Did Seth MacFarlane Go Too Far?

Julia Rosén

Staff Writer

The winners weren’t the only ones who received a lot of attention at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony on February 24. Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Fam­ily Guy” and director of the movie “Ted,” hosted this year’s event and left people shocked as he went from one inappropriate joke to another. Some people think MacFar­lane went too far, while others praise him as the best host of all time.

MacFarlane started off the night with some extreme jokes. One of the most mem­orable of the night is probably when he pre­sented the movie “Django Unchained” and made a reference to the scandalous couple Chris Brown and Rihanna. He stated, “This is the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who’s been subjected to unthink­able violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihan­na call it, a date movie”. Despite the poor response from the audience for that harsh attack, MacFarlane continued with his racy humor.

When talking about the 9-year-old ac­tress Quvenzhane Wallis, MacFarlane told the audience that she is so young that it will take 16 years until she’s too old for actor George Clooney, referring to his taste in young women.

And so the jokes went on, from saying that no one cares what actresses, such as Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek, say be­cause they’re attractive, to saying that last year’s winner of best actor Jean Dujardin is now old news, to stating that Jews control Hollywood.

However, MacFarlane did not only host with inappropriate jokes. The night’s theme was musicals, and he really kept that part of the show classy… for the most part. His mu­sical number “We Saw Your Boobs,” where MacFarlane pointed out actresses that have gone topless on camera, got a mixed response. Some feminists were outraged, since the Academy Awards should be about acknowledging the art behind the movies, not who showed their breasts on screen. However, he quickly turned it around with the help of Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum. MacFarlane sang while the actress and actor danced in the background, fol­lowed by a musical number with the help of Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

Andrew Barell, junior Film major, said that MacFarlane didn’t go too far. He believes that MacFarlane’s jokes were not shocking, “There was no point in the show where I was blown away by his offensive language.” He continued, “I think he was calm and collected.”

Galjaar Nerway, senior Film major, agreed. “He’s a very funny and talented man. He has a couple of good shows and he is now a billionaire and he got there all by himself. No one gave that to him.” Nerway stated that MacFarlane’s hosting was en­tertaining. However, he understood why he might have offended people and why people believe he went too far. “People can lose their sense of humor. The mentality that it’s only funny when it’s about other people is why people don’t like him,” he said.

Chrissy Sire, also a senior Film major, says she’s not a fan of MacFarlane, but he did not offend her even though he goes a little too far sometimes. “He didn’t push it further than other things he has done.”

MacFarlane might have gone too far, but his off-color humor and charm pro­duced the Academy Awards’ best ratings in years. Maybe it is time for Hollywood to get off its high horse and let the dark humor peek in a little. His jokes might have been racy, but it might be just what people want.