Sarah Palin and Family Guy in a fair and balanced way - INVITATION TO SARAH TO TELL HER SIDE OF THE STORY

I'm going to follow Sarah Palin's advice and write a fair and balanced post using her famous five Ws: Who, What, Where, When and Why. After all, she has a degree in journalism and I don't. I'm really grateful that she was good enough to share her wisdom with the world. Oops, I'm already giving an opinion, that's not allowed. I'll stick to the facts. Let's look at the Family Guy story again, but in a fair and balanced way this time.

Part I

Who? Seth McFarlane, a cartoon character and Sarah Palin.

What? Seth McFarlane included a character with Down syndrome in an episode of Family Guy. Chris, the teenaged son of the family guy invites a girl called Ellen to go on a dinner date with him. Ellen has Down syndrome. While Chris is getting ready for the date, Stewie teases him, singing a song about "The Down syndrome girl". Stewie is the most politically incorrect character in Family Guy. He's a baby and is always given the provoking, controversial lines. Chris goes to a restaurant with Ellen, who, against all the Down syndrome stereotypes, is assertive to the point of being pushy. Chris asks her about her parents and she replies: "My dad is an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska."

Sarah Palin felt that the episode in question was a "kick in the gut" and invited her daughter Bristol to comment on the show. Here's the full text of Sarah and Bristol's reactions to Family Guy, published on Facebook:

"People are asking me to comment on yesterday’s Fox show that felt like another kick in the gut. Bristol was one who asked what I thought of the show that mocked her baby brother, Trig (and/or others with special needs), in an episode yesterday. Instead of answering, I asked her what she thought. Here is her conscientious reply, which is a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question, “when is enough, enough?”

“When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you’ll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them? As a culture, shouldn’t we be more compassionate to innocent people – especially those who are less fortunate? Shouldn’t we be willing to say that some things just are not funny? Are there any limits to what some people will do or say in regards to my little brother or others in the special needs community? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks. - Bristol Palin”

Where and when: Fox Entertainement channel and Facebook. The episode aired on Valentine's Day and Sarah Palin's note appeared on February 15.

Why? Seth McFarlane pushed some boundaries and included a character with Down syndrome in the episode, claiming to be an "equal opportunity offender". Sarah Palin reacted because she claimed the episode mocked Trig Palin, who has Down Syndrome, and she and her family were offended.

Part II

Who? Andrea Friedman, the actress who provided the voice for Ellen, the New York Times and Palingates.

What? Ms Friedman, who happens to have Down syndrome, took exception to Sarah Palin's response on Facebook and pointed out that the joke wasn't on Trig, it was on Sarah Palin. Andrea had to explain that the line about being the daughter of the former governor of Alaska was sarcasm. The New York Times initially published an edited version of Andrea Friedman's e-mail, but Palingates had the full version, where Ms Friedman concluded her statement with this sentence:

"My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes."



Palingates was the only place where people could see Andrea's statement in full and really gave the whole story its "drive" in the MSM. Several mainstream news outlets and large blogs linked to Palingates, among them the HuffPost, Gawker, Salon, The Daily Dish, CBS, Hot Air and many others.



Andrew Sullivan and our own Patrick commented on the NYT edited version of Andrea's e-mail.

Andrew Sullivan:

The New York Times, continuing their inability or failure to truly investigate the truth about Palin, excised the last sentence from Friedman's email in its story. Why am I not surprised? This is a paper that cannot call torture torture because Republican war criminals intimidate them. And they cannot give a person with Down Syndrome an opportunity to expose the cynicism at the heart of Palin's exploitation of Trig.

Patrick:

From our point of view, however, we cannot complain, because the fact that the full uncensored statement was only available on Palingates brought tens of thousands new readers to our blog. Thank you, New York Times!

The following video contains Sarah Palin's outrage on the Bill O'Reilly program and the clip she deemed offensive to Trig.



The NYT eventually published Andrea Friedman's closing remark.

Where and when: the MSM and the blogs, starting on February 19.

Why? Because, in order to be fair and balanced, the MSM and the blogs had to present the other side of the controversy. Sarah Palin issued no further notes on Facebook and didn't comment on Andrea Friedman's statements, although she was approached by the New York Times inviting her to comment on the story.

Part III

Who? Sarah Palin, Jay Leno, the media and the bloggers.

