Why Does Meg Griffin Love? (Family Guy Video Essay) 

Meg resides in a family of negligent, hostile relatives who openly disregard her and beat her, Only her love interests genuinely convey compassion

Honestly I think Meg falls for older men so often is because she doesn't ACTUALLY want a boyfriend, she wants a father. In the earlier seasons Peter WAS a good father to her and now he's just a complete dick to her so he gave her a small amount of love and recognition and she yearns for that back. It's really sad.

I've actually noticed through out the show that Meg falls for pretty much any guy who shows her the slightest kindness. Which makes sense since her family abuse her. She also goes to extreme measures and acts kinda creepy around them, which actually does make sense because she's never had a good relationship before (when i say that last part i mean any kind of relationship. Not just romantic)

It is pretty weird, shows that Meg isn't JUST seriously depressed because she still has hope in some form. She's been suppressed and shaped by the horrific family and school and well, the whole town of Quahog. If she was a real person I'd hope she just moves anywhere else and forgets her past life.

One of my minor gripes with this show is Chris and Meg get way too many romance plots. 90% of their storylines are about them getting a love interest that is never seen again. They aren't bad but some more variety would be nice. I never dated in highschool. It would nice to see more storylines like when Chris and Meg robbed the old folks home.

Meg deserves to find love. She just needs to get to college, and avoid her family until she has her life in place!

As long as the writers hate the concept of love, then Meg (as well as the rest of the Griffins) will never know true love.

Lets not forget how Luis takes Meg's boyfriend, how Meg pretends to be a lesbian in order to feel some sense of love/community and how Meg and Chris are shown to hook up from time to time.

As someone with a driver's license who's sibling uses a wheelchair I feel like Brian deserved his ticket

Tbh I kinda wish they would give Meg a love interest (that's not 40 years older than her) so in some episodes they can show her being abused by the family, but still have someone she can turn to that treats her well

for a ''gross girl' Meg does get around a lot. the boy with no legs, mario and luigi, jerome, the doctor that one episode, jimmy fallon, the arab prince, the nudest kid, the amish boy...

Meg’s not a nerd, she just wears glasses.

If family guy ever gets an actual final I hope it shows Meg in the future married with a family not all different from the Griffens except they actually love and care for each other. Out of all the characters I feel she deserves a happy ending.

Meg can find love but it's mostly her family that get in the way of it

As someone who has been diagnosed with BPD, I’ve always really identified with Meg. I was the emotional lightning rod of a very volatile family and would develop desperate and sometimes even obsessive attachments to people to make up for the neglect and sometimes outright abuse I was receiving at home. BPD is marked by dysfunctional or unstable relationships with others (notably “splitting” where you idealize someone til they hurt you then perceive them as evil), unstable sense of self (may look like an identity crisis, unstable moods, emptiness, or extreme forms of people pleasing), and self-destructive behavior (this could be cutting and s* attempts but also staying in abusive situations, picking fights, even hurting or lashing out at others). BPD isn’t a naturally occurring thing like bipolar or depression, it’s brought on by trauma like PTSD. Most people with BPD experienced either extreme abuse or neglect at some point in their life, usually childhood, and this trauma can range from verbal abuse to physical or even s*xual violence, or being abandoned, especially if those things are reoccurring. Meg is not only a good candidate for BPD but could literally be the poster child for it. Another character who fits the bill (no pun intended) is Bill Dauterive, tho he’s thought to have what’s called “quiet BPD” where people internalize more so it can be harder to notice but when they crash they crash HARD. The opposite of quiet BPD would be someone like Sarah Lynn. These three characters are the hill I will die on and I’m actually thinking about making a vid about them on my alt channel if there’s any interest.

I was surprised you didn’t talk about the Quagmire episode, one of the more outrageous examples of Meg’s desire for love

10:30 He's called Deep Throat because it's a reference to Mark Felt, the man who anonymously provided details to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about Watergate and led to the downfall of the Nixon administration. The scene is a direct parody of the movie made about the case, All the President's Men.

