John smith GCSE English Coursework “The simpsons” EN3“The Simpsons” have been up and running on our screens for fifteenspectacular years. Originally the idea for the “the Simpsons” camefrom a comic strip called “life in hell” ,as this was a comic striphanging outside of James. L. Brooks office , the executive producerfor the “Tracy Ullman Show”. “The Simpsons” cartoon was created byMatt Groening. Matt Groening decided to make 30 to 60 second clips ofThe Simpsons ,these were put on the “Tracy Ullman Show” leading in andout of the “Tracy Ullman Show” whenever there was a commercial break.These little clips are also known as ‘bumpers’. The bumpers were ahuge success with the ‘Tracy Ullman Show’ audience ,as the bumperswere so successful Fox Network took a huge risk of producing ahalf-hour sitcom. This was a huge risk as it was not test marketed onany groups of viewers at any stage. The first ever Simpsons episodewas aired on December 17th 1989, it was a half-hour long Christmasspecial called ‘The Simpsons roasting on an open fire’, although thisepisode was an Christmas special it had a little twist to the end,Homer does not have enough money to buy presents for the children andin the end he ends up with a dog which they named ‘Santa’s littlehelper’. In January 14th 1990 , Matt Groening made the first seriesconsisting of thirteen episodes which cost Fox Network $10 million,finally The Simpsons were here. The first series was a huge successwith the audience , as it raced its way into the top 20 in the Neilsonrating figures , this was a first for the Fox Network production.Within two months of The Simpsons being broadcasted ,it reached intothe top 15 this was absolutely amazing as the Fox Network only reachedfour-fifths of all Americans . Soon after The Simpsons became known as‘Americas first family’ but in the recent years Americas presidentialelectron Dan Quayle went on national television to accuse ‘TheSimpsons’ of being immoral and corrupting the American way of life andthe values of the American way of life. I do not agree with thestatement above as I think that it is only a television show and itshould not be taken to heart, I say this because the Simpsons is justa sitcom which is aimed to make people laugh . I agree with thefollowing statement which says ‘you can learn all of life’s lessons bywatching the Simpsons’. The quote given above was by Mel Gibson, Iagree with that quote because in the Simpsons they do something wrongbut in order to solve it they must do something right which sets agood example on the viewers. The Simpsons have been used as a singlemost important point by the launch of sky-one ,recently as concern hasgrown over sky-one’s audience rating, they now screen two half-hourepisodes per week rather than one. Behind the television sitcom ‘The Simpsons’ is a whole line ofproduction. The production starts from Matt Groening and his teambrainstorming ideas together. They then write out a script ,they alsohave a good read through of the script. After they have read throughthe script and checked for any errors they then record the script ontoa tape , they then send the tape off to klasky-csupo in Los Angeles,where the animation process begins, they have 100 animators who drawapproximately 2,000 drawings. However this is not the end of theproduction ,from klasky-csupo the drawings are sent to Korea where theshow is animated ,a further 250,000 drawings are made. Then six to tenmonths later. The finished episode is sent back to Matt Groening whichis then broadcasted to the viewers all around the world .‘The Simpsons’ is an American show which is also an cartoon. Althoughit is animated and the characters are yellow and are very exaggerated,it is also very true to everyday life as it deals with everydayconflicts and arguments experienced by ordinary families and it alsomakes fun of the American way of life. This has played a huge part in’The Simpsons’ success as it is a funny yet a colorful cartoon for theyounger audience but a typical day to day scene for the adult viewers,it also takes the fun out of the American way of life. I think thatBart is highly loved by the younger viewers as he is a bad influenceto them as Bart misbehaves . On the other hand Homer Simpson is veryloved by the adult viewers as he should be the backbone of the familybut he is like a forth child. I say this because he
swears, drinks,careless. The Simpsons are also a success because the family arealways fighting but somehow in the end they are reunited again. Thefamily mat not be human due to their yellow colors and three fingersbut the situations they face are situations that families like mineand yours face. However the family altogether I think is split up intotwo categories itself as Bart, Lisa and Maggie apply to the youngeraudience and Marge, Homer apply to the older audience. The Simpsonsmay not be a real life family and they may only be a sitcom but theyhave certainly touched our whether it be in ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
