F IS FOR FAMILY: Political Correctness Be Damned

If you think that Netflix only delivers politically correct content, you are gravely mistaken. Suffice it to say that in the library of the media giant we can find an animated series for adults set in the 1970s. Years different from the present ones. Were they better? It is very difficult to judge, since the script of F Is for Family was filtered through personal memories, and you can feel a large dose of subjectivity in it. Nobody here, however, intends to prove anything.

Only to have a healthy laugh.

The creator of the series and the actor voicing the main character is Bill Burr. Yes, it is the same bald guy who made life difficult for the Mandalorian in one of the episodes of the Disney series. But you also saw him in Breaking Bad. Burr has already made a name for himself as a comedian and stand-up performer, and he probably decided that it was time for the next step and to create an animated series.

Whoever had the chance to get to know the style and humor practiced by Burr knows what to expect before watching F Is for Family. Black people, white people, women, men, fat, thin – he spares no one. Just as in his stand-ups, so in the series Bill Burr embodies a frustrated man unable to control his anger, who needs only a spark to ignite a veritable flame inside him. He points out our lack of reflection, comments on our stupidity, mocks the blind alley of political correctness.

Here is Bill Burr in full glory, along with his roguish smirk.

He instilled all these traits in the character of Frank Murphy, a veteran of the Korean War, who decided to build a life at the side of his beloved – the charming, blonde Sue. As the opening of the series indicates, the action of F Is for Family already takes place at a time when the marriage has been caught by the stagnation of life. When the three children have already left the ground, a bald spot has appeared on Frank’s head, and the first wrinkles on Sue’s face, and at the same time tension has crept into their relationship. In Frank’s anger, constantly trying to prove his worth, you can hear echoes of his far-from-perfect relationship with his father.

In Sue’s mind, on the other hand, lingers the conviction that by sacrificing herself for the three children, she never did anything for herself. In truth, she no longer knows who she is and what she is best suited for, and the clock is ticking. As if that were not enough, the kids are entering a period of demands and rebellion. The oldest, the not-very-bright Kevin, constantly fights with his father for who is right, the middle child Bill cannot overcome his timidity, while the youngest, Maureen, feels completely disregarded by her parents.

Fortunately, their adventures are presented with a big wink. That is, after all, the function the series serves – it is a comedy that can make anyone laugh heartily. There is nothing revelatory in the fact that the more real the daily dramas of the Murphy family seem, the closer Frank’s aggressive outbursts or Sue’s melancholic states are to us, the more we laugh at them. F Is for Family is not so much a family in a distorted mirror, caricatured like in The Simpsons, as a family marked by authenticity, secretly conveying many truths about life. There is supposedly a lot of Married… with Children here, but it is not quite the same caliber, since in the Netflix production the humor often leaves the viewer with a feeling of bitterness and sadness.

As I suggested earlier, the series was created on the basis of Burr’s personal childhood memories. Perhaps the author therefore wanted to convey how great a contrast is now drawn between what was and what is, especially in attitudes toward life, work, leisure, social relations, and, of course, parenting.

That is why the series may sometimes seem politically incorrect in its jokes – because sometimes it is chauvinistic, sometimes racist, even more often radically conservative in terms of manners. But such were also those times, at the dawn of the cultural revolution, and it is not worth splitting hairs over it.

As is the case with an animated work, the line, colors, and quality of execution are important. But even more is given to the whole by the voices. And this time you will not be disappointed. Among the people dubbing the series characters you can find two well-known names. In addition to the aforementioned Bill Burr, playing Frank, in the series we will hear Laura Dern (Marriage Story), who took the role of his wife. She really did a great job – her beautiful, deeply feminine voice fits perfectly with the character of Sue, a good, caring person, whose endurance, however, has clearly drawn boundaries.

Beware those who cross them. Meanwhile, the crazy, hedonistic neighbor Vic was voiced by none other than Sam Rockwell (Moon). Since Vic’s veins run with rock’n’roll and the hippie countercultural revolution, he sees no obstacles in giving himself over to parties, affairs, and sniffing forbidden white powders. Rockwell must have had a lot of fun voicing the character, and you can feel it. Once there were mainly The Simpsons and Family Guy. Today the market of animated series for adults is much broader.

Productions such as BoJack Horseman or Rick and Morty have brought new quality to the genre. How will the production F Is for Family find itself in this landscape? Great – is the answer. To hell with correctnesses and other restrictions – let humor at least be a refuge and a tool for creators to convey universal truths about our sometimes gray, sometimes colorful reality.