Kind of a loaded question don'tcha think? Why do any of us love? Also Deepthroat was the code name given to the whistle blower at Watergate.

I had a similar issue to Meg (in a MUCH lesser way) where I confused friendship with love as a teen. It took awhile to grow out of that, and once in a rare while, have to catch myself from crushing on someone who is just a friend still. Probably stems from my desire to always be in a relationship as a teen. Taking a huge break from intimate-love based relationships helped.

Meg's voice actress has been in my life since the mid 90's around when I got my copy of Santa With Muscles and my copy of Honey I Shrunk Ourselves same year for Christmas and my birthday respectively dude Mila Kunis is a amazing actress and I respect the hell out of her for taking one of the worst voice roles ever how many times you hear people say shut up Meg to her in interviews yet she has both the average ugly teen girl experience and the cartoon ugly girl experience despite you know not being a ugly person what so ever I also like that she was the youngest cast member of the main cast of That 70's Show

I thought Meg/Kevin had potential as a couple and if Family Guy had remained as it was pre-cancellation they could've been something. "Barely Legal" was a rare example of Quagmire being a good person and actually giving Meg a speech she needed.

As the old saying goes, one needs to love themself first, in order to find someone who [unconditionally] loves them. Sadly, Meg has had any sense of self respect or love for herself strained out of her by her abusive and hateful family. They are truly miserable, and want to focus that negative energy on to Meg. As a result, Meg has no self-esteem and therefore will do what she can to find love anywhere she can. She loves as a way to complete herself, rather than compliment herself. A relationship should never be what one needs to make them whole, but to be a fun bonus feature.

Meg has a lot of bpd symptoms. i would not be shocked at all Sorce: i have bpd and had these behaviors early in my life

Ha, I read the decription waiting for the premiere to start. I outsmarted your system muhahaha .... also "Fetch!"

Meg: “my hairs in the pie” Me: “wait but you hair looks exactly the same- . . . Oh no”

Deep Throat is a reference to the Watergate Scandle with former president Nixon. A journalist referred to the whistle blower as Deep Throat. "Deep Throat" didn't appreciate it because it was a reference to a "Corn" film.

"What teacher agreed to let Meg write to prisoners?" A teacher from a school with a budget that has more cuts than one of their students arms, I guess?

I have always deeply hated the "shut up Meg"/be abusive to Meg " jokes". And I know what you're about to say. "It's just a joke". Yeah um...how? How is actually abusing a teenage girl funny? Where's the joke? How is that supposed to be humorous? Explain it to me. In detail.

I think they were tying Brian's agitation with Mayor West was because of past indiscretions as the mayor. Mayor West was a well established character known for his antics, ineptitude, and corruption so the fine was likely the final state for Brian. Which also shows how shallow Brian is too. He talks big, but until it affects him he tends to stay on the sidelines talking a big game.

here a good bit before the video, but prolly the same reason all of us love: because we just do. also prolly finding affection and compassion that can't be found elsewhere. also also: fetch!

Speaking of Meg, I think a video of her friends would be interesting.

It is my full belief that she’s not naturally obsessive as hell and the reason why she gets that obsessive over people who show her a hint of kindness is because almost nobody shows her kindness at home or at school. She probably does all those things because she thinks it’s normal because she comes from a family that openly disregards, disrespects, and hurts each other. She has no positive reinforcement when it comes to relationships. Shit she literally faked being a lesbian just to feel a hint of love and community when she finds out they planned a party for her.

How many times does meg have to learn the same lesson to the point where she's kind of self aware of it all

These character dissect videos are high quality. Great job

I always forget that Adam west was a love interest for meg and they just made him her uncle and no one talks about it.

