Meg Griffin
Encyclopedia
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy
. She is the eldest child of Lois
and Peter
and elder sister of Chris
and Stewie
. Meg is considered as the black sheep
of the series due to the lack of attention she receives.
's jokes due to her homeliness, tendency toward social awkwardness and lack of popularity. Everyone in her family, especially Peter and Chris, makes fun of her in every possible way they can, although on several occasions the family's true love for her has been proven. She has been so self-conscious and insecure about herself that she has engaged in dangerous sexual behavior just for attention. She is also prone to violent releases of her repressed rage, as shown in "Road to Rupert
" assaulting a man who insulted her after a fender-bender.
episode "Hot Tub", Cree Summer
claims she was offered the role to play Meg but was dismissed by the producers. Meg was voiced by an uncredited Lacey Chabert
for the first season, and by Mila Kunis
in subsequent seasons, though some of Chabert's work became second season episodes due to production order. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show
. MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her. MacFarlane stated that Kunis "had a very natural quality to Meg" and she's "in a lot of ways [...] almost more right for the character". Tara Charendoff-Strong provides Meg's singing voice in "Don't Make Me Over."
and a pink beanie
even underneath other headgear. She also commonly wears a pink and white shirt, blue jeans and tan or white Birkenstock
clogs. She is slightly shorter than her younger brother Chris. Meg is also self-conscious about her appearance
("I'm so fat and gross.").
jokes due to her homeliness and tendency towards social awkwardness. Because of her eagerness for acceptance, she has been recruited unknowingly into a suicidal religious cult, and, later, recruited, again unwittingly, into her school's Lesbian
Alliance ("Brian Sings and Swings
"). However, in some episodes, Meg is seen with a group of girls who are attending her slumber party and gossiping about boys. In later episodes, these girls are characterized as being highly unpopular and dateless, much like Meg, even saying that she was the only one of them who ever had a boyfriend (actually a decaying corpse
she was "dating").
to have an excuse not to go to a dance with her the following night. On another occasion, Meg and Lois are looking for new clothes for Meg, but with no luck (a saleswoman ended up pouring gasoline on herself, lighting a match, catching fire, and then jumping out of a window after looking at her in a pair of jeans). However, she is sought by nerd Neil Goldman. In 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter, Neil starts dating a girl named Cecilia, Meg becomes instantly jealous and pretends to date Jake Tucker to make him jealous. This leads to her signing a contract to become Neil's girlfriend and (not knowing at first) his slave, but she gets him to tear up the contract after Lois seduces him. Perverted neighbor Glenn Quagmire
has shown a repeated interest in her, mostly due to his very low standard, asking if she has reached the age of consent
(which would be 16 in Rhode Island, but he always asks if she is 18, which is what many people assume is the nation-wide age of consent). In several episodes she is shown dating, including stories with characters Mayor Adam West
and nudist Jeff Campbell. She also loses her virginity
on live television to Saturday Night Live
host Jimmy Fallon
after having a drastic makeover; but, before all that happens, she goes out with a rebel at her school named Craig Hoffman.
In the episode "Brian Sings and Swings
", a lesbian student named Sarah invites Meg to join in her Lesbian Alliance Club, with Meg not knowing at first what kind of club it was. Desperate to fit in, she pretends to be a lesbian
and also pretends to be attracted to Sarah and even goes so far as to kiss her to prove it. At the end of the episode, Meg goes over Sarah's house to admit she lied about being a lesbian (Sarah thought that Meg came over to have sex
and even undresses herself when Meg is telling her that she lied), much to Glenn's disappointment. She also used to have a crush on anchorman Tom Tucker, but it ended after she discovered his vanity and selfishness.
In other episodes, she is portrayed as chronically incapable of finding a boyfriend. For her Junior Prom
she accepts a pity date from Brian
, the family dog and only after threatening suicide
.
