It's Not True That Corrupt Presidents-For-Life Are the Only People Who Don't Like Family Guy, But...

Tim Cavanaugh | September 29, 2009

...it is true that Hugo Chavez doesn't like The Family Guy. Charlie Devereux reports:

Venezuelan state TV today broadcast an excerpt from "Family Guy" as an example of how the U.S. promotes drug use. The clip features Stewie, the matricide-obsessed infant son of Peter and Lois Griffin, singing a song extolling the virtues of smoking weed.

"We can observe how [the U.S. government] promotes and incites the population to consume that drug there," said Tarek El Aissaimi, Venezuela's Interior Minister. "There's no subliminal message. It's an animated cartoon where you can observe perfectly how they promote consumption and moreover they foster the legalization of marijuana."

Since I don't know what the bracketed "the U.S. government" replaces, I can't be sure El Aissaimi is accusing the government of promoting pot, but I can see how an outside observer -- particularly one whose own understanding of the concept of independent media is not strong -- might get the impression that the broadcast networks take their orders directly from Uncle Sam. El Assaimi is reacting to a July 20 GAO report accusing Venezuela of opposing the United States in the global war on some drugs.

Full piece, with a clip of the musical number, here.

Update: Thanks to commenter Jonas for correcting my Fox pas of giving Family Guy an article.

Comments

skr|9.29.09 @ 7:34PM|#

I'm so ashamed that I missed that episode when it originally aired. I think I have a new favorite song.

Dan Rather|9.29.09 @ 7:46PM|#

Who the hell cares about some cartoon? My case just got thrown out!

I, Kahn O\'Clast|9.29.09 @ 7:50PM|#

The more a government restricts its media the more it assumes that what appears on others' media must represent official policy.

Juvenile Lurker|9.29.09 @ 7:53PM|#

Q: How is that song like Dan Rather?

A: Both are appealing.

HuH?|9.29.09 @ 7:53PM|#

I thought Stewie wanted to boink his mom, not kill her?

Dan Rather\'s Legal Team|9.29.09 @ 8:07PM|#

Justice Has Prevailed! We are of course, filing an immediate appeal.

Jonas|9.29.09 @ 8:07PM|#

THE Family Guy. Cavanaugh doesn't really watch the show does he? It would be like someone calling that Ridley Scott movie "The Alien".

JB|9.29.09 @ 8:07PM|#

Venezuelans are dumb.

Mary Mapes|9.29.09 @ 8:08PM|#

I have a fax of the appeal, written in 1967 by George Bush's commanding officer. Don't you DARE ask me about the font, you sexist pigs!

|9.29.09 @ 8:14PM|#

I'm curious...is it dishonesty, naivete, or abject stupidity?

|9.29.09 @ 8:22PM|#

Jonas,

You missed an opportunity to say, e.g., "if Tim Cavanaugh had just used The Google, he would've known that it's just Family Guy."

|9.29.09 @ 8:25PM|#

...a July 20 GAO report accusing Venezuela of opposing the United States in the global war on some drugs.

Well, I'll be! Something to like about Chavez after all.

Fist of Etiquette|9.29.09 @ 8:41PM|#

"We can observe how [the U.S. government] promotes and incites the population to consume that drug there..."

What the deuce?

Dan|9.29.09 @ 8:48PM|#

Apparently Chavez and I agree on something after all.

Tim Cavanaugh|9.29.09 @ 9:05PM|#

It's true I don't watch Family Guy, and I had the same two reactions to this clip that I always have to the show: 1) this gag's going on too long and 2) where's Homer?

But I will correct. Thanks.

Colonel_Angus|9.29.09 @ 9:15PM|#

What is the point of modifying certain proper nouns with "the"?

The Family Guy
The Sonic Burger
The Batman

It is like referring to someone who's name is Bill as "The Bill". Retards.

rhofulster|9.29.09 @ 9:23PM|#

I resemble that remark!
(I'm a tOSU grad)

D.R.M.|9.29.09 @ 9:34PM|#

Family Guy: Seven minutes of actual comedy stretched to fill 22 minutes of airtime.

