Why do you think the TV. programme The Simpsons is so successful?
Why do you think the T.V. programme The Simpsons is so successful?
In recent years, a certain animated sitcom has caught the public's attention, evoking reactions that are both favourable and unfavourable, but hardly ever apathetic.
As a brilliant, socially aware satire, Matt Groening's 'The Simpson's' has effectively stirred different emotions from different factions of the culturally deadened American populace and for this alone, it should be recognised as quality programming. The Simpsons is a brutal satire of our society and our family structures yet it offers several redeeming qualities such as feminism, endurance and most of all humour.
The American animation was created by Matt Groening as shorts for the Tracy Ullman Show and was bought by Fox Network, which began screening it as half hour shows in 1989. Initially its success was restricted to the 9-16 year old age group, but its success grew quickly and it is now popular in many countries with many different audiences.
The Simpson's is one of Americas most popular television shows. It ranks as the number one television programme for the viewers under eighteen years of age.
Matt Groening intended for them to represent the American typical family "who love each other and drive each other crazy."
The improbable long term success of the Simpson lies in its producer's ability to understand the expectations of the television audience and the culture that surrounds them. This understanding, combined with wry sarcasm, topical themes, and superb scripting that puts most other comedies to shame, as well as some old slapstick comedy, makes the Simpsons one of the most popular television programmes in television history. The show is often complex and highly intellectual, while remaining funny at the most basic levels. The fact that the show works on several levels at once draws a generational diverse fan base. The adults are attracted by the surprisingly sophisticated dialogue, while the children enjoy the clumsy antics of Homer and the traditionally "cartoonish" aspects of the programme.
The Simpson's themselves are a simple family in a small town in Middle America called Springfield. They are: Homer (loyal but stupid father), Marge (dissatisfied, trapped housewife/ mother), Bart (rebellious son), Lisa (unappreciated genius daughter), and Maggie (silent baby). The show also revolves around a number of other characters.
The members of the family have their own quirks and are constantly feuding amongst themselves. The hilarious show portrays the ups and downs of the Simpson's which real families are said to relate with, to a certain to degree. The highly provocative sitcom has revolutionised cartoons and has bought humour and mixed feelings to a new audience than previously brought before.
The fact that all the characters in The Simpsons have four fingers shows that they are all unique and unified community despite age and race, this also makes a good statement. The skin colour is attractive to young viewers but also has meaning to older viewers, and different parts of the show are aimed at different audiences.
When we first encounter Lisa, she is playing the saxophone in the school band. The band is playing 'The Simpson's' theme rather out of tune. We know that she is playing after school because we've already heard the bell go earlier in the opening, this suggest, that unlike Bart, Lisa enjoys school. As the band continues to play 'The Simpson's' theme Lisa breaks off and plays a small saxophone solo. Because of this, the teacher sends her out, but as she leaves she continues playing. I think Matt Groening might be trying to show his feelings about when teachers seem to punish children for being unique and individual.
Homer is the father figure of the household, whose responsibilities include financially supporting the household. He has his flaws like any person would, but somehow he and his family tend to work it out. Some of his mishaps are very similar to those that most of us have had to face, for example he leaves his keys in the door to the house quite often. Another example would be the time he attempted to un- jam the toaster by shoving a knife in and out of it. Homer also expresses concerns over his obesity as well as being a bad father. He also has a problem with his cursing, as well as his consumption of alcohol.
To have Homer do such things it is a chance for people to laugh at themselves. While trying to unclog a toaster with a knife is relatively uncommon, it still does happen.
Why personal experience and common sense would dictate for a person to do otherwise, people nonetheless do it. A new craze that has swept the Americans is to be physically fit, and because Homer would represent the typical American, this is a concern that has crossed his mind. While Homer is not as bad as some fathers he still has his moments. Alcoholism is ...
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To have Homer do such things it is a chance for people to laugh at themselves. While trying to unclog a toaster with a knife is relatively uncommon, it still does happen.
