I would like to at least ask. I am sure I'm not the first to have this thought, but I really feel a connection to him. You know, via his cartoon TV show writing. I love his work. I love Family Guy and American Dad. You can watch them for the pure comedy of the show if you want. And there is plenty of that. It is light and fluffy and hilarious. I laugh nonstop, but it's the smartest comedy around. I happen to agree with him politically for the most part which works out in my favor, but his message is often so subtle and poignant that I think it transcends most religious, cultural and political divides.
The recent Christmas episode of American Dad, titled "The Rapture" really touched me. I'm Jewish and didn't even know about this "rapture". Well, in all honesty that could be part ofJudaism and I wouldn't have had a clue, but that's neither here nor there.
The Rapture in a nutshell: As usual, Stan Smith is disappointed in his family. We open to the Smiths in their living room on Christmas morning, and Stan seething with disgust. They aren't dressed properly and don't have enough Christian faith, and he's embarrassed to attend church with them on Christmas. But he takes them nonetheless. Upon arrival at church they are unable to find seats because of the "bad" Christians attending church simply because it's Christmas. Francine takes Stan into a closet to...cheer him up. When they come out, they see that everyone is floating up to the sky, naked. The priest (brilliantly left behind) explains it's the rapture and everyone is being called "home". Stan and Francine are left behind, presumably from knocking boots in God's house. He don't like that! Most everyone is raptured, including half of a gay couple, his partner left behind hilariously exclaiming "apparently god does love gays; provided they're tops." Too funny! Stan tries to beg and bribe his way into heaven by offering up Francine as the whore and his temptress. They separate, she hooks up with Jesus, Stan is unable to get to heaven. He becomes a renegade, fighting demons or the devil or what have you. He realizes all he really ever wanted was Francine. He sacrifices himself to save her, so that she can live a happy life with Jesus. Upon his death, Stan is finally "raptured" and heads on up to the pearly gates. He is informed that he'll be taken to his own personal heaven. He's glum and uninterested, as Francine is his true happiness, and he doesn't want to be without her. He enters his own personal heaven and we're transported right back to the beginning of the episode. Stan is in his living room with his family, where 28 minutes early he had bitched and moaned about how horribly they sucked. And there you have it folks. Our families suck sometimes. We are disappointed in them sometimes. They drive us up the wall and embarrass us and you can think sometimes you hate them more than anyone. But they are your very own heaven on earth. Being surrounded by the people you love is all that matters.
So I just wanted to say Seth - I'm pretty sure you're my personal heaven on earth. Gimme a call wink wink.
No comments:
Post a Comment