Family Guy and Freud
In “The Family Guy”, there is some hilarious application of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. We are introduced to Peter who buffoons his way as the ego, the part of the self that passes final judgment. Brian the dog is the superego, who usually knows better than to follow the ego (Peter), but can’t always dictate what’s best since he’s a dog (and as Chris says, “You don’t have a soul”). And finally Stewie, the Id, indulging himself at every turn through attempted matricide, overeating, world domination or brief fantasies of out-of-the-closet homosexuality. All three characters can be viewed as one entity, just with different roles to play. More to come after I sit down and systematically go through every season (on DVD, of course) with a pen and paper and take notes to find more examples.
