Stewie Griffin

Template:Family Guy character Stewart Gilligan "Stewie" Griffin is a fictional character in the animated television series Family Guy. He is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, the brother of Chris Griffin and Meg and half-brother of Bertram. He is voiced by the creator of the show, Seth MacFarlane. He is the show's breakout character.

Personality

Stewie is extremely intelligent and speaks with an affected English accent. His Machiavellian ambitions include world domination and matricide. His personality and mannerisms have been compared by Seth MacFarlane to those of a Bond villain. In the commentary of one episode, MacFarlane reveals that Stewie's evil personality is a result of Lois smoking marijuana while pregnant with him, as is mentioned in a dream sequence in the episode "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" (although the episode "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" shows his personality as sinister even while existing as Peter's sperm).

And, as is usual with this unpredictable character, he flip-flops his sociopathic edge occasionally to reveal a warm talented side, particularly for members of his family. He discovered he loves and misses his mother when she spent all her time running for school councilwoman, singing "Accustomed to Her Face" from My Fair Lady. When Brian, in the grip of a cocaine induced dementia screams violently at Megan's unasked-for comments, Stewie rebounds with "Just because you can't feel your teeth doesn't mean the girl can't feel your insults". He admits his affection for his father after being saved from enslavement at Disneyworld's Its a Small World ride. He is a flawless musician, with skills at the piano, banjo, guitar, and tuba; a noteworthy singer/dancer; and can provide answers to complex, university level examinations in seconds. Stewie has also been shown to have certain athletic prowess that is normally unattainable at his age, such as walking and being able to lift or move objects of greater weight than himself, such as dragging away a seven year old bully in "The Kiss Seen Around the World", though this is never really mentioned by anyone on the show.

Stewie's sophisticated attitude/nature and mannerisms are juxtaposed with typical childish interests and drives. He reads literature such as Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and Sun-Tzu, and cites pop culture references that date much further back than his age would permit; however, he is also fascinated by Raffi and the Teletubbies. However, in one episode, he praises Peter for changing the channel when the Teletubbies was on. In the episode The Road to Europe he travels to the BBC in England, in order to meet Mother Maggie, who is the host of a children's television program.

Stewie succumbs to other weaknesses of children his age, such as when Peter plays 'Peek-a-Boo' or when Lois subdues him by blowing on his stomach in "Emission Impossible". MacFarlane has stated that Stewie is meant to represent the general helplessness of an infant through the eyes of an adult.

Stewie's mastery of physics and mechanical engineering are at a science-fictional level. He constructs a laser, advanced fighter-jets, a mind control device, a weather control device, robots, a time machine, and even a robotic model of Peter that spoke in Peter's voice. Stewie employs these to cope with the stresses of infant life (such as teething pain, and eating hated broccoli) and to kill Lois with no success. Stewie seems to be constantly carrying a concealed firearm, which he whips out whenever he wants to.

Stewie's personality has changed significantly over the course of the series; he has gradually grown away from the matricidal tendencies and diabolical genius that so dominated his character during the show's first few seasons. He has also developed a friendly rivalry with Brian, the family dog.

Influences

Some elements of Stewie's personality come from English actor Sir Rex Harrison. MacFarlane has stated that My Fair Lady (starring Harrison) heavily influenced his portrayal of Stewie, and on The Late Show with David Letterman, described Stewie as "Rex Harrison in an infant's body". Family Guy has included several tributes to My Fair Lady, most notably in "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea" and "Running Mates".

Communication with adults

Having asserted he will never take a definite stand on whether Stewie can converse with adults, MacFarlane has given a few general hints.

Writers' decision

The writers can decide which possibility is most appropriate for a given situation, especially when Stewie converses with one-shot characters.

File:Family Guy Freakin' Sweet Collection.jpg

Stewie with Brian, the only family member who takes him seriously.

Brian always understands

Brian is the only main character whose ability to understand Stewie is unambiguous; the two always converse normally. In one Family Guy promo, MacFarlane states Brian understands Stewie.

Adults understand, but disregard Stewie

In the DVD audio commentary for "E. Peterbus Unum", MacFarlane explains adults can understand Stewie, but don't take him seriously, "sort of like... if a four-year-old who [could] talk told you to 'fuck off'." In this manner, characters acknowledge Stewie, but pay no mind to his often-insulting addresses, such as calling Lois by her first name, or Peter "the fat man".

Ambiguous sexuality

There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just I want her... not to be alive anymore. I sometimes wonder if all women are this difficult, and then I think to myself: My God, wouldn't it be marvelous if I turned out to be a homosexual?

