Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Money for Nothing banned in Canada?

Here's something to ponder....

Take the show "Family Guy" for eg. Consider the character of "Joe" (cop in the wheelchair) who is often the butt of many over-the-top, and I'm quite certain, offensive jokes to some handicapped persons by the other characters on FG. Now, if the character's lines were written by someone with a disability, does that mean that any concerns by those handicapped viewers are unfounded and they should accept it? would they feel different if the writer(s) were not handicapped?

I find this show(generally) funny, however, sometimes they go so far overboard it doesn't make sense and really is unnecessary as the rest of the show is quite funny. I saw an episode the other day that involved a child with cerebral palsy and they joked about how you don't see many victims of cb with grey hair. I immediately thought of my neighbours who have an adult son with the condition, and thought they would be very offended by such a comment. For the record, I'm quite certain they don't watch Family Guy, but that's not really my point. Where do we draw the line? do we even have a line or do they(we) keep changing the goal posts?

Cam, your posts often show you’ve done a lot of reading about various topics that also interest me and more importantly that you’ve spent time thinking about them as opposed to just blindly adhering to what you read. I only wish university truly fostered such thinking rather than paying lip service to it.

I especially appreciate your take on civil liberties which my travels of the world reveal most of us in the “West” take for granted. Over my life one of the most encroached upon is free speech which so many seem to feel should be curtailed lest it hurt some ones feelings. What a pathetically weak civilization we would have, perhaps are breeding, where no one should ever have to suffer or deal with having their feelings hurt. It’s one of the main reasons I noticed for other peoples disdain of “Westerners” . . . our self indulgent naval-gazing and ensuing guilt perpetuating the idea of “The White Man’s Burdon.” It will be interesting to see what our cultures evolve/devolve into as we continue to fight over temporally limited resources rather than expanding the resource base to raise the standard of living for everyone.

On another note, IMO the real measure of a person is not really how they acquit themselves in day-to-day life but how they handle life’s challenges, especially what for most would be adversity. Learning to laugh at and poke fun at oneself if a valuable and healthy tool. Since my motorcycle accident I’ve often wondered how I would respond to a permanent physical disability because based on that experience I’m not sure how well it would turn out. It’s very inspiring to meet someone who presses on and continues to grow rather than allow them self to wither away in all aspects of life. Cheers to you Cam!

The moral compass is constantly changing.

Man in the Box... here, they usually cut it back to just the consonant sounds - shh-t still sounds the same.

I've also heard an edit, dunno if it was Layne that rerecorded the line as "rub my nose in spit!"

Bren R.

Adrian, I don't watch Family Guy, but my sister is a devoted viewer of the show and quite frequently posts clips of Joe on my Facebook wall, and I find them all absolutely hysterical. From my experience, it's easily a minority of people in the disabled community that would find something on the show disparaging (I honestly can't think of one person that I know or have met).

Regarding where do we draw the line, I can't really say because nothing bothers me.

When you mentioned Family Guy and how some disabled people might be offended, you reminded me of the cartoon Quads that is an adult cartoon they used to air on the Toon Network. The cartoon is based on the life of a quadriplegic named Riley, who lives with friends with various disabilities. The show plays on a lot of stereotypes, but also truisms (I can relate to the ones concerning Riley), and could also be considered offensive by some. I, however, think it's absolutely hilarious.

Here's part one of three from the episode Let The Gimp Games Begin. I encourage you, Dean and others to at least watch all three parts of that episode and let me know what you think. Pay close attention to the lyrics of the song at the opening of the show . Too funny!

Don't do a background check of the show! Or at least not until you formulate an opinion about it.

Cheers

Dean, yes, it does seem that you and I have a lot in common. I have a voracious appetite for knowledge, and expanding it, but have a long way to go to catch up to you (and others on the forum), my friend. I've learnt a lot from your posts (as well as others), and will continue to.

There's a lot of people on this forum that I have great respect for, and you are one of them. Thus, your compliment carries a lot of weight, is greatly appreciated, and won't soon be forgotten.

Cheers right back at you!

OK, a bit more info on this...

1. Turns out the decision was made by a self-regulating group set up by Canadian broadcasters, not an actual government group.

2. The relevent government group (CRTC) has asked to have the decision revisited and retracted if possible.

Yay for having classic rock fans in the federal government.

If they really want to get rid of "Money for Nothing", the gov't should take a look at most of it's civil servants.