Why personal experience and common sense would dictate for a person to do otherwise, people nonetheless do it. A new craze that has swept the Americans is to be physically fit, and because Homer would represent the typical American, this is a concern that has crossed his mind. While Homer is not as bad as some fathers he still has his moments. Alcoholism is a disease that is rapidly growing in America; Homer's fondness for beer would certainly put him in this category.
Next there is Homer's wife Marge. Marge epitomises the term "housewife." Marge is the foundation of the family, always trying to maintain the household and to rear her children. She is concerned about what her children watch on television, while passing on family traditions to the children. To sum up Marge she is a character that holds the family together, and she epitomises that role. Mothers are usually figures that nurture their children and do everything possible for them. They get involved with their child's life and raise them the best they can. With the plethora of shows on television now, parents in general take concern in what their children are watching. So when Marge takes a stand against her children's television show (Itchy and Scratchy) that was full of gratuitous violence, she is doing what many other parents would do. When Marge passed on the quilt to Lisa, she was passing on a tradition that had been passed onto her, and would hopefully be passed on down to the future generations. Many families have this as well. Whether it is an antique or a watch or jewellery, it is still tradition that is passed on from generation to generation.
Bart is the son of the family and the most mischievous. Bart's character was created to be a typical naughty school boy. He is constantly getting into trouble and is always playing pranks on people, especially Moe. Bart always rings up Moe's Cabin, asking to speak to someone for example, "Can I speak to Daily please? First initials I.P." then Moe says "hey everyone listen I.P. Daily." And then everyone laughs at him.
Bart's main characteristic that all people associate with his character is his sayings, for example, "eat my shorts" or "don't have a cow man!" he is also well known for the comical lines that he writes at the beginning of each episode, for example 'I will not sell land in Florida' and 'I will not teach others how to fly.'
Maggie, the baby of the family, is known for constantly smacking her pacifier. She is portrayed as being smarter than Homer.
I watched the episode 'the Cartridge family.' In this episode Homer brings the family to watch a football game, which is so unbelievably boring, therefore the crowd begins to riot, which continues out into the streets.
Homer listens to home security companies, but opts instead to by a gun, which he can't have for five days which infuriates him.
After the necessary time passes, he gets his gun, which he shows his family and demonstrates on how to use it in a shockingly irresponsible way. Both Marge and Lisa are against his ownership of a gun.
To convince them how great guns are, he brings the family to an NRA meeting, where he becomes a lifetime member.
Marge is still really angry about the whole matter and Homer continues to do unsafe things with the gun. When he shoots things at the dinner table it is the last straw. He agrees to get rid of the gun, but later Bart and Milhouse find it in the vegetable crisper. Marge takes the kids and decides to live in a motel. Now that he lives alone Homer holds a gun net meeting at the home. He appals them with his behaviour so they kick him out. He goes to get Marge back, saying that he got rid of the gun again.
When Snake holds up the motel, Homer pulls out his gun and asks Marge to take the gun from him so that he can't lie to her again. She takes the gun and disposes of it.
The writers are linking together death and sympathy because guns kill people and the cards sympathise with death. It suggests to the audience a sense of irony because joking about death can be seen as slightly sick. Visual irony is also used such as when Homer is waiting for his gun. He complains bitterly about having to wait five long, torturous days for a gun, and wonders how he is possibly going to last five days without shooting anything. During his waiting period, he sits outside on a chair to pass the time. The sun sets and rises five times, and each day, a set of dancing targets pass him.
One day it is shooting targets, another day it is rabbits, then ducks, then Patty and Selma and finally Ned Flanders. This creates visual irony because Homer really wants to shoot something, and lots of targets pass him.
Unlike English mainstream culture, America does not view football that highly. Americans consider it boring as it is a 'Low scoring' and has 'draws.' Because of this the Simpson's makes fun of our football culture. The Simpson's satirise the fact that football supporters get overly emotional about the 'beautiful game.' Before the match, Homer turns to Marge looking very worried and claims that he will 'kill himself if Portugal wins.' Matt Groening is trying to say some supporters treat football as a life or death situation and get too intense about their team. The Simpson's also try to imply football is all hype. His expectation of the crowd is tremendous during the build up to the match but it all fizzles out once the match kicks off.
