I’m sitting in the kitchen at my dad’s place, writing and watching reruns of Family Guy. The episode they played today, I felt was aired for a reason: Peter realizes he’s got a smaller phallis than his son Chris, and joins a parody of the National Rifle Association in order to make himself feel like a bigger man. Let me tell you, I found myself laughing as I thought to myself, “Did they decide to air this particular episode as a response to some of the s&^t that the president of the NRA has been saying in light of the Newtown shooting and the new push from all sides to get guns under control?”
Let me tell you, the episode made some good points. For example, the guy who recruits Peter to the National Gun Association (NGA), says that how much of a man you are depends on the size of your assault rifle (no wonder people don’t want to give up their guns; they’re worried about their penis size…unless they’re women, in which case they’re tyring to show they’re as macho as the men without losing any chance of getting laid). Then, when Lois worries that Peter taking Chris on a hunting trip is a bad idea, they show a video that shows, among other things, Jesus and Moses using AR-17s on Romans, giving the Second Amendment the same sacredness as the Bible in the gun nuts’ minds, telling kids if they hug a pistol they can get rid of bad guys, and then saying that guns are good and safe, before showing a disclaimer that says that guns aren’t the safest thing in the world.
You know, I really love Seth MacFarlene; he really can take everything and show its stupid side in ways no one else can. And in this early episode, from season 3 and well before our current plague of gun violence and anger over gun violence, it surely is a perfect response to Wayne LaPierre and his NRA leadership buddies, who are not only out of touch, they are out of touch with their own members, who apparently do believe in some restrictions in guns (imagine that!).
Now, with politicians on both sides of the aisle working towards gun control legislation, we can expect the NRA to put up a huge fight. In fact, LaPierre has already called a reinstated ban on assault rifles “an evil bill based on lies” (or something along those lines). Well NRA members who do believe in some gun control, I hope you can put some sense intl your leadership. The nation needs it.
Rami Ungar The Writer 