And then…they came for the cartoons.
Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry recently joined the woke brigade when he announced that he will no longer be reprising his role as Cleveland Brown, a black character with his own spinoff show. Henry’s reasoning is that he is a white man, and that only people of color should do voice work for fictional people of color.
For those that haven’t seen the show, Family Guy is an adult-themed animated sit-com following the antics of Peter Griffin and his family. Cleveland Brown is a frequently occurring supporting character, and one of Peter Griffin’s drinking buddies. The humor in the program is intentionally crass, and has been known for pushing the boundaries.
But this isn’t the first time leftist cancel culture has forced a talent out of his role. Years ago, Simpson’s voice actor Hank Azaria stepped down from his role as “Apu”, an Indian character that featured a stereotypical accent and attire. The role was already considered controversial because Apu was essentially a parody of the culture he was depicting. Family Guy’s Cleveland Brown, on the other hand, did not appear to depict Brown in any sort of racially insensitive way.
None of this matters anymore, apparently, because comedy itself is cancelled.
If you’re a fan of programs like Family Guy, ask yourself a serious question: did you even know that Cleveland was voiced by a white man? Does the biological background of the voice actor impact the performance in any meaningful way? Or, is it possible that the entire entertainment industry is stuck in a performative phase that doesn’t really change anything?
Ultimately, it was Henry’s decision to no longer reprise his role — and he is of course fully within his right to do just that. But what exactly does any of this accomplish? Is Hollywood ending qualified immunity for bad police officers? Did HBO cure racism by taking down “Gone with the Wind”?
None of this virtue signaling actually does anything — but leftists really want you to think that it does.
Here’s Anthony Brian Logan to break it all down.