Earlier in season 2, she dated Joe Swanson's son Kevin Swanson, but in "Stew-Roids" it is mentioned that Kevin died in Iraq. In the episode, "Prick Up Your Ears
", she dates a boy named Doug, but he breaks up with her when he sees her naked right before almost having sex. In the episode "Peter's Daughter
", Meg falls in love with a med-student named Michael Milano after coming out of a short coma (caused by Peter when he asked her to "rescue" beer out of an already flooded kitchen) and they start to date. After he breaks up with Meg (because of Peter being overprotective of her after promising that if she came out of the coma, he would "treat her like a princess"), she announces that she is pregnant by Michael and the two get engaged. After finding out that she is not actually pregnant, Meg tells Michael the truth hoping that he will stay, however, Michael quickly leaves Meg at the altar. In the episode Dial Meg for Murder
, she is dating a convict, while in the episode Go, Stewie, Go! she dates an attractive young man named Anthony, who is absolutely normal (much to the surprise and chagrin of many of the other characters). It is presumed that she broke up with him after he and Lois had an affair.
Meg also shows extremely possessive behavior when she encounters someone she believes she has a romantic connection with such as kidnapping Brian and detaining Bonnie Swanson at the airport by planting a gun in her purse.
Meg is the oldest child in the Griffin family, and the most misunderstood, at least by Peter, Chris, and others who are shown avoiding her company, disparaging her in person, gathering in her bedroom to read her diary for laughs, etc. Peter reminds Lois, "We agreed that if we could only save two, we'd leave Meg!" even randomly shooting her when she simply said "Hi Dad" ("Peter's Daughter
") but despite this he also was going to say "I love you" in "Hell Comes to Quahog
", and in "Road to Rupert
" he stated they were 'secret best friends' before throwing lemonade in her face, saying he would have to continue to treat her badly in public in order to maintain his reputation due to "peer pressure", thus giving hope that they may be on good terms. Occasionally, when Meg asks a question to Peter or just speaks when he is in the room, Peter responds by saying "Shut up, Meg"-immediately followed by a line from another character.
When the family tries an anger management technique of writing letters and not sending them, Meg finds Peter's letter to her, which says, "Dear Meg, for the first four years of your life, I thought that you were a house cat." And in Peter's short story of her birth, they had to go back to get her once they realized they grabbed the afterbirth
. In the episode "Stewie Kills Lois", Peter tells guests on a cruise ship about how he and Lois had gone to get an abortion
but decided against it when they arrived at the clinic and found out the abortionist had one hand. He then says "2 months later, our daughter Meg was born" – indicating that they had not planned her birth. Another hint to this is when Meg is in the car with Lois and at an attempt to make civilized conversation, says, "Hey Meg, did you know that if you're on birth control and you take an antibiotic it makes it not work? 'Cause no one told me! I just thought you should know" and laughs awkwardly. On Meg's 17th birthday, her mother and father both try to hide from Meg that they do not remember her age. Peter openly states that Meg sucks in the episode "PTV
", and Chris says the same thing about her in "Long John Peter
". In "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
", Brian says to Meg's face that she lives in a home "where nobody respects or cares about [her], not even enough to get [her] a damn mumps
shot!" Chris, however, seems to have more of a typical brother-sister relationship with Meg. Although they fight and argue from time to time, he tends to go to her for advice. Chris even once threatened to quit his job if his boss didn't re-hire Meg (at the insistence of Lois). Like Chris, Meg has an anthropomorphic monkey in her closet, and although she has proved it, her family coldly state that they were talking about Chris', not hers. Cleveland
comments to Peter "Meg is my least favorite of your children."
Apparently, a double standard
also exists against Meg, further underscoring the mistreatment she suffers from the people around her. In "Big Man on Hippocampus
", an episode wherein Peter loses his memory, as he reacquaints himself with the pleasures of sex
, Lois tells him that it is inappropriate to have sex with his own children; in response, Meg attempts an incest joke. Most of the family lambaste her for this and Chris kicks her out of the room. However, in the season finale "Partial Terms of Endearment
", Lois tells a joke that implies that it was Meg that gave birth to Stewie, and apart from a shocked reaction from the latter, Lois receives no such violent reaction.Additionally, in "Model Misbehavior", when Lois starts a modeling career, Peter states that he will pleasure himself
to Lois' pictures, followed by Chris and Meg both exclaiming "Me too!" to which Peter shouts "Oh God, Meg, that's sick! That's your mother!", ignoring the fact that Chris said the same thing. Meg responded by saying "I was only trying to fit in!"
Brian's attention softens the lack of respect from Peter and the neighbors; he admits that he cares for Meg when she goes out with Mayor Adam West. Lois has also often shown sympathy for Meg, for example, taking her to Spring Break at the beach. Lois very often comforts Meg when she is down; however, she gives up one attempt after 45 minutes and gives her a Sylvia Plath
novel and a bottle of Ambien, and with a "Whatever happens, happens," leaves Meg to her misery.
