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'''Stewart Gilligan Griffin''', more commonly known by his nickname '''"Stewie"''', is a [[fictional character]] in the [[list of animated television series|animated series]] ''[[Family Guy]]''. Stewie is obsessed with [[world domination]] and trying to kill his mother, and has an ambiguous sexuality. He is the youngest and the smartest child of [[Peter Griffin|Peter]] and [[Lois Griffin]] (though, as an infant, he is frequently naive and misunderstands things). In addition to siblings [[Chris Griffin|Chris]] and [[Meg Griffin|Meg]], Stewie has a half-brother [[Bertram (Family Guy)|Bertram]] who is unknown to the other Griffins. Stewie is voiced by [[Seth MacFarlane]] and speaks in an affected [[England|English]] accent.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E1DD1E39F93AA15752C0A96F958260</ref>
'''Stewart Gilligan Griffin''', more commonly known by his nickname '''"Stewie"''' and later '''"Stu"''', is a [[fictional character]] in the [[list of animated television series|animated series]] ''[[Family Guy]]''. Stewie is obsessed with [[world domination]] and trying to kill his mother, and has an ambiguous sexuality. He is the youngest and the smartest child of [[Peter Griffin|Peter]] and [[Lois Griffin]] (though, as an infant, he is frequently naive and misunderstands things). In addition to siblings [[Chris Griffin|Chris]] and [[Meg Griffin|Meg]], Stewie has a half-brother [[Bertram (Family Guy)|Bertram]] who is unknown to the other Griffins. Stewie is voiced by [[Seth MacFarlane]] and speaks in an affected [[England|English]] accent.<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E1DD1E39F93AA15752C0A96F958260</ref>


Stewie is considered to be the show's [[breakout character]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/23365|title=Seth MacFarlane|date=[[2005-01-26]]|author= Nathan Rabin|work=The A.V. Club}}</ref> [[Wizard (magazine)|''Wizard'' magazine]] rated him the 95th greatest villain of all time.<ref>{{cite journal
Stewie is considered to be the show's [[breakout character]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/23365|title=Seth MacFarlane|date=[[2005-01-26]]|author= Nathan Rabin|work=The A.V. Club}}</ref> [[Wizard (magazine)|''Wizard'' magazine]] rated him the 95th greatest villain of all time.<ref>{{cite journal

Revision as of 16:08, 6 September 2008

"Stewie" redirects here. For the formal name Stewart, see Stewart.

Template:Family Guy character

Stewart Gilligan Griffin, more commonly known by his nickname "Stewie" and later "Stu", is a fictional character in the animated series Family Guy. Stewie is obsessed with world domination and trying to kill his mother, and has an ambiguous sexuality. He is the youngest and the smartest child of Peter and Lois Griffin (though, as an infant, he is frequently naive and misunderstands things). In addition to siblings Chris and Meg, Stewie has a half-brother Bertram who is unknown to the other Griffins. Stewie is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and speaks in an affected English accent.[1]

Stewie is considered to be the show's breakout character.[2] Wizard magazine rated him the 95th greatest villain of all time.[3]

Personality

Stewie is one year old and has a sophisticated attitude. He reached his first birthday in the season 1 episode "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", and has remained the same age ever since. Strangely, he talks to Brian about events that happened 3 years ago, although this can be considered normal in Family Guy given that, for example, in A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks Brian claims he knew Andy Warhol who died in 1987, which can be explained using the DC Earth One Earth Two effect, where the characters in Earth Two age normally while on Earth One they remain the same age. His nature and mannerisms are juxtaposed with typical childish interests and actions. While highly literate and able to cite pop culture references that date much further back than his age would let on, he is also entranced by Raffi and the Teletubbies. Stewie succumbs to other weaknesses of children his age—he believes Peter has truly disappeared in a game of Peek-a-Boo, talks to his teddy bear as if he were real, is overcome with laughter when Lois blows on his stomach,[4] and has no idea how to use the toilet. MacFarlane has stated that Stewie is meant to represent the general helplessness of an infant through the eyes of an adult.

Per cartoon physics, his ability to move objects of greater weight than himself is not surprising to other characters, nor is his ability to retrieve firearms from hammerspace.

Stewie's mastery of physics and mechanical engineering are at a level of science fiction. He has constructed advanced fighter-jets, a mind control device, a weather control device, robots, and a time machine.[5] Stewie employs these to cope with the stresses of infant life (such as teething pain, and eating hated broccoli[6]) and to murder his mother Lois, with mixed success at best depending on the objective.

In other episodes, Stewie engages in other violent or criminal acts, including carjacking,[7] loan sharking,[8] forgery,[9] and killing off minor characters.[10] In the Star Wars parody episode "Blue Harvest", Peter imagines Stewie in the role of Darth Vader, which would match his darker personality, although this version of Vader is portrayed as wisecracking and sarcastic. In "The Former Life of Brian", Stewie expresses disappointment at having his face painted as a "kitty-cat", rather than in the likeness of Darth Maul, a Dark Lord of the Sith seen in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Stewie eventually returns to his old ways and realizes his dreams of matricide and world domination in the sixth season two-part episode "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie". The events, however, are reverted in a deus ex machina ending, where most of the story turns out to be a computer simulation.

