If One Were The Other...

     The beauty of television and media is that there are a lot of hypotheticals related to certain scenarios. One of these is the changing of a character's gender from male to female, and vice versa. For this blog, I will discuss a show's characters as if their genders were flipped, and then I will identify certain situations that might occur if the switch was real.

     Let us imagine on a show like Family Guy if Brian, the family dog, was female and Meg, the Griffins' only daughter, was male. We all know that Brian is arguably the character that stands out the most in the show, and I feel as if he were actually female instead of male, he might appeal more to a female audience even if he were to keep all of his characteristics. The only difference is that he would have more boyfriends instead of girlfriends, and he may also be more inclined to share a deep bond with Lois while secretly harboring strong feelings for Peter.

     Now, let us take a look at Meg. Meg is the only daughter of the family, but she is also the oldest. I feel if she were to be made a male, she would then become the oldest brother in an almost all-male household, and she could serve as inspiration for younger brothers Chris and Stewie. I feel like she would also have more attention from the family as well as significantly more luck in her social life unlike the scapegoating she endures as her usual self from everyone she encounters, especially from the family. Just like with Brian having more of an appeal to a female audience if he were made female, it is likely to say that Meg would have a broader appeal from a male audience, and the male perspective surrounding her/him would make for a pretty lengthy discussion on male gender roles.

     This actually sounds like it would be a good idea for a Family Guy episode-one that takes place in an alternate dimension or something, with all of the notable characters the opposite gender with the exact opposite lives as their real-world counterparts. I am actually kind of surprised that this idea has not yet come to fruition. I mean, Rick and Morty did something like it, so why not Family Guy?