The family's treatment of Meg finally reaches her limit in Dial Meg for Murder
when Meg emerges from a short stint in a Young Offenders Institution as a hardened criminal, abusing her family and beating up anyone who makes fun of her. It is only after a conversation with Brian that she changes her ways. However, it comes to a head once again in Seahorse Seashell Party
, when Meg finally grows tired of her mistreatment and lashes out against Chris, Lois, and Peter, informing them of their own flaws. All of them become very offended, and everyone begins bickering with each other. Brian helps a remorseful Meg realize that her endurance of abuse prevents the family from falling apart. He commends her on her maturity, and she apologizes to the others; Chris calls her a bitch, to which she proudly responds "Yes, yes I am," and the family reconciles.
In an interview, Mila Kunis stated: "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in perpetual mode of humiliation, and it's fun."
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. She is the eldest child of Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
and Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
and elder sister of Chris
Chris Griffin
Chris Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the son and middle child of Peter and Lois Griffin, brother of Stewie and Meg Griffin. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.-Personality:...
and Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
. Meg is considered as the black sheep
Black sheep
In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness...
of the series due to the lack of attention she receives.
Personality
Meg is a self-conscious teenage girl. Her insecurities cause her to desperately try to be part of the cool crowd, but this only results in her getting coldly rebuffed by Connie D'Amico, a popular, attractive and egotistical cheerleader. However, another student named Neil Goldman is attracted to her. She is also usually at the bottom of the family's pecking order and the butt of PeterPeter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
's jokes due to her homeliness, tendency toward social awkwardness and lack of popularity. Everyone in her family, especially Peter and Chris, makes fun of her in every possible way they can, although on several occasions the family's true love for her has been proven. She has been so self-conscious and insecure about herself that she has engaged in dangerous sexual behavior just for attention. She is also prone to violent releases of her repressed rage, as shown in "Road to Rupert
Road to Rupert
"Road to Rupert" is the ninth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode follows Brian after he inadvertently sells Stewie's teddy bear, Rupert, during a yard sale. In an attempt to retrieve him, Stewie and Brian travel across the United States, eventually discovering he is with a child...
" assaulting a man who insulted her after a fender-bender.
Voice actors
On the season 1 DVD commentary for the Drawn TogetherDrawn Together
Drawn Together is an American animated television series, which ran on Comedy Central from October 27, 2004 to November 14, 2007. The series was created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting...
episode "Hot Tub", Cree Summer
Cree Summer
Cree Summer Francks , best known as Cree Summer, is a Canadian actress, musician and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as college student Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World...
claims she was offered the role to play Meg but was dismissed by the producers. Meg was voiced by an uncredited Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
for the first season, and by Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
in subsequent seasons, though some of Chabert's work became second season episodes due to production order. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
. MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her. MacFarlane stated that Kunis "had a very natural quality to Meg" and she's "in a lot of ways [...] almost more right for the character". Tara Charendoff-Strong provides Meg's singing voice in "Don't Make Me Over."
- Rachael MacFarlaneRachael MacFarlaneRachael Ann MacFarlane is an American voice actress best known for her appearances in Codename: Kids Next Door as supreme leader Numbuh 362 and the FOX animated series Family Guy and American Dad!, both created and executive-produced by her older brother Seth MacFarlane.Aside from voice acting,...
(pilot) - Lacey ChabertLacey ChabertLacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
(19991999 in televisionThe year 1999 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1999.For the American TV schedule, see: 1999-00 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
–20002000 in televisionThe year 2000 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2000.For the American TV schedule, see: 2000-01 United States network television schedule.-Event:-Debuts:-1940s:...
) - Mila KunisMila KunisMilena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
(20002000 in televisionThe year 2000 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2000.For the American TV schedule, see: 2000-01 United States network television schedule.-Event:-Debuts:-1940s:...
–present) - Tara Charendoff-Strong (singing voice)
Appearance
Meg typically wears glassesGlasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
and a pink beanie
Beanie
A beanie is a head-hugging brimless cap with or without a visor that was once popular among school boys.-Description:In the United States of America, beanies are made by triangular sections of cloth joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides.They can also be made from...
even underneath other headgear. She also commonly wears a pink and white shirt, blue jeans and tan or white Birkenstock
Birkenstock
Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschoß, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet...
clogs. She is slightly shorter than her younger brother Chris. Meg is also self-conscious about her appearance
Body image
Body image refers to a person's perception of the aesthetics and sexual attractiveness of their own body. The phrase body image was first coined by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Paul Schilder in his masterpiece The Image and Appearance of the Human Body...
