Sick of the Stereotype

Will comedians/writers ever get over the stereotype that all Texans are horse-riding, cowboy-hat-and-huge-belt-buckle-wearing, gun-toting hicks?

If last night's Family Guy is any indication, then probably not for a very long time.

I adore Family Guy - I've gotten a good share of laughs from that show. It has a lot of offensive comedy, and often takes shots at people, movies, television, and the like for really no good reason. It was Texas' turn last night.

The Griffin family fled to Texas to protect Stewie (and along the way, disguise Stewie as a girl). It's not long before the stereotypes begin to emerge. The neighbors are the stereotype mentioned in the first sentence of this post. Peter rides a horse around, because "you look crazy if you're not riding a horse in Texas," Brian gets a free gun when he purchases a bottle of Jack Daniels. The evening news features a man in a cowboy suit with a deep Southern accent, in front of a fence. Lois takes Stewie to a toddler beauty pageant because "that's what you do in Texas." (???)

If this kind of stereotype exists, I haven't met them in my 20 years of residence in Texas.

Not too long ago, I watched a favorite comedian of mine, Christopher Titus, perform his "End of the World Tour" on Comedy Central. At one point he describes Texas as a "hellhole." He goes on to describe what's in Texas: "cactus, sand, cactus, sand, George Bush, cactus.." Yes, Christopher, Texas is a desert wasteland. Love your comedy man, but, damn.

So, since these stereotypes will go on for decades to come, let me give you a list of some other stereotypes to play with!

• All New Yorkers are rude.
• A typical New Yorker knows the best place to get something, i.e. "the best (insert food item here) are available at (insert establishment name here) on (insert street name here)!"
• The entire British populace has bad teeth.
• The entire French populace is rude.
• All people from California are aspiring actors/drive convertibles/say "dude" a lot.
• Everyone living in Florida is a senior citizen.
• All people who play computer games are nerds.
• All nerds wear thick glasses, stutter, and have braces
• All Hispanics are lazy
• All African Americans are great at basketball
• All Caucasians are bad dancers

There, that should get you started.

And to all writers and comedians out there, best you take heed to the anti-littering motto we use here in Texas, but also applies to Texas in general:

Don't Mess with Texas.