Fox’s entertainment division told BuzzFeed News it had no comment on the rape joke in the long-awaited hour-long episode “The Simpsons Guy,” set to air this weekend. Seth MacFarlane did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.
FOX
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Fox Entertainment network told BuzzFeed News it has no comment on the rape joke in its long-awaited crossover episode of The Simpsons and Family Guy. The episode — including the quip that has already garnered much criticism — is set to air on Sunday night.
The line can be heard in a scene between Bart Simpson and Family Guy's Stewie, in which Stewie prank calls Moe's Tavern. Instead of making a harmless joke in line with Bart's sense of humor, he says: "Your sister's being raped," and hangs up. Bart gives him what appears to be a disapproving look.
A clip of the joke has already circulated the internet in a trailer that Fox released this summer. You can watch it below:
Seth MacFarlane did not immediately return BuzzFeed's request for comment, but the comedian is no stranger to criticism. While hosting the 2013 Oscars he sang a song called "We Saw Your Boobs," which was widely regarded as misogynistic, not to mention the many other jokes that were condemned as sexist.
Several past episodes of Family Guy have come under target for misogynistic humor, including an episode that aired in November, 2013 with jokes about pedophilia, rape, and violence against women that caused the advocacy group Parents Television Council (PTC) to file an indecency enforcement with the FCC.
The president of PTC, Tim Winter, told the AP that he wrote to Seth MacFarlane, Fox, and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening in August to request the rape joke be removed from the Sept. 28 episode, but received no response.
"I was blown out of my shoes when I saw the scene with the rape joke in it," Winter said. "It really troubled me." When rape is a punchline, explained Winters "it becomes less outrageous in real life."
Other advocacy groups don't find the joke offensive.
"I think the show is making it clear that rape is not funny by how they are positioning the joke," Katherine Hull Fliflet, a spokeswoman for RAINN (the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) told the AP.
"It's my hope that would be the viewers' take-away."
The episode under fire, titled "The Simpsons Guy" is season premiere of the 13th season of Family Guy and will air as an hour-long crossover with The Simpsons on Sept. 28.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1u05Wsg
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