A database of news and information about people with disabilities and disability issues...
Copyright statement: Unless otherwise stated, all posts on this blog continue to be the property of the original author/publication/Web site, which can be found via the link at the beginning of each post.
The 2009 Get "Family Guy" an Emmy Award Campaign continues in full force this week, with creator Seth MacFarlane granting a wide-ranging interview to Playboy that's sure to generate some buzz.
First, the news.
Fox may have opted against airing an abortion-themed "Family Guy," but MacFarlane says the show will soon feature a musical parody called "Down Syndrome Girl."
"Stewie sings it to Chris (pictured) when Chris is getting ready for his date with a girl who has Down syndrome," MacFarlane explained. "It’s a bouncy Broadway number."
The writer says joke is that the character with Down syndrome "is also a bitch. Chris is dominated by this incredibly pushy, controlling girl with Down syndrome. I actually think (Down syndrome advocates will) appreciate it. It’s funny and not disrespectful."
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.