The other day a close friend and I were having a discussion in which I pointed out that shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, etc. all have something very much in common. The family composition. Each show is complete with a mother, father, son, daughter, a pet or two pets, etc. She claimed that this is because the same person made all shows. I begged to differ. Me, being an ultimate Simpsons fan, family guy fan, etc. was appalled. How could she confuse them as all being created by the same person?? Common sense (mean of me lol) But!, she raised a valid point, the point that I'm going to try to prove.
The point that all these shows have a similar background,
similar episodes so much so that people can easily mistake them as being the
same show if they listened with their eyes closed. Sure regular viewers and
fans like myself can easily spot the differences, but then again the shows are
so very similar that regular viewers cannot tell the difference. For instance,
my friend. But, it gets even deeper than just sharing a similar family makeup.
The families each share even more similarities. are
The fact that cartoon wives like Lois Griffin, Donna Tubbs, Francine Smith and Marge Simpson are heavily abused is evident maybe not
physically, but their relationships are putting an extreme strain on their
mental states. These women are all profoundly depressed. Because they've had to
settle, pay for just the bare minimum. Their husbands are the centers of attention.
They spend so much time with their hands full trying to correct the wrongs of
their men that ultimately they forget about themselves. And it's very
unfortunate. Throughout these programs, all women can be seen fantasizing about
other men and even having affairs as well. It's almost like they're stuck,
grounded in the same position in life. Can't neglect be considered just as bad as abuse? In this instance the women are essentially neglected twice. First by their husbands, then by themselves in order for them to effectively "serve and protect" their husbands.
They're all staying at home moms. Whose full-time job seems
mainly consists of being a caretaker and mother not even just to their children
who are how it's supposed to be but to their grown adult male husbands as well,
and it's sad. All of their dreams pushed aside to settle. Marge stopped school
once she got with Homer, became distracted and was no longer an honor student.
Lisa Simpson, Marge, and Homer's daughter always says she never wants to be
like her mom who is morose. Marge can be seen crying at times and in a recent
episode was seen bonding with Smithers Mr.Burns gay assistant who tolerates his
abuse all in the name of love.
Marge after being
paid attention to by Smithers developed a crush and can be heard, her thoughts
aloud with I want to kiss him? A look of guilt and shame is came across her face. In show's like Family Guy Bonnie the
next door neighbor who is married to Joe Swanson, a paraplegic police officer
confined of course to a wheelchair. Bonnie never looks satisfied and speaks in
a slow, unenthusiastic voice no different from Marge or Lois Griffin. She too
gave up her life (as a stripper) to settle down prematurely and cater to her
husband. Bonnie can regularly be heard saying that she didn't sign up for this
and that she's fallen out of love with Joe and resents him greatly. In an
episode where they took a trip to France Bonnie engaged in an affair, she later
revealed to a shocked Lois that she does this all the time.
Interestingly enough Lois is one to judge the episode she seduced Meg's (her daughter)
boyfriend and was caught making out on the couch with him. Her dissatisfaction
with her marriage is made evident in episodes like the one where she became
jealous of her son Chris' "sex doll" that he was showing much
affection too as if she were an actual partner. She could be heard saying
"Oh my God Chris treats that sex doll better than Peter treats me."
In a fit of jealous rage she "kidnapped" the doll, assaulted it and
buried it. She has made mentions of wanting to murder Joe on multiple
occasions. These women feel stuck almost obligated to take care of their
husbands. They've certainly settled but is there any romance or attraction even
left in their relationships?
There was even an
episode where during a vacation in France she had begun sleeping with someone
else. There is this pattern of women in shows giving up their lives so that
their husbands are front and center. Unhappy marriages seem to be a trend
within these shows. These women are so immune to what's going on around them.
The blank looks on the wives faces are almost eerie in a way. The way they are conditioned to coming last. Whenever
their husbands do something selfish completely disregarding their feelings they
have virtually no reaction.
But even so, it's almost as if the shows justify the unhappy
states of the wives by putting extreme emphasis on the fact that in the past women have had very active sex lives.
