Meg Griffin

This article is about the cartoon character. For the disc jockey, see Meg Griffin (radio personality).

Meg Griffin
Family Guy character
Meg Griffin
First appearance	"Death Has a Shadow"
Voiced by	Lacey Chabert (1999–2000) Mila Kunis (2000–present)
Information
Full name	Megan Griffin
Occupation	High school student
Family	Parents: Peter and Lois Siblings: Chris and Stewie Pet: Brian

Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives.

Personality

Meg is a self-conscious teenage girl. Her insecurities cause her to desperately try to be part of the cool crowd, but this only results in her getting coldly rebuffed by Connie D'Amico,^[1] a popular, attractive and egotistical cheerleader. However, another student named Neil Goldman is attracted to her.^[2] She is also usually at the bottom of the family's pecking order and the butt of Peter's jokes due to her homeliness, tendency toward social awkwardness and lack of popularity. Everyone in her family, especially Peter and Chris, makes fun of her in every possible way they can, although on several occasions the family's true love for her has been proven. She has been so self-conscious and insecure about herself that she has engaged in dangerous sexual behavior just for attention. She is also prone to violent releases of her repressed rage, as shown in "Road to Rupert" assaulting a man who insulted her after a fender-bender.

Voice actors

On the season 1 DVD commentary for the Drawn Together episode "Hot Tub", Cree Summer claims she was offered the role to play Meg but was dismissed by the producers. Meg was voiced by an uncredited Lacey Chabert for the first season, and by Mila Kunis in subsequent seasons, though some of Chabert's work became second season episodes due to production order. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show.^[3] MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.^[3] MacFarlane stated that Kunis "had a very natural quality to Meg" and she's "in a lot of ways [...] almost more right for the character".^[4] Tara Charendoff-Strong provides Meg's singing voice in "Don't Make Me Over."^[5]

• Rachael MacFarlane (pilot)
• Lacey Chabert (1999–2000)^[6]
• Mila Kunis (2000–present)^[7]
• Tara Charendoff-Strong (singing voice)^[8]

Appearance

Meg typically wears glasses and a pink beanie even underneath other headgear. She also commonly wears a pink and white shirt, blue jeans and tan or white Birkenstock clogs. She is slightly shorter than her younger brother Chris. Meg is also self-conscious about her appearance ("I'm so fat and gross.").^[9]

Social life

Meg desperately tries to be part of the cool crowd, but is usually coldly rebuffed. She is also usually the butt of Peter's jokes due to her homeliness and tendency towards social awkwardness. Because of her eagerness for acceptance, she has been recruited unknowingly into a suicidal religious cult,^[10] and, later, recruited, again unwittingly, into her school's Lesbian Alliance ("Brian Sings and Swings").^[11] However, in some episodes, Meg is seen with a group of girls who are attending her slumber party and gossiping about boys.^[12] In later episodes, these girls are characterized as being highly unpopular and dateless, much like Meg, even saying that she was the only one of them who ever had a boyfriend (actually a decaying corpse she was "dating").

Dating

Meg is so unpopular in high school that one student fires a nail gun into his own stomach twice (in shop class) in order to avoid a date with her, and then in a later episode shoots his own brother to have an excuse not to go to a dance with her the following night. On another occasion, Meg and Lois are looking for new clothes for Meg, but with no luck (a saleswoman ended up pouring gasoline on herself, lighting a match, catching fire, and then jumping out of a window after looking at her in a pair of jeans). However, she is sought by nerd Neil Goldman. In 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter, Neil starts dating a girl named Cecilia, Meg becomes instantly jealous and pretends to date Jake Tucker to make him jealous. This leads to her signing a contract to become Neil's girlfriend and (not knowing at first) his slave, but she gets him to tear up the contract after Lois seduces him. Perverted neighbor Glenn Quagmire has shown a repeated interest in her, mostly due to his very low standard, asking if she has reached the age of consent (which would be 16 in Rhode Island, but he always asks if she is 18, which is what many people assume is the nation-wide age of consent).^[13] In several episodes she is shown dating, including stories with characters Mayor Adam West^[14] and nudist Jeff Campbell.^[15] She also loses her virginity on live television to Saturday Night Live host Jimmy Fallon after having a drastic makeover; but, before all that happens, she goes out with a rebel at her school named Craig Hoffman.^[16]

In the episode "Brian Sings and Swings", a lesbian student named Sarah invites Meg to join in her Lesbian Alliance Club, with Meg not knowing at first what kind of club it was. Desperate to fit in, she pretends to be a lesbian and also pretends to be attracted to Sarah and even goes so far as to kiss her to prove it. At the end of the episode, Meg goes over Sarah's house to admit she lied about being a lesbian (Sarah thought that Meg came over to have sex and even undresses herself when Meg is telling her that she lied), much to Glenn's disappointment. She also used to have a crush on anchorman Tom Tucker, but it ended after she discovered his vanity and selfishness.