The football match is satirised as the ball is passed motionlessly between three players for a long time.
This is America parody on Britain's sport, suggesting that it is boring, lacks excitement of any kind. It also manages to make a parody of the football riots that occurred in Britain in the 70's and 80's. The British riots happened because of team loyalty and tension between supporters, but the parody of the riots shown on 'the cartridge family' episode began because they were fighting to get out of the stadium, to get away from the game. It implies that all football fans must be maniac hooligans and although the riots in Britain were dangerous and often tragic, the parody of them makes them seem humorous. Sarcasm is so casually used it is almost over looked, weaved into the dialogue with ease. 'the cartridge family' episode uses visual irony puns, for example the flashing sign saying 'sleepeazy' over the motel flickers and the only letters left spell out 'sleazy.'
The Simpson's also satirises some aspects of American mainstream culture. The main aspect criticised in 'the cartridge family' is the gun culture.
In this episode the Simpson's is trying to persuade us that guns are dangerous because in America many people own guns. To do this The Simpsons exaggerates that guns put your family at a lot of risk instead of protecting them, for example when Bart nearly accidentally shoots Milhouse. The Simpson's points out that a gun owner is hypocritical.
When Homer says 'peace of mind is what you shall have' to Marge there is a combination of scenes to highlight this hypocrisy. After reassuring Marge, straight away we see Homer ask the shopkeeper for the deadliest gun. By doing this Matt Groening hopes people will think twice about keeping guns in the house. He also shows how silly it is to keep guns to protect your family by showing the gun going off and shooting Marge's photo. Even this is unlikely to happen in real life it shows accidents do happen and the guns endanger instead of protecting.
In 'The Cartridge family' law and politics are criticised a lot. Matt Groening feels there are several aspects of American law and politics that have to be changed. Mayor Quimby is supposed to typify the politician and because of this he leads a very seedy and corrupt private life. Mayor Quimby comes into Marge's room with a blonde woman and asks if Marge needs the room for the whole night. This is showing that politicians often abuse their power and are very dishonest.
The Simpsons also satirises the legal word by focusing on the 'five day waiting' law. Homer must wait five days before he can be issued a gun. This is done to ensure that proper checks can be undertaken on whether someone is eligible to carry guns. However The Simpsons claims that five days is not enough to determine if someone is fit to carry guns, as this could be a life or death decision. This is highlighted by the fact that Homer says 'five days! I'm mad now.' This is saying that people buy guns on an urge and that they do not really think about what they are getting themselves into. Also the law is portrayed as not being very effective. Homer is an 'alcoholic,' has a 'mental problem' and has beaten up important people, however this only limits Homer to three guns. This is ridiculing the law; as it is not working and if it was, America would not have such high crime rate.
I also watched The Simpsons episode 'Roasting on an open fire.'
In this episode, Bart got a tattoo much to Marge's dislike.
Marge: you will not be getting a tattoo for Christmas.
Homer: yeh if you want one you'll have to pay for it out of your own allowance.
She quickly spent all of the family's Christmas money to remove Bart's tattoo with a laser. At the same time, Homer, still on his morning coffee break at 4.00 in the afternoon, learns that he will not receive his Christmas bonus. When he learns that Marge is relying on the money for Christmas, he decides that he will do the Christmas shopping this year. He quickly buys Marge panty hose, Bart paper, Lisa crayons and Maggie a toy.
When he realises he is not doing very well, he gets a second job as a mall Santa for the extra money. On the way home from work he steals a Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve, Homer receives his check, $13.70 for over 40 hours work. Homer takes Bart to the Dog track as a final chance for Christmas money. Homer put all of his money on Santa's little helper, and to his horror, he never even finished. As Homer and Bart were scouring the parking lot for winning tickets into the night, they saw a track manager throw out a dog. It was not just any dog, it was Santa's little helper. When Homer and Bart came to their worried family they had a good Christmas after all, now they had a dog.