What? Sarah Palin was a guest on the Jay Leno show and complained about the media and the bloggers going after her children, that other people's children are left alone and she would like the same treatment. As an example, she mentioned the Family Guy episode:

“Somebody making a joke that wasn’t so funny because it was a lame episode of the ‘Family Guy,’ but a special-needs family asking me what I thought about the episode. I commented and then that gets out there in the blogosphere, it gets out there in the different forms of the mediums that we have today. And then it’s left there, not an opportunity for me to follow up and kind of elaborate on what I really meant and what I really thought of the thing.”

That's all Sarah Palin said about it. She could have followed up and elaborated on what it really meant to a large audience, on national television.

Where and when: on national TV last night and the blogosphere, it's been left there for eleven days and still counting.

Why? Good question. Perhaps Sarah Palin would like to explain why she didn't follow up and elaborate when she had the opportunity, both when the NYT contacted her and last night on the Jay Leno program?

Was this post fair and balanced? Did I follow the five Ws of journalism to the letter?

The least I can do is invite Sarah Palin to comment on this blog, perhaps write a guest post where she can put her side of the story the way she sees it, so it's not left there. I really, really don't want it to be left there. I want it to be fair and balanced!

Sarah?
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Sarah Palin, "master practitioner of identity politics, was outranked by Andrea Friedman" - TIME

Picture by Francisco Caceres

Time has an excellent article by James Poniewozik looking into Sarah Palin's cartoon war. The article makes an opening reference to the film Annie Hall and Marshall McLuhan, which I'll quote for context:

In the movie Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character, Alvy Singer, is standing in a movie line, listening to some blowhard intellectual hold forth about media scholar Marshall McLuhan. When the loudmouth cites his own academic credentials, Singer produces the actual McLuhan to refute him: "You know nothing of my work!" Alvy 1, Egghead 0.



Palin posted on Facebook that the scene was "another punch in the gut." This time, however, Palin's outrage prompted not an apology but a smackdown, from Andrea Fay Friedman, a Family Guy voice actress — who actually has Down. "My parents raised me to have a sense of humor," she said. "My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes." Ouch. Cartoon 1, Politician 0.

The Family Guy scene was a personal shot — but at Palin, not Trig. Friedman's character was assertive, intelligent and confident (and a young woman, not an infant boy). Palin seemed to be defending neither her son nor the disabled generally but herself, a public figure whom a cartoon had the temerity to poke fun at.

But what's more important is the way Friedman bested her supposed defender: by beating her at her own game. As a public figure, Palin is the embodiment of the "I have Mr. McLuhan right here" argument, taking her authority not from policy papers or résumé credentials but from her biography.

Palin is a master practitioner of identity politics, with an ironic twist. When it comes to social issues or the academic canon or civil-rights legislation, it used to be conservatives who would chafe at liberals playing race, gender or other such oppressed-group cards. With Palin, though, conservatives have a champion who uses group identity — rural, female, military mom, special-needs mom, etc. — as her seal of authenticity. But against Family Guy and Friedman, Palin, for once, was outranked by someone enlisting her own biography and personal experience. This time, Palin was not the McLuhaner but the McLuhanee.

Now, Palin and her defenders could argue that Friedman is simply one woman with Down and cannot decide for everyone — disabled or not — what is and is not offensive. That response, by the way, would have the advantage of being correct. But it would also implicitly undermine Palin's claim to authority. She would then be just one more military mom, one more teen mom's mother — one more hopeful pol looking for attention.

I find it really wonderful that Poniewozik went further into his analysis of Sarah Palin's identity politics, extending it to the other weapons in Sarah's arsenal, in addition to her special needs credentials. He clearly debunks her claims of "talking the talk and walking the walk" as if her personal circumstances gave her ultimate authority to pontificate on just about any subject.

Andrea Friedman called Sarah Palin's bluff on special needs. Let's hope more people will do the same about the rest of her personal experiences so she can finally sit down and shut up.
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How the Family Guy controversy was received around the web

I have collected some reactions to the Family Guy controversy from around the web. It seems to me that the people who expressed opinions in favour of Sarah Palin had not watched the episode in question. The people who had, even though some don't appreciate Family Guy's type of humour, presented a more balanced view. I didn't think it was necessary to show the comments from Sarah Palin's usual supporters. We already saw a sample of their opinions included in a previous post.

Perez Hilton

People with Down Syndrome can be completely functioning, capable people, and although Family Guy didn't approach the subject in a completely PC manner, it makes a strong point!!

Why should anyone make those with Down Syndrome feel anymore different than the rest of us, even if it's by shielding them from jokes? All it does is isolate people even further - and nobody should feel that way.

We hope you take notice, Sarah! You could learn something from Andrea Fay Friedman!!

