Corey's Blog

Enjoy!

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Brian’s first ever novel

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Brian Griffin and his best seller!

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Brian and Rush, best friends?!

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Whose leg do I have to hump to get a dry martini around here?

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Brian Griffin with his famous flask

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Brian Griffin, a human trapped in a dog’s body?               Take a look behind the truth of Family Guy

When someone brings up the show Family Guy you either get the response of “I love it” or “I hate it”. Family Guy’s vulgar humor and controversial topics allow the show to be hated and loved by many at the same time while being the longest running show FOX has to date. If you could imagine any funny situation on a touchy subject or just something you would never think about, you can sure bet that Family Guy has done it. 

In its 16th season, everyone has seen the Griffin’s change over times as the show has turned into one of the greatest comedies of all time. You might look at Family Guy and think that Seth MacFarlane is just creating funny episodes and characters that will keep the show going and be loved by its viewers. Well, you would certainly be correct, but there is definitely a deeper meaning to Family Guy that most viewers do not see.

 In fact, each of the Griffin’s can be dissected for a deeper reason with all of the main characters having some sort of flaw relatable to the American people. Brian Griffin is the perfect character to breakdown because he is most definitely not just a normal house dog. 

Brian Griffin is NOT your average dog. Even though MacFarlane portrays Brian as a normal dog sometimes with dog-like tendencies he is really a real person. Although he chases after balls, drinks out of a dog bowl, pees in the yard, and loves to sick his head out the window most would consider Brian to be human.

He is truly an anthropomorphic, a dog possessing human qualities. I do not really think real dogs sit at the table, use a fork to eat, drink coffee, drive a car, take showers, use the toilet, have a job, and TALK! Now this part is just MacFarlane’s creativity, but it’s what Brian does with those human traits that makes him so interesting with a certain personality. 

In the Griffin family, Brian is an alcoholic, left-winged thoughtful Democrat, egomaniac, opinionated, and a philosopher/writer. It might be kind of hard for a viewer to see this on the surface, but when you really listen to some of Brian’s dialogue it proves that he has all of the traits listed above. 

Brian is a clear alcoholic, but claims that he is a “social drinker”, but we all know that he loves his little flask and a beer. When he is bored he resorts to drinking, in tough situations drinking is the answer, and it is always on his mind.

“Louis not that I’m rushing you, but when do we get to the drinking?” 

The drinking has hurt Brian many times to a point where he was sentenced to a month of AA by a judge. At the AA meeting, Brian of all people tries to get out of it by making the AA meeting a safe place for alcoholics to drink and be themselves.

AA is a myth to Brian, “People got along fine for thousands of years without AA just like they got along for thousands of years without religion.” 

One of the more annoying traits that Brian has is that he is an egomaniac. Everything goes to his HUGE head. Whether it is just a simple comment on his writing, intelligence, or thoughts you can be sure Brian Griffin will make a big deal about it. 

“Wow, you really think I should run for mayor?”, “See I knew it was just a matter of time before someone recognized my genius.” 

These comments make everyone else in the family roll their eyes at him wanting to take back their comment. The thing that goes to Brian’s head the most is of course his writing career. He is supposed to be this proclaimed amazing writer with a ton of success, but we learn that Brian has nothing to show for it. Although he has times where he questions his writing skills and ability, Brian still believes that he is a true writer in his heart. 

One of his novels Faster Than The Speed Of Love is a great example of how Brian gives struggling writers a bad name. 

Pouring all of his blood, sweat, and tears into this novel, Brian made it seem like this was going to be the best thing he had ever produced with countless hours spent working on it. He would later have his heart broken as the book did not sell very well with thousands of copies sent back to the house and labeled as one of the worst books in Quahog. 

As Brian takes this in he immediately says that he is done writing for good, just like that after one try. This maybe lasted ten minutes before Brain was back writing again to get back at those who trashed his first book. 

He was going to prove that he could crap a bestseller out in one night, then out came Wish It Want It Do It. He proved to writers all over the world that you can spend one night and make a bestseller. Brian Griffin created this book out of bitterness rather than using his artistic integrity giving writers a bad name. 

We know that Brian Griffin is not your average dog, especially since he has his own political, religious, and spiritual views. You can tell right away that Brian has very strong opinions that he is not afraid to say to others, but it is the little things that he does to further his characterization as a left-winged idealist. 

Brian Griffin drives a Toyota Prius which can be seen as mainly democratic because of its small style while being better for the environment that most other cars. 

Today, democrats are all for fuel efficiency and producing vehicles with cleaner fuels. While most of Brian’s actions clearly support the democratic side, he has also been known to be a poser. Someone who is such a left-winged person such as Brian Griffin should never, ever be seen supporting the right side of an argument. 

When Republican Rush Limbaugh is featured in one episode Brian refutes every single opinion that he has clearly identifying himself as a democrat. On the other hand, once he gives Rush a chance to explain his views Brian suddenly becomes the complete opposite person and turns himself into what can be described as a “typical republican”. 

Why would someone who is considered so left-sided in everything that he does jump ship so fast and flip sides? Sounds like he is just giving strong democrat posers a bad name. 

