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What is it with tv comedies shitting on the girl?

Blue Skies

Blue Skies

Banned
Mar 27, 2019
9,224
Dee from always sunny
Meg from family guy
Morty's sister in rick and morty

such hateful shit

I feel like the "dee's a bird" jokes got old like 5 seasons ago.
what's the deal?
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,760
culturally women are just expected to sit pretty and never say anything insightful or rational.
sexism basically
 
KarmaCow

KarmaCow

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,156
Everyone gets shit on in Rick and Morty but Jerry is more of show's punching bag than Summer.
 
Orbulon

Orbulon

Member
Nov 1, 2017
542
France
I knew this would be about Dee.
The ostrich gag in "Who got Dee pregnant ?" has to be one of the all time best jokes on TV, though.
 
The Living Tribunal

The Living Tribunal

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,201
Can i offer you a nice egg in this trying time?

The IAS cast are subhuman waste, Dee happens to be the least scummy out of them.
 
True Prophecy

True Prophecy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,921
I mean in sunnys case they are not supposed to be good upstanding people or role models, them not making bird jokes would be weird at this point. And it's not like Dee doesn't get back at them often as well.
 
HStallion

HStallion

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
62,262
I feel like It's Always Sunny isn't the best example as everyone is a horrific piece of shit and they shit on each other near constantly. Yeah they make the Dee bird jokes but they also rag on Dennis being a serial killer, Charlie being unable to read, Frank going senile and so on.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
The Dee is a bird joke peaked at the halloween party episode. But in Always Sunny consider how everybody turns against everybody on a moments notice. Even if the guys make fun of Dee, they also tend to ditch Charlie if not outright kick him out and treat him like trash. Then in another episode Dee and Dennis ditch Mac and Charlie for any reason. It's a toxic group of friends.
 
Strangelove_77

Strangelove_77

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,392
Dee's a piece of shit like all the other characters on the show. Charlie and Mac get mocked and made fun of just as much. They all are made to look like idiots. That's why it works.
 
OldSocksAndShoes

OldSocksAndShoes

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,565
HStallion said:
I feel like It's Always Sunny isn't the best example as everyone is a horrific piece of shit and they shit on each other near constantly. Yeah they make the Dee bird jokes but they also rag on Dennis being a serial killer, Charlie being unable to read, Frank going senile and so on.
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100% this. The joke in Always Sunny is that they're all terrible and tear each other down constantly.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,020
Part of it is that male writers don't know how to write women - or at least feel uncomfortable in doing it - and so try to stuff them somewhere else.
 
Ryuelli

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
nsilvias said:
culturally women are just expected to sit pretty and never say anything insightful or rational.
sexism basically
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Maybe, but I think for every example you could find of women not saying anything insightful or rational in modern comedies, you could find the exact opposite as well. In comedy, It's not exactly unheard of for a wife to be the voice of reason while her husband is treated as an idiot/a grown up child.
 
Seesaw15

Seesaw15

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,817
Blue Skies said:
Dee from always sunny
Meg from family guy
Morty's sister in rick and morty

such hateful shit

I feel like the "dee's a bird" jokes got old like 5 seasons ago.
what's the deal?
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Click to shrink...
Not the best examples. In comedy the straight man character usually get shit on the most for ruining other peoples fun. People have already explained Dee and lol "Morty's Sister" ( the disrespect) Summer gets shit on a bit but Jerry fills that role in the series.

Its an old trope that women are wet blankets. Some shows just do the trope while others examine and make fun of it.
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,310
giphy.gif
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,445
There's probably a root in sexism, but it's just kind of a formula. The sister gets dumped on, the brother is dumb, the dad is an overweight guy complaining all the time and the mother is neurotic and overreacts to everything. Lazy tropes.
 
LQX

LQX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,871
Does Meg really count though? I see her similarly to Ralph on the Simpsons. In fact there are a ton of comedy shows where one specific person is always singled out to be the butt of jokes like Newman on Seinfeld or even Urkel on Family Matters which actually went to shit after they started making Urkel "cool" and not the butt of jokes.
 
HStallion

HStallion

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
62,262
It also helps that Kaitlin Olsen is one of the best physical comedians of the last decade. That lady takes spills better than most comedians do entire bits.
 

Deleted member 13798

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,374
Dee's a real shitty person. Possibly one of the worst of the gang.

So like, that example isn't like the others. Anyone calling sexism because of Dee straight up doesn't get the show.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
I'm not even seeing how you can pinpoint Morty's sister besides the early lazy men vs women episode in season 1. The show was always about Jerry being a punching bag. Family Guy is the main show that Meg is the punching bag, but that show has been utter trash for ages now.
 
crimzonflame

crimzonflame

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,754
So, she's the loser of the group. Every group has someone that they all make fun of.. Like us with Elaine.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,020
Women being the voice of reason or boring spoilsports can be from making them the mommy of the group. I think a goofy example was pointed out to me by way of Ctrl+Alt+Del, where the hero falls in love with the female lead because she's a girl who plays video games that somehow isn't ugly, but she instantly turns into the pseudo-mom who won't let him play video games at the same time.
 
