Being a cartoon strip is perhaps the cleverest aspect of The Simpsons. Had the program consisted of live actors and actresses many of the issues would be too personal to address and much of the humour would be lost. Characters such as the tyrannical Mr. Burns, and Barney the drunkard, would lose much of their appeal if represented by live actors. The writers do not have to find actors or actresses to represent the characters they created. The members of the Simpsons are created exactly as the writers envisaged which gives them a lot of flexibility. All of the characters in the Simpsons represent a stereotype of American culture. This extreme representation of stereotypes serves as the foundation to the program’s humour. Not only can we laugh at the antics of the show, but at the reality as well. The broad range of personalities represented will likely include some aspect that almost everyone can relate to. This chance to ‘laugh at ourselves’ is often greatly needed and gives us a chance to reflect on certain aspects of our own life. This satirical approach to comedy requires an educated viewer because of its under lying messages to the real issues in life.
Each and every character in the show has something to offer the audience. Perhaps the best way of putting this is that the writers give every character and extra a personality that is emphasised whenever possible just to give that extra feeling of real people and not just time and space fillers.
This is unlike many programs where extras are used to just fill time and space the Simpson’s creators gave strong purpose and qualities to each and every character in the show no matter how insignificant they were to that storyline. Take for example Barney, a bright college student with a promising future. Homer introduced Barney to beer which metamorphosised Barney into a drunk instantaneously. The reason the writers instantly transformed him into an alcoholic is because, unlike real life were it can take months or years his character would not be as effective to the plots if they had to wait that long for his character to develop. Now when Barney is ever introduced to a storyline, you see him drinking beer, preferably Duff Beer, or by then already drunk. The reason I mentioned Duff beer is because like the writers giving the characters a definite individuality so as that the viewers can relate to them, they also give Duff beer the role of helping to enforce the realism of alcohol being at the centre of many people’s lives. During the shows many episodes, Duff plays a major part in the storyline emphasising peoples need for alcohol. When Homer rows with Marge about things that he was wrong about, which happens frequently, he will go to Moe’s Tavern, which is the local pub, and drink his sorrows away. These actions are only to common in everyday American life, but it isn’t only America where these situations happen. It could just as easily happen in any of the European countries, this shows the satire of these actions, which the writers know full well will relate to us, the viewers.
I mentioned earlier the story of how Barney became an alcoholic. This tragic situation seems funny, but there are many people who turned to alcohol during their lives and ruined what could have been a happy and fulfilling life. Their
transformation probably occurred over a period of time longer than the one second it took Barney, but it did happen. That’s the beauty of this comedy. It deals with individual problems in a manner where we can laugh at them and learn from their
ordeals at the same time. Like most satire the show uses mockery, stereotypes, and humour to point out mankind’s weaknesses.
The show’s satire also represents traditional institutions such as the family and workplace as well as individuals. The most obvious examples of stereotypical behaviour exist within the family. The Simpson family shares few characteristics with the ideal family in other comedy sitcoms; however that is where the true genius subsides. The family consists of a father, mother, three children, a dog and a cat that live in suburban America. The father works for a nuclear power plant, the wife takes care of the house and kids, and the children except for Maggie are in primary school. They meet all the criteria of a typical suburban working class family. Even their children meet the viewer’s stereotypes of what they should be. Bart could be described as mischievous, Lisa is the intelligent young girl with little self-esteem, this is shown when the family went on holiday to a seaside resort and Lisa felt it necessary to reinvent her whole lifestyle just to gain respect from ‘cool’ teenagers, and Maggie whose often used to emphasise vulnerability. Other institutions that are satirised in the show include the police department and the mayor’s office. Chief Wiggum, the captain of the Springfield Police Department, has all the stereotypical characteristics associated with police. He’s fat, lazy, eats donuts, and is corrupt. The only public official that rivals him would be Mayor Quimby who is even more corrupt.
