Family Guy As Magical Realism? Alison Crawford
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“Oh Yeah!”: Family Guy as Magical Realism? alison crawford the premiere episode of family guy, titled exclaim, “Oh no!”—first Lois, then the family’s “Death Has a Shadow,” was first broadcast talking dog, Brian, followed by oldest son Chris, on the FOX Network on 31 January 1999, after and then daughter Meg. The scene reaches its Super Bowl XXXIII. It begins with patriarch Peter climax when a giant anthropomorphized jug of Griffin preparing for the bachelor party of a Kool-Aid bursts through the courtroom wall and work colleague and promising his wife, Lois, bellows, “Oh, yeah!” Everyone in the courtroom that he will not overindulge. He does, however, stares, nonplussed, at the large talking jug, to the tune of thirty-seven beers, which his son and then, as if realizing the impropriety of his Chris heralds as a “new family record.” Despite outburst, the Kool-Aid Man backs slowly out of suffering from a hangover, Peter goes to work the room via the hole he just punched through the next morning and falls asleep while moni- the wall. toring the production line at the toy factory. The scene continues, and Peter is exoner- Following a subsequent local news report on ated of his crime with the help of his baby son, the large number of unsafe toys suddenly being Stewie, but it is clear that the climax of the sold, Peter is fired for negligence. To keep Lois episode was reached with the interruption by from finding out, he applies for welfare support this magical figure. Although it is not explained and, because of a bureaucratic error, receives within the episode, the intruder is the icon of a weekly check for $150,000. He tells Lois he Kool-Aid, an artificially flavored soft drink. The has been given a big raise at work and starts Kool-Aid Man is a gigantic frosty pitcher filled spending the money extravagantly. When she with the red liquid and marked with a smiley discovers Peter’s deception, she orders him face, as seen in advertisements for Kool-Aid. to return the money, and he decides the best In television commercials, the Kool-Aid Man is way to do this is by throwing the cash from a known for suddenly bursting through walls after blimp during the Super Bowl, which causes a being magically summoned wherever children riot in the stadium. After being arrested and are making Kool-Aid and yelling “Oh, yeah!” spending some time in jail, he appears in court As an ardent fan of all kinds of animation where the judge sentences him to twenty-four for many years, I recall watching this episode months in prison for welfare fraud. The family around the turn of the millennium and finding reacts badly to the news, each taking a turn to the appearance of this intruder startling, as it disrupted the narrative so violently. It left me feeling bemused. The episode offers no expla- alison crawford is a PhD candidate at the Uni- nation for this sudden incursion and hardly versity of Ulster in Northern Ireland and a lifelong any time to dwell on it because as soon as the student of animation of all kinds. Her primary field of research is American animation, and she is cur- invading creature exits the scene, the episode rently writing her dissertation on the possibility of continues apace, forcing the viewer to move on postmodern satire in American animated sitcoms. with the renewed flow of narrative. This was a 52 journal of film and video 61.2 / summer 2009 ©2009 by the board of trustees of the university of illinois familiar sensation, however, one I recognized sitcom format in 1960, its aim was not strictly but never before from animation. In fact, I was realism; the Flintstones shared their world with reminded of works from the literary world, dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, some particularly those that use a technique called of which acted as modern conveniences for the magical realism. families and could even talk. The creators of The Strange, inexplicable events are common- Simpsons, however, deliberately set out to make place in what is arguably magical realism’s their show as realistic as possible, and it is this most famous novel, Gabriel García Márquez’s realism that forms the basis of my argument. One Hundred Years of Solitude, first published This commitment to realism changed viewers’ in Spanish in 1967. For example, José Arcadio perceptions of television animation, which Buendia stumbles upon a Spanish galleon became very much the status quo. Combining marooned in the midst of the jungle. Never realism, the sitcom, animation, and a satirical explained, it leaves the reader to wonder how, attitude “works to elevate the position of The in the midst of a realist narrative, this can be? Simpsons within