Salon.com’s Mary Elizabeth Williams watches the “Family Guy” episode that drew criticism from Sarah Palin and daughter Bristol, and finds that she agrees with them. An excerpt:

I’ve got to hand it to them — when the Palin women are right, they’re right. The “Family Guy” episode wasn’t just a bomb because of the low blow at Palin (seriously, doesn’t the woman give us enough to legitimately criticize her for?), but for the overall insensitivity — and, just as egregiously, the witlessness — of the whole plotline. There’s no topic in the world off-limits — even in comedy. Nay, especially in comedy. But contrast the way “Glee” skillfully handled a Down syndrome story last fall with baby Stewie’s observation of Ellen’s eyes: “The spacing seems a tad off, but yeah, individually they’re not awful.” (There’s also a musical number featuring Stewie referring to the “special Down syndrome girl” as “that little whore.”) In the end, of course, Ellen turns out to be as big a creep as any of the regular kids. Ooh, progressive!

We get that it’s “Family Guy’s” job to be all shocking and taboo breaking. But maybe they can stick to picking on targets their own size instead of mocking the disabled. Because I don’t want to have to find myself agreeing with Sarah Palin again for a long time.

Maureen O’Connor at Gawker.com reluctantly seconds that emotion. An excerpt:

I mostly agree with Sarah and Bristol. Which, in turn, outrages me because I don’t like agreeing with them. But comedic mimicry of retarded people is obnoxious. Even when it’s self-aware, it’s painful to watch able-minded adults ape at buffoonish caricatures of the mentally disabled-it feels too much like playground taunts from the fourth grade.

From the Huffington Post:

Bill Maher offers the following joke in the promo for the upcoming debut of his eighth season of HBO’s “Real Time.”

While we were off, Sarah Palin agreed to do commentary at Fox News, which is actually very similar to her day job: talking to a baby with Down syndrome. (The studio audience groans, then applauds).

The site carries the video, and the joke appears at about the 1:22 mark.

Related posts here.

Says she’s advocating on behalf of ‘special needs community’

From the New York Daily News, CBS Political Hotsheet blog. Video at Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor.”

During an appearance on Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday, Sarah Palin renewed her demand that President Obama replace White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel for calling a group of liberals “F-ing retards.”

Calling herself a champion of the “special needs community,” Palin also attacked the “cruel, cold-hearted” writers of a Fox animated show that lampooned a character with Down syndrome, but defended conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s repeated use of the word “retard” as “satire.”

An excerpt:

“When I gave my vice presidential nomination speech at the GOP convention, I promised the special needs community that they would have a friend and an advocate in the White House,” she said. “And just because John McCain and I did not win, that did not take away my passion for helping those who want to reach out and ask me to do what I can to allow this country, this world to be more welcoming place for all innocent people, all special needs children. I am going to keep pursuing that in our country until we are a more tolerant, compassionate, welcoming place for the innocents.”

Full transcript here.

Ellen Seidman, writing at Huffingtonpost.com, says Sarah Palin’s criticism a recent episode of ‘Family Guy’ is “completely misguided.” Seidman, whose son has cerebral palsy, says she applauds what she views as the show’s message — that people with disabilities are people just like everyone else. An excerpt:

I work so hard to spread that message every single day of my son’s life. It is an endless, Sisyphean labor of love. To be sure, I would not enjoy it if someone called Max an asshole, but hey, at least they’d be engaging with him instead of just gaping. At least they’d be treating him like a typical person instead of like a freak show.

Sarah, the genius of this episode is that it made a girl with Down syndrome seem like just another feisty teenager with ‘tude. It also gave people in this country a way to get the conversation going about people with disabilities.

… Really, you should be grateful to “The Family Guy” — for tackling a taboo topic with relatable humor and smarts; for holding a funhouse mirror up to the public so they can recognize their shortcomings in their dealings with people who are handicapped; and for being real.

Assessing Sarah Palin’s criticism of ‘Family Guy,’ Jennifer Armstrong on Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch blog says the show actually treated Ellen, the character with Down syndrome, “very much like any other character, which shows quite a bit of respect in the Family Guy universe.” An excerpt of her comments (accompanied by a video of the show’s “Down Syndrome Girl” number):

Her defining trait wasn’t her Down syndrome, it was the fact that she was bitchy and demanding and ultimately rejected Chris even though he heeded her every command. You could see it as mocking, I suppose, that Stewie sang a song called “Down Syndrome Girl” while getting Chris ready for his date. But that made a lot more fun of poor Chris and his smelly, gross tendencies than it did of his date.

Yes, there are references to hugs that are “tighter than a vice and go on for an hour,” the “shorty bus,” and the fact that she’s “for some reason always shouting.”(Side note: Ellen herself didn’t shout.) But is this enough to warrant Palin’s wrath? I honestly don’t know – I don’t have a child with Down syndrome. I do, however, salute including those with the condition in our everyday entertainment, and doing so without patronizing them. This episode did that, and even came off pretty sweet, by Family Guy standards.

Describes the show as a ‘kick in the gut’

From the New York Daily News:

Following a Valentine’s Day broadcast of Fox’s Family Guy that got laughs at the expense of a character with Down syndrome, former Alaska governor and Fox commentator Sarah Palin published a Facebook post saying the show had “mocked” her son Trig, who has Down syndrome.

Palin said the show, in which the character was labeled a “little whore” and a “poorly groomin’ Down syndrome girl,” felt like a”kick in the gut.” Her Facebook comment included a paragraph attributed to her daughter Bristol that begged for compassion toward people with disabilities and ended by calling the show’s writers “heartless jerks.” The text follows:

“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”

Ellen, the character with Down syndrome, was voiced by Andrea Fay Friedman, an actress who has Down syndrome.

See also: Sarah Palin and “Family Guy’s” Family Values — NBC Miami

The New York Daily News reports that Fox Television “could be headed to Sarah Palin’s doghouse” after airing a Valentine’s Day broadcast of Family Guy that made jokes at the expense of a character with Down syndrome.

The episode shows Chris going on a date with a woman with Down syndrome who tells him, in an apparent slap at Palin, “My dad’s an accountant and my mom’s the former governor of Alaska.” In a song-and-dance number leading up to the date, Chris’ brother Stewie salutes the woman as a “Down syndrome girl”, and adds such descriptions as “little whore,” “poorly grooming,” “as-of-Monday-shoelace-tying,” “just a little crooked walking” and “a special person’s wettest dream.”

Chris gives up on his dream girl Ellen after she bosses him around. “I used to hear that people with Down syndrome were different from the rest of us but you’re not,” he tells her angrily. “You’re not different at all. You’re just a bunch of [bleep] like everyone else.”

The Daily News reported that the episode “appeared to mock” Palin’s son Trig, who has Down syndrome. The former vice presidential candidate, now a news contributor on Fox, did not comment.

The character of Ellen was voiced by Andrea Fay Friedman, an actress who has Down syndrome.

See also: Los Angeles Times ‘Show Tracker’ blog, NBC Los Angeles