Joy Behar

You know, I think that, as comedians, we have a sort of an obligation to make fun of the guys up above, not the guys down below, people who are in trouble, people in pain. What’s the point of that? That’s an easy shot. So I agree with Sarah on this one.

Gail Williamson, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, which, among other services, assists films and television series in casting actors with the disability, and helped Ms. Friedman get hired by “Family Guy,” said it did not matter whether she thought the episode was funny.

“Within ‘Family Guy,’ the character was fully included, well-rounded, dynamic, not dealing with stereotypical Down syndrome issues,” Ms. Williamson said. She added: “Am I a fan of that kind of humor? Eh. It’s beside the point.”

“If we’re asking for full inclusion in the schools and full inclusion in the world,” she said, “ we should appreciate full inclusion with other genres. Even if those genres are not what we appreciate.”

A random comment

...read the comments, many from the families of special needs kids, like mine. We are all rooting for MORE humor, not less. Palin is out of town on this. Read her book, Going Rogue and any parent of a special needs child or adult will be made breathless by the sucking sound of Palin using her child as political football. No personal revelation of how this terrific kid changed her life, or her family's life. She carts him around like a football from booksigning to booksigning. She talks the talk, does not walk the walk. Read the opinion of Andrea Friedman, the DS actor voice behind the Family Guy character. In sum: Palin has no sense of humor.

I would add: Palin has no sense of of DS, period.

Down Syndrome Actress Plays Indentity Politics, 'Absolute Moral Authority' Card

The latest shot fired in the 'Family Guy' Sarah Palin Down syndrome feud came from the actress who voiced the Down syndrome character in the episode in question. Andrea Friedman, who herself has Down syndrome, is upset.

This is identity politics at its worse with the "absolute moral authority" card thrown in. Andrea Friedman thought that the sub plot, including the crack about the "former governor of Alaska," was funny, so you better think it's funny too.

Imagine someone making fun of—say—one or both of President Obama's daughters. Imagine the president being told he can't take a joke when he reacts, as one would expect, more as a father than a president. Then state the premise again that there is no double standard.

Palingates

Stephanie
As a Mom of a son with DS, we need to quit making it seem as if having a child with DS should qualify you for the freaking Nobel Peace Prize! That implies that there is inherintly something wrong with having DS - that they are a lesser people. Until we accept that having DS and other chromosome disorders is no different than having blond hair or blue eyes - by that, I mean realizing that DS is part of who a person is - we are NEVER going to move forward with disability rights! Maybe then 90% of babies with DS wouldn't be aborted...

tXdAd
I am a new poster to this blog, though I've followed for a while now. I posted (1st time) regarding this topic yesterday, but this reinforces my thought that DS advocates & anti-SP bloggers are natural allies. I am the parent of a child with DS about the same age as Trig. He was one of the initial reasons I started looking into the SP issue(s). Needless to say, I've been a little horrified by the Palin clan.

Oh, and I love Family Guy (usually), and I found nothing offensive in this episode r/t DS. I thought it was great to include the DS character in a non-"special" way.

Tracy Pattin

I was at Real Time with Bill Maher at CBS Studios last night for the first episode of season 8. Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane was a guest. Bill Maher asked him about the Sarah Palin controversy over Down’s Syndrome Voice Actor, Andrea McFarlane played a Down’s Syndrome person. Sarah Palin was outraged and felt that Family Guy and that character was making fun of her Down’s Syndrome son Trig.

McFarlane defended the character choice of using a person with Down’s Syndrome to play the role, saying that Andrea “loves her life as a voice actor and is proud to be part of the show.” As a sister of a Down’s Syndrome person, this was great to hear!

Yo Mamma Mamma

As parents of children with different abilities, our challenge, I believe is to figure out how to teach the truth...and help our peers teach their children the truth, and their children's children the same truth.

That truth being that our children may have "eyes that are oddly made" but they are more like other people than they are different. Not people to be pitied, not people to be feared, or ridiculed or ignored. Just people. Not any more "God's Children" than any one else is. Just children.

Special Children

This reminds me of the flap over Family Guy making fun of deaf actress Marlee Matlin's speaking voice, which Matlin made clear in a self-lampooning appearance on a live episode was just fine with her. It's certainly more fun to be laughing with than laughed at, and there's something to be said for the argument that treating people with disabilities as too fragile and special to be part of the comedy mix like everybody else is insulting in its own way. Whether rough comic treatments are cruel or cool is often in the eye of the beholder.

Blair Williamson

This is my friend and fellow actor Andrea Friedman. She did a great voice over job on "Family Guy." I also like the cartoon version of her.