This episode has the 'Christmas miracle' that usually leads to a 'happily ever after' despite what Bart has to say about it.
These sorts of endings go a long way to account for the success of the programme because of the contrast between humour and sentiment.
Homer fits the role of stereotypical dad quite well as he goes to great lengths to make everyone happy for Christmas with almost no thought for his pride and dignity. He even takes up a second job as a low-paid Santa in dim hope for getting presents for everyone. However he doesn't tell his family that he is in this situation to save their respect for him, which is also stereotypical of most males. This goes against most other things we have seen him do over most other episodes when he is acting stupid or careless towards the family and shows him in a new light.
Marge starts of straight away being stereotypical when she is writing letters to friends and family and when Bart gets a tattoo she acts very motherly in paying highly in getting it removed straight away. Marge's patience is truly a virtue when it comes to raising her son Bart, whose name is an anagram for 'brat'. As she writes in the family Christmas letter, "Maggie is walking by herself. Lisa got straight A's. And Bart...Well, we love Bart"
We can see from this episode that The Simpsons does follow a simple narrative structure. The audience gets orientation from only the opening sequence but also the next couple of scenes where they were at the school Christmas performance, putting up Christmas lights and the children asking for expensive and difficult presents.
Marge: a pony? Oh Lisa you have asked for that for the past three years, and I keep telling you that Santa can't fit that into his sleigh can't you take a hint.
The snow shows us that it is Christmas and the jingly music is of a celebrating nature.
Realizing that his family's happiness is at stake, Homer takes up a job playing Santa at the mall. When Bart discovers his dad is Santa, he says "You must really love us to sink so low", revealing how hard Homer works out of love to make his family happy. In the end, Homer manages to salvage his family's Christmas when he brings home a dog, Santa's Little Helper, which Marge claims is the best gift of all - something to share their love and frighten prowlers. In such ways, Homer reconciles his love for his children, obligations as a father, and financial plans, while revealing that it is difficult to balance being a good father and surviving in today's harsh economic marketplace.
In conclusion the Simpson's is a very funny show with a unique cartoon aspect. One could not deny that this unsuspectingly clever humour is one of the main reasons for the millions in worldwide viewing figures. It is, in a word, 'ingenious.'
Danny Devito, Kirk Douglas and Mel Gibson are just three amongst a whole host of Hollywood names who have done guest voices for the show, also a reason on why The Simpsons is so popular, as it attracts more viewers. Celebrities would want to be on the show because it is so successful and it gives them more popularity.
There are several other reasons why the show has remained so popular. Some involved change, and others include the fact there has been none; Bart has been ten since forever and still is a vehicle promoting the 'cowabunga' tag line.
These cartoon characters with funny hair, funny voices and yellow skin are, some say are corrupting humanity? As a reply in the words of Bart Simpson 'Eat my shorts!'
There is undoubtedly more to the Simpson's than just humour; it has depth and variety that most cartoons lack greatly. The show does not face the problem that many others experience, being that they stick to the same philosophy in each and every episode, making them mundane.
The Simpson's affects kids, just as anything around them will. Perhaps people fear the Simpson's because they can see a little of the Simpson's in themselves. We all have inner child's that are trying to get out just like Bart. We all do 'pull a Homer' sometimes. It just happens; the show doesn't make us do it. If this world did not have the Simpson's children would behave in the same manner, they just might laugh quite as much.
Matt Groening is an extremely intelligent and intellectual man who should be given a tremendous amount of credit. He has made a cartoon that can be viewed and understood at so many different levels. For example, a child could relate to each character for their face value and get enjoyment out of simple humour. It could also be viewed simply as a humorous cartoon with an unforgettable family and furthermore it could definitely be viewed at an educational level. Which ever level it is viewed at, in every episode Groening makes it clear there is nothing more important than family.
Kiran Lakhanpal 21/02/05
Mrs Moores
