Fox TV’s irreverent animated series aired an episode this summer that showcases a comic musical number called “You Have AIDS.” Overburdened AIDS service organizations are not amused.

By Bob Adams

An Advocate.com exclusive posted, August 22, 2005


Fox

The Fox TV network and its animated comedy series Family Guy apparently think AIDS is a laughing matter.

AIDS groups are leveling harsh criticism against the network after it aired and then reran an episode of the show that includes a lengthy song-and-dance joke about a sick man who is diagnosed with AIDS.

The episode--titled “The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire”--aired on June 12 and was rerun on August 14.

In the show, the program’s main character, Peter Griffin, offers to tell a friend that his wife is cheating on him because of his self-proclaimed gifted way of breaking bad news to people. As an example of this alleged skill, the program shows a flashback as to how Peter told a gaunt man lying in a hospital bed of his AIDS diagnosis. The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay.

Peter is shown as part of a barbershop quartet that dances around the ill man’s hospital room, singing “You got the AIDS” and making it clear that the man is not just HIV-positive but has developed “full-blown AIDS.” The shocking song-and-dance number continues to speculate about how the man became infected: “when you stuck that filthy needle in here,” sung as the quartet points at the man’s arm, or through unprotected sex.

The full lyrics of the song are as follows:

You have AIDS.
Yes, you have AIDS.
I hate to tell you, boy, you have AIDS.
You got the AIDS.
You may have caught it when you stuck that filthy needle in here.
Or maybe all that unprotected sex which we hear.
It isn’t clear, but what we’re certain of is that you have AIDS.
Yes, you have AIDS.
Not HIV, but full-blown AIDS.
Be sure that you see that this is not HIV, but full blown AIDS.
Not HIV, but full-blown AIDS.
I’m sorry, I wish it was something less serious, but it’s AIDS.
You’ve got the AIDS.

The episode was written by Family Guy writers Patrick Henry and Mike Henry, and directed by James Purdum.

Fox officials defended airing and rerunning the episode, saying Family Guy intends to push the boundaries of good taste through its brand of insult-laden humor and that the show has targeted many demographic groups, not just HIV-positive people.

“Over the years, Family Guy has skewered virtually every ethnic, religious, and social group,” says Fox spokesman Steven Melnick. “The audience that tunes into this series is well-aware of what to expect from the show--a subversive and sometimes shocking comedic view that occasionally skirts the borders of appropriateness. This scene is not a joke about HIV but rather Peter’s ignorance and inability to convey bad news. Given the nature of this series as well as the well-established cluelessness of this particular character, the scene--while certainly abrasive--is not beyond the expectation of the Family Guy audience.”

But AIDS groups aren’t amused. And they’re not buying Fox’s defense of the show, saying that joking about a disease that affects more than 40 million people worldwide, most of whom will die of the ailment, is reprehensible and serves only to worsen AIDS-related stigma.

“A barbershop quartet singing blithely about AIDS is about as funny as a song about breast cancer or leukemia, especially to the people living with the disease,” says AIDS Project Los Angeles executive director Craig E. Thompson. “It is inexcusable for Fox to air a program that stigmatizes AIDS and less than subtly reinforces homophobia. It should be socially unacceptable to see this kind of garbage passing for entertainment in 2005.”

David Munar, associate director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, says that while Family Guy may have been attempting to use dark humor to show the inappropriateness of delivering bad news through a song-and-dance number, that message might have been lost due to the subject matter of the song. “The risk, of course, is that some viewers might not get the joke and believe that AIDS has become a casual, laughing matter,” he says.

Both the AIDS Institute, based in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia’s ActionAIDS believe Fox and Family Guy officials owe HIV-positive people--and all those working in the AIDS arena--an apology for suggesting that becoming infected with HIV or developing AIDS is funny.

“The portrayal of HIV/AIDS on Family Guy was irresponsible,” says AIDS Institute executive director Gene Copello. “There is nothing comical about a person lying in a hospital bed dying of AIDS or any other disease. Fox owes people living with HIV/AIDS and their families an immediate apology.”

Kevin Burns, executive director of ActionAIDS, says, “It is disturbing that Fox television would take such a cavalier approach to the subject of HIV/AIDS and the difficult task of informing someone of an AIDS diagnosis. Fox owes the community an apology. In addition, they should consider the many opportunities they have to support people living with HIV/AIDS and to educate the larger community about HIV/AIDS treatment, care, and prevention.”

Fox officials did not respond to requests for additional comments.

8/25/2005 9:57:09 AM

you know what i find offensive

our national policy regarding foreign aid to help solve the worlds AIDS crisis

8/25/2005 10:00:12 AM

Quote :

"The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay."

wtf is that shit

8/25/2005 10:01:12 AM

its bob adams' way of showing he is a bigot who has his own stereotypes about gay people

WHEN EVERYBODY KNOWS GAY PEOPLE ARE SOME OF THE CLEANEST SHAVEN FOLKS IN THE COUNTRY

8/25/2005 10:03:33 AM

DUE TO AIDS

8/25/2005 10:05:22 AM

What a bunch of cock-gobblers.