("I'm so fat and gross.").
Social life
Meg desperately tries to be part of the cool crowd, but is usually coldly rebuffed. She is also usually the butt of Peter'sPeter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
jokes due to her homeliness and tendency towards social awkwardness. Because of her eagerness for acceptance, she has been recruited unknowingly into a suicidal religious cult, and, later, recruited, again unwittingly, into her school's Lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
Alliance ("Brian Sings and Swings
Brian Sings and Swings
"Brian Sings and Swings" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of Family Guy. The episode was first broadcast on January 8, 2006. Brian meets Frank Sinatra, Jr. and begins to perform on stage with him, and they are shortly joined by Stewie...
"). However, in some episodes, Meg is seen with a group of girls who are attending her slumber party and gossiping about boys. In later episodes, these girls are characterized as being highly unpopular and dateless, much like Meg, even saying that she was the only one of them who ever had a boyfriend (actually a decaying corpse
Cadaver
A cadaver is a dead human body.Cadaver may also refer to:* Cadaver tomb, tomb featuring an effigy in the form of a decomposing body* Cadaver , a video game* cadaver A command-line WebDAV client for Unix....
she was "dating").
Dating
Meg is so unpopular in high school that one student fires a nail gun into his own stomach twice (in shop class) in order to avoid a date with her, and then in a later episode shoots his own brotherFratricide
Fratricide is the act of a person killing his or her brother....
to have an excuse not to go to a dance with her the following night. On another occasion, Meg and Lois are looking for new clothes for Meg, but with no luck (a saleswoman ended up pouring gasoline on herself, lighting a match, catching fire, and then jumping out of a window after looking at her in a pair of jeans). However, she is sought by nerd Neil Goldman. In 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter, Neil starts dating a girl named Cecilia, Meg becomes instantly jealous and pretends to date Jake Tucker to make him jealous. This leads to her signing a contract to become Neil's girlfriend and (not knowing at first) his slave, but she gets him to tear up the contract after Lois seduces him. Perverted neighbor Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
has shown a repeated interest in her, mostly due to his very low standard, asking if she has reached the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
(which would be 16 in Rhode Island, but he always asks if she is 18, which is what many people assume is the nation-wide age of consent). In several episodes she is shown dating, including stories with characters Mayor Adam West
Adam West (Family Guy)
Adam West, also known as Mayor West, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. The character, voiced by the actor of the same name, is the eccentric mayor of the town of Quahog, Rhode Island, where the series is set.-Character:...
and nudist Jeff Campbell. She also loses her virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
on live television to Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
host Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
after having a drastic makeover; but, before all that happens, she goes out with a rebel at her school named Craig Hoffman.
In the episode "Brian Sings and Swings
Brian Sings and Swings
"Brian Sings and Swings" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of Family Guy. The episode was first broadcast on January 8, 2006. Brian meets Frank Sinatra, Jr. and begins to perform on stage with him, and they are shortly joined by Stewie...
", a lesbian student named Sarah invites Meg to join in her Lesbian Alliance Club, with Meg not knowing at first what kind of club it was. Desperate to fit in, she pretends to be a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and also pretends to be attracted to Sarah and even goes so far as to kiss her to prove it. At the end of the episode, Meg goes over Sarah's house to admit she lied about being a lesbian (Sarah thought that Meg came over to have sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and even undresses herself when Meg is telling her that she lied), much to Glenn's disappointment. She also used to have a crush on anchorman Tom Tucker, but it ended after she discovered his vanity and selfishness.
In other episodes, she is portrayed as chronically incapable of finding a boyfriend. For her Junior Prom
Prom
In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
she accepts a pity date from Brian
Brian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
, the family dog and only after threatening suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Earlier in season 2, she dated Joe Swanson's son Kevin Swanson, but in "Stew-Roids" it is mentioned that Kevin died in Iraq. In the episode, "Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears (Family Guy)
"Prick Up Your Ears" is the sixth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode was originally broadcast on November 19, 2006. In this episode Lois discovers that Chris’ school has removed the sex education program and decides to bring the class back by becoming the teacher. Unfortunately,...
