A Film Canon

 

 

In the wake of the supreme canonicity of The Simpsons, Family Guy's only option is to adopt a radically acanonical stance, systematically reducing all cultural capital to so many banalities and cliches. This may take the form of references that lead nowhere, such as protagonist Peter Griffin's recollection of "the time Moby Dick came to stay" - a memorably passive-aggressive conversation with the white whale about breakfast cereals, inserted as one of the incongruous 'cutaways' that are a hallmark of the series. It may also involve a persistent, pedantic referencing of cultural marginalia as if it were cultural capital, a contradiction whose narrative corollary is Peter's most enduring comic stance: the combination of an intellectual, wondrous tone with idiotic content: "You know, I always thought dogs laid eggs...so...I learned something today." But this banality finds clearest expession in the reduction of even the most momentous or interesting conversations to the monotony of a smalltalk whose parameters are both domestic and administrative, making it feel that creator Seth McFarlane is ultimately speaking to a world founded on middle management. That said, this acanonicity breeds a certain amorality which, in turn, opens up political and social issues that could never have been tackled to the same extent on The Simpsons, most memorably in paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson, whose professional and sexual machismo subversively precludes pity, prompting Peter's (initial) outburst: "You're not meant to admire wheelchair people, you're meant to feel sorry for them! When did it become OK to be handicapped!" It's also worth mentioning the precocious, eloquent baby, Stewie, who embodies the incongruity of the 'cutaways', especially in later seasons.