# Family Guy mocks Vietnam Veterans - 5/16 "The Splendid Source"



## net114 (Dec 29, 2000)

I really have no desire to review or comment on the whole show, especially since I turned it off. I've had it with Seth MacFarlane's attempt at shock humor.

On the 5/16 show, "The Splendid Source", he has a Vietnamese man mocking two Vietnam veterans who are looking at the Vietnam Wall war memorial. The Vietnamese man is using his hand to show a "loser" sign on his forehead, and then goes into a little "joke" about the name on the wall the vets are looking at, saying that he killed that guy, and the guy "cried like a *****".

That's the whole scene. It might have come across different if they all got into a big scuffle, if one of the vet's punched him in the end, the rooster showed up and they all fought or *something*... I don't know...but I think salon.com explains it better than me:

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/family_guy/?story=/ent/television/2010/05/17/vietnam_family_guy

I'm not saying that almost any topic isn't open for humor, in fact it helps us as a society to heal from some hard times in our history. I'm Catholic and I laugh at Jesus throwing the Krull weapon on South Park, so I'm not being thin skinned here.

But this just wasn't funny. It was a joke at the expense of vets who were possibly the worst treated in our history. Did I miss something? (I'm not saying I'm for us having been in Vietnam either. That whole war was messed up, and our leaders failed us in being there and how they carried it out.)

I sat there for several seconds afterward, really wanting the scene to be something else...like I missed the joke. Sorry, despite how funny I found the Star Wars parodies, no more Family Guy for my house. :down:


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## MonsterJoe (Feb 19, 2003)

I'm not easily offended, but I got tired of feeling offended for the people that show was making jokes about.

I'd say I liked 75&#37; percent of the show, and laughed often...but 25% just went too far for my tastes, so I stopped watching it.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Gotta agree with you. I actually cringed a bit when I read that. Which tells me he went over the line. Or at least _my_ line.


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## leeherman (Nov 5, 2007)

I thought it was a great show when it first started, but wasn't nearly as good when it returned after being cancelled. I finally gave up on watching three years ago.

LH


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

I didn't think that bit was funny, but I defend his right to do the bit. The show (and South Park as well) has made fun of pretty much EVERY group. As Jewish person, I have never felt offended that he makes fun of Jews. I figure, as long as he's taking shots at every stereotype fairly, then that's ok. In a society where we have pundants calling our President racist, or our last President stupid, or whatever, it's better we laugh at these things than take them so seriously. It just shows the absurdity of these stereotypes. Is the OP more offended because it wasn't funny or because he took a pot shot at Viet Nam Vets? If it's not funny, don't watch, but the title of this thread makes me think it's more the topic that is upsetting you rather than the actual humor in it.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

One of the problems was, somebody misinterpreted one of the jokes, and the version that is getting around on the internet sounds much more cruel:

"On a trip to the nation's capitol, patriarch Peter Griffin spies a pair of veterans at the memorial wall, where a Vietnamese man is 'giving the business' to them by referring to the names on the monument as a 'Scoreboard! Scoreboard!' ".

Obviously, whoever wrote that comment has never been to too many high school basketball (occasionally football) game. "Scoreboard!" is what one team's fans chants when they're ahead and are responding to something the other team's fans directed at them. The Vietnamese man added something like "Vietnam 1, USA 0" to press the point. (Never mind that, technically, Vietnam was on the losing end of that war as well as the winning one.)

Meanwhile, the joke right before that seems to be getting a lot less mention: they showed the Washington monument, then, right next to it, the Obama monument, which was black and larger.

-- Don


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

That Don Guy said:


> One of the problems was, somebody misinterpreted one of the jokes, and the version that is getting around on the internet sounds much more cruel:
> 
> "On a trip to the nation's capitol, patriarch Peter Griffin spies a pair of veterans at the memorial wall, where a Vietnamese man is 'giving the business' to them by referring to the names on the monument as a 'Scoreboard! Scoreboard!' ".
> 
> ...


And that's my point. MacFarlane pokes fun at everything and everybody. The joke might have fallen flat on it's face, but to single out this one joke as it not being funny in a series where about 25% of the jokes don't work, is not fair. Me thinks that this joke made fun of someone's sacred cow, and they don't like it.


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## plateau10 (Dec 11, 2007)

Way out of line (but sadly not all that surprising).