Some like Lois Griffin have reputations in the community, evident by her
nickname "Loose Lois" Some like Donna Tubbs from The Cleveland show
even have starred in pornographic films. Francine from American Dad married to
Stan Smith has a rose bush garden full of hundreds of rose bushes which she
says symbolizes the vast amount of men she's slept with in her life.
Donna was formerly with Robert Tubbs and has two children
with him, Rallo and Roberta. Donna can often be heard expressing her love that
still burns for her ex-husband. It seems as if she had no choice but to leave
him due to his unfaithful ways. She settled for
Cleveland because he's so different than Robert; he's more feminine, more
easily controlled. Finally through Cleveland Donna was able to have the relationship
roles reversed and became the assertive one in charge this time around. An
opportunity she just couldn't pass up due to her constantly being under
Robert's control all those years.
Donna's case is one we've all heard before. The sweet girl
with her heart for some reason set on being able to fix the bad boys
undesirable traits.
So these shows are implying that the husbands are the ones
who are "settling." Because allegedly perhaps they had the choice to
marry a more "respectable woman." But, instead, Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown, Joe Swanson and Stan Smith all chose these women
with less than desirable reputations. Making a mockery out of themselves in the long run. But, is that necessarily the wives fault? I think not. They had a decision and they mad one. The wives cannot be held accountable for their husbands actions. Not this time, not when it comes to them being selected as a mate.
Here come the double standards because if they were men,
they would likely be praised for being
formerly gigolos but, women are supposed to uphold a certain image they're
looked down upon. Women are supposed to be poised, obedient right?
You would get the impression that these cartoon women like
Lois Griffin, Marge Simpson, Francine Smith and Donna Tubbs aren't of
importance to their families because they aren't the typical breadwinners of
the family. Since the husbands Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown
and Stan Smith are the only ones working in the households. You would think without them everything would crumble. But, in actuality, this couldn't be further from the
truth. Without these women always being there to bail their husbands out
whenever they land themselves in dangerous situations(which is far too often)
everything would self-destruct.
If it weren't for the strength, quick-minded, patience and
high tolerance levels of these women nothing would be able to exist. Luckily
the wives always conveniently seem to have calm demeanors and ability to think
under pressure when faced with the unpredictable, spontaneous, destructive
actions of their husbands.
Maybe they're looked down upon because of their lack of a
career, but the thing is that taking care of their husbands seems like a
full-time job and a hard one at that.
For example, there was an episode of The Cleveland Show in which Donna and Cleveland got robbed while they were out at night using
the ATM. Instead of Cleveland standing up for his wife and protecting her as
the man. He could be seen in the foreground scurrying and panicking like a
small girl. Donna, however, came to the rescue and fought off the thief.
Perhaps, the most abusive case of them all without a doubt
is that of Francine Smith's. Francine Smith is married to Stan Smith a C.I.An
agent. Stan uses his job position to his advantage constantly to get what he
wants. In the show, he can be seen using his C.I.A technology and gadgets to
get his family to abide by his rules. He uses devices capable of erasing the
memories of his family. Stan has gone so far as to have his wife taken to a first
psychiatrist in which he pays to get him to agree to "erase" certain
things in her mind. Like her desires or things she has mentioned to Stan that
he doesn't want to fulfill. Like when she asked to get a family dog or when she
asked for him to spend more time with her. Stan is incredibly selfish.
In another episode when the family wanted to go on a
vacation he tricked them by submerging them in "goo." Stan played a
sort of virtual reality sequence for them while they were hooked up (a
simulation) so that they would be under the impression that he had gone on
vacation with them while he could instead do other things.
I think the big question here is well why do they stay? The wives
if they are so
unhappy, so "oppressed"? Perhaps, it's because the women
feel a loving type bond with these men. They feel pity; they feel they're
needed for their husbands to survive. Their survival depends on having their
wives to support them. Sadly, even if that means standing by them when they
mess up. They've adopted their husbands as just another wayward, problematic
child of theirs. The reluctantly tolerate these men through all the nonsense
and unfairness. Everyone's busy paying attention to the people that no one is
paying attention to the blatant misery felt day in and day out by the women.
You see these cartoons are trying to expose truths. Shedding
light through humor on very real situations that plague our society. Abuse is
funny sadly. Within these shows, abuse is the butt of almost every joke.
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