8/25/2005 10:05:26 AM

I guess the funny part is that these bitches complaining will be dead in a few years.

8/25/2005 10:19:21 AM

yet the comedy will LIVE FOREVER

even though i didn't find that joke, or that episode, to really be funny
at least until the end when quagmire + cleveland had the rocky still

plus

trey + matt did it!

8/25/2005 10:31:45 AM

Everyone has AIDS!
AIDS AIDS AIDS!
AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS!
Everyone has AIDS!

And so this is the end of our story
And everyone is dead from AIDS
It took from me my best friend
My only true pal
My only bright star (he died of AIDS)

Well I'm gonna march on Washington
Lead the fight and charge the brigades
There's a hero inside of all of us
I'll make them see everyone has AIDS

My father (AIDS!)
My sister (AIDS!)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS AIDS AIDS!)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades

Everyone has AIDS!
My grandma and my dog 'ol blue (AIDS AIDS AIDS)
The pope has got it and so do you (AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS)
C'mon everybody we got quilting to do (AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS AIDS)
We gotta break down these baricades, everyone has
AIDS!

8/25/2005 10:40:16 AM

you know what i find offensive

our national policy regarding foreign aid to help solve the worlds AIDS crisis

8/25/2005 10:41:45 AM

Quote :

"“Over the years, Family Guy has skewered virtually every ethnic, religious, and social group,” "

NO ONE IS SAFE!!!!

which is how it should be, heh
unbiased comedy!!!

8/25/2005 10:47:05 AM

^^ what, you think that telling all the Africans in the world to simply stop having sex isn't enough? You think that passing out and encouraging condom use actually promotes sex and worsens the problem? jeez man, get the with times. ABSTINENCE RULES!!

[Edited on August 25, 2005 at 10:49 AM. Reason : .]

8/25/2005 10:48:46 AM

i saw some shit where Ashley Judd and India Irie went over to somewhere in Africa to encourage abstinence and spread AIDS awareness...dunno...if Ashley Judd was talking to me I would not be thinking about abstinence

8/25/2005 11:03:21 AM

Quote :

"“A barbershop quartet singing blithely about AIDS is about as funny as a song about breast cancer or leukemia, especially to the people living with the disease,” "

and there all like, WHAT A GREAT IDEA

look for jokes on the boob cancer and sick children with leukemia

REAL SICK CHILDREN

AHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

8/25/2005 12:03:44 PM

For anyone who hasn't heard it, I ripped it for yas:

http://home.nc.rr.com/denden/youvegotaids.mp3
right click, save as

8/25/2005 12:34:32 PM

Apparently that was the only offensive thing that has ever aired on Family Guy.

8/25/2005 12:52:06 PM

Hey, have any of you ladies been penetrated?

8/25/2005 1:36:59 PM

Quote :

"The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay. "

holy shit does that mean Im gay

8/25/2005 1:47:23 PM

haha she cant eat caramel

8/25/2005 1:48:06 PM

Quote :

"“Over the years, Family Guy has skewered virtually every ethnic, religious, and social group,” says Fox spokesman Steven Melnick. “The audience that tunes into this series is well-aware of what to expect from the show--a subversive and sometimes shocking comedic view that occasionally skirts the borders of appropriateness. This scene is not a joke about HIV but rather Peter’s ignorance and inability to convey bad news. Given the nature of this series as well as the well-established cluelessness of this particular character, the scene--while certainly abrasive--is not beyond the expectation of the Family Guy audience.”"

That's a pretty good defense of the segment.

Quagmire's worst moments are far more disturbing than that AIDS song has ever been. I hope they don't edit it out of future reruns or DVDs.

8/25/2005 2:17:55 PM

I KNOW

how about the insinuated rape of a teenage girl in a bathroom stale

...

Dear diary: Jackpot

8/25/2005 2:25:11 PM

exactly

if people aren't gonna bitch about that they need to STFU

"I felt guilty once, but she woke up halfway through"

8/25/2005 3:14:15 PM

Quote :

"Quagmire's worst moments are far more disturbing than that AIDS song has ever been. I hope they don't edit it out of future reruns or DVDs."

Refresh my memory please?

8/25/2005 3:22:42 PM

my side hurts... too funny to see straight.... *breathe* hahahahahahahahahahaha

8/25/2005 3:30:21 PM

Quote :

"The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay."

just worth repeating one more time

8/25/2005 5:02:44 PM

people with aids are too sensitive

GET OVER IT

8/25/2005 7:19:01 PM

Quote :

"The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay."

I think it's interesting that Family guy only mentions the "needle" method of contracting aids in the song when I expected them to go for the much more funny gay shot there, which they obviously avoided.

Additionally a goatee is a definate fashion do not girlfriend!

8/25/2005 7:50:00 PM

Rubbers are the tool of the devil. The Africans should be greatful that America helps prevent the evils of promiscuity.

8/25/2005 9:20:43 PM

8/25/2005 9:25:36 PM