yomamacuhsuckit

23 / M / bisexual / Single

Bronxville, New York

His journal posts

On Pretension and Giving a Shit...

I hate even talking about this because boy, isn't irony vs. sincerity just the most played out topic at this point? And can anyone talk about these things, can anyone come down on the side of sincerity or the side of irony without coming off as a boring, obnoxious twat, part of the long arm of the fun police? If it works, it works, right?

I'm going to talk about Family Guy in this post, so if you don't care one way or the other you can skip it and read some funny anecdotes about weaboos in the next few posts. Later posts on this topic will mostly be about other things.

I am also not going to declare a victor in irony vs. sincerity, ever, because what a dumb thing to say. Sometimes they need each other, sometimes they don't. But this will be a semi-organized procession of thoughts, so I might come to something resembling a conclusion, it will just not be a KO on one side or the other.

When I was in high school I thought Family Guy was the funniest show on TV, and I still think there are some early episodes that are funny more or less the whole way through. But I think that, as a rule, Family Guy is one of the laziest shows in history, partly because it never allows itself to talk about something that matters. Family Guy's satire isn't particularly vicious or cutting; has anyone watching it ever seen one of its endless procession of AIDS jokes and thought to themselves, "Wow, Seth McFarlane gave those bedridden chumps what-for"? I guess, though they must be pretty insufferable; the rest of us all know it's just being OUTRAGEOUS on a kind of surface level, and if that's what you need to stimulate the laughter center of your brain, well then super, no problem. Then again, once in a blue moon I flip through it and it has some dumb, off the cuff joke that works, so who cares.

I care a little, because this guy Seth McFarlane and his outlook are not just relegated to one show; his name has somehow become a seal of quality, or at least a seal of an attitude that has made him seem like the most widely-exposed man on TV. There are other people who have more shows on TV, but very few people who have so many shows that look exactly the same, have a ton of the same actors, and have exactly the same perspective. I'm sure there are people who have a favorite, but really, they're all basically the same product, right? It really strikes me just how deeply must run Seth McFarlane's love of KISS. He seems to really like their music I guess, but if I had to play bad armchair psychoanalyst, I'd also say that it's pretty significant that a guy who's put together three nearly-indistinguishable cartoon sitcoms and a spin-off of the one-offs they do on Family Guy, that this is a guy whose hero, Gene Simmons, once had this to say: "I never wanted to have a Rock Band. I wanted to have a rock brand."

More to come, I guess... This whole thing will not revolve around Family Guy by the way, I promise.

I hate even talking about this because boy, isn't irony vs.sincerity just the most played out topic at this point? And cananyone talk about these things, can anyone come down on the side ofsincerity or the side of irony without coming off as a boring,obnoxious twat, part of the long arm of the fun police? If itworks, it works, right?

I'm going to talk about Family Guy in this post, so if you don'tcare one way or the other you can skip it and read some funnyanecdotes about weaboos in the next few posts. Later posts on thistopic will mostly be about other things.

I am also not going to declare a victor in irony vs. sincerity,ever, because what a dumb thing to say. Sometimes they need eachother, sometimes they don't. But this will be a semi-organizedprocession of thoughts, so I might come to something resembling aconclusion, it will just not be a KO on one side or the other.

When I was in high school I thought Family Guy was the funniestshow on TV, and I still think there are some early episodes thatare funny more or less the whole way through. But I think that, asa rule, Family Guy is one of the laziest shows in history, partlybecause it never allows itself to talk about something thatmatters. Family Guy's satire isn't particularly vicious or cutting;has anyone watching it ever seen one of its endless procession ofAIDS jokes and thought to themselves, "Wow, Seth McFarlane gavethose bedridden chumps what-for"? I guess, though they must bepretty insufferable; the rest of us all know it's just beingOUTRAGEOUS on a kind of surface level, and if that's what you needto stimulate the laughter center of your brain, well then super, noproblem. Then again, once in a blue moon I flip through it and ithas some dumb, off the cuff joke that works, so who cares.

I care a little, because this guy Seth McFarlane and his outlookare not just relegated to one show; his name has somehow become aseal of quality, or at least a seal of an attitude that has madehim seem like the most widely-exposed man on TV. There are otherpeople who have more shows on TV, but very few people who have somany shows that look exactly the same, have a ton of the sameactors, and have exactly the same perspective. I'm sure there arepeople who have a favorite, but really, they're all basically thesame product, right? It really strikes me just how deeply must runSeth McFarlane's love of KISS. He seems to really like their musicI guess, but if I had to play bad armchair psychoanalyst, I'd alsosay that it's pretty significant that a guy who's put togetherthree nearly-indistinguishable cartoon sitcoms and a spin-off ofthe one-offs they do on Family Guy, that this is a guy whose hero,Gene Simmons, once had this to say: "I never wanted to have a RockBand. I wanted to have a rock brand."

More to come, I guess... This whole thing will not revolvearound Family Guy by the way, I promise.

On Pretension and Giving a Shit...