James Raffone
Nov 3 · 3 min read

The Racism Of Family Guy

Many people view Family Guy as an entertaining and enjoyable TV show, but Family Guy could be teaching us to think a certain way in society. In this episode of Family Guy titled, “Turban Cowboy”, the type of media portrayed can make people scared of certain races or ethnic groups, like Muslims, and produce Americans that are more racist and less accepting of diversity.

During the beginning of the episode, Peter gets into a skydiving accident and ends up in the hospital. In the hospital, Peter meets a Muslim man named Mahmoud. While Mahmoud seems nice, he is really a radical terrorist planning an attack on the Quahog bridge. Judging by Peter’s experience with Mahmoud, the show is enforcing the norm that all Muslims are terrorists. Literally the first Muslim Peter meets is a terrorist! Other TV shows and movies make Muslims the villain, and it is not any different in this episode. These are just a few of the many examples of the racism shown in this episode.

An equally important scene is where Peter, Joe, Quagmire, and Brian are sitting at a bar meeting Mahmoud for the first time. There are multiple instances when the characters are concerned and scared about the Muslim man even before knowing he is a terrorist. Joe and Quagmire are very uncomfortable. Brian even says, “This is your post 9/11 racism talking. I for one think it is great that Peter has enough of an open mind to have a Muslim friend.”, showing he is the only accepting person in this situation. This scene in particular connects with an article titled, Male Bashing On TV. The article explains, “According to Gender Issues in Advertising Language, television portrayals that help create or reinforce negative stereotypes can lead to problems with self-image, self-concept, and personal aspirations”. This quote really explains that TV shows affect Muslims in real life too, being treated as terrorists and in a negative manner. It connects back to this scene when everyone is uncomfortable and concerned about Mahmoud because he is Muslim.

Furthermore, one last scene makes this episode truly distasteful. Peter is driving across a bridge in a Muslim outfit. A police officer stops Peter and uses a card with skin tones on it. The card design shows lighter skin tones in the “Okay” category, while the darker skin tones in the “Not Okay” category. This again shows that most people think anyone who is Muslim or associating with their culture is a terrorist. For example, a series titled Mean World Syndrome states, “39% of Americans think Muslim Americans are not loyal to the United States”. This statistic is shown in the episode by the police officer. While this episode is showing a Muslim terrorist steroetype, we should be open minded and accept all different races and cultures.

The quality of this type of media is very bad because it will impact society, making everyone racist and scared towards Muslims in America. Shows like this perpetuate the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists. The outlandish plot only makes people more afraid of Muslims and groups them all in the same group of evil doers. While some shows like this make viewers correlate Muslims with terrorism, we definitely need more media that can express different cultures and races, showing that you should accept anyone, despite the color of their skin.

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