Seth Macfarlane, comedian and famous writer of the hit series Family Guy, hosted the Oscars at the end of February and provoked controversy from numerous ill perceived jokes he made.
He opened the Academy Awards ceremony with a song called “We Saw Your Boobs,” in which he listed actresses and movie scenes in which they were exposed. Many of the actresses named in his song were in the audience such as Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart.
Macfarlane commented on the movie Django: Unchained that it was, “the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who has been subjected to unthinkable violence; or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie.” He also said that Zero Dark Thirty was about every woman’s “innate ability to never let anything go.”
The question brought up from these jokes is whether or not Macfarlane crossed the line with his jokes, or were people oversensitive and overlook the fact that at the end of the day, it’s just comedy?
The New Yorker described the Oscars as “crudely sexist antics led by a scrubby, self satisfied Seth Macfarlane.” According to the Huffington Post, two California female state lawmakers condemned Macfarlane for his jokes, and called the Academy president requesting they renounce his behavior.
It is understandable how women could be offended by these jokes, as his humor is known to push the envelope and particularly poke fun at women and different races as well.
“Everyone should know by now who Seth Macfarlane is and that he’s going to make those types of jokes,” said senior journalism major Danielle Levy. “He does it on Family Guy and who doesn’t laugh at Family Guy?”
Some people who were offended by Macfarlane’s antics feel it was more inappropriate for the Academy Awards than it was for his television show. “It’s a show that people watch with their children, so it should have been more censored,” said junior Carly Epstein.
The bottom line is that celebrities especially are public figures and are subject to ridicule, especially from a comedic standpoint.
Seth Macfarlane didn’t break any laws with his performance, as he was ethically within the boundaries. However, the sense taken from the New Yorker, the Huffington Post and other media outlets is that morally he acted inappropriately.
But, who’s to say what’s morally right or wrong when dealing with comedy and entertainment? Seth Macfarlane has made hundreds of millions of dollars making sexist and racist jokes, yet people laugh at him and pay for his humor.
Comedy’s boundaries are only limited to television censorship, and Seth Macfarlane played fair in that regard. Pushing the envelope has become a popular comedic tactic and people shouldn’t take it personally, but with a grain of salt.