— Stewie, video camera confessional from "Fifteen Minutes of Shame"

When the writers began to flesh out Stewie beyond being a generic evil genius in season two, MacFarlane and the writers began to explore the infant's sexuality with a series of one-off gags which hinted that Stewie could be gay. On the commentary of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, the writers describe how they were going to make Stewie discover he was gay, but decided to go "another way." His personality, which is often rather theatrical and effeminate, easily lent itself to such speculation.

Stewie is shown reacting with spontaneous enthusiasm to brief homosexual encounters in several episodes (including "Patriot Games"), and in "Chick Cancer" he wishes men could "get together with their buddies, and just have it be the same thing as being with a woman". Stewie and Brian have kissed in "Deep Throats" and "Saving Private Brian", and Stewie confesses love to Brian in "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou".

MacFarlane planned for the series' third season to end with Stewie coming out of the closet after a near-death experience. However, the show's abrupt cancellation caused MacFarlane to abort these plans. Since that point, MacFarlane has opted to have Stewie portrayed as sexually ambiguous, since, in his eyes, the flexibility of Stewie's sexuality allows for much more freedom in terms of writing for the character.

Stewie has had liaisons and attractions to women as well, notably in "Dammit Janet", where Stewie falls in love with a girl named Janet, and "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", where Stewie falls for his babysitter. In "Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother?", Stewie becomes sexually aroused watching female cheerleaders. In "Chick Cancer", Stewie falls in love and eventually "marries" a child actress named Olivia Fuller.

In "Peter's Two Dads", Stewie discovers that he "gets a jolly out of being hit". As with several other of Stewie's eccentric turn-ons, this may be a single episode situation.

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

Main article: Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

On September 27, 2005, 20th Century Fox released a direct-to-video movie featuring Stewie as the main character, titled Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. The movie follows Stewie's cross-country adventures as he searches for a man he believes to be his real father after seeing him on a television news segment.

The movie was re-edited into 3 half-hour segments and shown as the season finale on May 21, 2006.

Other appearances

• Stewie appeared in a short clip on the 20th annual MTV Video Music Awards insulting rapper 50 Cent, which has become a viral video circulating on numerous online services. Stewie, with blocks spelling out "MTV", Rupert and a baby toy in the background, reads some words from the song "Wanksta" in a comical voice, then commenting: "Well, good luck finding the subject and predicate of that run-on sentence! And what the bloody hell does it mean, "we don't go nowhere without toast"? Now, you listen to me, Mr. Cent. If you want to make it in this business, lay off the doobie!". He then pulls out a hitherto concealed sign reading "Stewie for Governor".
• Stewie's face, on a stick, can be seen in the background of the Tony Kornheiser Michael Wilbon ESPN talk show, Pardon the Interruption.
• On a bonus DVD segment for the Family Guy Soundtrack, Stewie performs a rap/R&B song called "Sexy Party."
• During the 2006 Canadian Election Royal Canadian Air Farce ran their own election with Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton (all leaders of the major parties that election), Jim Harris (whose Green Party, while still minor, was gaining public attention) and "Stewie from Family Guy." Stewie ended up winning by an overwhelming majority of votes.
• Stewie has appeared on the MSNBC news program Countdown with Keith Olbermann, often introducing (or regressing) news stories regarding Bill O'Reilly. On the May 24th show, he introduced O'Reilly as Worst Person in the World (a regular Olbermann segment) on the program. Stewie said, "Oh, wait, Bill, hold still. Allow me to soil myself on you. Victory is mine!" This has been shortened to just "Today's Worst Person in the World." Stewie announced June 1 "Countdown presents: 'Factor Fiction', wherein we expose that bastard Bill O'Reilly lying again." He then repeated what he had said above. This has become the norm on O'Reilly segments most of the time. On June 5, 2006, he introduced "Breaking News" about Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, and American Idol by saying "Oh here we go. Probably some story about Britney Spears or, knowing Keith, some baseball card." He also did an animation saying "Breaking News. Oh this should be rich, must be something of a monumental earth shattering importance or they wouldn't have that Earth there shattering. See it shattering? It's Earth Shattering Breaking News. Oh, do tell me! Tell me, tell me!"
• Stewie (Along with Brian, the latter with no speaking roles) has also appeared on the unaired short of My Name Is Earl called "Bad Karma", in which he influences Earl to get even with everyone who's wronged him. Earl watches him on TV instead of Carson Daly. This short appears on the Season 1 DVD.
• Stewie was an announcer of the 2006 Spike Video Game Awards.
• He made a cameo appearance in The Johnsons episode "Rufus Gets Lost in the Lost Kid Box".
• Stewie appeared as a doll on the VH1 series I Love New York.

Notes

Sources

• S. Callaghan Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide : Seasons 1 - 3 New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2005
• A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 4" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 3.January 2006: 11, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 24, 26 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf

External links

• Stewie Live