# Is "The Proud Family" a joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087 "2003-12-26T04:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![agiantdwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@agiantdwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agiantdwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/1 "2003-12-26T04:53:07Z")
“The Proud Family” is a cartoon on Disney. The main characters are an African-American family. But after watching an episode of it, it’s almost comical how stereotypical it is–and I think it has to be some sort of joke. Some of the stereotypical characters: - A mother who dominates the father and a and stupid father. - A chubby, “sassy” African-American girl who has 10 siblings. - Asian-American girls with buck teeth and a father who forces math on them. - A dorky, awkward white girl. The plots of the show are comical because they’re stereotypically overly-PC and innocent. Is “The Proud Family” some kind of joke between executives? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/2 "2003-12-26T07:26:48Z")
It’s obviously not an inside joke since you & I both caught it. One joke that kiddies watching it surely do not get- Old Pappy with his purple suit, green hair, maniacal laugh, only speaking in Spanish & sporting a CESAR ROMERO mustache! ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/3 "2003-12-26T16:51:42Z")
> [@](#): > > The plots of the show are comical because they’re stereotypically overly-PC and innocent. In particular, the “file sharing is evil” episode was just plain bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/4 "2003-12-26T16:58:47Z")
A lot of the crap that is doled out to kids these days does nothing to eliminate stereotypes. Just replace them with politically correct stererotypes. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/5 "2003-12-26T17:22:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by agiantdwarf \* > \*\*- A mother who dominates the father and a and stupid father. > \*\* Well, “Dad’s a bumbler and Mom’s the real brains behind the operation” is a standard stereotype of a majority of modern sitcoms, so this one is nothing special. As to the others, yes, I think part of the deal is that we’re supposed to recognize the old stereotypes from TV past, in a “corrected” version. In the case of the kiddies who may be too young to catch a prior reference, the justification may be one of “reverse psychology”: by overcartooning the stereotype maybe they’ll realize people are NOT like that. And children today probably are quite aware that the super-inclusive world of officially-sanctioned reading/viewing material does not really reflect reality. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/6 "2003-12-26T22:20:18Z")
Is the idea of a funky grandma a common stereotype? _Proud Family_ features one. ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/7 "2003-12-26T22:35:52Z")
Think of Mother Winslow from Family Matters. A funky grandma if there ever was one. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-proud-family-a-joke/221087/8 "2003-12-26T23:27:31Z")
Blacks Grandmas have been funky since Spike Lee created Grandmama for Larry Johnson. And earlier than that.