In other episodes, she is portrayed as chronically incapable of finding a boyfriend. For her Junior Prom she accepts a pity date from Brian, the family dog and only after threatening suicide.^[9]

Earlier in season 2, she dated Joe Swanson's son Kevin Swanson, but in "Stew-Roids" it is mentioned that Kevin died in Iraq. In the episode, "Prick Up Your Ears", she dates a boy named Doug, but he breaks up with her when he sees her naked right before almost having sex. In the episode "Peter's Daughter", Meg falls in love with a med-student named Michael Milano after coming out of a short coma (caused by Peter when he asked her to "rescue" beer out of an already flooded kitchen) and they start to date. After he breaks up with Meg (because of Peter being overprotective of her after promising that if she came out of the coma, he would "treat her like a princess"), she announces that she is pregnant by Michael and the two get engaged. After finding out that she is not actually pregnant, Meg tells Michael the truth hoping that he will stay, however, Michael quickly leaves Meg at the altar. In the episode Dial Meg for Murder, she is dating a convict, while in the episode Go, Stewie, Go! she dates an attractive young man named Anthony, who is absolutely normal (much to the surprise and chagrin of many of the other characters). It is presumed that she broke up with him after he and Lois had an affair.

Meg also shows extremely possessive behavior when she encounters someone she believes she has a romantic connection with such as kidnapping Brian and detaining Bonnie Swanson at the airport by planting a gun in her purse.

Family life

Though Meg was no different from any other member of the family in the first two seasons of the show, this began to change as the show started to flesh out the characters to the point where it seems that most of the population of Quahog, including her own family, despise her for no reason other than her simply being "Meg".^[17]

Meg is the oldest child in the Griffin family, and the most misunderstood, at least by Peter, Chris, and others who are shown avoiding her company, disparaging her in person, gathering in her bedroom to read her diary for laughs, etc.^[18] Peter reminds Lois, "We agreed that if we could only save two, we'd leave Meg!"^[19] even randomly shooting her when she simply said "Hi Dad" ("Peter's Daughter") but despite this he also was going to say "I love you" in "Hell Comes to Quahog", and in "Road to Rupert" he stated they were 'secret best friends' before throwing lemonade in her face, saying he would have to continue to treat her badly in public in order to maintain his reputation due to "peer pressure", thus giving hope that they may be on good terms. Occasionally, when Meg asks a question to Peter or just speaks when he is in the room, Peter responds by saying "Shut up, Meg"-immediately followed by a line from another character.

When the family tries an anger management technique of writing letters and not sending them, Meg finds Peter's letter to her, which says, "Dear Meg, for the first four years of your life, I thought that you were a house cat." ^[20] And in Peter's short story of her birth, they had to go back to get her once they realized they grabbed the afterbirth. In the episode "Stewie Kills Lois", Peter tells guests on a cruise ship about how he and Lois had gone to get an abortion but decided against it when they arrived at the clinic and found out the abortionist had one hand. He then says "2 months later, our daughter Meg was born" – indicating that they had not planned her birth. Another hint to this is when Meg is in the car with Lois and at an attempt to make civilized conversation, says, "Hey Meg, did you know that if you're on birth control and you take an antibiotic it makes it not work? 'Cause no one told me! I just thought you should know" and laughs awkwardly. On Meg's 17th birthday, her mother and father both try to hide from Meg that they don't remember her age.^[21] Peter openly states that Meg sucks in the episode "PTV", and Chris says the same thing about her in "Long John Peter". In "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven", Brian says to Meg's face that she lives in a home "where nobody respects or cares about [her], not even enough to get [her] a damn mumps shot!" Chris, however, seems to have more of a typical brother-sister relationship with Meg. Although they fight and argue from time to time, he tends to go to her for advice. Chris even once threatened to quit his job if his boss didn't re-hire Meg (at the insistence of Lois).^[22] Like Chris, Meg has an anthropomorphic monkey in her closet, and although she has proved it, her family coldly state that they were talking about Chris', not hers. Cleveland comments to Peter "Meg is my least favorite of your children."^[23]

Apparently, a double standard also exists against Meg, further underscoring the mistreatment she suffers from the people around her. In "Big Man on Hippocampus", an episode wherein Peter loses his memory, as he reacquaints himself with the pleasures of sex, Lois tells him that it is inappropriate to have sex with his own children; in response, Meg attempts an incest joke. Most of the family lambaste her for this and Chris kicks her out of the room.^[24] However, in the season finale "Partial Terms of Endearment", Lois tells a joke that implies that it was Meg that gave birth to Stewie, and apart from a shocked reaction from the latter, Lois receives no such violent reaction.^[25]Additionally, in "Model Misbehavior", when Lois starts a modeling career, Peter states that he will pleasure himself to Lois' pictures, followed by Chris and Meg both exclaiming "Me too!" to which Peter shouts "Oh God, Meg, that's sick! That's your mother!", ignoring the fact that Chris said the same thing. Meg responded by saying "I was only trying to fit in!"

