complete one class for his degree, "Advanced Physics" taught by Stephen Hawking. The cartoon commonly parodies real humans like Hawking by bringing them into episodes.  That is one of ,the techniques that makes the cartoon so funny.  Another technique is intertextuality. This episode layers in the Charlie Brown series, the A Team TV series, and the original Rocky movie.

To make a long story short, Brian realizes that he cannot pass the final exam unless he cheats.  He is going to drop out again, but decides to take the exam anyway.  Of course, he passes.  WRONG. He fails.  He comes home and excited, and the Griffin family assumes he has passed the test.  When he informs them that he has failed but is proud that he did not cheat, the rest of the family does what? They praise him.  WRONG.  They call him an idiot, stupid, and moron for not cheating. The episode ends with Chris Griffin exclaiming: "I HATE YOU."  

Kids are always presented with the dilemma of whether to cheat on a final.  Kids are taught not to cheat because in long run it does pay.  The dysfunctional Griffin family has a different take.  Of course cheating pays off and "I HATE YOU [all the millions of you Americans out there watching]" for not doing it.  

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