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## NatasNJ (Jan 7, 2002)

I appreciate shock humor and crossing tasteful lines but only when it is funny.
The AIDS song and the Dumpster Baby song were both examples of this that I think were "wrong" but funny. The past several episodes of this show have been JUNK!
Not really commenting directly on this scene but something happened with this show this season and it has just not been funny. Sucks.


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## betts4 (Dec 27, 2005)

Happily I can say I haven't watched Family Guy since season two. Not missing it at all.


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## Snappa77 (Feb 14, 2004)

.......

Reading about it was worse than seeing IMO.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

Not much offends me. This didn't offend me. This just wasn't funny. Like the Brian & Stewie episode. Suck is suck. Not funny is not funny.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

When it comes to Family Guy, I agree with Cartman.


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## Shaunnick (Jul 2, 2005)

I guess I might be the only person who found it funny. Was it inappropriate, well yeah, but this is Family Guy.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

In what way was it funny?


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## Shaunnick (Jul 2, 2005)

Vietnamese guy pointed at the Vietnam War Memorial and yells, "Scoreboard! Scoreboard!!" I laughed. I am not sure how you want me to quantify that.


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## pjenkins (Mar 8, 1999)

Shaunnick said:


> Vietnamese guy pointed at the Vietnam War Memorial and yells, "Scoreboard! Scoreboard!!" I laughed. I am not sure how you want me to quantify that.


Vietnam! Undefeated! - i laughed as well. sue me..


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Returning vets from Vietnam were spit on and called baby killers at the time. No reason for them to get the kind of respect all the precious snowflakes serving now get.


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## Shaunnick (Jul 2, 2005)

Actually, there was quite a bit about this episode that made me laugh. I guess Seth and I have the same sense of humor.


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## getbak (Oct 8, 2004)

heySkippy said:


> When it comes to Family Guy, I agree with Cartman.


When they were on the search for the source of all dirty jokes, I was hoping it would end up being a bunch of manatees.


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## Magister (Oct 17, 2004)

Just because it is hip to be patriotic doesn't mean they can't make fun of it. Everything can be made fun of. Once you start drawing lines it kills it. 

Hell, South Park did NAMBLA jokes. 

EVERYTHING can be made fun of. It might not be funny, but no subjects should be exempt. Saying they can't make fun of vets is no different then saying you can't draw a cartoon of someones prophet.


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## wouldworker (Sep 7, 2004)

heySkippy said:


> Returning vets from Vietnam were spit on and called baby killers at the time. No reason for them to get the kind of respect all the precious snowflakes serving now get.


Way to denigrate the service of two generations of soldiers. Care to piss on those who fought in WWII now?


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## TomK (May 22, 2001)

I've never watched a full episode of this show, only bits and pieces, and it's always seemed like gutter humor and nothing more. Hearing stuff like this won't change my mind.


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## writdenied (Sep 2, 2003)

Bob_Newhart said:


> In what way was it funny?


In the same way that this exchange from "A Fish Called Wanda" was funny:

[Englishman Archie is trying to distract the hyper-patriotic American Otto while Ken sneaks up behind him]
*Otto*: You know your problem? You don't like winners.
*Archie*: Winners?
*Otto*: Yeah. Winners.
*Archie*: Winners, like North Vietnam?
*Otto:* Shut up. We didn't lose Vietnam. It was a tie!
*Archie*: [going into a cowboy-like drawl] I'm tellin' ya baby, they kicked your little ass there. Boy, they whooped yer hide REAL GOOD.

Or maybe the same reason why this line from "Stripes" was funny:
*John*: ... we're soldiers. But we're American soldiers! We've been kicking ass for 200 years! We're 10 and 1!

The fact is, the U.S. has a hangup about the Vietnam War, and many people feel like it was the first war that the U.S. lost. As a result, it's an open wound for many people, and, like it or not, one form of humor involves sticking your thumb in people's open wounds. You may not particularly like that kind of humor, and that's fine, but don't think that this is the first time that someone's made a joke at the U.S.'s expense about "losing" the Vietnam war.

(And, for what it's worth, the U.S. has delivered its own version of this joke over and over again. "Hogan's Heroes" is essentially a series-legnth version of the same joke, albeit at Germany's expense: "Ha ha! Your army was incompetent!")


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

wouldworker said:


> Way to denigrate the service of two generations of soldiers. Care to piss on those who fought in WWII now?