Some comments on Blair's post:

. Goes to show that there are two sides to every story. I don't watch this show, and don't plan to, but, I support any opportunity for our kids with Down syndrome to succeed. I have always respected Andrea and her work, and I admire her for taking on this role. Voice over work sound fun... and I don't think Andrea would ever make fun specifically of Trig. I have very mixed feelings about what the show has done... but appreciate that Andrea got another role to add to her resume!

. I don't know if anything is tastefully done on that show, but I love that Andrea Friedman was hired for the role and that the character was not a stereotype. It is quite wonderful that so much discussion is continuing about Andrea Friedman's remarks in response to Sarah Palin - taking the focus off the show and politics and putting it where it belongs, in advocacy.

. Ms. Friedman continued, “My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”
You put that wonderfully. I have been saying that all along although I think you said it better. Kudos to you Andrea.
I have worked in a group home for twenty three years with young adults with DS and I also have a ten year old niece with DS. I take more offense from her exploiting her son than I did from the show.

There was nothing from Sarah Palin after the outraged Facebook note. The best she could offer after Ms Friedman's comments was a photoshopped picture of Trig, to show what a happy and normal life he leads...

The co-author of the Facebook rant, Bristol Palin, had nothing to say to Andrea Friedman either, but is launching her own acting career.

Bristol Palin, arguably the most famous teen mother in America, will make her acting debut playing herself on ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," the network announced today.
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Open thread - More fun with Sarah Palin and Family Guy - Videos - UPDATE

This video was mentioned in the comments on the last thread and I thought it would be fun to compare it to the actual Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin.



Check it out:

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UPDATE (by Patrick):

For even more fun, please read this hilariously funny fictional interview with Sarah Palin which was written by a concert pianist on his blog. The interview was already created during the presidential campaign in 2008, but it has lost nothing of its genius since then.

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Andrea Friedman, actress from "Family Guy" sets the record straight

Andrea Friedman and character Ellen

The father of the actress who provided the voice for the character of the young woman on the episode of Family Guy, which Sarah Palin described as "a kick in the gut", has sent this e-mail to a friend of Palingates:

Below is a copy of a letter to the editor that Andrea has written and sent. Please feel free to circulate it on the web or in any other manner that you choose.

All best wishes,

Hal Friedman

My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the "Extra Large Medium" episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in " Smudge" but I was a blonde in "Life Goes On". I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is "sarcasm".

In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.

Andrea sent her comment by e-mail to the New York Times.

(H/T to H S)

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UPDATE by Regina

Here is a screenshot of the e-mail:

(Please click to enlarge)

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UPDATES (by Patrick):

The creator of "Family Guy", Seth MacFarlane, talks on Real Time with Bill Maher about the controversy surrounding Sarah Palin and Andrea Fay Friedman:

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UPDATE

The New York Times has admitted that they left the "loaf of French bread" sentence out of their original article.

QUOTE:

In an e-mail message sent to The New York Times, Ms. Friedman wrote, “I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor.” She added that in her family, “we think laughing is good,” and that she was raised by her parents “to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life.”

Ms. Friedman continued, “My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”

For the original article by the New York Times CLICK HERE.

Andrew Sullivan was not happy about the omission by the New York Times:

QUOTE:

The New York Times, continuing their inability or failure to truly investigate the truth about Palin, excised the last sentence from Friedman's email in its story. Why am I not surprised? This is a paper that cannot call torture torture because Republican war criminals intimidate them. And they cannot give a person with Down Syndrome an opportunity to expose the cynicism at the heart of Palin's exploitation of Trig.

From our point of view, however, we cannot complain, because the fact that the full uncensored statement was only available on Palingates brought ten-thousands of new readers to our blog. Thank you, New York Times!

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UPDATE

Andrea Fay Friedman discussed today on "The Insider" the "Family Guy controversy", her own upbringing, Trig and Sarah Palin:

I think that Andrea is very reflective and she carefully makes her own mind up before answering the questions. I am beginning to understand how much potential people who were born with Down Syndrome can have if the receive the right kind of support.

It is very moving when Andrea talks about how she was teased from childhood onwards, and it seems that these experiences made her stronger. Andrea is a brave woman and a great role model. Sarah Palin shouldn't allow Trig to become a victim, but she should steer him in a direction which will give him strength and independence, like Andrea has achieved it together with the help of her parents.

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UPDATE

This is a preview of the documentary: "A possible dream - The Andrea Friedman story":

CLICK HERE!