Hugh Akston|9.29.09 @ 9:34PM|#

1) this gag's going on too long and 2) where's Homer?

That pretty much sums up the Family Guy. Also: 3) Those manatees were funnier last season.

Colonel_Angus|9.29.09 @ 9:36PM|#

Sorry for that I have the low blood sugar.

So the Venezuelan government must think all television in the United States is state run?

Retards.

Some Guy|9.29.09 @ 9:39PM|#

So Chavez thinks Fox News is run by Obama?

|9.29.09 @ 9:41PM|#

Colonel_Angus | September 29, 2009, 9:15pm | #
What is the point of modifying certain proper nouns with "the"?

The Family Guy
The Sonic Burger
The Batman

It is like referring to someone who's name is Bill as "The Bill". Retards.

I'd suggest you avoid:

The Dalles
Los Angeles (Or, if you prefer: El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles)
Le Havre
Den Haag

fortyouncer|9.29.09 @ 9:44PM|#

Let's hope The Family Guy doesn't get The AIDS this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLLeQQBk2pk

The Tim Cavanaugh|9.29.09 @ 9:50PM|#

With all respect to Family Guy fans, though. Follow your bliss!

Rhywun|9.29.09 @ 9:57PM|#

I can see how an outside observer [...] might get the impression that the broadcast networks take their orders directly from Uncle Sam.

See: every "very special" (i.e. unfunny) episode of every network sitcom broadcast after about 1985.

But yeah, that editing is more than a bit suspicious. Maybe (just maybe) he said, "We can observe how Seth McFarlane promotes and incites the population to consume that drug there"...?

mike farmer|9.29.09 @ 10:01PM|#

Chavez is obsessed with U.S. -- we need to give him a reality show -- the poor bastard just wants to be a star.

highnumber|9.29.09 @ 10:11PM|#

Hey colonel,
You might wanna avoid Chicago.
We add the definite article indiscriminately.
As in "I'm gonna run to the Target," etc.

Robert|9.29.09 @ 10:14PM|#

I thought it was The Family Guy. You definite it gets no article?

John Ciccilini|9.29.09 @ 10:30PM|#

You scum just don't get it: the Family Guy show is just making you dumb and furthering the cause of your corporate masters. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the haters at this site wouldn't understand the wise words of Sr. El Aissaimi; after all, Venezuela is one of the only two true democracies in the Western Hemisphere, and the other one isn't this country with its legacy of racism and oppression.

Suki|9.29.09 @ 10:32PM|#

I, Kahn O'Clast | September 29, 2009, 7:50pm | #

The more a government restricts its media the more it assumes that what appears on others' media must represent official policy.

I, Kahn O'Clast's rule.

Kurt|9.29.09 @ 10:50PM|#

I thought Stewie wanted to boink his mom, not kill her?

No, Brian (the dog) wants to boink Lois. Stewie just wants to kill her.

Rhywun|9.29.09 @ 11:05PM|#

See, [the US government] promotes bestiality.

|9.29.09 @ 11:12PM|#

I thought Tim promoted bestiality. Sorry, "The Tim".

If El Aissaimi thinks this way about Family Guy, he might want to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Or at least South Park.

|9.29.09 @ 11:29PM|#

Given that Family Guy has ripped off just about everything else from the Simpsons, I think it was reasonable for Cavanaugh to have assumed that the show ripped off the article preceding "Simpsons" as well.

¢, the|9.29.09 @ 11:34PM|#

It's "the" Family Guy in the theme song of an animated cartoon where you can observe perfectly how [the U.S. government] promotes and incites the population to sing and moreover they foster the typing of that word there.

Nipplemancer|9.29.09 @ 11:40PM|#

i'm so tired of venezuela and hugo chavez. i would really enjoy a very large space rock to fall on him/it. thank you in advance to whomever can make that possible.

hmm|9.29.09 @ 11:48PM|#

That comment is awfully racist of him. He should hold a bong summit.

HuH?|9.29.09 @ 11:58PM|#

Thank you, Kurt.

Rhywun - Funny, no matter which way it goes, Chavez knows we some fucked up people in America.

I think Stewie and the dog are the only funny things about the show so maybe that is why I mixed them up.

