Media watchdog group Media Action Network for Asian Americans has asked Fox TV to reshoot “racist” scenes for its upcoming series Dads.
The Seth McFarlane created series has come under fire during the Television Critics Association press tour. Various groups claim that some of the shows content uses racist and stereotypical attitudes to portray several races.
MANAA president and founder Guy Aoki sent a letter to Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly, COO Joe Earley, senior VP comedy Marcus Wiley, and senior VP current programming James Oh. In the letter, he writes:
“Our community can’t continue to be the target of racially insensitive jokes. Fox has an opportunity to fix fatal flaws in the pilot and to improve the show’s chances for success when it premieres next month. We are asking you to reshoot the inappropriate scenes of the pilot. Considering the consistent feedback from our community and television critics in general — and the creators saying they hadn’t properly defined their characters nor gotten used to their actors when they shot that first episode — this sounds like a no-brainer.”
Aoki says the shows “racial and sexual stereotypes” including Brenda Song dressing up as a “sexy Asian schoolgirl” when meeting with a group of Asian business men they call “Orientals.”
Aoki continues:
“[N]o one corrected him (will he later call blacks ‘negroes?’). He later warned his son that he couldn’t trust the Chinese, that ‘there’s a reason Shanghai’s a verb.’ Supposedly all was made right when the Chinese agreed to the deal after the ‘creepy interpreter’ sent a picture of his penis to Song, who, predictably, said that it was tiny.”
The shows own creators have come under fire for insensitive comments. After the 2011 Japan Tsunami, show co-creator Alec Sulkin sent out a tweet in which he said:
“If you wanna feel better about this earthquake in Japan, google ‘Pearl Harbor death toll.’”
In the meantime, it might not matter. Early buzz for the show has been pretty awful with critics blasting its “not funny” jokes and racial overtones.
So what’s the hope for Dads future? Ultimately the show will offend everyone. If you have watched a few episodes of Seth McFarlane’s Family Guy cartoon series, you know that he hates on everyone equally.
Show producers for Dads have admitted that the series takes a few episodes to find its groove. They promise to continue developing the series towards some type of balance.
Dads along with claims of racism has also been called a sexist romp that favors men.