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."

MacFarlane has also on more than one occasion linked Stewie with the actor David Hyde Pierce. A running gag is that people seem to believe Pierce does the voice of Stewie (he doesn't), and MacFarlane himself jokingly made that claim in the 100th episode celebration special.

Communication with adults

MacFarlane has established a few general rules as to how Stewie communicates with others.[citation needed]

Brian Griffin always understands
Brian is, as of now, the only main character whose ability to understand Stewie is unambiguous;[citation needed] the two always converse normally. In "Running Mates", Brian briefly appears to hear Stewie's thoughts; this phenomenon has not been explored in subsequent episodes.[11]

In two episodes, another baby by the name of Olivia communicates similarly to Stewie, with the exception that she is taken seriously by adults. Also, Jillian (Brian's girlfriend of several episodes) appears to understand Stewie just as well.

Adults understand, but disregard Stewie
At the end of the episode "E. Peterbus Unum", the question of whether adults could understand Stewie is raised. In the DVD audio commentary,[citation needed] MacFarlane explains adults can understand him, but don't take him seriously, "sort of like... if a four-year-old who [could] talk told you to 'fuck off', you'd laugh, because it's cute." In this manner, characters acknowledge Stewie, but pay no mind to his often-insulting addresses, such as calling Peter "the fat man" and referring to Lois by her given name. His insults are occasionally heard, such as when Stewie tells Lois "Why don't you burn in hell?!" Lois replies, "Well, no dessert for you, young man." Stewie generally is insulting to both Meg and Chris, but does acknowledge them. He also is one of the few characters who calls Meg 'Megan'.[12]

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. Ah, 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 scrap this idea in order to retain Stewie's sexual ambiguity for writing purposes.

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, and the episode "Queer is Stewie?" was never produced. Since that point, MacFarlane has opted to have Stewie portrayed as sexually ambiguous, as, in his eyes, the flexibility of Stewie's sexuality allows for much more freedom in terms of writing for the character.

Stewie is shown reacting with spontaneous enthusiasm to brief homosexual encounters in several episodes, 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". A few episodes depict Stewie imagining homoerotic adventures with his teddy bear, Rupert.[13] In several situations Stewie is implied to have an attraction for Brian,[14] and in one episode tries to trick Brian into having sex with him.[15] Stewie has also cross-dressed in several episodes.[16][17] In one episode, when Brian and Stewie are setting up a bet, Stewie asks Brian if he wants to "kiss on it". In a cutaway gag, Stewie states that he likes to go to gay bars to relax (whether or not the other Griffins are aware of this is unknown) and in another he aspires to be the effeminate male friend of the popular girls upon going to high school, and his effeminate teenage self shows homosexual tendencies.

Stewie has also had liaisons and attractions to girls, 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 undress. He then glances down at his pants and exclaims, "It appears my wee-wee has been struck with rigor mortis." In "Chick Cancer", Stewie falls in love with a child actress named Olivia Fuller. Several episodes depicting Stewie's possible adult self portray him in a heterosexual relationship, or pursuing one.[18]

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

Stewie almost completely came out of the closet in "The Former Life of Brian". At several different points in the episode Stewie makes several telling remarks about his sexuality:

  • When Stewie is introducing Dylan to the rest of the family, he says that Dylan is handsome and muscular.
  • When Lois asks Stewie how he would feel if Dylan stays in his room, Stewie sarcastically states "No, my pants just got shorter because I hated the idea."
  • When Brian is monitoring Dylan with Stewie's baby monitor, an apparently naked Stewie asks Dylan to join his "Naked Tea Party." "Got my teacup here. Now all I need is a teabag," Stewie says, "That something that interests you, my friend?" When Dylan calls Stewie "weird," Stewie retorts with "Yeah, and you're attractive. NOW TAKE YOUR FUCKING PANTS OFF!" (The word "fuck" is bleeped out).
  • When Brian and Dylan are high in Stewie's/Dylan's room, Stewie walks by, naked, and states, "Just passin' on through. See anything you like, speak up," referencing his series-long attraction to Brian and his episode-long attraction to Dylan.

MacFarlane later elaborated:

He originally began as this diabolical villain, but then we delved into the idea of his confused sexuality. We all feel that Stewie is almost certainly gay, and he’s in the process of figuring it out for himself. We haven’t ever really locked into it because we get a lot of good jokes from both sides, but we treat him oftentimes as if we were writing a gay character.

— Seth MacFarlane, "Big Gay Following", The Advocate interview[19]

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 three half-hour episodes and shown as the season finale on May 21, 2006.[20]

Bertram

File:Bertram.png
Stewie's half brother, Bertram

Bertram is Stewie's mostly-antagonistic half-brother, and is voiced by Wallace Shawn. While exploring his father's internal organs using his miniaturized submarine (a la the films Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace), Stewie first meets Bertram as the homuncular inhabitant of a gunship-like spermatozoon (all of Peter's sperm, including Stewie at this stage in existence, appear this way). Their personalities are similar, and in battle they are evenly matched.[4] Bertram returns post-natally, having been sired by Peter via sperm bank donation.[21] Curiously, Bertram was never audibly named in his first appearance, although this could be explained by the fact that he wasn't born yet and his parents named him, and though Stewie refers to him as "Bertram" in all subsequent appearances, he did not do so when they first parted ways.