", she dates a boy named Doug, but he breaks up with her when he sees her naked right before almost having sex. In the episode "Peter's Daughter
Peter's Daughter
"Peter's Daughter" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of Family Guy and originally aired November 25, 2007 and ended the first half of the season. When a flood hits Quahog, Meg winds up in the hospital in a coma, and an over-protective Peter vows he will take extra care of her from then on...
", Meg falls in love with a med-student named Michael Milano after coming out of a short coma (caused by Peter when he asked her to "rescue" beer out of an already flooded kitchen) and they start to date. After he breaks up with Meg (because of Peter being overprotective of her after promising that if she came out of the coma, he would "treat her like a princess"), she announces that she is pregnant by Michael and the two get engaged. After finding out that she is not actually pregnant, Meg tells Michael the truth hoping that he will stay, however, Michael quickly leaves Meg at the altar. In the episode Dial Meg for Murder
Dial Meg for Murder
"Dial Meg for Murder" is the eleventh episode of season eight of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 2010 . The episode follows teenager Meg as she dates and falls in love with an inmate at the local prison...
, she is dating a convict, while in the episode Go, Stewie, Go! she dates an attractive young man named Anthony, who is absolutely normal (much to the surprise and chagrin of many of the other characters). It is presumed that she broke up with him after he and Lois had an affair.
Meg also shows extremely possessive behavior when she encounters someone she believes she has a romantic connection with such as kidnapping Brian and detaining Bonnie Swanson at the airport by planting a gun in her purse.
Family life
Though Meg was no different from any other member of the family in the first two seasons of the show, this began to change as the show started to flesh out the characters to the point where it seems that most of the population of Quahog, including her own family, despise her for no reason other than her simply being "Meg".Meg is the oldest child in the Griffin family, and the most misunderstood, at least by Peter, Chris, and others who are shown avoiding her company, disparaging her in person, gathering in her bedroom to read her diary for laughs, etc. Peter reminds Lois, "We agreed that if we could only save two, we'd leave Meg!" even randomly shooting her when she simply said "Hi Dad" ("Peter's Daughter
Peter's Daughter
"Peter's Daughter" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of Family Guy and originally aired November 25, 2007 and ended the first half of the season. When a flood hits Quahog, Meg winds up in the hospital in a coma, and an over-protective Peter vows he will take extra care of her from then on...
") but despite this he also was going to say "I love you" in "Hell Comes to Quahog
Hell Comes to Quahog
"Hell Comes to Quahog" is the third episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on September 24, 2006. The episode follows teenage daughter Meg after she requests that her parents buy her a car. At the showroom, however, her father, Peter,...
", and in "Road to Rupert
Road to Rupert
"Road to Rupert" is the ninth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode follows Brian after he inadvertently sells Stewie's teddy bear, Rupert, during a yard sale. In an attempt to retrieve him, Stewie and Brian travel across the United States, eventually discovering he is with a child...
" he stated they were 'secret best friends' before throwing lemonade in her face, saying he would have to continue to treat her badly in public in order to maintain his reputation due to "peer pressure", thus giving hope that they may be on good terms. Occasionally, when Meg asks a question to Peter or just speaks when he is in the room, Peter responds by saying "Shut up, Meg"-immediately followed by a line from another character.
When the family tries an anger management technique of writing letters and not sending them, Meg finds Peter's letter to her, which says, "Dear Meg, for the first four years of your life, I thought that you were a house cat." And in Peter's short story of her birth, they had to go back to get her once they realized they grabbed the afterbirth
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
. In the episode "Stewie Kills Lois", Peter tells guests on a cruise ship about how he and Lois had gone to get an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
but decided against it when they arrived at the clinic and found out the abortionist had one hand. He then says "2 months later, our daughter Meg was born" – indicating that they had not planned her birth. Another hint to this is when Meg is in the car with Lois and at an attempt to make civilized conversation, says, "Hey Meg, did you know that if you're on birth control and you take an antibiotic it makes it not work? 'Cause no one told me! I just thought you should know" and laughs awkwardly. On Meg's 17th birthday, her mother and father both try to hide from Meg that they do not remember her age. Peter openly states that Meg sucks in the episode "PTV
PTV (Family Guy)
"PTV" is the fourteenth episode of season four of the FOX animated series Family Guy. The episode sees the FCC censor the shows on television after a controversial wardrobe malfunction at the Emmy Awards. Peter starts to create his own TV network which he calls PTV, broadcasting classic shows...