Brian's attention softens the lack of respect from Peter and the neighbors; he admits that he cares for Meg when she goes out with Mayor Adam West. Lois has also often shown sympathy for Meg, for example, taking her to Spring Break at the beach. Lois very often comforts Meg when she is down; however, she gives up one attempt after 45 minutes and gives her a Sylvia Plath novel and a bottle of Ambien, and with a "Whatever happens, happens," leaves Meg to her misery.^[23]

The family's treatment of Meg finally reaches her limit in Dial Meg for Murder when Meg emerges from a short stint in a Young Offenders Institution as a hardened criminal, abusing her family and beating up anyone who makes fun of her. It is only after a conversation with Brian that she changes her ways. However, it comes to a head once again in Seahorse Seashell Party, when Meg finally grows tired of her mistreatment and lashes out against Chris, Lois, and Peter, informing them of their own flaws. All of them become very offended, and everyone begins bickering with each other. Brian helps a remorseful Meg realize that her endurance of abuse prevents the family from falling apart. He commends her on her maturity, and she apologizes to the others; Chris calls her a bitch, to which she proudly responds "Yes, yes I am," and the family reconciles.^[26]

In an interview, Mila Kunis stated: "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in perpetual mode of humiliation, and it's fun."^[27]

She also once dated The Count from Sesame Street and has three nipples.

References

1. ^ IMDB – Family Guy – Stew-Roids (2009) Movie Connections
2. ^ Aurthur, Kate (2005-07-12). "Sharing the Ratings Spoils". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E2DB103DF931A25754C0A9639C8B63. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Family Guy – Casting Mila Kunis". The Paley Center for Media. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OS3zGMcbrM. Retrieved September 20, 2010. 
4. ^ "Interview with Seth MacFarlane". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/articles/429/429628p6.html. Retrieved December 17, 2009. 
5. ^ Eggerton, John (2005-06-06). "Fox Swears By Family Guy". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/97296-Fox_Swears_By_Family_Guy.php. Retrieved 2009-03-26. 
6. ^ Planet Family Guy - Character guide - Meg Griffin
7. ^ Mila Kunis talks about working on Family Guy « : EveryJoe - Sports and Entertainment News
8. ^ Movie Reviews, Articles, Trailers, and more at Metacritic
9. ^ ^{a b} "Barely Legal". Family Guy. Fox. 2006-12-17. No. 8, season 5. "I'm so fat and gross!"
10. ^ "Chitty Chitty Death Bang". Family Guy. Fox. 1999-04-18. No. 3, season 1.
11. ^ "Brian Sings and Swings". Family Guy. Fox. 2006-01-08. No. 19, season 4.
12. ^ "Fifteen Minutes of Shame". Family Guy. Fox. 2000-04-25. No. 12, season 2.
13. ^ "The Thin White Line". Family Guy. Fox. 2001-11-07. No. 1, season 3. "Are you 18 yet?"
14. ^ "The Story on Page One". Family Guy. Fox. 2000-07-18. No. 19, season 2.
15. ^ "From Method to Madness". Family Guy. Fox. 2002-01-24. No. 18, season 3.
16. ^ "Don't Make Me Over". Family Guy. Fox. 2005-06-05. No. 4, season 4.
17. ^ "IGN's Top 25 Family Guy Characters". IGN. May 27, 2009. http://tv.ign.com/articles/987/987014p5.html. Retrieved 2011-03-13. 
18. ^ "Stuck Together, Torn Apart". Family Guy. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2002-01-31. No. 19, season 3.
19. ^ "Petergeist". Family Guy. Fox. 2006-05-07. No. 26, season 4. "Oh yeah right like I'm going back for Meg"
20. ^ "Lethal Weapons". Family Guy. Fox. 2001-08-22. No. 7, season 3.
21. ^ "Peter's Two Dads". Family Guy. Fox. 2007-02-11. No. 10, season 5.
22. ^ "Breaking Out Is Hard to Do". Family Guy. Fox Broadcasting Company. 2005-07-17. No. 9, season 4.
23. ^ ^{a b} "Hell Comes to Quahog". Family Guy. Fox. 2006-09-24. No. 3, season 5.
24. ^ "Big Man on Hippocampus". Family Guy. Fox. 2010-01-03. No. 10, season 8. ""I wish he told me that before he lost his memory!" - Meg, after Lois tells Peter he cannot have sex with the children."
25. ^ "Partial Terms of Endearment". Family Guy. Fox. 2010-06-20. No. 21, season 8.
26. ^ "Seahorse Seashell Party". Family Guy. Fox. 2011-10-02. No. 2, season 10.
27. ^ De Leon, Kris (September 25, 2007). "Mila Kunis Talks About Working on Family Guy and Her Upcoming Movie". BuddyTV. http://www.buddytv.com/articles/family-guy/milas-kunis-talks-about-workin-11435.aspx. Retrieved September 3, 2009. 

External links

	Family Guy portal
	Fictional characters portal

• Meg Griffin at Fox.com
• Meg Griffin at the Internet Movie Database