I won't go into the plot as it's already detailed in the synopsis, and in other reviews, but I will point to what I found to be the major issues of this episode.
For me, it basically stems from the fact that when the family are laughing about quagmire's parent, there isn't the voice of reason we come to expect in the family dynamic. Usually, their ignorance will either be shown for what it is by events, or one of the more liberal characters - usually Brian, will point out how narrow-minded Peter (usually) is being. With this episode, we have Brian being the one portrayed as being ''wronged'' so to a degree, I can understand him not being the voice of reason - though even then I'd have expected Brian to be angry/simply shocked, rather than the whole vomit sequence.
In addition, until this episode, Lois had never really come across as being this against ''alternative'' lifestyles, or rather, I'd always seen her as fairly liberal-minded, even if not a card-carrying liberal. Her speech about Quagmire's dad basically being gay, even though he is now a she just seemed ignorant, and no one in the show actually pointed this out. It was made worse because it was delivered in such a matter- of-fact manner that anyone watching it would/could only view it as an opinion by the writers.
A lot of people watching this wouldn't know much about gender dysmorphism, so the lack of knowledge exhibited by the characters led to the whole sensibility of the episode feeling very one-sided. I also think having Brian in the situation he ended up in was pandering to the myth of transsexuals 'trapping' men they pick up, perpetuated by various programs (Seen at least two crime shows have the victim be either pre or post-op MtF transsexual that got killed due to their 'trapping' practise's - including one particular episode of Diagnosis Murder where she was sleeping with her ex squaddies, only to 'reveal' to them her pre-op status, and then bribe them for money, only then to be killed by their ex out of envy, or something similar. The issue with this is that even if it were something that happens, it'd be a very tiny minority, and so to use that stereotype as the basis for supposedly trying to show up bigotry feels inept.
On a side note, I also dislike how little notice Dan gives Quagmire before he transitions... Well, rather than transitioning, he goes into a building dressed as a man, then leaves as a woman in what seem like seconds. I'm not entirely sure how the system works in America, but I assume it still takes at -least- a year of transitioning before doctors would accept you as ready for surgery, which again, is something a lot of TV manages to forget - South Park did the same thing with Garrison just going to have an op, but at least under their approach, it was more to do with Garrison not speaking to his partner until after he'd gone through with it (I'll not touch the Dolphin episode).
Anyway, to sum up: I really think the writers need to properly understand their target before writing what in this case simply came across as hugely misguided, and incredibly unpleasant viewing. I'm a transsexual, and I'd not even say I was offended. Rather, that I was deeply disappointed that a show I normally respect essentially dropped the ball. and if in trying to tackle an issue, you only anger/disappoint/offend those you're supposed to be talking about, then perhaps you need to rethink your strategy.
I simply didn't feel as though they were on my side.
For me, it basically stems from the fact that when the family are laughing about quagmire's parent, there isn't the voice of reason we come to expect in the family dynamic. Usually, their ignorance will either be shown for what it is by events, or one of the more liberal characters - usually Brian, will point out how narrow-minded Peter (usually) is being. With this episode, we have Brian being the one portrayed as being ''wronged'' so to a degree, I can understand him not being the voice of reason - though even then I'd have expected Brian to be angry/simply shocked, rather than the whole vomit sequence.
In addition, until this episode, Lois had never really come across as being this against ''alternative'' lifestyles, or rather, I'd always seen her as fairly liberal-minded, even if not a card-carrying liberal. Her speech about Quagmire's dad basically being gay, even though he is now a she just seemed ignorant, and no one in the show actually pointed this out. It was made worse because it was delivered in such a matter- of-fact manner that anyone watching it would/could only view it as an opinion by the writers.
A lot of people watching this wouldn't know much about gender dysmorphism, so the lack of knowledge exhibited by the characters led to the whole sensibility of the episode feeling very one-sided. I also think having Brian in the situation he ended up in was pandering to the myth of transsexuals 'trapping' men they pick up, perpetuated by various programs (Seen at least two crime shows have the victim be either pre or post-op MtF transsexual that got killed due to their 'trapping' practise's - including one particular episode of Diagnosis Murder where she was sleeping with her ex squaddies, only to 'reveal' to them her pre-op status, and then bribe them for money, only then to be killed by their ex out of envy, or something similar. The issue with this is that even if it were something that happens, it'd be a very tiny minority, and so to use that stereotype as the basis for supposedly trying to show up bigotry feels inept.
On a side note, I also dislike how little notice Dan gives Quagmire before he transitions... Well, rather than transitioning, he goes into a building dressed as a man, then leaves as a woman in what seem like seconds. I'm not entirely sure how the system works in America, but I assume it still takes at -least- a year of transitioning before doctors would accept you as ready for surgery, which again, is something a lot of TV manages to forget - South Park did the same thing with Garrison just going to have an op, but at least under their approach, it was more to do with Garrison not speaking to his partner until after he'd gone through with it (I'll not touch the Dolphin episode).
Anyway, to sum up: I really think the writers need to properly understand their target before writing what in this case simply came across as hugely misguided, and incredibly unpleasant viewing. I'm a transsexual, and I'd not even say I was offended. Rather, that I was deeply disappointed that a show I normally respect essentially dropped the ball. and if in trying to tackle an issue, you only anger/disappoint/offend those you're supposed to be talking about, then perhaps you need to rethink your strategy.
I simply didn't feel as though they were on my side.
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