", and Chris says the same thing about her in "Long John Peter
Long John Peter
"Long John Peter" is the twelfth episode and the season finale of the sixth season of the animated series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 4, 2008...
". In "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
"Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox television network in the United States on March 29, 2009. The episode was directed by Greg Colton and written by Danny Smith...
", Brian says to Meg's face that she lives in a home "where nobody respects or cares about [her], not even enough to get [her] a damn mumps
Mumps
Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...
shot!" Chris, however, seems to have more of a typical brother-sister relationship with Meg. Although they fight and argue from time to time, he tends to go to her for advice. Chris even once threatened to quit his job if his boss didn't re-hire Meg (at the insistence of Lois). Like Chris, Meg has an anthropomorphic monkey in her closet, and although she has proved it, her family coldly state that they were talking about Chris', not hers. Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
comments to Peter "Meg is my least favorite of your children."
Apparently, a double standard
Double standard
A double standard is the unjust application of different sets of principles for similar situations. The concept implies that a single set of principles encompassing all situations is the desirable ideal. The term has been used in print since at least 1895...
also exists against Meg, further underscoring the mistreatment she suffers from the people around her. In "Big Man on Hippocampus
Big Man on Hippocampus
"Big Man on Hippocampus" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of the Fox animated comedy Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 3, 2010. The episode features Peter after he suddenly begins suffering from amnesia, and can no longer remember anything about his...
", an episode wherein Peter loses his memory, as he reacquaints himself with the pleasures of sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, Lois tells him that it is inappropriate to have sex with his own children; in response, Meg attempts an incest joke. Most of the family lambaste her for this and Chris kicks her out of the room. However, in the season finale "Partial Terms of Endearment
Partial Terms of Endearment
"Partial Terms of Endearment" is the twenty-first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Joseph Lee and written by Danny Smith, the episode originally aired on BBC Three in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2010, and has not been allowed to air in the United...
", Lois tells a joke that implies that it was Meg that gave birth to Stewie, and apart from a shocked reaction from the latter, Lois receives no such violent reaction.Additionally, in "Model Misbehavior", when Lois starts a modeling career, Peter states that he will pleasure himself
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
to Lois' pictures, followed by Chris and Meg both exclaiming "Me too!" to which Peter shouts "Oh God, Meg, that's sick! That's your mother!", ignoring the fact that Chris said the same thing. Meg responded by saying "I was only trying to fit in!"
Brian's attention softens the lack of respect from Peter and the neighbors; he admits that he cares for Meg when she goes out with Mayor Adam West. Lois has also often shown sympathy for Meg, for example, taking her to Spring Break at the beach. Lois very often comforts Meg when she is down; however, she gives up one attempt after 45 minutes and gives her a Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
novel and a bottle of Ambien, and with a "Whatever happens, happens," leaves Meg to her misery.
The family's treatment of Meg finally reaches her limit in Dial Meg for Murder
Dial Meg for Murder
"Dial Meg for Murder" is the eleventh episode of season eight of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 2010 . The episode follows teenager Meg as she dates and falls in love with an inmate at the local prison...
when Meg emerges from a short stint in a Young Offenders Institution as a hardened criminal, abusing her family and beating up anyone who makes fun of her. It is only after a conversation with Brian that she changes her ways. However, it comes to a head once again in Seahorse Seashell Party
Seahorse Seashell Party
"Seahorse Seashell Party" is the second episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on October 2, 2011 in the United States on Fox. The episode mainly centers around the Griffin family, who are riding out an oncoming hurricane. In their attempt to pass...
, when Meg finally grows tired of her mistreatment and lashes out against Chris, Lois, and Peter, informing them of their own flaws. All of them become very offended, and everyone begins bickering with each other. Brian helps a remorseful Meg realize that her endurance of abuse prevents the family from falling apart. He commends her on her maturity, and she apologizes to the others; Chris calls her a bitch, to which she proudly responds "Yes, yes I am," and the family reconciles.
In an interview, Mila Kunis stated: "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in perpetual mode of humiliation, and it's fun."
External links
- Meg Griffin at Fox.com