I don't think I denigrated anyone and I claim one of those generations as my own.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

writdenied said:


> (And, for what it's worth, the U.S. has delivered its own version of this joke over and over again. "Hogan's Heroes" is essentially a series-legnth version of the same joke, albeit at Germany's expense: "Ha ha! Your army was incompetent!")


The thing is (and yes, I watched it and knew it would upset people), I was ok with the first part with the guy talking trash, saying "Vietnam #1, USA 0".

But as usual, McFarland pushed it too far with the Vietnamese guy pointing to names on the wall saying "Is that your friend? I kill him. He cried like a *****."

IMO, he didn't just cross the line there, he vaulted over it.

As Net114 said, had McFarland had done something else like having one of them punch the Vietnamese guy, have the Chicken appear, something, it probably wouldn't be perceived as that bad.

But the way he ended it, yeah, I can see why it offended people.


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## Ekims (Oct 18, 2002)

I guess I am just getting older and perhaps more mature, but I don't find shock humor as that funny. Something said, just to get a rise out of people isn't funny to me. I remember watching shows that "shocked" in my twenties and thinking older people just didn't "get it". Turns out, they got it way more than I did...


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## sonnik (Jul 7, 2000)

Steveknj said:


> I didn't think that bit was funny, but I defend his right to do the bit.


I don't think anyone is saying he doesn't have a right to make a joke most people don't find funny. I think it's more of a concern that his longtime audiences are growing bored with "kind of offensive" without the crazy humor that we used to have.

Just seems like FG is opting for "it's taboo so it should be funny" rather than funny. They've done this before, but there used to be payoff. There isn't anymore.

In my opinion, I think if Seth was only doing one show - it would be a lot better. I could care less about the two spinoffs.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

I wish he would concentrate strictly on American Dad. It's my favorite by far over Family Man.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Bob_Newhart said:


> I wish he would concentrate strictly on American Dad. It's my favorite by far over Family Man.


I prefer Family Guy to American Father.


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## trainman (Jan 29, 2001)

Kablemodem said:


> I prefer Family Guy to American Father.


But what about The Cincinnati Program?


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## billboard_NE (May 18, 2005)

Seth is best at crossing the line, any line. If someone does not feel offended I do not believe he as done his job. If you want safe watch Sponge Bob. 

The Viet Nam joke upset everyone?? Not Meg the teenage daughter sleeping with the Mayor, or his son being chased around by the pervy old man? 

If you don't like Family Guy, why would you visit the thread and tell us all how un-funny you think the show is? I guess the thread title mentions the Viet Nam joke. But seriously I stay out of threads of shows I don't like, and I also do not post in them and tell you how much I do not like them.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

Bob_Newhart said:


> I wish he would concentrate strictly on American Dad. It's my favorite by far over Family Man.


(Sorry to beat this horse again, but I couldn't resist...)

"_Family Man_? Is that the one with the fish?"
"No, that's _American Boy_."

Unfortunately for Bob_Newhart, from the looks of things, I have a feeling they're winding down _American Dad_ the way they did with _Futurama_ and _King of the Hill_. (The only reason KOTH lasted as long as it did was, they had nothing ready to take its place.)

-- Don


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## Supfreak26 (Dec 12, 2003)

billboard_NE said:


> Seth is best at crossing the line, any line. If someone does not feel offended I do not believe he as done his job. If you want safe watch Sponge Bob.
> 
> The Viet Nam joke upset everyone?? Not Meg the teenage daughter sleeping with the Mayor, or his son being chased around by the pervy old man?
> 
> If you don't like Family Guy, why would you visit the thread and tell us all how un-funny you think the show is? I guess the thread title mentions the Viet Nam joke. But seriously I stay out of threads of shows I don't like, and I also do not post in them and tell you how much I do not like them.


This. Everything is ok until they find something that offends you.* Then the show has gone over the line. 

*Hypothetical you. Not literally you.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Since this thread was created to ***** about FG, I don't see any problem with *****ing about FG in it. 

Anyone who wants to make a FG love-in thread is welcome to do so.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

billboard_NE said:


> The Viet Nam joke upset everyone?? Not Meg the teenage daughter sleeping with the Mayor, or his son being chased around by the pervy old man?


Meg? Fictional.
Mayor West? Fictional (sort of).
Chris and Herbert? Fictional.
The people whose names on the Vietnam Memorial? Real. That's the problem.