BakedPenguin|9.30.09 @ 12:31AM|#

Wow. I guess I picked the wrong Reason writers to send this article in to. I suggested it to one about four days ago, then after hearing nothing from him, sent it to two others a couple days ago.

And since Chavez brags about drinking coca tea every day, a good question would be why the fuck this should be a problem to him even if the government was supporting it.

Art-P.O.G.|9.30.09 @ 1:24AM|#

Yeah, 'cause none of the other editors could be bothered to forward this news item to the Tim Cavanaugh. :p And for awhile I thought something was wrong with me for finding this incident interesting.

|9.30.09 @ 1:41AM|#

Wow. I guess I picked the wrong Reason writers to send this article in to. I suggested it to one about four days ago, then after hearing nothing from him, sent it to two others a couple days ago.

I hate to break this to you, BP, but I have it on good authority that there is a long-running conspiracy to deny you any hat tips. The word is that it's a direct order from high up...from The Urkobold.

I suggest you watch your back with The Urkobold, BP. He's gunning for you.

BakedPenguin|9.30.09 @ 1:43AM|#

Good to know the Art-POG's got my back. Of course, with that handle, I guess you hear that a lot. Aim well.

Col. Angus - you should hang out with Russians. Russian (and probably other Slavic languages) doesn't have articles. Although you have to watch out - as they learn English, they tend to start putting them on every noun. Admittedly, the rules are tricky - just ask the Tim.

BakedPenguin|9.30.09 @ 1:50AM|#

Thanks the Episiarch, but all of us at the Urkobold know that it's when and how, not if, we will be betrayed. But in this economy, where else am I going to find the job?

|9.30.09 @ 2:01AM|#

I'm just looking out for you, The BP. I figure I could use some help in my plans to unseat The The The The Urkobold. What do you say? Coup time!

And on a completely unrelated--except for The "The" part of it--is The Fixx. I considered posting The The, but...they suck.

g4m3th30ry|9.30.09 @ 3:28AM|#

I, Kahn O'Clast | September 29, 2009, 7:50pm | #

The more a government restricts its media the more it assumes that what appears on others' media must represent official policy.

True - it happened during Rather's crappy expose on Bush's national guard docs... Rather was pushed aside.

Around that same time Bush was appealing to Putin to stop suppressing their semi-free press (you see, it's free, you just might die).

One of Putin's arguments was that we do the same - just look at how the Bush administration got rid of Dan Rather.

So I agree - if they control the media, they assume we do as well.

Art-P.O.G.|9.30.09 @ 3:37AM|#

Big ups to I, Kahn O'Clast's Law.

|9.30.09 @ 5:13AM|#

I considered posting The The, but...they suck.

I had suffered for years thinking I was the only one. The The sucks too hard and won't take out its fucking retainer.

@|9.30.09 @ 7:36AM|#

Colonel_Angus | September 29, 2009, 9:15pm | #
What is the point of modifying certain proper nouns with "the"?

The Family Guy
The Sonic Burger
The Batman

Smokey The Bear
Easter The Bunny

|9.30.09 @ 7:56AM|#

I considered posting The The, but...they suck.

Attack Of The The Eye Creatures, anybody?

|9.30.09 @ 8:22AM|#

OK That gets a
TWTW!

You know, everything IS better with a bag of weed.

|9.30.09 @ 12:59PM|#

Chavez is just asking to be ridiculed on family guy...........I cant wait !

The Pedant|9.30.09 @ 1:21PM|#

It is like referring to someone who's name is Bill as "The Bill". Retards.

. . . someone whose name . . .

BakedPenguin|9.30.09 @ 6:47PM|#

I figure I could use some help in my plans to unseat The The The The Urkobold. What do you say? Coup time!

I'd be with you, but I don't think it's worth the effort. I get to look at the books from time to time. Let's just say the talk of "unreasonable economic profit being ruthlessly hoarded" is a bit ambitious, unless your idea of "unreasonable economic profit" means being able to afford a coffee from Starbucks.

Without the croissant.

Robert|9.30.09 @ 8:25PM|#

At least it hasn't been lowered to the point of A Family Guy.