Some Examples of religious stereotypes in Family Guy
Judaism
With many religious groups not being left out of the humor made, there are three examples of religious stereotypes that receive a lot of controversy for their treatment in some episodes. One of the most controversial episodes that did not even see the airwaves for its first broadcast was the last episode of season three, "When you Wish Upon A Weinstein". Not related to the film director, Harvey Weinstein, the episode revolves around the Griffin family and their finances being in peril singing in the clip above that he needs a jew to help him do his taxes. After recruiting Max Weinstein, he discovers Judaism and all of the qualities that it brings. An idea sparks in his head then to convert Chris to Judaism because he feels that he will become smart if he does. At the end of the episode after Lois apparently insults the Jews which leads them to attack the Griffins, Peter then makes it up to the family. The episode ends with the family on the bus with a bunch of nuns.
While many of the show's jokes and episodes have mainly remained anti-semitic, this episode is at the top of the list for many viewers when it comes to anti-Semitism. The portrayal of Jews in this episode as lackeys to help people with their financial woes and even as easily offensive when the name of their religion is put into question, many people who are Jewish will shut this episode down because this is not the accurate representation of Jewish people. Many have associated the jewish with the second world war where Adolf Hitler and the Nazis slain a mass number of the people. Therefore, I disagree with this episode being an accurate representation of the Jews if they are being treated as tax clowns for privileged people.
Hinduism
In the episode, "The Father, The Son, and the Holy Fonz", Peter's father, Francis is in town. Most well known as an extreme Catholic and a firm believer in his faith, Francis thinks that Stewie should be baptized as Catholic. After baptizing Stewie without unbeknownst to the knowledge of Lois, she thinks that Peter should choose his own religion and not be conformed to Catholicism. After many attempts, he founds the first United Church of the Fonz (based on the Happy Days character). One of those attempts is conversion to Hinduism. Peter visits a Hindu temple where Peter is taught the ways by a Hindu. He is then dismissed from the meeting after tackling the instructor to the floor thinking that the dot on his head was a laser pointer from a sniper rifle. Portraying the Hindu culture as defenseless humans is upsetting to many people who are Hindu as this is not the most accurate representation for hindu who believe in another god that many christians believe to be god.
Islam
In the episode "Turban Cowboy", Peter befriends a Muslim person named Mahmoud after getting injured in a parachuting accident. When Mahmoud invites him to dinner, he converts Peter to Islam. With Quagmire and Joe being suspicious that he may be a terrorist, Brian retorts that this is their "post-9/11" fears talking. After finding out that Mahmoud was in relations with 9/11, this revealed Mahmoud to be a terrorist. After his plan is foiled and all the Arabs and Muslims are arrested, the bridge blows ups anyway and Peter encourages everyone there to run away. This episode got very negative reviews from everyone from religious groups, even casual viewers. Ever since the attack on the Twin Towers, there is a perception of the Islam as criminals and terrorists especially with the Islamic State being dominant from 2013-2016. I disagree with this perception of Muslims because I believe in the idea of an open mind and accepting religion if you give the people around you a chance. With jokes made of 9/11 throughout the episodes of the show, not just this one so this is not the first time, making humour off a catastrophic event is tasteless for many who are fans of the show.
Cults
In the season one episode, "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", Meg is convinced by one of her friends, Jennifer to join a group with her. Meg then finds out she is joining a death cult. In the clip above, Peter bursts into the party to save her daughter by bringing her home to celebrate Stewie's birthday. The effort turns to be a success where the cult takes a sip of the kool-aid and they all die collectively. The cult in this episode is dressed up unusually from cult groups in shows like Star Trek and Charmed where they are more serious. According to scholar Lynn Neal, she feels that "In these fictional television shows, conventional religion remains a vague or even invisible part of the plots, while cult practices are explicitly shown to be strange and often dangerous." (2011: 86) She talks about the cult stereotype further with five elements. Those five are clothing, setting, communal living, delusional beliefs, and visibility.
Clothing: A visual symbol that signals the difference between normal and abnormal (EX: The Death cult are dressed in track suits)
Setting: Differentiates from the morns of daily life. (EX: Where the Griffin Family is preparing for Stewie's first birthday, Meg is at a "party" with her friend.
Communal living: a sense of strangeness by showing what happens in these isolated spaces. (EX: Meg is in a white mansion where it happens to be the lair of this cult.
Delusional beliefs: belief in cult teachings to be a sign of personal weakness. (EX: Death)
Visibility: visualize the oddity of cult rituals and by making cult strangeness explicit and tangible. (EX: A cult centered around the idea of death) (2011: 88-92)
With these five qualities applied to this episode, I feel that many of these qualities highlight the diminishing importance of cults in television as groups who adhere to their own god but are slaves to an idea of something bigger than society itself.