Speaking of Kevin Swanson, why do Kevins in animation get the shit end of the stick? South Park has 3 Kevins: Kenny's brother, Mephesto's monkey assistant, and the kid who likes Star Wars. Only the last Kevin ever gets to do anything, and even then he hardly does anything. And then there's Kevin from Ed, Edd n Eddy. He's one of the show's most hated characters because he became more and more of a dick and kept getting away with it with no consequences.

"Brian should have wwnt to Meg and said: If you dont break up with Luke, I'm gonna tell peter and Lois." Yeeeaaaaahhh, Judging by previous events I dont think that Brian would have a good chance of survival.

I have bpd and I think the diagnosis is accurate. Great video. I really relate to her struggles in relationships. Obviously, on a very watered-down down level, I hate hurting people if I can help it.

19:24 Some people in the Tropes did a WMG on why Meg became the punching bag to the family and they believe it was because of what she almost did to Brian that was the final straw that caused her to be a huge butt monkey to the show. But I digress, nice job on the analysis. EDIT: 33:04 As for my own WMG, I don't believe Meg got parole, due to her butt monkey status. I believe she actually got a longer sentence, killed the people who told her that, and THEN escaped prison without anyone of the main cast ever realizing this because that's how Family Guy is.

@kitty monk SO.....these infatuations Meg has which are never reciprocated and the obsession it leads to is called "De Clérambault syndrome" or Erotomania, several movies are about this, Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction", the dog collar around her neck and Puccini opera playing is a reference to the film, highly recommend! Another good one is "L'Apartement" by Gilles Mimouni remade into "Wicker Park" in the US.

omg i didnt know you were puerto rican too!!! thats so awesome! also meg and lois are some of my favorite characters of all time so i was really glad seeing videos about one of them in my reccomended!

Honestly, at this point they should just phase Meg out of the show if they can’t be bothered to write her properly-maybe say she’s off at college, and she’s on a scholarship and also working on campus to explain why she’s not involved with the family/town anymore. Or if they had to show her on college, have the Griffin family see how well off she is without them (maybe show she’s gotten a bit of popularity to demonstrate how well she flourishes when not in a toxic environment) and the family is shamed off campus when they’re shown how awful they are. It would be a good send off for Meg.

4:10 I had a terrible experience with the second type of boy during middle school. By the end of my time there he went from just being a general class clown wannabe to wanting to sit next to me in class and even borderline sexually harassing me because of my body type. :/

Can you do a video essay on Death as a character in Family Guy? I rewatched earlier seasons and I seem to find myself enjoying his character more now. I know it would probably be a shorter video given his lack of screen time. But I think it'd be super interesting to hear you pick him apart.

Meg is also technically Jewish, so she wouldn't endanger Neil's lineage.

[Chorus 1] Right from the moment I opened the door Everything was great, but I can’t move anymore The winds cut so deep my life flashed before my eyes Stepping, stepping, stepping with my messy hair style [Verse 1] “Shelter please, I need a bit of peace” So it really seemed to me Boy, if the wind settled down again It’d warm up just a bit [Verse 2] “Sit and dream to put my mind at ease” So it really seemed to me “Don’t be a bum” I go and get some sun Pigeons, pigeons, pigeons, brawling sucked up all the fun [Chorus 1] Ahh- Right from the moment I opened the door Everything was great, but I can’t move anymore The winds cut so deep my life flashed before my eyes Stepping, stepping, stepping with my messy hair style [Chorus 2] Right from the moment I opened the door Everything was great, but I can’t move anymore The winds cut so deep my life flashed before my eyes Stepping, stepping, stepping with my hair to the side [Chorus 1] Right from the very moment I opened the door Everything was great, but I can’t move anymore The winds cut so deep my life flashed before my eyes Stepping, stepping, stepping with my messy hair style Wild in the wind out with my messy hair

The deepthroat joke has to do with richard nixon and the informant who turned on him

toilet paper orientation is victorious.

