That Time Family Guy Was Right about Brett Ratner

And the witch hunt continues. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for people being made to pay for their ill behavior, but the jokes in Family Guy are, as they’ve always been, something you kind of cringe and go “oooh” at in a way that you know means that they just pushed the envelope a little too far. This time it’s at the expense of director Brett Ratner, who’s also been accused of sexual harassment as of late. The episode features Brian and Stewie as the two attend a highly secretive auction in which young women are being sold to the highest bidder. After a rather distraught young woman is auctioned off and taken away Stewie takes the stage dressed in drag and begins to dance to Katie Perry’s California Girls. The voice of the auctioneer can be heard at one point claiming that someone has bid 75,000 pounds, and then “Thank you Brett Ratner”.

This jab was aimed at someone that isn’t a household name but has been accused of being yet another individual that has mistreated women in the past. He’s not even the first individual that’s been named in a growing list of celebrities and noted figures that have been accused for sexual harassment that they committed against others over the years. Harvey Weinstein was just the beginning it would seem since almost every other day now we get to hear about another individual that has taken advantage of others by using their position as a celebrity.

Why this has been allowed for so long is kind of a mystery since to be quite honest anyone else in society would be locked away and heavily penalized for such behavior. But because the perpetrators that have done these things have money and influence they are being allowed to continue their lives as usual and likely won’t ever see the inside of a jail cell for more than a few hours at the very most. Their high-priced lawyers will find a loophole or a shred of reasonable doubt that will somehow get them off the hook. And then there’s their celebrity status that will be taken into account.

Celebrities might go to jail but they certainly don’t stay there long. Some of them have killed people and either got off with a minimal jail sentence or were never charged in the first place. Sounds rather unfair doesn’t it? Become rich and famous and your every indiscretion will be taken care of so long as you can foot the bill and are still famous in the morning. If you’re an average individual, then you’re just out of luck. There’s little to no accountability for celebrities it seems, nor is there any chance to make them actually understand the damage that they’ve done to others.

Skilled they might be, gifted they are, but they’re still humans and still citizens that by law are required to follow the rules and be held accountable if they break them. It’s hard to know if all of those accused thus far are really guilty or not, but if they are then it’s time they were made to remember that the laws are applicable to EVERYONE, not just those that have no money or high-priced attorney to get them off the hook.