Jungle Love
This Family Guy episode captures the intolerant attitudes towards Native Americans that are held by some people today. Although intolerance towards any group is a serious matter, the creators of Family Guy have created humor out of these stereotypes.
In this Family Guy episode called, “Jungle Love,” the creators of Family Guy “poke fun” about the savage nature of Native American, a common stereotypical belief about this group. This is depicted in many ways. For example, one of the main characters, Chris Griffin, decides to go to an underdeveloped/unindustrialized area, which is where the Native Americans are located. Another way that the savage nature of Native Americans is depicted is through their outfits. The creators of this episode equipped the Native Americans with “uncivilized” clothing. A final example in how Native American savagery is depicted is found near the end of the episode. In a turn of events, the Native Americans who originally befriended the Griffin family turn against them and murder Meg, the teenage daughter. These are just few examples of how the creators of Family Guy “humorized” the stereotypical views of Native Americans.
The effect of creating humor out of a serious issue such as intolerance is unknown. Hopefully, through cartoons such as this episode, viewers will learn how ridiculous most intolerant attitudes are and will learn that they are unwarranted. The fear is that these cartoons may have the opposite effect and may solidify intolerant beliefs.
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