(Actually, I am not sure just what it was about the joke that people find offensive. You would think that, if anybody would have found it offensive, it would be Vietnamese people, since they're being portrayed as insensitive jerks. From what I have been able to trace via Google, most of the complaints point to a single story as their source, and the story doesn't say exactly what the problem is. Hopefully, it's not a case of one person under the impression that what the Vietnamese man is saying is what the show's writers are thinking, and everybody else picking up on that.)

-- Don


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

pjenkins said:


> Vietnam! Undefeated! - i laughed as well. sue me..


Watching the ep now, the joke wasn't THAT bad. It wasn't that funny except for the undefeated part.

Some people are WAY over reacting compared to the COUNTLESS other tasteless jokes in this show!!!!


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## jeff125va (Mar 15, 2001)

I didn't see the whole thing yet but I saw this scene, and I don't think I would have thought much of it if I hadn't seen this thread first. After all, it WAS a Vietnamese character, and I didn't perceive any attempt to have him be the character with which the audience identified or sympathized. I think context matters a lot. If it had been an American character whom everyone is supposed to like, then it might be a different story.


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## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

It wasnt that funny but it wasnt that bad. I interpreted it as making fun of the Vietnamese.

Quit crying like a *****!


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

They still run this show?


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## DeDondeEs (Feb 20, 2004)

It's only funny if we make fun of the people who died on the other side of a war/conflict that we won..

My FIL is a veteran and is always forwarding me these patriotic emails with stories about the dangers our troops face with jokes/anecdotes about killing our current enemies in war. I am sure I will get forwarded an email about how unpatriotic Family Guy is and how it should be banned and how Fox should be boycotted. You can't have it both ways......


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

daveak said:


> They still run this show?


yeah it's still pretty funny and a lot better than so much of the reality show crap out there


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

MikeMar said:


> yeah it's still pretty funny and a lot better than so much of the reality show crap out there


Crap is in the eye of the beholder...


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

bareyb said:


> Crap is in the eye of the beholder...


yup, and I don't go into reality show threads and post "is this show still on "


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

MikeMar said:


> yup, and I don't go into reality show threads and post "is this show still on "


Point taken. I was just being defensive about all the "Realicrap" we watch over here...


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## billboard_NE (May 18, 2005)

heySkippy said:


> Since this thread was created to ***** about FG, I don't see any problem with *****ing about FG in it.
> 
> Anyone who wants to make a FG love-in thread is welcome to do so.


Where in the thread title was it written that this was going to be a ***** fest? Maybe there are people that think Seth was brilliant in this show (not me). Just typical FG as far as I can see.

I guess we need to be more clear in the thread titles? I do not visit threads of shows I do not like regardless of the title of the thread.

Edit: OK maybe the thumbs down next to the title is a clue that this would be a negative thread.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

FG pokes fun at everybody. Now when Veterans are included, it somehow crosses the line. 
I guess I'm a bad person for laughing at that joke.


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## BitbyBlit (Aug 25, 2001)

jeff125va said:


> I didn't see the whole thing yet but I saw this scene, and I don't think I would have thought much of it if I hadn't seen this thread first. After all, it WAS a Vietnamese character, and I didn't perceive any attempt to have him be the character with which the audience identified or sympathized. I think context matters a lot. If it had been an American character whom everyone is supposed to like, then it might be a different story.





Jesda said:


> It wasnt that funny but it wasnt that bad. I interpreted it as making fun of the Vietnamese.


Yeah. I'm not sure why people are viewing what the Vietnamese character said as speaking for the show. What makes this joke different than all the other jokes people don't think are speaking for the show?

If he had named actual veterans that might have been one thing, but I don't even think in the context of the show the Vietnamese character actually did what he said he did. He was just attacking the vets in a childish manner, which I think was the point of the joke.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

If you haven't been offended by Family Guy, hang on, they'll get to you eventually.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

I am offended that Family Guy hasn't offended me yet.


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## domat (Apr 16, 2007)

heySkippy said:


> Returning vets from Vietnam were spit on and called baby killers at the time. No reason for them to get the kind of respect all the precious snowflakes serving now get.


not true

http://www.slate.com/id/2158608
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0430-21.htm


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

domat said:


> not true
> 
> http://www.slate.com/id/2158608
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0430-21.htm


That article is not what I thought it was going to be. I'm happy to say.


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