Brian Griffin is seen by viewers as something quite different than they typical lovable pet. Although not directly intended by Family Guy writers they have turned Brian into a character that has a lot of meaning behind him. His anthropomorphic traits make him more like an inebriated, egotistical opinionated 50-year-old man rather than a man’s best friend.

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I don't want to die until I see cancer cured.

James D. Watson 

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The C-Word Sucks

There are certain things in your lifetime that you never hope to see, but if you have to go through a life-changing experience you hope to be able to understand it. Death is always a touchy subject to talk about in any situation. My family has not experienced death before like this, my grandparents on both sides are very healthy and there has never really been any concern throughout the family. Most of my friends have either lost a grandparent or a great grandparent so they knew how to cope with a loss. I, however, was unprepared.

You never hope to hear the word cancer brought up in conversation. Cancer takes good people away from us for the wrong reasons, but now the c-word was being brought up in my family. My uncle had done nothing wrong in his life. Had a good job that he loved, two great kids, and a family that truly appreciated him. He always cooked the best steak and gave amazing back rubs when you looked stressed, but as my parents tried to explain to me Uncle was not going to be himself anymore. I was not sure how to respond to millions of thoughts racing through my mind.

I remember the night so vividly, it was a hot and sticky summer night towards the end of August. The news was just told to my sister and I and we sat in the family room in complete silence. I could see the tears forming in my mom’s eyes and began to think, wow this is a really big deal. My dad basically explained what my Uncle was going to go through over the next couple of months throwing out so many unfamiliar terms and words that I had never heard before, then asked if we had any questions about the situation.

I could not process the last 15 minutes of this conversation; my mind was racing in a million directions so I just sat there quietly. Was I supposed to feel sorry for my Uncle, angered at cancer, or confused with the whole situation? It made no sense to me.

The next thing I know, I’m in the car on the way to the hospital to visit my Uncle. I guess the word cancer to me meant that someone was immediately affected, which I found out was not the case the second I stepped foot in the hospital room. Uncle looked and sounded completely normal which confused me right away. A 14-year-old 8th grader in middle school was obviously not educated enough to understand that cancer takes a toll on the body over a long period of time.

My family and I were really not able to see any changes in my Uncle for the first month and a half until chemotherapy started. At that point, it was around the beginning of October which was the first time I saw the c-word begin to take a toll on my mom. My mom works only twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, all of her other days were spent at the hospital with my Uncle. She was sitting in the kitchen alone as I came home from school one day with her head in between her hands. My mom pulled her face up, whipped her tears away, and said hi to me pretending like nothing was wrong. I went over and gave her a hug which lasted what felt like an hour. I could feel her whole-body weight on me with her nose sniffling from the tears. I brought her tissues and said what I thought was right, “You are so strong, things will get better I promise.”

What I had realized was that this was my mom’s brother whose life was being threatened. She was very close to him growing up so they had a strong relationship and special bond. I could not imagine having to go through this and the incredible amount of pain she must have had. As the coming months followed I frequently found my mom in the same position where I would have to show her love and cheer her up. I felt doing this every time, but how was I sure that this was making my mom really feel better? I finally built up enough courage to ask my dad what I should do if I am put into more situations where my mom is upset. He simply said to me that you need to prove that you believe in her, that you are strong enough to give her support and love, that she can count on you to bring her spirit up.

It was in the beginning of April two years after the original diagnosis when my dad sat my sister and me down for a conversation without my mom. It was brief and simple, Uncle was out of options and the doctors said the cancer was going to run its natural course which meant that we had to prepare for the worse. Later that month the worst had happened, cancer had won, and my mom was simply destroyed. Learning from my dad, I knew somewhat how to handle the situation. I gave my mom all of the support she needed, encouragement, and love. I never wanted to see her this way again, it was heartbreaking to see her this upset which really took a toll on me. I knew the time was now to grow up and be there for my mom.

You never know you love someone so much until they are gone. My Uncle and I never really had the closest connection, but he was still a big part of my life. His great character and the way he touched so many people are some things about him that I would love to have a part of me. Uncle was gentle, a true friend to everyone he knew whether they had just met or have known him for a long time, and was someone that never stopped smiling. My mom says to me a lot that she sees more and more of Uncle in me with each passing year. I’d like to think that I carry some of Uncle’s traits with me and will pick up some throughout my life.

Fast forward to my senior year of high school, by this time my family was back to “normal” as this year was the second anniversary of my Uncle passing away. My dad had begun a campaign to raise money for the American Cancer Society, my cousin was a big part of Penn State’s THON. I felt that it was my turn to raise awareness about cancer and give back, so I became a committee leader of my high school’s mini-THON. Mini-THON is a branch of Penn State’s THON which is a dance fundraiser to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer. I was lucky enough to be selected as the head of the finance/fundraising committee for our third annual mini-THON. I know that Uncle would have been proud of me. He was always a giver, doing things for people without a reason, just to benefit others. This was not a resume booster or something my parents pushed me to do, this was all on my own for the same reason as my Uncle, to benefit others and raise awareness.

The goal was to raise over $30,000 and I told myself that for Uncle I would do everything in my power to get us way past our goal. Seeing it through the eyes of my family I knew that I would need hard work, determination, and a lot of patience to reach the goal of over $30,000. After countless hours spent raising money for my Uncle, the goal was reached as our mini-THON raised over $34,000.