In addition, please read HERE about Andrea Friedman as a keynote speaker.

Quote:

Because of her television activities, Andrea is often invited to be a motivational speaker and supporter of causes that help other challenged people. She has spoken to many local, statewide, national and international organizations, including the students and faculty at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, on the subject of the advantage of a “mainstream” education for people with learning disabilities.

Andrea’s life is certainly very different from that which was predicted when she was born. She lives independently. When she is not acting, she works in the accounting department of a major law firm. She drives her own car and manages her own schedule, budget, housekeeping and social life. Andrea says she has “Up” syndrome, not Down syndrome and wages a personal battle against the words “retarded” and “disabled.” “I am challenged, not disabled,” she insists. “‘Disabled’ means ‘cannot do’, but my challenged friends and I can do. Some things are hard for us, some things take longer to learn; but if we work hard, we can do.” Andrea does work hard and every morning announces, “I love my life. I wonder how many new friends I’ll make today.”

Family Guy: Sarah Palin "chooses" outrage, but fails to see that Trig is so much more than his disability... UPDATED

Much has been said about the Family Guy episode depicting a character who has Down Syndrome. The young woman in question is not portrayed as a "poor me" type. She's quite assertive and capable. The writers didn't make her a sympathetic character, she's just another young person who happens to have Down Syndrome, but with flaws, like any other young person.

Does disability make a person not have any of the flaws "normal" people have? The show didn't mock disability. If anything, it avoided being patronizing. What's worse, a person being defined by their shortcomings or by their abilities, even if it's the ability to be just as obnoxious as anybody else?

Family Guy doesn't discriminate about who they're going to offend. Their taste in story lines and jokes is debatable, but in this case, the person with Down Syndrome was not the butt of the joke.

The young woman in the show made reference to the governor of Alaska - that was the joke - and we had the inevitable Facebook rant, this time signed (but not written) by Bristol Palin, with an introduction by her mother:

"People are asking me to comment on yesterday’s Fox show that felt like another kick in the gut. Bristol was one who asked what I thought of the show that mocked her baby brother, Trig (and/or others with special needs), in an episode yesterday. Instead of answering, I asked her what she thought. Here is her conscientious reply, which is a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question, “when is enough, enough?”

“When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you’ll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them? As a culture, shouldn’t we be more compassionate to innocent people – especially those who are less fortunate? Shouldn’t we be willing to say that some things just are not funny? Are there any limits to what some people will do or say in regards to my little brother or others in the special needs community? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks. - Bristol Palin”

Trig may have extra challenges, but with proper support he needs not be described as less fortunate. Trig is a human being first and foremost. He has a personality that is not limited to his disability. When Bristol describes Trig as she did above, she's limiting him to his shortcomings.

The Palins never had very high expectations of Trig. In "Going Rogue", Sarah Palin describes her conversation with Todd when they found out Trig was going to be born with Down Syndrome. The focus was purely on his future physical achiements, on whether he could play sports or tinker in the garage. She talks about her sister's nephew who played Little League baseball on a "regular" team and about Todd's cousin, aged thirty two, loving life and cheering his team at hockey games. That's it.

In August 2009 I wrote a post about Trig and other young people with Down Syndrome. I found a number of very talented people with Down Syndrome who achieved a lot more than many "normal" people. They did more than play baseball in a "regular" team or cheer their hockey heroes. Music, acting and painting were some fields in which they excelled. I'm sure they would hate to be patronized and have their achievements diminished when compared to those of "normal" people. I also believe that they wouldn't like to be portrayed as some pliant push-overs, incapable of behaving like any of their "normal" counterparts, sometimes not so lovable.

We all have limitations and I can't imagine that we would like to be defined by them.

Wouldn't children with special needs have an extra deficit on top of their challenges if their own families didn't believe in them? Would any child with Down Syndrome benefit from being considered a mere political prop?

Trig's main shortcoming is not Down Syndrome. It is his own family and their low expectations. In fact, the same goes for all his siblings...










UPDATE

I have discovered (in an excellent post by our friend OzMud) that the character with Down Syndrome in the Family Guy episode was voiced by an actress called Andrea Friedman, who has Down Syndrome herself. Andrea is one of the talented people I wrote about in the August post. If Andrea doesn't see a problem with the episode in question, why should Sarah Palin see anything wrong with it? Of course, she couldn't miss the opportunity to use Trig as a prop yet again.

Sarah Palin doesn't have a clue about special needs, apart from using it to promote herself and sell books. Trig deserves better.

(H/T to Ripley in CT and Ella)
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