The Big Picture
- Many Family Guy episodes push boundaries, but "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q" goes too far.
- Family Guy attempts to joke about domestic violence in the episode, but the humor falls flat.
- The disturbing episode features Quagmire's sister being abused, causing a serious and uncomfortable tone.
Since 1999, Seth MacFarlane's animated Fox series, Family Guy, has been offending audiences left and right. It's a strategy that works, as fans love to laugh at the absurdities of society, especially when presented in a cartoon that makes everything feel a little less real. Whether it be Peter Griffin's (MacFarlane) misogyny, Meg Griffin's (Mila Kunis) treatment by her family, Quagmire's (MacFarlane) horndog lifestyle, Stewie's early days of trying to kill his mother, or all of the over-the-top side characters, Family Guy—even when purposely pushing boundaries—has succeeded.
There is one episode, though, that's so dark and uncomfortable that it crosses the line: "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q," focuses on Quagmire's sister (voiced by Kaitlin Olson from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). For a series that knows all about being hilariously offensive, this particular episode takes it too far, as animation is the last format where the episode's topic should be discussed.
Family Guy
Comedy
Animation
In a wacky Rhode Island town, a dysfunctional family strives to cope with everyday life as they are thrown from one crazy scenario to another.
- Release Date
- January 31, 1999
- Creator
- Seth MacFarlane, David Zuckerman
- Cast
- Seth MacFarlane , Alex Borstein , Mila Kunis , Seth Green
- Studio
- Fox
'Family Guy' Has Had Many Offensive Episodes in the Past
Family Guy has never been afraid to go to the dark side, as their most infamous episode, "Life of Brian," had fans in an uproar after Brian (MacFarlane) was hit and killed by a drunk driver. Instead of seeing it as part of a longer storyline which would wrap up with Stewie (MacFarlane) going back in time to save his best friend, viewers really thought Family Guy had killed off one of their main characters. Peter gets sexually harassed by his boss, Angela (Carrie Fisher), in "Peter-Assment," Stewie spends an episode unconscious with his brother and sister trying to cover it up in "Brian Griffin's House of Payne," and in "Stewie is Enciente," the baby artificially impregnates himself with Brian's DNA. These episodes are too over the top to feel real, but others are realistic to a point where they're impossible to enjoy.
A cutaway bit from one episode had Quagmire sexually assaulting Marge Simpson from The Simpsons before going from room to room and shooting every member of the family dead. The top offender just might be "Partial Terms of Endearment," though, which had the guts to broach the topic of abortion and found itself banned before it even aired. In "A Shot in the Dark," Peter accidentally shoots Cleveland Brown's (Mike Henry/Arif Zahir) Black teenage son. It's inspired by the awful George Zimmerman shooting of Trayvon Martin, a real life event so heartbreaking that it shouldn't have even been touched by a cartoon comedy. The same can be said of "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q," where for a half hour, we're witnesses to Quagmire's sister being physically and emotionally abused by her boyfriend so badly that Peter and company decide to do something about it.
"Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q" Has a Very Serious Plot
"Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q" is the third episode from Season 10 of Family Guy, and while much of the episode revolves around Peter's pervy friend, Quagmire, who often gets himself in trouble with how strongly he comes on to members of the opposite sex, this time, it's his sister, Brenda, who gets the attention. We're introduced to her after Quagmire nearly dies in an accident, but what kind of accident, you might ask? This being Family Guy, Peter and Joe (Patrick Warburton) find him hanging near-death during a session of auto-erotic asphyxia while watching clown p*rn gone wrong. While Quagmire is in the hospital and in a coma, Brenda arrives with her boyfriend, Jeffery Fecalman (Ralph Garman), a loud, wife-beater shirt-wearing jerk. Lois (Alex Borstein) tells Peter that she can't stand Jeff's abusive ways, but Peter says that Brenda has gotten a lot better, the joke being that it's her fault that she's abused, but now she is behaving.
Then we're introduced to Jeff, who is quickly calling Brenda a slu*t and making fun of her singing voice when she tries to comfort Quagmire. The heavy bags under her eyes show that she's a woman in constant distress, and that point is hit home over and over, like when Jeff makes Brenda leave when her own brother touches her arm, or how he screams at her for wanting to stay with the Griffins. He hits and pushes her right in front of the Griffins and Quagmire, calling her more names and beating her down with his words. At night, he screams at her while everyone else has to listen from their beds. If we're supposed to laugh, it's impossible to know where the jokes are at, that is, until Peter makes a flat cutaway joke about Iraq and lobsters. Lois decides to talk to Brenda since Peter says that she doesn't listen too well, but when she does, she finds that Quagmire's sister has a black eye. It's a punishment she takes, calling Jeff a sweet man and blaming herself.
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Everyone decides to hold an intervention for Brenda, but it becomes a bad joke, with Meg saying that she can change Jeff, and Quagmire gets serious about how hurt he is to see his sister in pain. Brenda expresses her luckiness at having such a wonderful brother, but then a screaming Jeff walks in and Brenda confesses that she's pregnant, and they're getting married. She can't show them the engagement ring, though, because her finger is a splint due to Jeff breaking her finger. Beyond frustrated, Quagmire says that he, Peter, and Joe should kill Jeff because guys like him will never change. Joe is against it at first, but when Jeff hits Brenda one more time, he's in. They get the jerk to go on a "hunting trip" with them, but alone in the dark woods at night, Jeff picks up on the plan and takes Quagmire hostage at gunpoint. After nearly being strangled to death, Quagmire—who is used to choking himself—comes to and runs over Jeff with his car, leaving a mess of blood on the ground. Rather than telling Brenda what happened, Joe writes a fake note from Jeff saying that he's leaving her.
'Family Guy' Shouldn't Have Been Joking About Domestic Violence
Family Guy is usually pretty good at turning a serious subject into comedy, but they unfortunately failed with "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q". The series tries to find humor with cutaway jokes or what Jeff says in his rages, but when he's punching a woman in the same breath, the laughter doesn't arrive. There's probably an attempt at a message in there, too, with Peter's dismissive attitude meant to symbolize how so many people ignore abuse even when they see it, but it's not something the show really digs into.
Family Guy is at its best with sharp satire, or when it does parodies of pop culture, but to have an entire episode being about a woman suffering constant abuse is simply not funny in the slightest. While you can argue that Jeff deserved to die, too, having him murdered doesn't solve anything, either. Rather than having Brenda realize her self-worth and be ready to move on, she's completely broken over his death. Where is the humor in that? With an episode this disturbing, seeing Brian run over by a car is absolutely hilarious in comparison.
Family Guy is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