swears, drinks,careless. The Simpsons are also a success because the family arealways fighting but somehow in the end they are reunited again. Thefamily mat not be human due to their yellow colors and three fingersbut the situations they face are situations that families like mineand yours face. However the family altogether I think is split up intotwo categories itself as Bart, Lisa and Maggie apply to the youngeraudience and Marge, Homer apply to the older audience. The Simpsonsmay not be a real life family and they may only be a sitcom but theyhave certainly touched our whether it be in a good way or a bad way.Many people have many opinions about The Simpsons this has led to somuch controversy , arguments and disputes. Some people like to believethat the Simpsons are a bad influence not only to the viewers but alsoto the American way of life, however there other people who believethe ‘The Simpsons’ is the best sitcom ever to be produced . This hasled to endless controversy not only by viewers but also by politiciansand celebrities , an example of this could be in 1992 AmericanPresidential Electron Dan Quayle went on national television to accusethe Simpsons of being immoral ,corrupt and un-respectful ,as it madethe fun out of the American way of life and other real life situationshe also called the Simpsons dangerous. I do not agree with thatstatement as I think he is being too harsh on the Simpsons, as theyare only a cartoon in which they do not try to offend anyone in anyway. Many other individuals like me would argue that statement forexample Jamie Oliver as he said “Homer is the man as far as amconcerned. My favorite guest was Barry White, who sang to charm thesnakes into Homers house, to prevent them being killed on whackingday”. Also Mel Gibson would disagree as he said “you can learn all oflife’s lessons from watching “The Simpsons”. I highly agree with thestatements given by Mel Gibson and Jamie Oliver because I also believethat the Simpsons are not a bad influence on viewers or the Americanway of life. As you can see from what I have written above that theSimpsons are very controversial ,which I think is a good thing for theSimpsons in a way as I think that the controversy has took a big partin the Simpsons huge success.Everyday in the world of television we see many families if not havingfamily crisis then just eating dinner round the table together. We seemany television families either cartoon or real life ,solvingproblems. However “The Simpsons” are different to other families ontelevision this is because The Simpsons family are very different dueto the fact that whenever they go out it just gets from bad to worse.Even though their days out together are ruined ,somehow in the endthey are always together. A great example of this could be the episode‘There’s No Disgrace Like Homer’. In this episode believe it or notHomer was trying to be normal as he was invited to Mr. Burn’s party.Homer clearly wanted to make an good impression on Mr. Burns but likealways this was not possible as Marge ended up getting drunk, Maggiewas left in the children’s play room and Bart and Lisa were fightinglike always. Homer then notices a perfect family ,which then madeHomer want to be like them. Therefore Homer takes the family to atherapy center but it all goes wrong and in the end Homer and hisfamily go home together. We do not see this happening in other sitcomswhether they are real or cartoon I.e. ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Tom andJerry’. This is what makes the Simpsons so different and special. Wealso see all of our everyday problems in ‘The Simpsons’ I.e. bills,family crisis, Homer works , however the Simpsons are very differentto any other family on television as I have explained above. TheSimpsons in every aspect are loved by most of their viewers. This iswhat makes ‘The Simpsons’ different to any other television familieswhether they are real or fictional.The Simpsons is highly controversial as many people love it but asmall majority of people find it abusive and inappropriate. Mostpeople watch the Simpsons and they love it. The Simpsons is expressedin a very good way. Matt Groening has made the Simpsons work byputting satire and parody in each of the Simpsons episodes. These tworeferences are cleverly used in each Simpsons episode, an examplecould be when homer was chasing Bart down the stairs and they made itlook like Indiana Jones. That could be an example of parody and anexample of satire could be Mayor Quimby is criticized as a mayor allthe time when you see him walking out with different ladies all thetime and he doesn’t even concentrate on his role. The Simpson’s aretrying to say that presidents/mayors are useless and don’t do therejobs properly. Satire and parody is where the real comedy comes fromand to make it even more funny Matt Groening tends to use elastic bandreality, this is when they stretch reality into exaggeration I.e.death an example could be Homers cliff scene. Matt Groening useselastic band reality to make the Simpsons even more funny. I wouldclassify ‘the Simpsons’ as a sitcom (situation comedy) because ‘theSimpsons’ make the viewers laugh by what is going around in the world.Therefore I would classify ‘The Simpsons’ as a sitcom. The Simpsonsmaybe a sitcom but they are not human yet we love them. I personallythink that ‘The Simpsons’ are great even though they have threefingers but we normally tend to forget that the Simpsons are yellowand have three fingers because we are so engaged to the humor in theshow. The bright vibrant color yellow attracts and engages the youngeraudience. ‘The Simpsons’ normally seems to be action packed from thestart to end and all the action takes place in their home town ofSpringfield. The show is action packed from beginning right the waythrough to the end.We all mainly love ‘The Simpsons’ because they are very funny,everyone finds ‘The Simpsons’ funny if not in one way then in manydifferent ways. The Simpsons base their comedy mainly onstereo-typical views and the things we find funny I.e. things likeviolence, making fun out of the celebrities, Bart’s mischief’s. We aremade to laugh by the satire and parody which is used in many of thejokes but most of the time elastic band reality makes us laugh, a goodexample of this could be the episode “Bart’s New Dad”. The elasticband reality in this episode would be when Homer and Tom were fightingand they rolled down the cliff fighting and came up the cliff fightingtoo. That