Comments on: Magic Realism and Family Guy

By: clarice

clarice — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:01:14 +0000

Any live lectures on Pedro Paramo? From a university I mean…

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 03:01:00 +0000

Red-herring. The Family Guy is anti-liberal propaganda dressed as “funny”… I guess it seems kinda’ like magical realism from what I understand of this conversation.

By: Paradoxdruid

Paradoxdruid — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 09:08:00 +0000

This discussion, divorced as it is from its roots, has reminded me to start haranguing my father to take some university courses when he retires. I know he’d love to get back into History, if given the chance. Excellent.

By: Owen

Owen — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 01:02:00 +0000

And yet that’s what you’re called in my cellphone’s memory

I don’t know if my aunt is still progressing on her comp sci courses. I think she is (though, she’s developed a romantic life that may or may not have distracted her).

By: ShortSpeedFreak

ShortSpeedFreak — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 11:23:00 +0000

And I don’t really like being called “Meg” all that much.

I think it’s really cool that your mom’s in graduate school, on a tanget. My dad’s working on his BA right now. Having parents in school is fun!

By: Teisha

Teisha — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 10:58:00 +0000

(That Meg is my mom… she’s an English graduate student at CU and the FCQ coordinator. )

By: Owen

Owen — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 08:47:00 +0000

Two… Megs… wha?

When phrases like “Marxist Criticism” start getting used my eyes roll back in my head.

By: Paradoxdruid

Paradoxdruid — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 05:58:00 +0000

Meg said: “Once you get into enough lit theory, almost anything can be assigned deep meaning!”

I couldn’t agree more, making this both the greatest strength and biggest weakness of lit theory. For instance, literary critics who argue that the author doesn’t have a privledged insight into their own work drive me freaking batty.

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 03:37:00 +0000

I’m getting into this discussion *very* late (sorry!) (for those of you who know what FCQs are, they shipped out yesterday and my life begins again…) I think that even for literature professors, magic realism is a somewhat undefined term still. In my own mind, the function of it has to be to enhance the metaphorical imagery of the story. I think of it as having a “shimmering” effect on a story — magic realism forces you to process non-logically, and the mind’s attempt to ‘make sense’ forces metaphorical meanings to the fore as meaning is sought. I haven’t seen much of Family Guy, but it does sound as though the ‘zaniness’ could fit this function. (Once you get into enough lit theory, almost *anything* can be assigned deep meaning!)

By: ShortSpeedFreak

ShortSpeedFreak — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 10:16:00 +0000

I actually spent a good deal of high school studying magic realism for a class. We read Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Marquez, and The House of The Spirits by Isabelle Allende. I also read some magic realism for my Spanish clss, though I can’t remember what, exactly.

Pedro Paramo was probably the most “extreme” example of magic realism that I read. In this case, it wasn’t just a touch of the fantastical, but a total emersion. It was almost like reading a surrealistic painting, if that makes any sense. But, for the most part, the main character was unquestioning of the bizarre things happening around him. And I whole-heartedly agree with you, Teisha, that it can be quite tragic. In The House of the Spirits, one of the main characters is clarvoiyant (spelling?) and it brings her no end of trouble.

Mostly though, I’m playing devil’s advocate here. Family Guy- again, I’ve only seen a little- reminds me more of Futurama or the Simpsons (and other non-cartoon skit shows) than it does of the magical realism texts I’ve read.