cultural hierarchies” (Mittell How can it be possible that a marvelous cloud 25) from its lowly status as “just for children” of butterflies follows Mauricio Babilonia wher- and opens up a wider audience, providing ever he goes and that Remedios the Beauty more opportunities for other television anima- can miraculously ascend into heaven? All these tion, such as Family Guy, to make it to the air. magical events are dealt with in a matter-of-fact Subsequently, a strong foundation audience for way, grounded in a realist narrative, which is a animated sitcoms allows writers to be more ad- hallmark of this type of fiction. venturous with different comedic styles. In short, The difficulty is that these magical occur- The Simpsons provides the “realism” on which rences break the rules of what are, in every the “magic” of Family Guy is based. other way, realistic narratives. Similarly, the I realize that suggesting a correlation be- problem with Family Guy seems to be how to tween Family Guy and magical realism raises read the Kool-Aid Man incident. But Family two contentious issues: whether realism is a Guy is animation. How much does animation reasonable or even possible aim for an ani- have to do with “realistic narratives”? After all, mated program and whether the existence of animation is the realm of fantasy, the home of magical realism is feasible outside of literature. a cat and mouse duo that drop anvils on each First, there is the issue of realism. Rather than other’s heads, a wolf whose eyes bug out at the insist that animation be the domain of fantasy sight of an attractive woman, and a wise-crack- as animators in the past have done, the crea- ing rabbit who can walk on air as if he’s una- tors of The Simpsons were concerned with real- ware of the “gravity” of his situation. If realism ism from the outset. James L. Brooks, co-de- is not the natural rule of animation, then why veloper and executive producer alongside Sam be surprised and confused by an impossible Simon and Matt Groening, insisted that “we event, such as a huge advertising icon bursting ought to make people forget they’re watching a through a wall? cartoon” (qtd. in Williams and Jones, “Cartoons Knowledge of the history of animated sitcoms, Have Writers?” 1). They set about developing a and sitcoms in general, is enough to solve the writing style for television animation that would mystery; it is not unreasonable to claim that attract a new, adult audience that would other- The Simpsons, the first animated show to be wise consider television animation the domain screened in prime time since The Flintstones in of children. Steve Williams and Ian Jones re- the 1960s, instigated a renaissance for animated mark that “[s]omewhat perversely for a 100% sitcoms, which include Beavis and Butthead, hand-drawn creation,” James L. Brooks was King of the Hill, South Park, Futurama, and of aiming for “realism, the everyday, and strong course, Family Guy. Although The Flintstones emotional resonance. For people to forget they was the first to combine animation and the were watching a cartoon, he argued, its charac- journal of film and video 61.2 / summer 2009 53 ©2009 by the board of trustees of the university of illinois ters had to behave—think, laugh, cry—like you Abu’s [sic] Quik-E-Mart [sic], Krusty Burger, and me.” The first step toward this realism was the nuclear power plant, and Springfield to create a recognizable world and situations to Elementary all irrevocably change our re- which the average viewer could relate. lationship to the equivalent locales on our own suburban landscapes. They have been As an animated program, The Simpsons can recontextualized experientially. They are create environments and develop situations points of reference for social satire. They that the average live-action sitcom cannot. are no longer functional façades, but have The Simpson family is free to roam around the been transformed into breaks in the veneer: fictional town of Springfield, allowing for a portals through which to deconstruct the rest wider range of situations and larger number of of suburban experience. The tube that was characters than are available to any live-action once used to sell us the suburban utopia is situation comedy without a massive budget. now the lens through which we can demystify These diverse situational characters come its symbols and smash its myths. (Rushkoff, together to create what Nichola Dobson calls “Mediasprawl: Springfield USA”) a “constructed reality” (86). This freedom was This illusion of realism is not shattered by a not lost on the team behind The Simpsons, with cackling studio audience or canned laughter. Groening describing the show as “a sitcom, There is no tradition of canned laughter in but there’s no ‘sit,’” (qtd.