The head manatee finally weighs in. As expected, the crux of his reply deals with the eternal identity-politics question of who legitimately can claim to speak for a victimized group. Palin purports to, but her legitimacy derives from Trig and is thus one step removed. Counter her with a bona fide member of the group itself and you’ve got yourself an authenticity trump card — at least, until someone with Down’s who was offended by the FG bit comes forward to take Palin’s side, thereby leading to the rare yet entertaining authenticity stalemate. Here’s hoping!
More from the NYT:
Mr. MacFarlane said in an e-mail message that “Family Guy” was proud of the way that the Ellen character was portrayed. “She is headstrong, outspoken and, at times, almost domineering,” he wrote. “The fact that she has Down syndrome was deliberately played as a secondary element to her character.”…
In a telephone interview on Thursday, [actress Andrea Fay] Friedman, who has also appeared in television shows like “Life Goes On” and “Saving Grace,” said she was perplexed by Ms. Palin’s criticism.
“I’m like, ‘I’m not Trig. This is my life,’ ” Ms. Friedman said. “I was making fun of Sarah Palin, but not her son.”
Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, which, among other services, assists films and television series in casting actors with the disability, and helped Ms. Friedman get hired by “Family Guy,” said it did not matter whether she thought the episode was funny.
“Within ‘Family Guy,’ the character was fully included, well-rounded, dynamic, not dealing with stereotypical Down syndrome issues,” Ms. Williamson said. She added: “Am I a fan of that kind of humor? Eh. It’s beside the point.”
The phone interview with Friedman should help settle the question of whether her e-mail to the Times yesterday expressed her true feelings or not. (Also of note: The Times now acknowledges that Friedman’s initial statement about Palin did indeed include the nasty bit at the end about carrying around Trig “like a loaf of French bread.”) As for the boldfaced parts, compare MacFarlane’s and Williamson’s take to the Anchoress’s take on this clusterfark earlier in the week. She saw it coming from a mile away.
MacFarlane talks a good game about respecting the dignity of the mentally disabled, but after you watch, go read the lyrics that C4P transcribed from a song sung in that same episode of “Family Guy.” Exit quotation:
Her kiss is so inviting, and her hugs are so delighting.
And what makes them really nice is that they’ve got a little spice
Because they’re tighter than a vice and they go on for an hour.
My boy, between the two of us we’ll get you on that shorty bus.
Update: Via Breitbart, here’s the vid of the “Family Guy” song.
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