was a good example of elastic band reality in action.However different age range will find different things funny. I thinkthat the younger audience would find most of the violence andarguments funny whereas the older audience would find that funny toobut also they would find the visual and verbal jokes funny. Theyounger audience love it when Homer strangles Bart. They also love theslapstick comedy in the show, slapstick comedy is comedy that u laughabout when someone is getting hurt an example of this could be whenHomer strangles Bart. They also love itchy & scratchy and krusty theclown. I have not just made this up as I have back up evidence for mypoints, as I asked my cousin jay who is ages eight what he thought ofthe Simpsons. This is what he had to say “ I think that the Simpsonsare very funny and I love it when Homer strangles Bart and when Bartpranks Moe”. From my cousins statement you can see that the youngergeneration follow Bart as a role model. Furthermore the older audiencewould be a bit more mature and would find the film references funnyand also the parody of older movies, role rehearsals, stereotypes.There you see two collaborations of audiences which are made to laughby ‘The Simpsons’.‘The Simpsons’ are probably the most stereotyped family in the worldof sitcom. I say this due to their characteristics I.e. Homer bringsall the money into the house. Marge is a typical housewife who takescare of the children and who is in charge of the money. Bart is amischievous and Lisa is the clever one out of the two. Homer is atypical stereotype of a man who brings all the money into the houseand who tries his best to keep everyone happy, I think that thesestereotypes were used for Homer because they are trying to give animpression that Homer is a good father who is kind of mentally dopeybut tries his best to keep the family together. In whole Homer is agood stereotype when he wants to be but most of the time I think he isa bad stereotype. Marge is a typical stereotype of a good housewife,although she tries her best to contribute to the families financialstatus. I think these stereotypes were given to Marge because she isan example of a typical housewife who takes care of the children I.e.sends them to school on time, makes their packed lunches. She also hascontrol over some of the houses financial output and input. In whole Ithink that Marge is a good role model to see because she hardly doesanything bad. These scenarios are like real life situations as thewife does the housework ,takes care of the children and the husbandbrings the money into the house. Bart is a stereotype of a mischievousboy who loves to play pranks on other individuals of the community. Heis also a stereotype of a older brother who bosses his little sisteraround all the time but although he bosses his little sister around,he still loves her and cares for her. An example of this could be whenshe gets bullied I.e. the episode ‘Bart The General’, when Lisa makescupcakes and one of Nelson’s friend eats them Bart still sticks up forLisa. Although Bart maybe bossy towards his sister, he still loves herand cares for her. I think these stereotypes are used for Bart becausethey are trying to show brotherly and sisterly love between Bart andLisa. Lisa is a stereotype of a hardworking, sensible schoolgirl whotries her very best in school and tries to keep herself out oftrouble. I think that these stereotypes were used particular for Lisabecause they are trying to give an impression of a good school girlwho wants to make herself but more importantly her parents proud byachieving her ambition in life. I think that Maggie is a stereotype ofa innocent baby who is very clever as she shot Mr. Burns, but littledo the Simpsons family know that Maggie is more brainy then Lisa asshe shot Mr. Burns. Maggie is like a finishing touch to “The Simpsons”as she lives in her own world. Furthermore the audience know somethingthat The Simpsons family don’t. The Simpsons family on the whole ishighly stereotyped and criticized not only by the media but also bythe politicians. I think that the Simpsons family on the whole is astereotype of a hardworking family who earn their living. I think thatthese stereotypes were used for ‘The Simpsons’ family because theywanted to show the world real life situations but also instead ofmaking them feel sad about it they make them feel happy and bring asmile on their faces.The Simpsons sitcom is filled with many characteristics, each havingtheir own appearances, personality and their own characteristics.Homer Simpson is a fat, bold working father/husband who brings themoney into the house. His characters personality is very funny as heis very dumb and dopey. However his wife Marge Simpson is completelythe opposite of Homer Simpson, as she is very clever and not dopey.Marge Simpson has big afro type hair, always wears a green dress and ared necklace. Marge’s personality is very different to her husbandspersonality as she is very intelligent and always awake. She alsobelieves in second chances for example in the episode where Bart shotthe bird and he had to win Marge’s trust back by being very kind toher and helping her do housework. Marge’s personality is very sweet asshe would do anything for her children. Bart is a spiky hair,mischievous boy who wears an orange t-shirt and blue shorts, he isnearly always seen on his skateboard. Bart’s personality is a typicalnaughty boys personality. Bart is a mischievous young boy I.e. when heprank phone calls Moe’s tavern. Furthermore Bart has a soft spot inhis heart as he loves his sister and cares for her e.g. when Nelsonand co bully Lisa, and Bart sticks up for her and takes the beatings.Lisa is a bright young girl. Lisa also has spiky hair and wears