Seesaw15

Seesaw15

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,817
Also, I think Meg (early on) is closer to the Jerry Gergich trope from Parks and Rec. A completely nice unassuming person that the world hates for no reason. Its funny because its mean.
giphy.gif
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,020
LQX said:
Does Meg really count though? I see her similarly to Ralph on the Simpsons. In fact there are a ton of comedy shows where one specific person is always singled out to be the butt of jokes like Newman on Seinfeld or even Urkel on Family Matters which actually went to shit after they started making Urkel "cool" and not the butt of jokes.
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...How would Newman be this and not George?
 
efr

efr

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Jun 19, 2019
2,893
Blue Skies said:
Dee from always sunny
Meg from family guy
Morty's sister in rick and morty

such hateful shit

I feel like the "dee's a bird" jokes got old like 5 seasons ago.
what's the deal?
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Everyone gets shit on in Sunny
Peter is the butt of the joke more than Meg.
Ive never watched Rick and Morty so dunno that one
 

Tanerian

Member
Feb 24, 2018
1,380
Same reason that the dad on family comedies is always a fat goofy clumsy dumb dumb.

Tropes and Cliches that have proven successful.
 
Richiek

Richiek

Member
Nov 2, 2017
12,063
Admiral Woofington said:
I'm not even seeing how you can pinpoint Morty's sister besides the early lazy men vs women episode in season 1. The show was always about Jerry being a punching bag. Family Guy is the main show that Meg is the punching bag, but that show has been utter trash for ages now.
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Well, there's the end of the latest season premiere:



EDIT: And also...



Another Dan Harmon show, Community also treats the female charater Britta harshly as well.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,845
I'll give you Meg, but Jerry from Rick and Morty and Charlie from Always Sunny probably get more shit
 
Officer Big Mac

Officer Big Mac

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,596
Meg gets shit on constantly but then they give her a sweet episode that shows they maybe do care. It doesn't make sense but it doesn't need to. But I stopped watching long long ago.
 
Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
Richiek said:
Well, there's the end of the latest season premiere:



Another Dan Harmon show, Community also treats the female charater Britta harshly as well.
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Ill have to watch the latest season but it seems Rick and Morty is also about a group of toxic people who turn on each other for various reasons to try and fit in with whoever theyre currently making fun of.
 
Z-Beat

Z-Beat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,845
Richiek said:
Well, there's the end of the latest season premiere:



EDIT: And also...



Another Dan Harmon show, Community also treats the female charater Britta harshly as well.
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True, but you've got Rick, Council Rick, and Summer all shitting on Morty



And Toxic Rick shitting on Morty for an entire episode



And neither of those come close to Jerry's shit streak.
 
Sunster

Sunster

The Fallen
Oct 5, 2018
10,017
the way they treat Meg on FG is a reason why FG sucks. The "family" isn't a family at all. it's just a group of one liner bots that live together. compare it with the Simpsons or Bob's Burgers, those are families. Family Guy is dog shit.
 
Seesaw15

Seesaw15

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,817
Sunster said:
the way they treat Meg on FG is a reason why FG sucks. The "family" isn't a family at all. it's just a group of one liner bots that live together. compare it with the Simpsons or Bob's Burgers, those are families. Family Guy is dog shit.
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The Simpsons hasn't been a family since like season 9. Homer will mercilessly sell out any member of his family for a joke/premise.
 
steejee

steejee

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,609
Sunster said:
the way they treat Meg on FG is a reason why FG sucks. The "family" isn't a family at all. it's just a group of one liner bots that live together. compare it with the Simpsons or Bob's Burgers, those are families. Family Guy is dog shit.
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I think that's a great comparison - the Belcher's feel like a family, with all the weird love and spite that comes from your immediately family. MacFarlane's shows are just collections of character archetypes (both Family Guy and American Dad, though I feel AD does a better job making it seem like a family) so it never feels like a family ragging on each other. At least in American Dad it's not "Ugly fat dad with fit hot wife"...

As for OP, it does annoy me but it varies by show. Rick and Morty I don't see it as crapping on Summer specifically, Rick craps on everyone at some point and Summer comes off as one of the more sane ones with most of her issues just being typical teenage stuff. Jerry gets most of the piling on and Beth is sort of the "Yeah, don't fuck with her" type.

Always Sunny really comes down to "They're all terrible people doing terrible things to each other". So while Dee gets some gender specific shit because she's the only woman it's never felt beyond the pale.
 

Zej

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
913
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but it's because of "tropes". No need to virtue signal.
 
Raiden

Raiden

Member
Nov 6, 2017
2,922
Sunster said:
the way they treat Meg on FG is a reason why FG sucks. The "family" isn't a family at all. it's just a group of one liner bots that live together. compare it with the Simpsons or Bob's Burgers, those are families. Family Guy is dog shit.
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Thats a great way to describe FG, and also why i stopped watching that show.

I loved the randomness of it sometimes back then, but man nothing is coherent and it gets tiresome to make sense of it all.

You cant feel for the characters if they explode or get run over all the time and act normal next scene.
 
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