Seth MacFarlane has made an immense mark on popular culture through both his live action and animated television series: Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and The Orville. While MacFarlane has garnered a large legion of fans, even those who do not personally watch Family Guy, this longest running series, will be quick to recognize images of Peter and Stewie Griffin: a caricature of the clueless dads from sitcoms of yesteryear and an inexplicably queer-coded evil baby genius, respectively. This book explores Family Guy and Seth MacFarlane's other animated series closely, examining how the series uses satire and other strategies to construct specific ideas related to sex, gender, and family. The authors argue that the series, like many other television series, contribute to our collective understanding of family, and reinforce (at times) unfavorable gender stereotypes.
Even for the casual viewer, the Netflix series Stranger Things will likely feel familiar, reminiscent of popular 1980s coming-of-age movies such as The Goonies, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Stand by Me. Throughout the series, nods to each movie are abundant. While Stranger Things and these classic 1980s films are all tales of childhood friendship and shared adventures, they are also narratives that reflect and shape the burgeoning cynicism of the 1980s. In Ode to Gen X: Institutional Cynicism in "Stranger Things" and 1980s Film, author Melissa Vosen Callens explores the parallels between iconic films featuring children and teenagers and the first three seasons of Stranger Things, a series about a group of young friends set in 1980s Indiana. The text moves beyond the (at times) non-sequitur 1980s Easter eggs to a common underlying narrative: Generation X’s growing distrust in American institutions. Despite Gen X’s cynicism toward both informal and formal institutions, viewers also see a more positive characteristic of Gen X in these films and series: Gen X’s fierce independence and ability to rebuild and redefine the family unit despite continued economic hardships. Vosen Callens demonstrates how Stranger Things draws on popular 1980s popular culture to pay tribute to Gen X’s evolving outlook on three key and interwoven American institutions: family, economy, and government.
Seth MacFarlane has made an immense mark on popular culture through both his live action and animated television series: Family Guy, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and The Orville. While MacFarlane has garnered a large legion of fans, even those who do not personally watch Family Guy, this longest running series, will be quick to recognize images of Peter and Stewie Griffin: a caricature of the clueless dads from sitcoms of yesteryear and an inexplicably queer-coded evil baby genius, respectively. This book explores Family Guy and Seth MacFarlane's other animated series closely, examining how the series uses satire and other strategies to construct specific ideas related to sex, gender, and family. The authors argue that the series, like many other television series, contribute to our collective understanding of family, and reinforce (at times) unfavorable gender stereotypes.
Even for the casual viewer, the Netflix series Stranger Things will likely feel familiar, reminiscent of popular 1980s coming-of-age movies such as The Goonies, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Stand by Me. Throughout the series, nods to each movie are abundant. While Stranger Things and these classic 1980s films are all tales of childhood friendship and shared adventures, they are also narratives that reflect and shape the burgeoning cynicism of the 1980s. In Ode to Gen X: Institutional Cynicism in "Stranger Things" and 1980s Film, author Melissa Vosen Callens explores the parallels between iconic films featuring children and teenagers and the first three seasons of Stranger Things, a series about a group of young friends set in 1980s Indiana. The text moves beyond the (at times) non-sequitur 1980s Easter eggs to a common underlying narrative: Generation X’s growing distrust in American institutions. Despite Gen X’s cynicism toward both informal and formal institutions, viewers also see a more positive characteristic of Gen X in these films and series: Gen X’s fierce independence and ability to rebuild and redefine the family unit despite continued economic hardships. Vosen Callens demonstrates how Stranger Things draws on popular 1980s popular culture to pay tribute to Gen X’s evolving outlook on three key and interwoven American institutions: family, economy, and government.
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