ayellow dress. Lisa’s personality is very like Marge’s and sometimescan be like Bart’s. She tries to keep her family together and she isvery jolly and well mannered. Lisa’s role in the family is to be ahardworking young girl who has a bright future ahead of her. She alsoloves her family and is a genius. Maggie has a blue dress and spikyhair like Lisa, however Maggie maybe a baby but she is more cleverthan Lisa as she was the one that shot Mr. Burns. She also knows howto do scientific equations with her building blocks. This is one thingthat The Simpson family do not know and that the audience do. I alsothink that she adds the finishing touches to the family.I think that The Simpsons are both a dysfunctional family and also arealistic family. I say this because they are dysfunctional familywhen they went to Mr. Burns party but they got split up as Marge gotdrunk, Maggie got put into a television room and Bart and Lisa werefighting. However in the end they got back together. I also say thatthey are a realistic family because they face everyday real lifeissues like paying bills, doing house chores, going to work. There Ihave given you two examples of my viewings about The Simpsons,dysfunctional or realistic?. These both come down to the relationshipsbetween the family members. Homer’s relationship with his wife Margeis excellent as every night before they go to sleep they say that theylove each other. They also have a good sex life too. This shows thatHomer and Marge love each other very much. However Homer’srelationship with the other members of the family is not all love, ashe shares a love hate relationship with Bart. I say this becausesometimes Homer and Bart spend quality time together but sometimesthey are arguing, shouting and at each others necks. Homer’srelationship with Lisa I would say is not too weak or not too strong.I say this because when Lisa gets an A grades Homer does not takenotice but when Bart gets an F grade he puts his paper on the fridge.Even though Homer is unfair to Lisa, he is always there for Lisa forexample, when Lisa was going to do a performance in school and Homerdid not want to come but in the end he came because he wanted to seehis little girl happy. Homer does sometimes manage to take no noticeof Lisa I.e. when he was too busy watching TV and Lisa asked homer ifshe can use the phone and homer without letting her finish thesentence said yeah. Homer’s relationship with Maggie is weak as hedoes not spend no time with her and he constantly forgets her name.Marge’s relationship with Homer couldn’t be any better as they loveeach other, do things together like go to the spa together. Marge’srelationship with Bart is a typical mother and son relationship asthey have their ups and downs together, sometimes they love each otherand spend time together but sometimes they fall out I.e. when Bartshot the bird and Marge was upset with him but she gave him a secondchance to improve. Marge’s relationship with Lisa is great because sheacts like a role model for Lisa to follow. Their relationship is alsogreat because when Lisa is in trouble or worried about something.Marge is always there for Lisa, if she needs a hug or just a littlechat. Marge’s relationship with Maggie is excellent as wherever yousee mare you always see Maggie with her, so you can tell that Margereally loves Maggie with all her heart. Bart has and unusualrelationship with Homer as sometimes they love each other and spendquality time together however they always seem to be at each othersnecks and they argue over little things like what to watch on TV.Bart’s relationship with Marge is a typical mother and sonrelationship as they have been through a lot together. Bart’srelationship with Lisa is very sweet as he picks on her, makes her cryat home, but in school Bart helps Lisa out if she is being bullied byanyone. I don’t think that Bart shares a relationship with Maggiebecause I have never seen Bart playing with Maggie or spending timewith Maggie, therefore I think that he does not have a relationshipwith Maggie at all. Lisa’s relationship with Homer is a typical fatherand daughter relationship as they have their ups and downs but in theend they are always together. Lisa’s relationship with Marge is greatbecause she can talk to Marge whenever she has a problem that needssolving or when she’s in trouble. Lisa’s relationship with Bart is atypical brother and sister relationship as they are always fightingbut they love each other and care for each other. I font think thatLisa has a relationship with Maggie because she is never seen withMaggie. I also think that Maggie does not share a relationship withanyone in the family apart from Marge. I say this because I have neverseen Maggie with anyone else in the family apart from Marge. Thefamily in whole I think are not a good role models for families tofollow because the family do not spend enough quality time togetherwhich does not set a good example, although each person in the familyhas their own role which they play, they are more or a bad family thangood. I say this because in vacations everything goes wrong and Bartdoes not listen to Marge and Homer. Homer forgets Maggie’s name, whichis not a good sign because if he was a good father and they were agood family this would not happen.In conclusion The Simpsons is a spectacular sitcom that has been onour screens for over fifteen spectacular years. Which is a heck of along time for a cartoon, but then we ask ourselves the question how dothey do it?. Well The Simpsons are different to any other sitcomfamily although they are cartoon characters, they deal with real lifesituations like bills, house chores, going to and from work.Furthermore they also deal with serious issues like bullying andpolitics
