The writers of the Simpsons use humour to criticise the American society and the American way of life. This example of humour is satire. This is the deeper side of the Simpsons and is what makes it enjoyable to adult audiences. The programme is a satire itself and constantly criticises things. One example of satire is in the episode Homer vs. Patty and Selma. The students at Springfield elementary have to choose what they want to learn in P.E but they must charge down the corridors to get their first choice. This satirises American schools as they don’t have enough money or facilities to accommodate the amount of students they have. It also satirises gender attitudes. An example of this is that the boys in the episode do not want to do ballet. The writers of the Simpson’s are trying to show to their audience that although the president and many of the population of America pretend that everything is perfect in their country, it isn’t and there are huge numbers of problems that need to be dealt with. They are also trying to show their opinions on the way the President and the other great powers in America deal with things like education, homeless people, the National Health Service and policemen. In an interview George Bush said that the American public should be less like the Simpson’s and more like the Walton’s a family in a television programme who were perfect. The Simpson’s writers fought back and the first show that was transmitted after Bush’s remarks contained a scene where Homer and Bart are seen making fun of the former president.
Television is a visual medium and the Simpsons make the most of this to make their audience laugh. It is a simple form of humour but can be very effective. An example of this is in the episode Homer vs. Patty and Selma. Homer has invested in pumpkins as the sales have been rising during October and he thinks they are going to peak in January. The visual device is when the camera moves above Homer’s head and there is a Happy Halloween sign. Another example of this is a sign hanging above the schools main doors. It says Ballet Performance, the T is Silent.
The humour in the Simpsons is reinforced by the characters. They help the jokes because of what we know and have learned about them. An example of this is when Homer is in debt and he says he will earn some money by selling his liver as he can cope with only one. You only have one liver and this joke proves to the audience how stupid and ignorant Homer really is.
The characters also help to make serious points about the people in society and how judgemental people can be. They show how people automatically categorise people because of their religion, how they look or what country they are from. The Simpsons characters are all stereotypes and help to explore roles. For instance, Apu is a stereotypical Asian immigrant. He is very religious, has been shot many times and he owns a corner shop. Another stereotype in the programme is Mr Burns. He is a stereotypical American boss, a capitalist who is greedy and makes money out of other people. He isn’t very friendly and wants everything done for him. He is driven by money.
The writers of the Simpsons project their own views about America into the programme. They criticise many things including the government, the police force, education and people’s attitudes towards the elderly and immigrants. One example of this is that they show the police force as people who are lazy and ignore emergency calls if they don’t want to answer them. They also show that they get distracted by things like doughnuts and let criminals go that they have managed to catch. They criticise teachers and show them as boring people who speak in a monotone. They are also shown as people who don’t really know what they are doing especially when they lose the book of answers.
The writers’ views and the morals that they use help the audience to learn things from watching the programme. One example of this is in an episode where Bart is stealing computer games. The moral of it was that no good will come from stealing and although the main family in the Simpson’s is a dysfunctional one, they still care deeply about each other. The theme of family togetherness is carried through many different episodes.
All the points in the essay help to show why the Simpson’s is so popular and more than just a television programme. It is also well liked because the basic humour in the Simpsons is very funny and hooks the audience. Then on a subliminal and subconscious level it makes the audience learn from the morals. The Simpson’s clever writing and witty humour will help the programme to be popular for years to come.