0:31 ...WHY did you have to put this thought into my brain? 😞

18:00 This was how I found out that Uncle Junior from the Jamie Foxx Show was the 1st black cast member on SNL

I always found the kent thing to be ironic when they made the "joke" about meg transtioing into ron. Maybe he ended up with kent after all.

Deep throat was the name given to the source that told reporters about the watergate scandal

Not gonna lie, if the series ever ends, I hope the finale would include Meg finally getting together with Kevin. The pairing would have a lot of potential.

No matter who Meg ends up with, hopefully Is more relateable and more reliable unlike her previous crushes nowadays.

As someone with bpd I can kinda see how people could think she has bpd, but I personally don't want her to have bpd. We can be obsessive with our crushes. I've had older crushes as well. But in my opinion this would be an exaggeration on what it's like if it does get confirmed. With a mental disorder that already doesn't have a good reputation, I don't think it would be a good idea to say she has it. Her kidnapping some of her crushes is definitely something I wouldn't want associated with my disorder. If your going to add a mental disorder that's already seen as bad, you gotta be really careful on how you show it, especially when your big like family guy. You gotta find a way to not romanticize it, but not to demonize it. I've never watched family guy though and this is just my opinion. Some people with bpd might disagree and feel like Meg represents them, but I personally don't want her to have it. I feel like it will just cause people to think we all kidnap our crushes if they don't wanna love us and are just like meg.

You probably don't read fanfiction, Kitty. But I recommend you check out the Meg's Boyfriend/Meg's Family fanfics.

5:40 Seriously, how did that guy never become a running gag?

The kermit reference with the codename 'deepthroat' is during the nixon presidency he was a whistleblower for the water gate scandle

21:12 she is - that’s the joke. Meg doesn’t know that though but we as the audience know she’s a journalist

i have severe bpd and it kinda tracks but her perverted personality elevates the weirdness

Meg and Neil being married may not be Quagmire and Lois...... but it's still better than literally every other romance on this husk of a show

This video is so Fetch! I love your breakdown of Meg's odd romantic behavior. I think Family Guy often just... doesn't care about her. Like, it doesn't matter what happens to her, she never gets anything. It's not funny anymore, just... sad.

Joe is such a nice guy he payed no mind to Meg calling him with his first name. Sad the shiw isn't as nice to him

13:53 Hey, you laugh now, but in time you'll thank him when we have the upper hand in Quohog.

Deep Throat was the codename for the informant on the Watergate scandal.

As a Newark native, "Mayor Baraka, why?" made me laugh so hard.

I have BPD, this would be a fair assumption of what it's like (if you turned all the cartoony aspects down, as it's a very serious mental health concern).

I have BPD and honestly I always feel so bad for Meg, I've been through so many heartbreaks and understand this feeling of just needing someone to care about you. But Meg does NOT have BPD. Borderline doesn't make a person delusional and lovecrazy. It just makes emotions more severe and extremely hard to deal with without professional help. Symptoms are sudden emotional breakouts at situations others would think are overreactions, a need to feel validated and an immense fear of abandonment. Meg also needs validation, but she does because her family, the people she should be able to trust, are the ones that openly express their dislike or outright hatred for her, make fun of her and bully her. She never learned what true affection is, that has nothing to do with BPD, it's because her family is a disgusting bag of crap :)

Now we need one about Chris.

This is what loneliness can do to people.

Deep Throat was the alias of the informant during Watergate.

Stop trying to make Fetch happen!

7:53 I'd forgot that Adam West used to Date Meg doesn't anyone here besides me still does misses Adam West and does anyone here still finds the new mayor character Wild West to be just Okay at Best?

What about the time she dated Quagmire? That was definitely weird too.

