I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar

"I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American animated series Family Guy. It first aired on Fox in the United States on March 28, 2000. Candice Bergen and Faith Ford guest starred as Gloria Ironbox and Sarah Bennett, respectively.

"I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar"
Family Guy episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 8
Directed byMonte Young
Written byChris Sheridan
Production code2ACX02
Original air dateMarch 28, 2000
Guest appearance(s)

This episode is included in the Freakin' Sweet Collection. The fact that this episode was first broadcast on the same day as the previous episode "The King Is Dead" caused series creator Seth MacFarlane to become concerned the show was soon to be canceled.[1]

Plot

Peter and the neighbors are notified by mail that they will receive free boats if they attend a timeshare sales pitch. However, during a high-pressure sales interview, Peter trades the boat for a mystery box, which turns out to contain tickets for a comedy club. At the club, Peter becomes drunk and attempts to tell jokes on stage. Before his brief performance, during which he mostly abuses the audience, he puts his beer bottle without the lid on in his pocket, which spills down his trousers, making it look like he wet himself. The audience, amused that Peter looks like he peed himself, laughs hysterically, making a drunk Peter to believe they liked his jokes. This leads Peter to believe his humor could be a hit.

Continuing his hubris, Peter tells a sexist joke at his job at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory that offends female co-worker Sarah Bennett who sues Peter and the factory for sexual harassment. Her lawyer, Gloria Ironbox, offers to drop the charges if Peter goes to a sensitivity-training program. But after he squeezes Gloria's breast which proves that the program has had no effect, he's further sent on a women's retreat, where he continues to make insensitive comments until he endures pain comparable to childbirth: taking his bottom lip and stretching it behind his head.

By the time he returns home, he has become very effeminate. At first, Lois appreciates Peter's new sensitive nature, but she is soon tired of him spending more time in front of the mirror, doing pregnancy tests and scolding Lois for slavishly attending to her husband. She appeals to Peter's friends for help, even going to Glenn Quagmire's house to confess that the "new" Peter is not meeting all her needs. Meanwhile, the other guys try to bring Peter back to normal by bringing him among his "fellow men." Cleveland takes Peter to a black convention (a nod to the Million Man March) where Peter blames the assemblage for all the crime and problems and chides them that they should be ashamed for ruining society; they mistakenly believe he is a racist and chase him through the streets.

But when Peter and Lois attend a women's gala, Gloria insults Lois by saying that her current lifestyle is the reason for Peter's former disrespect for women. Lois reminds her that she is a woman and that she chooses to be a mother and housewife. When Gloria says Lois' children must be "screwed up," Lois furiously punches her and they both get into a clothes-shredding catfight which turns Peter on. After Lois pins Gloria to the floor, Peter pulls Lois out and rushes her home to have sex. When they finish, Lois comments on how wonderful it was. Her voice startles Peter as he has already forgotten that she is still there, but since she is, he asks her to make him a sandwich. This pleases Lois because it means he is back to his old self.

Reception

In his 2008 review, Ahsan Haque of IGN, rating the episode an 8.5/10, stated that the episode is "cleverly written" and features "a couple of the best scenes in the entire series". However, he noted that "the over-the-top satire might not hit the right chords with everyone".[2]

Lawsuit

In July 2013, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario dismissed a frivolous and vexatious complaint filed under the name "Gloria Ironbox." The complaint was dismissed largely because the tribunal quickly learned that the name was the same of that of a parody feminist character in this episode. The complaint attacked the "heteronormative" and "phallocentric" nature of the A&W Burger Family. The complainant sought $50,000 in damages and an order requiring A&W to adopt product names which better represented the "LGBTQ2S" community. One suggested product was the "Pillow Biter", described by Ironbox as "a large and thick dark wiener stuffed firmly between two, white, clenched buns." The Tribunal found the complaint "outrageous", "frivolous and vexatious" and "an abuse of process."[3][4]

References
  1. Callaghan, Steve (2005). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. HarperCollins. p. 72. ISBN 0-06-083305-X.
  2. Haque, Ahsan (3 September 2008). "Family Guy: "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  3. News; Canada (2013-07-26). "'Heteronormative' Burger Family no threat to LGBT, rights tribunal says after receiving 'outrageous' complaint | National Post". Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  4. http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/749321/human-rights-tribunal-tosses-case-by-fake-family-guy-feminist-gloria-dawn-ironbox/
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