Garrett's Post

In season 2, episode 7 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the gang finds a water stain in the back of their bar. At first, they are upset, but then Mac says that it looks exactly like the Virgin Mary. The group decides to cash in on this scheme and a news crew reports on it, causing people to visit the bar to see the “miracle.” They even attempt to get a mentally unstable priest to bless their stain, which backfires when he ends up urinating on and ruining it. Dennis decides to stop eating altogether for multiple days when Dee says his face looks fat after he insults her face. Dee attempts to get Matthew, an acquaintance that she tormented throughout high school despite his crush on her, to bless the water stain by seducing him. However, when he leaves the priesthood to be with her she admits that she did not actually have feelings for him, leaving Matthew torn. Finally, Mac and Charlie bless customers because it makes them feel good about themselves, but they end up getting very competitive and show their selfishness by fighting over who is the better preacher, despite the fact that neither of the pair is religious.

This episode has a few controversial ideas behind it, with the main issue being the exploitation of Catholicism to make money. The group tricked innocent Catholics into believing that a water stain was a miracle performed by God. Almost everyone in the group showed no remorse for the despicable act they were committing, except for Mac who initially claimed the stunt was awful and that they were all going to go to Hell. However, he quickly changed his position after blessing someone and falling in love with the satisfaction he gained from doing so. He began blessing strangers and went along with the act so that he could make himself feel good by giving others satisfaction. Charlie went a step further and began preaching to strangers about God, albeit very poorly. The two ended up getting into a competitive preach-off, trying to outdo one another in a very self-conceited way. The episode was very offensive to Catholics because it made fun of what they believe and how gullible the creators of the show think they are.

Another issue that had critics upset was the fact that Dee got a good man to leave the priesthood by seducing him and saying that she loved and wanted to marry him. When he left the priesthood, however, she basically tried to wash her hands of him because she did not think he would leave the priesthood and just wanted to get him to bless the water stain. This was very awful because she manipulated a man that devoted himself to Catholicism for personal gain. This theme of selfishness is shown multiple times from the group in each episode, and each time they seem to have no remorse. They all want to look and be the best, and are willing to do anything to do so, which is rather inhumane for our society.

While critics have a point that the show sets a bad example for viewers, we must keep in mind that the show is satire. Not only that, but they are making fun of every type of group in the series and not just targeting certain people. Each episode has plenty of controversial parts within it, but the fact that they make their insults so widespread proves that the goal of the show is to entertain rather than offend, because they are certainly not leaving any group of people out. With this in mind, the show should not automatically be looked at as a hate show or a bad example for viewers because It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is satire, and the goal is not to make people angry but rather to make them laugh.