I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar

"I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated series Family Guy. It is the 15th episode of Family Guy to be aired. Candice Bergen guest starred, as Gloria Ironbox.

This episode is included in the Freakin' Sweet Collection. The fact that this episode was first broadcast on March 28, 2000, the same day as the previous episode, "The King Is Dead", caused series creator Seth MacFarlane to be concerned the show was soon to be canceled. (Callaghan, 2005: 72)

Plot summary

Peter and the neighbors receive an advertisement in the mail, indicating that they will receive free boats if they attend a timeshare sales pitch. However, during a high-pressure sales interview, Peter trades the boat for the "mystery box", which turns out to contain tickets for a comedy club. At the club, Peter becomes drunk and attempts to tell jokes on stage. Before his brief performance, during which he mostly abuses the audience, he places his beer in his pocket upside-down, spilling it down his pants. The audience, amused that Peter looks like he wet himself, laughs hysterically, leading drunk Peter to believe they liked his jokes. Peter thus believes his humor to be a hit.

Continuing his hubris, Peter tells a sexist joke at his job at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory that offends a female coworker named Sarah Bennet, whose lawyer, Gloria Ironbox (a parody of feminist lawyer Gloria Allred), offers to drop charges of sexual harassment if Peter goes to a sensitivity training program. It has no effect, however, so he is sent to a women's retreat. He continues to make insensitive comments until he endures pain comparable to childbirth (taking his bottom lip and stretching it behind his head, a reference to the same comparison used in a comedy bit related to Bill Cosby by Carol Burnett).

By the time he returns home, he has become very effeminate, prompting Chris to cry, "Oh my god, Dad's a chick!" At first, Lois appreciates Peter's new sensitive nature, but soon tires of it (he spends more time on the mirror, doing pregnancy tests, scolding Lois for cooking dinner for her husband, though Peter is her husband, saying he should take a breast exsam when Lois tells Peter about her body, and even tried to breastfeed Stewie when Lois isn't looking). In desperation, she asks Peter's friends for help. She goes over to Quagmire's house and tells him that Peter isn't treating her like a woman. Then Lois tells him that she needs his help, and Quagmire says "Sure Lois, I'd do everything to you." "What?" " I do anything for you". His friends try in vain to bring him back to normal by bringing him among his "fellow man." Cleveland takes Peter to a black convention where Peter publicly announces to all the men that its their fault for all the crime and problems, they are ruining society, and they should be ashamed, inciting them to chase him through the streets (they thought that he was a racist).

When Peter and Lois attend a women's gala, Gloria insults Lois by saying that because of her current lifestyle, it's the reason why Peter didn't respect women. She then says that her children must be "screwed up." This results in a catfight between the two women, during which some of their clothes are ripped off. Arroused by the scene, Peter pulls Lois out and rushes home to have sex. Once they finish, Lois comments on how wonderful it was. Her voice startles Peter as he has already forgotten that she is in the room. He then asks her to make him a sandwich, which pleases Lois as this marks that he is back to his normal self.

Cultural references

The episode's title is a parody of the feminist quote "I am woman, hear me roar", quoted famously by Helen Reddy.
When Peter goes to the Workplace Sensitivity Training course, there is an advertisement which says, "Tomorrow: the Dyslexic Film Society Presents Chevy Chase in 'Feltch'."; This is reference to the 1985 film Fletch which stars Chevy Chase. The film title is deliberately misspelt to be homonymous with the name of a sexual practice.
The flesh eating ogres shown on the island in the time-share presentation are from the book Where the Wild Things Are.
The pain of childbirth being “taking your bottom lip and stretching it over your head,” was inspired by a story in Bill Cosby's standup routine, quoting Carol Burnett, about his first child and what he and his wife went through in the delivery room.
During the catfight between Lois and Gloria, a baker came out of the kitchen carrying ten banana cream pies and singing, “Ten banana cream pies!” He was then knocked down by Lois and Gloria’s fighting. This is a reference to the old “falling baker” films from Sesame Street that aired in the 1970s and 1980s.
While in the comedy club, Peter references his relative, Huck Griffin, causing a flashback to the world of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in which it is implied that Huck just called Jim "Nigger Jim". Huck says that he thought that Nigger Jim was his name, to which Jim responds, "That is our word! You got no right using it!" He then asks "N-Word Jim" to pass him the oar, to which Jim responds "thank you". This is probably a reference to, or a result of, a myth that Jim was referred to in that manner.
Peter makes a comment about being the only one on the block to get a boat, but then he hears his neighbors exclaiming they're getting boats. He says that at least he'll be the fattest guy on Spooner Street to get a boat, but then he sees Fat Albert open his mail to find an envelope. He says, "Hey hey hey, I'm gettin' a boat!" to which Peter responds, "Aw man! Even Della Reese is gettin' a boat."
Peter is caught by the Apes from the Planet of the Apes in a cutaway.

References

Callaghan, Steve. “I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 70–73.

External links