Meg Griffin is always one of my favourite characters from Family Guy even though I don't like that show anymore. She just doesn't deserve all of that abuse from her family and everyone all around Quahog! 😢 Too bad when she even wants a boyfriend, she doesn't stay together with them in the end, either because they reject her or make a move on her too far. Also, I don't think Neil is good for her; too creepy if you ask me. 😬 And I say her abuse is what gets her to be so crazy. There are other boys she fancies that you didn't mention in the video, like Eli or that coastguard who unfortunately got killed after admitting his feelings for her... And that's another thing. If a boy actually does like Meg, they either are forced to turn her down or get killed off! 😢 If I were in charge of Family Guy, I would end all of her abuse and give her a loving boyfriend right now, to give her love and get her away from those who abuse her! Heck, I already made an OC of my own, based on me, to ship with her, and I say she deserves to be with him! Plenty of my friends think so too!

The F on Griffin going into the g in Meg on the Thumbnail is killing me inside

Kermit was called that because it was a joke the Infamous Watergate scandal that involved Richard Nixon

i swear me and you said shut up meg at the exact same time

Does anyone remember Anthony the other boyfriend meg had before, Lois decided to have a make out session with him because of Peter.

Ahh KittyMonk, the literal embodiement of "Shut up Meg" on RU-vid

As someone who used to have quiet BPD, I think Meg having BPD would make sense based on all the trauma she’s suffered. Her overanxious attachment in love seems to align with that, but the creepiness she displays (putting hair in Brian’s food, how she takes care of Joe) is more psychopathic than BPD-like

10:34 Deep throat is actually a reference to the guy who outed Nixon during Watergate. It was his codename, and this is how he met the investigators.

Deep throat is the code name of the source from Watergate

Deep Throat is a reference to the 1970's Watergate scandal...

Re: the "Deep Throat" bit is a reference to real life politics. The informant who gave information on the Watergate scandal was referred to as "Deep Throat". This was the title of an, at the time, new adult film.

25:50 I only just put together that the robe kitty's avatar wears in all of these is a MONK costume because she's called Kitty Monk 😭

More like lust

oooooo 2 videos on the same day kitty is bad ass

Meg has a terrible love life

I think the reason why Meg's love life has gotten all kinds of fucked up is because its part of the main issue with Meg in a lot of the revival seasons. In seasons 1-3, although she was a butt monkey then, it was written in a way where it was part of her character of being a regular unpopular teenage girl. Meanwhile in Seasons 4- Present, it's presented in a way where she gets crapped on simply for existing. I believe this mindset was applied to her love life. In the earlier seasons, her love life was relatable to some extent, keeping consistent with the whole regular unpopular girl motive the writers were going for. But with the revival seasons, the scenarios are written in a way to make Meg seem incredibly desperate for love, since the world treats her like shit for breathing.

I must admit your avatar is cute 😁 (also cool videos)

Bit of fridge horror here, but remember how Kent only remembered Meg from the facebook page to get her to unalive herself? After the events of Friends Without Benefits, what if he decided to add his name to facebook page?

Kermit is called that name because it's the codename of an informant in the watergate scandal. Also I'm not sure if you knew that 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter was also a show in its own right? 🤔 since you noted the number of words in the title.

Bryan could have at least pretended to be a good taxi driver, so he can save up cash to pay off his ticket. I mean, he lives rent free with the Griffins and gets free food. So, really, I don't see why he is just being a bitch about a $400 ticket that he deservedly got for parking in a handicap parking space.

What about the episode where meg turned 18 and quagmire started dating her. I like that episode where peter objects, but Lois just sees Megaz trying mess with her parents. It’s only when she goes to the cabin that she objects and Peter calls her out for it.

1:19 Or as Mr. Enter said, "Because the status quo is God!"

I think you forgot about Quagmire didn't they got together at some point

The problem is that Family Guy has absolutely 0 continuity so her love interests get practically forgotten after the episode they’re introduced in. For instance the Amish guy she was in love with. At the end of the episode he was in, they got together and their relationship pretty much was going to be smooth sailing from there on out. But the episode after, he’s completely forgotten about.

I really appreciate the Don Quixote reference

You sound like Ruby from Steven Universe. I just realized, why your voice sounds so familiar.