Bertram appears to rival Stewie in virtually every way, including his skill with firearms and hand-to-hand combat. He is very similar to Stewie in appearance as well, the only difference being he has a more pudgy face, freckles, and a tress of red hair on top of his head; every other physical aspect is identical between the two. When not battling each other, they seem to get along quite well, considering they have so much in common, especially their hatred for Lois among other things.

While technically a half-brother to Chris and Meg, Bertram appears only to Stewie in these episodes; it is not made clear whether Bertram occupies the same reality as the rest of Griffin family in the logic of the show. Brian seems to have some knowledge of his existence,[episode needed] but it is uncertain if he is aware of his relation to Stewie.

Video game

In Family Guy Video Game!, Stewie discovers Bertram attempting to outdo him in taking over the world. Desperate to stop him, Stewie shrinks himself and makes his way to Bertram's lair within Peter's testicles to discover his plan, destroys his henchman cloning lab, and rescues a kidnapped Rupert from a rocket. He finally confronts Bertram in the park, where Bertram turns himself into a giant.

Other appearances

File:Stewie Griffin by Gage Skidmore.jpg
A Stewie Griffin life-sized costume used at the 2008 Comic Con in San Diego, California during a Family Guy panel event.
  • Stewie has appeared as a Spokesperson for Snapvine.com, speaking as Darth Vader and asking users what they would blow up with the Death Star, while promoting the Lucas-McFarlane project "Blue Harvest".
  • 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 ESPN talk show Pardon the Interruption.
  • 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 anglophone parties of that election), Jim Harris (whose Green Party, while still minor, was gaining public attention) and "Stewie from Family Guy." Stewie ended up winning with 36 percent of the 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 24, 2006 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.
  • Stewie and Brian appeared at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards performing a musical number poking fun at networks and current shows on the air, while also poking fun at new programs, such as the one based on the GEICO Cavemen. The song was based on the FCC song from the episode "PTV".[citation needed]
  • Stewie — in parade balloon form — appeared in a commercial for Coca-Cola that aired during Super Bowl XLII. During the course of the commercial, the Stewie balloon and the Underdog balloon fight over a floating bottle of Coke. During the course of the battle the bottle floats away from them and into the waiting arms of a Charlie Brown balloon.
  • Stewie appeared briefly in the comic strip Pearls Before Swine, where Rat claimed to Pig that setting up TiVo was as easy as taking candy from a baby, then Stewie is revealed to be holding a candy cane next to them, calling Pig "Fatman" and threatening to kill him if he touches the candy cane.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E1DD1E39F93AA15752C0A96F958260
  2. ^ Nathan Rabin (2005-01-26). "Seth MacFarlane". The A.V. Club. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ McCallum, Pat (2006). "100 Greatest Villains Ever". Wizard (177). 95. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy) {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysource=, |laydate=, and |laysummary= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b "Emission Impossible". Family Guy. Season 3. Episode 11. 2001-11-08. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "s03e11" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Mind Over Murder". Family Guy. Season 1. Episode 4. 1999-04-25. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help) Stewie builds a time machine.
  6. ^ "I Never Met the Dead Man". Family Guy. Season 1. Episode 2. 1999-04-11. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Road to Rupert". Family Guy. Season 5. Episode 9. 2007-01-28. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Patriot Games". Family Guy. Season 4. Episode 20. 2006-01-29. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Back to the Woods". Family Guy. Season 6. Episode 9. 2008-02-17. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Saving Private Brian". Family Guy. Season 5. Episode 4. 2006-11-05. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Running Mates". Family Guy. Season 2. Episode 10. 2000-04-11. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Death Has a Shadow". Family Guy. Season 1. Episode 1. 1999-01-31. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)After Stewie fails to kill her, Lois tells Stewie to go play in the other room. Stewie: "Why don't you burn in hell!". Lois: "Well, no dessert for you, young man."
  13. ^ In "Stewie Kills Lois", Stewie imagines Rupert and him at carnival where Rupert wins Stewie a stuffed animal.
  14. ^ In The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Stewie dances with Brian and while being held by him, whispers "I love you" as they're ballroom dancing together,
  15. ^ "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)". You should just have sex with the next person you see. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Boys Do Cry". {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help) Stewie enters a girls' beauty contest.
  17. ^ "Deep Throats". {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure". Family Guy. Season 4. Episode 30. 2006-05-21. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help) As with several cutaway gags depicting future Stewie, this episode seems to have no continuity with other episodes.
  19. ^ Voss, Brandon (2008-02-26). "BGF: Seth MacFarlane". Advocate.com. PlanetOut. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  20. ^ The three segments, written by different writers, are "Stewie B. Goode", "Bango Was His Name Oh!", and "Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure".
  21. ^ "Sibling Rivalry". Family Guy. Season 4. Episode 22. 2006-03-26. Fox. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
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