Seth MacFarlane, the creator and star of Family Guy, recently took to X to explain the origins of the viral “it insists upon itself” meme, inspired by a scene from his long-running animated series. Recalling how his college history professor applied the term to The Sound of Music, the meme has re-ignited discourse around the seriousness and validity of the copypasta, with two overall camps emerging: one finding it to be a brilliant critical descriptor and the other…not so much.
On Jan. 21, 2025, MacFarlane on X: “Since this has been trending, here’s a fun fact: ‘It insists upon itself’ was a criticism my college film history professor used to explain why he didn’t think The Sound of Music was a great film. First-rate teacher, but I never quite followed that one.”
The post garnered 8 million views and over 169,000 likes, with commenters initially contributing cultural touchpoints that they believed to “insist upon themselves.”
“It’s how I describe Gladiator II,” user @gabino557 wrote above the Family Guy scene. “This is why I did not like Jackson’s Lord of the Rings,” said user @Kep22a. “It slaps you in the face and shouts, ‘this is an epic masterpiece! Appreciate it!’ I did not.”
What does ‘it insists upon itself’ mean?
Commenters trying to define the phrase pointed to an inflated and entitled sense of cultural importance. “My interpretation of ‘it insists upon itself’ is, when you’re watching it, you get the feeling that one of the intents behind the film was, This is SUPPOSED to be good,” wrote @somethingthink2.
“There are many ways that you can try to be good without trying to be good, namely bucking trends. Insisting upon itself means it hit all the notes a ‘good’ movie “should.”
“For those who don’t understand what ‘insists upon itself’ means,” user @FilmColossus wrote, “it means the professor has two copies of the VHS or DVD and one was sitting on top of the other, like this.”
Where is the ‘is insists upon itself’ meme from?
The phrase originates from a 2006 episode of Family Guy titled “Untitled Griffin Family History.” In the scene, the Griffin family is floating inside a panic room quickly filling with water. “Since we’re all gonna die,” Peter Griffin says, “there’s one more secret I feel I have to share with you: I did not care for The Godfather.” When his surprised family debates what he’s just said, Peter elaborates, saying the film “insists upon itself.”
The phrase initially satirized in the scene was “I did not care for The Godfather,” with popular memes created by users saying, “I did not care for (blank),” admitting to an unpopular opinion about a film or cultural phenomenon. The meme gradually spread online throughout 2020 and 2021,
In late 2024, X users began discussing “it insists upon itself” in earnest, debating its worth as a legitimate form of criticism. Defending his stance to critics, @kudosdunce said the phrase, “(is) actually being the perfect way to describe so many things,” and “a lot of y’all need to sit your ass down and watch season 4 of Family Guy before sending another tweet.”
‘It’s literally from a Family Guy Episode’
The catchphrase grew in 2025, with users like @JIMMYEDGAR saying, “Peter Griffin saying ‘it insists upon itself’ is one of the most succinct and universally applicable critiques you can leverage when discussing art + media and i’m being so serious.”
After these praises came Seth MacFarlane’s post, explaining the origin of “it insists upon itself.” MacFarlane’s response had some X users wondering why the writer decided to chime in, believing he did not like the seriousness with which the phrase was being taken.
“Lol he saw that tweet that was like ‘it insists upon itself is actually a great criticism to use’ and he had to set the record straight,” wrote @Soonrightaway in response to MacFarlane’s post.
Others continued to be critical of the phrase. “It’s the most nothing burger pseudo comment one can make,” said @anklesore. “Don’t know when people started thinking ‘it insists upon itself is valid artistic criticism,” reposted @Ginfantasy from a post by @agnostic.bsky.social. “It’s literally from a Family Guy episode.”
More Family Guy memes:
- The Family Guy death pose meme, a fan-favorite
- The ‘Pepperidge Farm Remembers’ meme is nostalgia wrapped in humor
- Ding Fries Are Done: meme origins
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